by Anne Calder | Photo by Daphne Backman

Recently at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, IDC spoke with Shira Ichilov & Mikhail Nosovitskiy, a new ice dance duo representing Israel. The team trains in Montclair, New Jersey, with Galit Chait. Ichilov has had several previous partners; Nosovitskiy only competed with his twin sister.

Ichilov was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and recently turned 23. Nosovitskiy was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and is also 23.

When Mariia Nosovitskiy retired and returned to her home in Kyiv, Ukraine, Mikhail began a partner search. At the time Ichilov was in a different partnership. However, the Nosovitskiys and Ichilov had trained together with the same coach in New Jersey for seven years. The new partnership was inevitable.

“I had different partners; Misha had his sister, but we worked the same,” Ichilov said. “We grew up together.”

“Once we skated together, we knew it was going to work. The coaches also realized this was the right decision.  I think it’s the best thing that could have happened to both of us.”

“The last three months that we’ve been skating together, I have never enjoyed skating as much as I’ve done during this time. We’re still in the honeymoon phase, but we’re going to enjoy it.”

Nosovitskiy noted the difference in his reaction after his first tryouts in February and March, which was “Maybe!” After skating with Ichilov, it was, “Let’s do it”.

“Shira is an experienced skater and knows what she needs to do,” Nosovitskiy said. “I know what I need to do.”

“I like that Misha is a hard worker,” Ichilov added. “He comes to the rink and treats it like it’s a job. No matter how we feel, we go on the ice and just get the job done. Even the days we don’t feel like it, we understand the only way for us to succeed is to stay on the ice.”

“Our coach understands us so good,” Ichilov explained. “We don’t even have to tell her how we feel or what we need, she just knows. I think it’s hard to find a coach that understands you. People switch coaches a lot, but I’ve been with Galit ten years now without being with anyone else. She just reads my mind.”

The team goal for the season is to do as many competitions as it can and to show their improvement.

“Lake Placid is already our third competition,” Ichilov said. “We skated at the Chesapeake Open and the Dallas Classic. We still need to get to know each other. It’s still very fresh, to know and reach our limit.”

“On one side, we’re both very experienced. We skated many years, so it’s not new for us,” Nosovitskiy pointed out. “On the other hand, we’re still new, so competition, competition, competition as much as we can.”

“The most important thing is to keep working and to keep improving like we are,” Ichilov said.

The team discussed their Free Dance music: Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3: Redemption by Muse.

Last season Igor Shpilband choreographed Mariia & Mikhail Nosovitskiy’s Free Dance to the same music.

“We took the program and made it our own,” Ichilov said. “Pasquale Camerlengo changed it, so It’s very different than it was. The music is the same; the steps are the same.”

“It’s different. You’re going to feel it,” Nosovitskiy said.

“We’re trying to tell our story in the Free Dance – even the words are about starting it over again” Ichilov said. “We feel the music was meant for our situation.”

“Let’s start over again

Why can’t we start it over again

Just let us start it over again

And we’ll be good

This time we’ll get it, we’ll get it right

It’s our last chance to forgive ourselves.”

(Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3: Redemption)

The team next competes at the Bolero Cup September 5-6 in Sheffield, Great Britain.