by Maria Bagdasarova | On Ice Photos by Yoriko Suzuki

Representing Georgia from 2023, Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin have emerged as one of the most improved ice dance teams on the international circuit this season. Training at Ice Academy Montreal (I.AM) alongside some of the discipline’s biggest names, they are pushing their technique, artistry, and athleticism to new heights. They got off to a strong start in this Olympic season, winning two Challenger series events — the Denis Ten Memorial in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and the Trialeti Trophy in Tbilisi, Georgia. We sat down with Diana and Gleb following their fifth-place finish at the Grand Prix de France in Angers to discuss their goals and the competitive drive that fuels their progress.

You’ve just completed a demanding stretch of three competitions in the course of three weeks, and now your next Grand Prix event, Finlandia Trophy, isn’t for another month. How would you sum up this first segment of the Olympic season?

Gleb Smolkin (GS): Overall, we’re satisfied. We earned two victories at Challenger Series events, which is important for us. And we had a solid start here with quite respectable scores. Of course, impression from Angers dipped a little because the free dance wasn’t perfect. We lost some levels, I made a technical mistake, and honestly, we were just a bit tired and not feeling our best. But our coaches are happy with how we handled this stretch.

Initially, we weren’t sure about competing three weeks in a row. But once we looked at the schedule, we realized this was probably not only the best option, but the only realistic one. So we decided to trust the plan and push through. It’s not often that coaches have to prepare a team to compete for three consecutive weeks, especially when the third event is a Grand Prix, the most important and challenging one. But in the end, we think we managed it with dignity.

Why did you decide to compete in three consecutive weeks to start the season?

GS: There are many teams training in Montreal, and the coaches try to distribute the Challenger events among them evenly. Starting in Japan (Kinoshita Group Cup Challenger Series in Osaka) would have been a bit too early in the season. It’s an Olympic year where the second half of the season will be packed, so starting in August didn’t feel like the best idea.

Diana Davis (DD): We wanted to build up toward October in a more structured way. Georgia and France were mandatory. There was also an option to compete in Bratislava, but that would have meant a week off in between — and where would we spend that week? Our coaches wouldn’t have let us stay in Europe, and traveling back to Montreal would have made things even harder. So in the end, we decided that doing three events in a row was the most practical plan.

Tell us about your programs this season. How do you feel about the 90s theme for the rhythm dance — an era you didn’t actually live through? And when you had to replace the Destiny’s Child “Bills, Bills, Bills”, did that disrupt your preparation for the Grand Prix?

DD: No, it didn’t disrupt, on the contrary, it was a bit of a positive shake-up. It gave us some new energy. The music we added is more dynamic, and physically it actually helped us. With Destiny’s Child, we felt ourselves dropping a bit in the partial step sequence — the energy would dip and then we’d bring it back, but it was clear that the middle part of the program wasn’t working well enough.

Now, the flow is much better — three minutes go by quickly, and people seem to like the new version. Of course, we still need to keep refining things to make the whole program even more musical.

GS: As for the 90s theme — there’s a lot of great music from that decade. The challenge is that the rhythm dance themes have been very similar for several years now, so it sometimes feels like everyone is skating to the same thing. This season the options are techno, rock, hip hop, and street-Latin — but street-Latin is risky because it can easily look like regular Latin, which isn’t allowed. Techno isn’t something we feel strongly connected to. So that left us rock and hip hop. We tried combining them, but it didn’t really work for us, so we stuck to rock.

Sometimes it feels like we all end up doing more or less the same thing every year, even though there’s so much great music out there. We’d love to see more variety in styles. Last season we had rock for our free dance, so we attempted something different in the rhythm dance, but it wasn’t very well received. And of course, let us not forget, that the two programs can’t be in the same style, they need to be different. At least for us, it’s important.

The feedback we’re getting this year is that both programs are strong, which is encouraging.

Did you suggest these music tracks, or did they come from your coaches?

DD: We suggested both pieces ourselves. We were listening to a lot of rock tracks, and Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) by The Offspring came up and everyone immediately reacted to it.

GS: It’s great when the music grabs people’s attention right away. That’s something we really missed last season, especially in the rhythm dance — having music that sticks with the audience, that feels light and playful. We connected with this track instantly. It feels good, it gives us energy — it has everything we need.

Let’s talk about the free dance. You mentioned that Sonata for Cello & Piano No.1 in D Major by Nikolai Myaskovski has been on your “wishlist” for quite a while. Could you tell us more? The choreography this year feels quite avant-garde in some ways.

GS: We’ve dreamed of skating to this music, or something in this style, for a long time. We’ve never really done anything like it. The closest was Swan Lake, but that’s very classical. That was in our first season back, and it was important to come back with something familiar and strong.

This season, we really focused on the things that matter to us artistically. For example, our opening element, the choreo hydroblading movement, was a major goal. We wanted to use deep edges and strong leans to show what we’re capable of. Last year’s program was more dance-based but also more static, so this time we wanted to prove that we hold deep edges.

DD: Developing ourselves choreographically was a priority: showing our movement, our body line, and our emotional connection to the music. Last season, with Led Zeppelin and rock, we aimed to fire up the audience and ourselves, so we sometimes lost the sense of relationship between us within the program — it wasn’t always clear what we were trying to express. In this year’s free dance, our interaction is much clearer. You can even talk about a storyline evolving between us on the ice.

Diana, you have Georgian roots, and during the Challenger event in Tbilisi you shared a very touching photo with your grandfather. How meaningful is it for you to skate under the Georgian flag — to represent your heritage and culture on the world stage?

DD: It’s incredibly special for me to skate for Georgia. I was actually supposed to represent Georgia in singles earlier in my career, but the paperwork didn’t work out at the time. Now, being able to do it feels very personal. I grew up in a Georgian family — I heard the language at home, we followed Georgian traditions, the food, everything. So when the opportunity came again, it felt like the most natural and closest to my heart. And receiving messages of support from Georgians around the world… it’s very heartwarming. I really feel that connection every time I take the ice.

You just experienced your first competition on home soil, the Trialeti Trophy in Tbilisi, with the whole Georgian team competing there. The atmosphere looked incredibly warm on the screen. Could you share a few words about that?

DD: Honestly, I don’t remember us ever being supported like that anywhere. The atmosphere was amazing. The arena in Tbilisi isn’t huge, but so many people showed up. Even though we skated quite early on Thursday and Friday, the stands were wonderful. The support was overwhelming in the best way.

Let’s talk about your goals for this Olympic season. There’s a team event ahead where you might have a shot at a medal. What are your ambitions?

GS: We mostly focus on our own path and look ahead. Last season we finished 10th at Worlds, so we’ll see how things go this year. What matters most to us is setting ourselves up well for the next Olympic cycle. We believe we have two strong programs this season — that’s very important and really helps. These programs showcase sides of us that maybe weren’t visible last year. We have the material now to really make a statement and position ourselves to rise in the rankings starting next cycle. We want to be ready. Not to move up just because others retire — but to earn that place and truly deserve it.

You mentioned your 10th-place finish at Worlds in Boston — a major milestone. How significant was that achievement for you, particularly given it came during your first season with a new coaching team?

GS: It was very important for us — not just to stay in the mix, but to prove we belonged there. Sometimes when you switch coaches, the first season can lead to a drop in results. We were determined to remain competitive, because there were so many strong teams last year and there are even more of them this season.

DD: Of course, there were some external factors that helped make that result possible, but the main thing was that we did our job and earned our place in that fight. With a bit more precision, perhaps we could have finished even higher. But for us, being in that battle, being among the top ten best teams in the world, was a key milestone. A strong step along the way.

Yesterday in the mixed zone you mentioned that in this second season with your new coaching team, you feel adjusted to the new training environment and see it paying off. What are the main areas your coaches are focusing on now to continue your progress?

DD: The main focus is on the free dance — body work, connection between us, choreography, smooth and silent glide. Of course, our coaches place a lot of importance also on our turns and levels, making sure we don’t lose on them, because without that it’s difficult. We’re trying to find the right balance there.

GS: This season has been much easier for us both physically and mentally. We understand better how I.AM works — what each coach focuses on, how to distribute our workload on and off the ice, how to manage it: when you can ease up a little and take a breath, and when you need to push. Last year was still tough, especially because of my injury, which caused us to miss a lot of training. The first half of the season was very hard.

Ice Academy Montreal is home to so many strong teams, and many mention how inspiring it is — not just the large coaching staff, but also training alongside top athletes. How does that dynamic work for you?

DD: We have great relationships with everyone. It’s honestly really cool to look at the schedule and see that one day you’re on the ice with Madison and Evan, the next with Lilah and Lewis, or Olivia and Tim, or Allison and Saulius. We’re always mixed together — you get a chance to skate alongside everyone, to observe something, notice who’s been improving and what they’ve accomplished that week.

Sometimes you won’t run into a team for two weeks just because of the schedule, and when you do see them again, you can really notice their progress and understand where you are relative to them. That kind of healthy competition really fuels us — we love it. It gives us energy and drive. Going through the grind together is always easier than doing it alone.

GS: We actually spent part of the 2021/2022 Olympic season feeling a bit isolated, without teams around us who were competing at the same events or later in the season. That was tough. We were constantly thinking about our competitors — “Where are they now? They’re working, so we need to work too.” But when you can see the team right in front of you, also up at 7 a.m., also running programs and giving everything — you have no choice but to match that intensity. You don’t want to fall behind in that moment.

This season you’re also preparing to compete in the Olympic team event. How excited are you to be part of that team environment?

DD: It’s a huge honour for us to represent our country and be part of the team. We really enjoyed our time at the World Team Trophy in Japan in April. We have such a united and supportive squad. Everyone is always cheering each other on. Even while we were here in Angers competing alongside Nika [Egadze], the whole team was writing in the group chat, sending support. We have a great team dynamic: it’s fun, it’s interesting, and we genuinely believe in every athlete. We know each teammate is capable of great things, and we want everyone to be able to show their best, and most importantly, stay healthy.

GS: We haven’t truly experienced this exact format yet. What we had in Japan was incredible, but also very emotionally draining. So we know we’ll have to prepare properly. This is something that we will be working on with our mentor. The three competitions we just completed are a good preparation, actually. But at the Olympics, everything will be even more intense: the schedule will be tighter, emotions higher, the crowds bigger. We have to be ready — physically and mentally — to skate four programs, not just to get a feel for the ice but give everything each time.

A non-skating question for our readers: what are your interests off the ice? We’d love for them to get to know another side of you.

DD: We’re really into water sports! Wakeboarding, surfing… This summer in Montreal we actually bought a small old boat. So as soon as the weather warmed up, we were out on the water — wakeboarding, surfing, even riding the inflatable tube with friends. We love staying active, and we try to spend at least one weekend day on the water.

It’s surprisingly physical — and in a way, similar to skating. You’re in that semi-squat position, engaging all your muscles, feeling the wave and working on balance and softness. It becomes a kind of cross-training. Holding onto the rope in wakeboarding, if you do everything properly, is a serious workout!

And how do your coaches feel about this?

GS: They’re absolutely fine with it. Patrice actually surfs a lot himself! We always show videos from our weekends, and usually our Mondays start with everyone chatting about what they did on the water during weekend.