by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman
Novice ice dancers competed for the first time at a U.S. Figure Skating Championship in 1991 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. For decades, the novice participated at the annual National event using various schedule formats.
The National Qualifying Series (NQS) that was adopted for the 2019-2020 season created an entirely new structure for the juvenile, intermediate, novice (JINs). Instead of competing at the National Championships, they had to qualify at the Ice Dance Final for the National High-Performance Development Team and attend an annual camp held two to three days after the Championships.
For the 2024 U.S Figure Skating Championships, a rule change qualified the five highest scoring novice teams at the 2024 Ice Dance Final in Bloomington MN to compete with the juniors and seniors in Columbus, OH.
The same rule has been applied for the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, January 20-26. The five highest scoring novice teams at the 2025 Ice Dance Final in Plano, TX will compete in Wichita, KS.
The event will begin for the novice dancers with two practice sessions on Monday, January 20. The teams will compete the Westminster Waltz and Tango Pattern Dances on Tuesday evening (January 21) at 7:55-8:56 p.m. CST.
The Free Dance will be competed Wednesday evening (January 22) at 7:20-8:05 p.m. CST. Medals will be awarded after the Junior Free Dance on center ice to the four highest scoring teams.
The novice events will be available to watch on the U.S. Figure Skating YouTube channel.
Marian Carhart & Denis Bledsoe
The team trains in Estero, Florida with Marina Zueva and Ilia Tkachenko. Marian began skating when she was two-years old. Denis began at age three. They are the 2025 Ice Dance Final novice gold medalists.
Why did you choose ice dance?
Marian Carhart (MC): I was a single skater, but I loved to dance. I wanted to skate with my older sisters, Helena and Adrienne Carhart.
Denis Bledsoe (DB): I switched (from freestyle) to ice dance because when I was jumping, I started getting injured.
How did your partnership begin?
MC: I had been doing solo dance before the tryout. Our coaches communicated, and Denis flew to Florida. Waking up the day of the tryout, I was so excited.
Tell us about your free dance – Czárdás, a traditional Hungarian folk dance. Why do you enjoy performing it?
MC: I love skating my free dance because it is something we haven’t done before. It’s very different from our other free dances. I really enjoyed learning a new style of dance.
DB: I really like skating our free dance because I’ve never done a folk dance before, and I thought it’s really interesting to learn about this style of dance.
What are you the most excited about skating at your first U.S. National Championships.
MC: Competing at the National Championships has been one of my goals, and I’m excited to achieve it. I’m also excited to watch all the Junior and Senior teams skate, which I always enjoy.
DB: I’m excited because the National Championships is one of the biggest competitions I have ever been to. I can’t wait to compete.
Grace Fischer (13) & Luke Fischer (15)
The team trains in Novi, MI with Igor Shpilband, Adrienne Lenda, Pasquale Camerlengo, Natalia Deller, Ben Agosto, Katherine Hill and Renee Petkovski. Choreographers: Ben Agosto / Katherine Hill
The siblings began their skating journeys in New Haven, CT. Grace stepped on the ice for the first time when she was 18 months old. Luke was two when he joined his grandparents’ learn-to-skate program at the Yale Figure Skating Club.
In 2018, the family moved to Colorado Springs, CO to train with Tom Zakrajesek. Grace and Luke were seven and nine. The sister and brother dancers are the 2025 Ice Dance Final silver medalists.
Why did you choose ice dance?
Grace Fischer (GF): After we moved to Colorado I did pairs and freestyle for two years. Then my brother asked me to be his ice dance partner. I was hesitant at first, but when I tried it, it was love at first sight. We started working with Ben Agosto and Katherine Hill and competed as juveniles at the 2022 Championship Series in Blaine, MN. At the end of the season I stopped singles because I appreciated the expressiveness of dance.
Luke Fischer (LF): I was a skater only because my dad wanted me to play hockey. I switched to singles when I was seven. A year after moving to Colorado, a local girl asked me to be her partner, and I started ice dance with Ben Agosto and Christopher Dean. After we broke up I continued ice dance on my own until I asked my sister to be my partner. At the end of the season, I switched to ice dance fully because I liked skating with a partner and performing interesting programs.
Tell us about skating with your sibling. Are there advantages? disadvantages?
GF: I greatly enjoy skating with my brother, Luke, because it makes scheduling so much easier, and I already have a built in partner. On the flip side, we used to argue a lot when we first started, but now we’ve found a balance. Overall, I love skating with him and enjoy every moment I am on the ice.
LF: While skating with my sister has many pros and cons, I am very grateful to skate with her. It is easy to make decisions and travel as we only have one set of parents. It also made it easier to continue skating together during the pandemic because we lived together.
Tell us about your free dance to “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer, “Love’s Theme” by Barry White, and “You Should Be Dancing” by the Bee Gees. Why do you enjoy performing it?
GF: This year we decided to skate to a medley of songs from the 70s. It is a very fun, fast, and energetic program that I enjoy doing because I love performing to the music with my brother. I especially enjoy our Character Style Step Sequence because I think it is a great time to really show the expression and energy of the music that I am skating to.
LF: Our free dance is a medley of a few well known disco songs. It is a pretty high energy program, which makes it fun to perform especially at competitions. We chose the theme before the junior and senior themes were announced, which is why our music is similar to the their (Rhythm Dance) music.
Share your thoughts about competing for the first time at the National Championships. What are you most excited about it?
GF: I am so excited to have this opportunity this year. I’m most looking forward to being able to perform in front of a large audience in a big arena. I’m also looking forward to watching and cheering on our competitors. We know many of the junior and seniors competing, and I can’t wait to watch them.
LF: I’m grateful for the opportunity to compete at the National Championships. I’m excited to skate in a big arena with important judges, support other skaters I know and see my skating friends.
How is your team training and preparing for the Championships? Have any changes been made since the Final?
Our training for the Championships includes skating four to five sessions a day as well as dance class and gym three days a week. We have been working hard to improve the quality consistency of our elements, the performance of our program, and our skating skills. We have not made any major choreography changes since the Ice Dance Final.
Besides competing, what else are you looking forward to seeing and doing at Nationals?
GF: I am looking forward to watching the other events. I am especially excited to watch the Senior ice dance event and to cheer on the teams from Novi. Also, as an ongoing tradition, I am looking forward to getting ice cream after we compete to celebrate with my brother and my mom.
LF: I am looking forward to seeing a new place as I have never been to Wichita.
Sophia Feige (17) & Wiles Middlekauff (17)
The team trains in Novi, MI with Coaches Igor Shpilband, Natalia Deller, Pasquale Camerlengo, Adrienne Lenda on-ice, Renee Perkovski (dance) and Oleg Ouchakof (lifts) off ice. Choreographer: Igor Shpilband. The dancers are the 2025 Ice Dance Final bronze medalists.
Tell us about your individual skating journeys.
Sophia Feige (SF): I started skating when I was five or 6 years old in Plymouth, England. After moving back to the U.S. a year or so later, I did not continue skating. In December 2021, I went to a public session and found myself wanting to go back and skate more. My mom, a former singles skater, signed me up for learn-to-skate lessons. In November 2022, I tried ice dance and competed in solo dance the following season while training in Palm Beach, FL.
Wiles Middlekauff (WM): My older siblings skated, so I spent hours at the rink before I could walk. When I was six, we moved to Canton, MI. I started ice dance lessons with Marina Zoueva. When she moved to Florida, I trained at the Detroit Skating Club before transferring to Novi to work with Igor Shpilband.
What drew you to ice dance?
SF:I loved being able to dance to the music on the ice while skating with a partner. I’ve always enjoyed working on my skating skills. Learning and improving various turns, edges and elements gives me a sense of accomplishment which motivates me to keep working harder for more.
WM: For a long time I was doing freestyle and dance. Although I enjoyed freestyle, I had to focus most of my time on jumps and not as much time on performing. With ice dance, every moment on the ice is a performance. I like that. I love it when I’m having fun, and the people watching me are having fun too.
How did you become partners?
SF: After the 2023 Solo Dance season ended, I wanted to find a partner. I also was looking for a new place to train with higher level ice dancers to push me to improve and with a more organized training environment. In March 2024, Novi, MI I had a tryout with Wiles during a visit. It went well, and we officially began our partnership in April.
WF: After the tryout, we met with the coaches, and I said I wanted to partner with Sophia. Everyone agreed.
Tell us about your free dance. Why do you enjoy performing it.
SF: We are skating to music from the Cirque Du Soleil Quidam show. I enjoy performing it because of the differences in music from the beginning to end, which gives us the opportunity to express different styles of music and tell a story.
WF: In the beginning, my partner is playing a character that has been transported to a dream world where my character lives. I find her and take her from room to room in my expensive wonderful castle. I enjoy performing this free dance because I like to be able to dance without holding back. This free dance, especially the Choreographic Step Sequence, really lets me do it.
How is your team training for the Championships? Have any changes been made since the Final?
Since the Final we have been working on our skating skills and refining the small details within our programs. We’re working hard to perfect all the elements and to raise our grades of execution and component scores.
Share your thoughts about competing for the first time at the U.S. National Championships. What are you the most excited about?
SF: I think it will be a great opportunity to experience competing in front of a larger audience and to present everything that we have been working hard on for our last competition of the season.
WF: I love performing and this is a great opportunity to perform in front of friends, family and spectators on a grand scale.
Clara Fugate (16) & Warren Fugate (16)
The team trains in Canton, MI at the Michigan Ice Dance Academy (MIDA) with Tanith White, Charlie White and Greg Zuerlein. They began skating at the age of three and a half. The twins are the 2025 Ice Dance Final pewter medalists.
Why did you choose to do ice dance?
Clara Fugate (CF): I have always liked the artistic aspect.
Warren Fugate (WF): We always had a passion for skating with each other.
Tell us about skating with your sibling. Are there advantages? Disadvantages?
CF: I don’t think there are any disadvantages. Advantage: It makes our bond as siblings stronger.
WF: I don’t see any disadvantages. As advantages go, we have a lot more opportunity to practice together.
Tell us about your free dance. Why do you enjoy skating it?
CF: It’s fun, and the music is upbeat and makes you happy.
WF: This year we chose Rio. It’s fun to skate and imagine all the birds and feel you are there as well.
How is your team training and preparing for the Championships? Have any changes been made since the Ice Dance Final?
We are training hard just like we would for any competition. We have made a couple of changes and are looking forward to performing them.
You competed at the 2024 Nationals – the first season novice ice dance was invited. Share your thoughts and excitement on returning to the event. How will your experience help?
CF: It was a great honor to go last year, and we are excited to go this year. It helps me feel more prepared for this year’s Nationals.
WF: After competing at the 2024 Nationals, I have felt more confident as a performer. I am feeling more confident for Nationals knowing what to expect.
Annie Huang (16) & Simon Mintz (16)
The team trains at the Colonial FSC in Boxboro, MA (primary site) and New England Sports Center in Marlboro, MA (secondary site) with Coaches Dmitri Boundoukin and Svetlana Kulikova. The dancers are the 2024 Challenge Cup gold medalists.
When did you begin skating? Why did you choose ice dance?
Annie Huange (AH): After seeing skaters on Frog Pond in the Boston Common I was mesmerized and wanted to try it. I started skating when I was four in a learn-to-skate lesson at the Skating Club of Boston. I did singles and synchro. I started ice dance when I was twelve.
Simon Mintz (SM): I first skated at three and a half by pushing crates on the ice. At age four I took group lessons. After seeing a friend do a solo performance in a holiday show, I began private lessons. I tried synchro and my coach suggested ice dance to improve my posture. Then I danced with a partner and realized I preferred ice dance to other types of figure skating. I really like the performance aspect.
When and how did your partnership begin?
The partnership began in September 2023. Annie and Simon were working separately with Coach Boundoukin. Simon was looking for a new partner and taking private lessons. They soon found each other through their coach and started working together.
Tell us about your free dance, and why you enjoy skating it?
AH: Our free dance is “Besame Mucho” by Lara Louise, a slower, Rhumba-like song and “Baila Me” by the Gipsy Kings, a faster-paced Paso Doble style. They are both new styles for me. I enjoy skating the program because it challenges me every day. My favorite part Is the Choreographic Step Sequence because of its fast pace, and it’s really fun to do.
SM: It’s really fun music to skate to. The slow part lets us demonstrate our edges and express more. I really enjoy being able to express out to the audience in the Choreographic Step Sequence, but my favorite part is the
footwork in the beginning because I am able to work on skating out to slow music with expression which is a fun challenge.
How is your team training and preparing for the Championships? Have any changes been madesince the Dance Final?
AH & SM: We’re working with a ballroom dance teacher to improve our performance and interaction with each other. In general, we’re focusing on fine-tuning the key points and fundamentals of our program.
Share your thoughts about competing for the first time at the U.S. National Championships. What are you most excited about?
AH: I’m very excited to compete at the National Championships. I’m glad we get to compete all our programs one last time this season. I’m most excited about being able to share the ice with so many amazing skaters.
SM: I’m really glad that I’m getting another opportunity to compete with the group we’ve competed with so this season. They’re all great people. I’m also looking forward to being in the same competition as all these high-level skaters at the junior and senior level. I’m probably the most excited to do our programs again, specifically the Waltz and free dance. I feel we left some key points and program components on the table (at the Final) and really want to hit some point goals.
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