PHOTOS. Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron: the Olympic programs

What is this? A photo-journey into the long-anticipated return of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron to competitive ice.

With their last event in Graz, at 2020 Europeans, followed by l’année blanche, 2020-2021, with no competitions at all for the French, Gabriella and Guillaume started the Olympic season in Épinal, at a small national competition: Masters de Patinage. That’s where they debuted their programs: the waacking rhythm dance, the Élégie free dance.

They’d missed the competitive ice – and all feelings attached to it. Guillaume: “We missed the adrenaline, we missed skating in front of an audience… Training is good, but you train for something! And we need that something to make sense of our training. So, yes, the adrenaline, the thrill of performing and having that energy back, and being alone on the ice, and having that feeling with the costumes, the whole thing!”

A week later, they travelled to Espoo, for 2021 Finlandia Trophy, an ISU Challenger (international) event which they won, remembering how is it to be in a competitive environment, and on the podium, again. They would use the feedback received to adjust the programs – and not only the programs.

The overall packaging was different in Torino, in their first Grand Prix event of the season: Gran Premio d’Italia. Gabriella and Guillaume would show up in Palavela with brand new costumes for the free dance, with the middle part of their rhythm dance completely changed (from music to choreography) and some small changes, here and there, in their free dance as well; now, the ending pose of the free dance almost resembles Gustav Klimt’s iconic masterpiece “The Kiss”.

What is this again? A photo-story that highlights Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron’s Olympic programs, as skated in their first three competitions of the season, as seen through the lens of our photographers in Épinal, Espoo, Torino.

! Exclamation point, literally: our photo-story has been updated with equally gorgeous photos from Grenoble, 2021 Internationaux de France, Gabriella and Guillaume’s fourth competition this season.

Enjoy.

…and don’t forget to also read our multi-layered interview with Gabriella and Guillaume – you’ll look at the pictures with sharp and savvy eyes, those of a connoisseur.

MASTERS DE PATINAGE
September 30-October 2, 2021, Épinal, France

RD: Made to Love, You & I by John Legend
(choreo. by Axelle Munezero & Kim Gingras & Samuel Chouinard & Marie-France Dubreuil)
FD: Élégie by Gabriel Fauré
(choreo. by Saxon Fraser & Marie-France Dubreuil

2021 FINLANDIA TROPHY
October 7-10, 2021, Espoo, Finland

2021 GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA
November 5-7, 2021, Torino, Italy

RD: Made to Love, U Move, I Move by John Legend
(choreo. by Axelle Munezero & Kim Gingras & Samuel Chouinard & Marie-France Dubreuil)
FD: Élégie by Gabriel Fauré
(choreo. by Saxon Fraser & Marie-France Dubreuil)
Exhibition: Avec le temps, Léo Ferré

We’ll end the journey with glimpses of Gabriella and Guillaume’s exhibition program for this season, a beautiful piece to the beautiful, emotional voice of Léo Ferré singing “Avec le temps”.