Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier: “Going into this year, the focus was: Find joy”

On the ice, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are some of the most flamboyant skaters out there.

Portraying their characters to the fingertips, being one with them as soon as they step on the ice, and even in their final reverence to the audience. They’re not just telling the story, they are the story – and it takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there like that.

Off the ice, the same Piper and Paul are some of the most humble, and grounded, and like-you-and-me people that you are going to meet.

Before our interview in Palavela, Torino, on the last day of 2022 Grand Prix Final, and even between interviews (skaters are having a press-marathon of a day), you hear Paul talking about his graduation next day (that he was going to miss), you see them chatting, and laughing, and stretching, taking short breaks in between the many conversations with the media.

And then, during the actual interview, you hear Piper talking about life itself, about reorganizing priorities, about a perspective change that proved so beneficial.

“There’s more to life than skating, there’s more to life than skating – this kind of helps calm your brain a little bit”.

They needed that awareness after a season that’s been so difficult to handle, so challenging.

“Last year, with COVID, all we had in our heads was: Skating! The Olympics! Don’t get COVID! And it was dark, you know?”

This journey into last season’s feelings makes this interview so raw, so honest – even brutally honest in parts.

“Everything felt heavy, and burdensome”, Paul says.

“I still can’t even open the box”, Piper shrugs her shoulders. “I think, to this day it’s just… I never want to feel like that again”.

Looking in retrospect, that’s maybe one of the reasons they decided to stay around for a while, Piper reflects.

“That was the whole point of coming back this season. To not feel like that. Going into this year, the focus was: Find joy”.

And you can feel that calmness, that new found serenity and joy in all of their skating this season – one that proved to be golden for Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier: Skate Canada champions, Grand Prix of Espoo champions, Grand Prix Final champions.

“We feel so comfortable out on the ice this season, and a lot of it just has to do with the fact that we put a lot less pressure on ourselves to think about winning titles and getting high scores”, Paul says right at the start.

And this becomes almost a leitmotif of our entire conversation.

***

In Torino, winning the Grand Prix Final crown in their third participation in the Final, Piper and Paul did a victory dance along teammates Nadiia and Peter, who won the similar title in the junior event, they hugged and took photos with their coaches, Carol and Juris. They were happy for a couple of minutes – and then moved on.

They quote their coach Carol for inspiration: “Enjoy it for 5 minutes – and then go on to the next thing!”

A medal, whatever the colour, doesn’t change who they are. It doesn’t encapsulate their lives, or career.

What defines their career is them always staying true to themselves, opening every box there is to open, following the course of each and every thought they have about a program, a piece of music, a character they want to embody.

“Every idea that pops into our heads, we take it and then we see if it’s possible”.

And this remained unchanged right from the start, and the very essence of their partnership.

Them following a path of innovations, of finding freedom within the rules – and exercising it “to the most potential”, as Paul adds with a smile.

***

Interview by Florentina Tone/Torino

***

Piper, Paul, there is this air of sureness, of confidence surrounding you this season – and one that’s very obvious right from your first Grand Prix event, Skate Canada in Mississauga. If you don’t mind me asking, where does it come from? The way you carry yourself across the ice this season? Or is it just me..?

Paul Poirier: No, it’s not just you – we feel so comfortable out on the ice this season, and a lot of it just has to do with the fact that we put a lot less pressure on ourselves to think about winning titles and getting high scores…

And we also took the time, with both programs, to develop them the way we wanted to develop them, and not rush into competing this season.

I think those two things combined just give us a lot of ease out on the ice – we just really feel in our element, and comfortable, and believing in what we’re doing.

“WE’RE SKATING AS IF WE WERE AT HOME – AND I THINK THAT’S WHEN WE SKATE OUR BEST”

Your week here at the Final has been nothing but great – how would you assess it now, at the end, while carrying the Grand Prix final crown, and also two other gold medals on the circuit? How would you assess the season as a whole? Particular challenges along the way that you needed to overcome?

Piper Gilles: Honestly, going into this event, it was a quick turnaround between Espoo and the Final, and it’s something we haven’t done for a few years.

We’ve done it before, so it’s not like we’re strangers to it – but coming here we really needed to manage our energy as best as possible, because we were only home on the ice for about four days before we needed to return to Europe [laughing].

I think what we did though… we just didn’t put any pressure on ourselves to get home and just: I have to work on the programs! I have to be better than I was last week!

I think that [strategy] really helped us to put on a new hat and just start over!

And every time we come into a competition, we’re not trying to prove ourselves, we’re not trying to outdo ourselves – I think that’s why we were so confident, taking things like: Each day is a new day, and each moment on the ice we skate as we feel that day – we’re not trying to do anything more.

And maybe that’s something we should have learned in the past… [smiling]

We’re just staying in our element, we’re skating as if we were at home, and I think that’s when we skate our best. It’s just calm, confident, easy…

And, throughout the season, being at Skate Canada again, having fans in the crowd, I think that was a great way to kick off the season! I guess it was a little nerve-racking too, having that be our first competition, not starting this year with a Challenger – but, again, we just knew where our programs were, we were confident in them.

And the same with Espoo: we had some time to develop the programs a little bit more, and add another elements of performance, and sharpness – and each time we’ve done it, it just got better and better and we were more confident in them.

And, coming here, we just had to let the programs skate, and shine.

LAST SEASON: “SKATING! THE OLYMPICS! DON’T GET COVID!”
THIS SEASON: “THERE’S ACTUALLY LIGHT IN OUR LIFE AGAIN!”

But how does one keep those expectations quiet? How are you able to just say: Be quiet, mind, and let me do my thing here…

[They both smile and exhale at the question]

Paul: I don’t know – I don’t know if there’s a magic formula, maybe it’s just per force [laughing].

Piper: [Expectations] are always there, not matter if you’re at the top, or you’re not doing well… Everybody has them!

And there’s always that doubt – but some years, like this one, if there’s a bit of training in yourself, like: There’s more to life than just skating, there’s more to life than skating – this kind of helps calm your brain a little bit.

And you realize: OK, this is just skating! This isn’t my whole life and if we skate bad today, this is just a moment in time – and it is our choice to be here, no one forces us to do it!

I think having a little bit of perspective change really helps.

Last year, with COVID, all we had in our heads was: Skating! The Olympics! Don’t get COVID! And it’s dark, you know?

And I think having this year [after the last one] it’s like: There’s so much more to life – there’s actually light in our life again!

And I think that kind of helps ease up that tension.

DANCE, DANCE, DANCE

Talking about easing up the tension, there was almost a dancing party on the ice of Palavela at the end of the medal ceremony: you alongside junior Grand Prix Final champions Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont, and all four of you taking pictures with your coaches…

Paul [smiling]: Yes, of course! You know, all success is always wished for – and I think this week was really special.

We got to be here with both Carol and Juris, and we got to be here with Nadiia and Peter, our training mates…

We’ve been actually very lucky this season, we’ve had Carolane and Shane in Espoo with us as well, so this is our second event competing with teammates – and it’s such a nice feeling to have familiar people around, and people who know you, and know all of the steps that it’s taken for you to get to where you are.

The highs and the lows of the journey…

Paul [laughing]: Yeah, they know everything!

And to be able to share that moment with our two coaches, with Nadiia and Peter, and knowing how much work, and how much dedication, and how much love all of us have put into what we’re doing, and to be able to celebrate that together, was just so nice.

If you look at it, Carol and Juris are the winning coaching duo here in Torino as well, having both ice dance teams, you in seniors, Nadiia and Peter in juniors, taking the Grand Prix Final gold…

Piper: Well, I think we’ve known for quite some time that our camp is special – it just took some time for the right programs, the right people to come together.

With Nadiia and Peter, we’ve known since day one, since Nadiia came from Ukraine, we’ve known that she was special, and the moment she and Peter teamed up, we knew they were special.

Because ice dance is… timing! Ice dance is timing, ice dance is development – and we’ve known for a long time that they want to be where we are, and I think that’s super cool, to see their success happening.

And being here, celebrating Nadiia and Peter, and celebrating Carol and Juris, our coaches, the development of Canada, it felt really great!

And there’s recognition for our coaches too, who have always been great, but this week they really got to shine and we’re super thrilled for them.

“WHAT WE ARE REALLY FOCUSED ON IS THE PARTS OF THE PROGRAMS THAT WE STILL WANT TO DEVELOP”

Piper, Paul – do you think this gold medal here at the Grand Prix Final puts you… not in contention for a World medal, but in the position of being the hot favorites to win the gold in Saitama, in March? Or do you feel the battle for ice dance primacy is still very open, and any of the good teams can step up at the right time and win that gold?

Paul: I think we’ve already seen it this season: there’s been a lot of movement, and there’s been a lot of fluctuation in scores, and I think that’s good – I think that makes our sport exciting, and it really reflects the fact that people aren’t going to skate the exact same every time they go out and compete.

And I think that makes it really exciting for us.

In terms of Worlds, we’re not getting too much thought to how we think we’re gonna place there.

That still feels so far away [“Yeaaah”, Piper nods] and, more than anything, what we are really focused on is the parts of the programs that we still want to develop, that we want to bring more life to them.

I think there’s just so much more that we can draw out of both programs still. That’s something I look forward the most to, actually – just going home and…

This Grand Prix season has been a lot of work, a lot of competitions, and, always, when you’re competing and doing your energy management, it’s hard to find moments to really train and adjust the programs at the same time…

True, the Grand Prix season can be consuming and there’s definitely not that much time in it to make fundamental changes or even smaller ones to the programs…

Paul: There’s simply no time for that – and now we have an opportunity to reset a bit and add even another layer to the programs. And I think that’s the thing we’re looking forward to the most.

A PRECIOUS SOCK DRAWER, LITERALLY, AND A WAY TO STAY HUMBLE AND FOCUSED.
“WE CAN’T GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES!”

But on the confidence level, looking at this gold medal here, is there something that makes you even a bit…

Piper: It does… and it doesn’t.

But, you know, I put every medal away.

Away in a drawer or…?

Piper: In my sock drawer, yeah [all smiling at this point].

And I’m not even lying, they’re literally in my sock drawer – I don’t look at them, I don’t…

Do all your medals fit in the drawer?

Piper [laughing]: I mean, it won’t break!

But it’s more like: a medal is a medal, it’s the colour that we got, I’m really happy but…

You know, it’s funny, and I’m not trying to put our success down – but there’s so much more to the season, that we can’t get ahead of ourselves!

And I think that’s what kind of keeps us humble, as we put it away and we don’t see it. Like: there’s still more to do!

I think when the year finishes, you can go back and reflect, and you can be proud of what you’ve accomplished – but, right now, it’s put away and we go back to work.

And it may sound awful to just say: I don’t even look at it – I don’t look at the colour of it, it’s weird to have that kind of approach, but the approaching is working, just to be humble.

It is definitely a healthy approach.

Piper: Yeah – and we are people that say: We did it, we did a really good job – but now we go home and we go back to being humans, in our day to day life. I get to cook, I get to clean, I get to take care of the dog [laughing]… You know? Your life doesn’t change!

Paul: As Carol said: Enjoy it for 5 minutes – and then go on to the next thing!

EMOTION IN ITS PUREST FORM: SKATING TO “VINCENT” WITH GOVARDO SINGING LIVE IN MONTPELLIER

You know, I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a while now – since you skated to “Vincent” in the exhibition gala in France, at 2022 Worlds… That program, with Govardo singing live, was one of our most emotional moments of the entire week at Worlds – one of our highlights, really! So tell me more about it: how did you prepare it? How was it even possible? Were the musicians in France at the time?

Paul [smiling]: We have a great connection with Govardo – we collaborated with them during two seasons – and they live in Europe, and they wanted to see “The Long and Winding Road” program live…

And they did?

Paul: They did! They came to watch the free dance in Montpellier.

And, one day, we were just thinking about it, and we thought: Well, they’re here! Why don’t we ask them? Why don’t we ask if we can do a live performance here…

It was, really, just a matter of asking the question. And when we asked the question, they said: Yes.

And, you know, there are so few opportunities in figure skating to do something like that – especially in the competitive environment, there’s no such thing! You see that in shows but, otherwise, there are very few opportunities to do something like it.

And with us is that… every idea that pops into our heads, we take it and then we see if it’s possible [Piper smiles and nods].

And if the answer is No, then the answer is No – and then we know [both smiling].

This is so true [about our skating career] – this is how we choreograph our programs, this is how we do everything. And this time was no different.

And we were so grateful that Govardo were on board to do it, that they wanted to be a part of that with us – and, generally, that they wanted to be with us on our journey in a way. They really, really are very special musicians – and we’ve been really fortunate to get to know them, to work with them, and to be friends with them.

And that was something that we got to do together, and I think it was such a beautiful moment for all of us.

And, logistically, was the ISU on board with that?

Paul [amused]: It took some finagling.

Piper: Paul really did an incredible job in organizing everything and just talking to everybody.

And I think we’re really grateful that the ISU even let us do that, have this opportunity – again, because it’s not easy to organize the mikes, the support, the stage…

Honestly, after we finished the free dance, they already started setting up the stage for Govardo, so we went from competing right into preparing this gala program with them.

And it took a little bit more practicing, and I think we got on the ice a little bit on the morning of the gala also, to run the program live, because it’s not something that you do every day…

With the music being sung live, exactly…

Piper: Well, yeah, you can stretch things a little bit longer, or we were like: OK, you need to speed up a bit, or slow down…

It required a bit of finagling – but, man!, when we did it, they were spot on!, they were professional!, we were professional!, and it was just a special moment to kind of play to our journey.

LAST SEASON WAS DIFFICULT.
“EVERYTHING FELT JUST HEAVY, AND BURDENSOME”. “I NEVER WANT TO FEEL LIKE THAT AGAIN”

And if we’re taking even a step further into the past, into last season, everything included – the whole journey, Olympics, Worlds, COVID-fears, how do you look at it? I guess what I want to ask is: finishing Worlds in Montpellier, where were you? 50/50 in continuing your skating journey or…?

Paul: I don’t even know if 50/50 is the right way to describe it. For me, more than anything, I was just so tired that I couldn’t even process. That was really where I was at.

I couldn’t even process making any decisions about anything. Because there was… just nothing left in the tank.

And I think we both felt that way quite a bit.

I am sure this is true for the majority of the athletes – this is not unique to us: I think we found last season really challenging, especially the second half of it.

Of course, competitively, things didn’t go our way, but I also just think we didn’t feel our best after each skate. Everything felt just heavy, and burdensome.

[Yeah, Piper nods.]

And I think what helped us was that after Worlds we had to get ready for Stars on Ice – we had to get going right away.

And Stars was really nice, because we hadn’t done the tour in a few years, and those shows had audiences… Worlds had an audience as well, but that was a different kind of energy…

But Stars on Ice was, really, the first time when we got back to performing for people again – and that’s something that we really enjoy doing.

And then we had a lot of time off, and I think those things were both really important.

You know, when we finished Worlds, we were very much like: We have a tour, it’s gonna be great, it’s gonna be fun, and then we have some time off, and that’s gonna be great – and it’s gonna be good for us! and I couldn’t even think past that!

Piper [reflective]: I still can’t even open the box.

I think, to this day it’s just… I never want to feel like that again.

And I think that was the whole point of coming back this season. It’s to not feel like that.

It wasn’t… a fun feeling to feel all the time. To feel anxious, to feel tired, to feel all these random thoughts that you would never thought about before.

The whole feeling of the season was just odd. And I never want to feel that – I never emotionally want to feel that again.

So, going into this year, I think it was just like: Find joy. Find outside life. Find that stuff.

Because [otherwise] it’s not fun, you know?

And this year we really took care of our mental health, we took care of ourselves – and I think that’s kind of what you have to do.

“THE DECISION TO CONTINUE CAME ORGANICALLY”

During off-season, have you, at one point, started feeling that, maybe, you could continue – or… you just came back to practice and see how that felt?

Paul: That’s exactly what we did! We got to the end of that long time that we’ve given ourselves off and we said: Let’s get on the ice and see! See what moves us, what inspires us, what we feel like doing.

So we started throwing around some programs’ ideas, we started skating again, doing our stroking…

When did you come back?

Paul: First week of July.

So until then, it was the tour, you had time off…

Piper [smiling]: …Life.

Paul: Yeah – and, you know, that decision to continue came organically.

We had programs that we were really interesting in doing, that we enjoyed from the second we started choreography – and that’s kept us going.

THE LONG ROAD TO “EVITA” – AND THE JOY OF FINALLY WORKING ON IT

Let’s talk about those programs – and I’ll start with “Evita”, your free dance this season, because I remember reading that you wanted to skate this program for a while. Why didn’t you? And, in short, why now? I may have a tons of questions about it…

Paul: There are a lot of things here – and I think one of the big things with “Evita” is it’s a big story, there’s a lot of music, and it’s very hard to condense it all into 4 minutes.

And that’s been one of the things that stopped us a few times from doing it – just figuring out what songs do we use, what story do we tell, how do we tell it?

The first time we really jumped into it in the more serious way was actually 2020/2021 season – we started cutting the music for it, and that was going to be our program for [2021 Worlds in] Stockholm.

But with all of the closures in Canada and the amount of time we couldn’t train, by the time we really got back on the ice there wasn’t enough time to develop it the way that we wanted.

Did you actually start working on it, doing choreography and so?

Paul: No. We started cutting the music when we were still in lockdown, and we weren’t allowed to go to the rink or anything like that.

Piper: There were just ideas.

Paul: And by the time we got back on the ice, I think it was July or something like that, and we thought: We might have to do Grand Prix, we might need to be ready in a few months, so we didn’t feel like we had enough time to build the program that we wanted to do.

So we put it aside, and we decided to do “Both Sides Now”, because we thought it was a better strategy for that season.

And for this season, we came back and, usually, we have a lot of ideas ahead of time… Like, normally, by now, we’re already planning programs for the following season.

Right now? Like: December – for next season?

On a voice: Yeah! [laughing]

Paul: This time of the year for next season, yeah! We have so many ideas – usually!

But because we were so burned out, we got back from our time off at the beginning of July [2022] and we had nothing prepared!

No music, no ideas, no research, no nothing! [laughing]

And I think that’s when we thought: OK, “Evita” is an idea that we’ve developed a little bit – maybe we should come back to it. So let’s come back to it…

Piper: Let’s do it!

Paul: Let’s finally do it, because we’ve been talking about it for so long…

Piper: This is the year to do it!

Paul: If you’re gonna do it, you gonna have to do it now, you know?

[Both smiling at this point]

“WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
WE FOUND A WAY TO JUST REFLECT OURSELVES TOO IN THIS PROGRAM”

And I assume you encountered the same challenges like the first time: making a selection of the music, deciding on the story to tell…

Piper: The thing is that “Don’t Cry for me, Argentina” is the piece to work with – and that was the hard part: to figure out how to end that way.

Paul: Because “Don’t Cry for me, Argentina” is not the end of the story!

Piper: It’s not the end of the story, yes – and we were like: How do you finish that story?

Because we had to end with that, we had to end with the iconic piece that everybody knows – what we’ve learned over time is that these iconic pieces of music, they need to be the focus!

They need to be in the program, they need to be the focus – otherwise…

Otherwise people will be disappointed in a way…

Piper: Yeah, exactly, that’s what people want, we need to give them that.

But, again, we needed to know who we were in the story, because Evita is the main character, but in the end, there are two of us out there, and how do we tell the story together as a pair…

And so who is Paul?

Piper: Paul is Che – and kind of Evita’s conscience throughout, reminding her of the people, and who she used to be, and where she is now.

And she’s an important figure, but he’s also an important figure.

And I think it’s pretty interesting how we developed this and made it our own, and found a way to just reflect ourselves too in this program.

Right at the beginning, it’s: Where do we go from here?

It’s kind of a question for us too – I mean, we’re telling their story, but we’re also beginning ours again.

The trademark balcony scene in the movie, you reflected it in that lift that became an iconic moment of your program too. But I have to ask you: how was it born? Where did it came from?

Piper: It had to be there!

Paul [amused]: Yeah! I mean… it was two weeks of frustration!

Piper: Oh, my, gosh, you have no idea!

Paul: It was two weeks of frustration – to find exactly how to carry the emotion of that moment. And to get the lift feeling just right!

Because it’s not a moment that demands acrobatics – that’s not what that part is about. That part is about emotions – but it was also a question of finding something that ticked all the boxes, because we needed to get the levels…

But, more than anything, something that carried the emotions that we needed at that part of the program.

And that was the challenge, finding out exactly how to do that.

And I think in this program the music is so strong by itself that you need to be very selective in what musical moments you choose to use. And which ones let pass you by.

After all, you can’t do everything – because if you do that, if, in the 4 minutes of the program, you do something big and sweeping at every note, then the important things will just disappear.

So, working on this program, we really needed to force ourselves not to clutter too much, to really think: What are our moments? What are the parts that are important to us? And what can we do to really make those parts stand out and carry the piece?

Versus trying to do too much.

In a way, with this program, you also came back to one of your fortes: telling stories…

Paul: It’s something that we really enjoy doing, it’s something that we really like.

Piper: And it’s not something that we did a lot last quad, you know? So it’s like coming back to our original selves a little bit, I think.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET ME INTRODUCE… ME!”

I’ll admit: it was love at first sight with your rhythm dance this season – with the music, the costumes, the dance itself! This program – with its trademark line already, “I’m just gonna do me!” – screams you. Was this on purpose? Was this the message that you wanted to send to the world?

Paul: Absolutely! More than anything, it’s a song that makes you feel good.

Who found it, by the way?

Paul: Carol found it in a commercial!

She heard it in a commercial and then jumped to get her phone and search for it on Shazam before the commercial was over [laughing].

And the lyrics really speak to the kind of energy that we want to bring to the program – which is enjoying, feeling good about yourself and celebrating yourself.

It’s unexpected too, like a balloon full of surprises!

Piper: It’s bold!

Paul: It’s bold, it’s bossy…

Piper: You better show up! That’s the main statement of it: We’re here and… And we have to believe that, you know?

If we’re gonna step in front of the judges and say: Yo! Me!

Paul: Me!

Piper: I think that’s a bold statement, but we were up for the challenge, and it’s been fun!

Were you afraid it was going to be too much?

Piper: Not at all! The music just makes you wanna dance, it makes you stop and listen! Every single time, you get that feeling!

And it embodies everything that we wanted to say this year, and it just fell in our laps: Here!

So your first reaction when Carol made you listen the piece is that you didn’t need anything else…

Paul [laughing]: Well, we needed a second rhythm! And that was part of the challenge too.

Because we really intended to start choreography with the rhythm dance, but we didn’t find any music we liked, so we kind of put it aside for a while.

Then we found the Lady Bri piece [“Do What I Do”], and we thought: OK, now we need another rhythm to put it with, because we have to.

And we tried to pair it with other pieces with Latin beats that we liked, but we just felt that anything we added detracted from the original song – they kind of cancelled each other out, fought with each other too much.

And because time was ticking, and we needed to get a move on choreography a little bit, and because we had to do the PSt element [Pattern Dance Type Step Sequence], we thought: Why don’t we choreograph that just with the Rhumba beat, because we knew we wanted to do a Rhumba.

Why don’t we just choreograph it with the Rhumba beat, and then we’ll find a song we like and we can put it in…

But then we liked having the Pattern on it – and we realized we didn’t actually need anything else.

Piper: It didn’t make sense to put anything else in it.

Paul: And we like that the Rhumba piece doesn’t take anything away from the main song.

And that’s how the program came together – which was really unexpected [smiling].

But it was just the way that it worked, it’s the way that made sense to us.

Piper: And our music guy, Rob – he’s called The Skating Music Guy – did a fantastic job blending in the first piece music within the Rhumba.

Again, we paired up with a great team that really know who we are as athletes and who we are as skaters – and Rob has been a great asset to Carol and our team.

And he never says No to any of our ideas! [smiling]

Paul: Even when they’re whaaaaaack! [bursting into laughter]

Piper: And he’s like: How’s this, and how’s that?

He’s constantly creating things and adding things that we’re like: Oh, wow, I didn’t even think about that – but it works!

He’s a musical genius and I think that he had a lot to do with this program, in setting the stage, in setting the feeling throughout, in collaborating.

So it’s been just a nice collaborative effort with everybody!

“WE’RE REALLY LEAD BY INSPIRATION”

Piper, Paul, for us at Inside Skating, your journey in the skating world has always been a journey of innovations, of you being you, doing you, with fans and fellow dancers always being curious about what you would do next, where you would go next – ever since your Hitchcock free dance to present times… How was it for you – how do you feel your journey has been so far?

Paul: I think, more than anything, we’ve always done what feels the right thing to do in each moment.

And I think that’s what really shaped everything that we’ve done.

We’re really lead by inspiration, by the ideas that come to us in each moment – and the ones that are interesting to us, we follow them.

And that’s really all that’s been about and it provided so much richness, and so much life, and so much joy.

And the other thing that, for us, is so important is our team, our people, the people that we work with, that have been with us from the beginning, and that have been a part of it – the people who create with us, who help us to be better…

They’re a big part of that story as well.

“AS A CHILD WATCHING, I’D WANT TO BE US, I’D WANT TO BE US!”

If you were to look at you from the outside, what would you say watching those two ice dancers, Piper and Paul?

Piper [in a heartbeat]: I wanna be them.

[Both Piper and Paul are bursting into laughter – but the kind of laughter that seems so true, so serious]

Piper: You know, we were big skating fans as kids, we grew up watching skating on TV, we watched the Olympics in Palavela… And having Barbara Fusarpoli, and having Marie-France… – these were the people we grew up watching in this specific arena.

And you have idols, you have people that you like, you have favorites – and I think if I were a kid watching me, I would be so proud, I would be so inspired: How can I be so unique and creative?

And I think that’s why we continue to do the work that we do, because we’ve never wanted to be a specific team – we’ve always wanted to be ourselves.

It’s kind of cool looking at it from that perspective, and pretty unique to have that reflection – but as a child watching, I’d want to be us, I’d want to be us! [smiling still]

Was it challenging throughout your career to balance creativity and innovations with the rules?

Piper: Oh! [bursting into laughter]

Paul: I think that’s a struggle for everyone!

But more than anything, what we’ve always tried to do is to look at the rules and, instead of looking at them as restrictions, to think: Well, within these parameters, what is possible?

What is the freedom that I have? And how can I exercise it to the most potential?

And that’s the way we liked to go and do our things…

Piper: Just stretchiiiing it…

Paul: And that’s part of the fun too!

Piper: Yes! Our interpretation of what the rules are, right?

There is way to [stretch things], like when we did a pattern dance a couple of years ago, and we did it really fun and kind of flipped the steps, and, some years later, it was selected to become a compulsory dance.

So, again, we’re creating our own things within, and sometimes you can be selected for things – and rules can change. That’s the exciting thing about it, that things can sometimes be rewarded.

And I think that’s something that athletes need to hear more often: that there’s opportunity to grow the sport.

“ENJOY EACH MOMENT, STAY PRESENT, AND NOT GET CAUGHT UP IN THE FUTURE”

Piper, Paul, do you look outside this season? Entering this one, were there short-term goals, long-term goals? I’m not even asking about Milano-Cortina – I’m only asking how you see things, how you see yourselves within the season, within the seasons…

Paul: It really feels one competition at the time right now.

Piper: Yeah.

Paul: And it’s been really nice to have that approach.

To keeps things here, now – instead of what’s ahead, and what’s ahead, and what’s ahead.

But the truth is: right now, in this season, we’ve had three opportunities to compete and perform and they’ve all been just so rewarding, and joyful, and that’s wonderful!

We don’t need more than that right this second.

Your efforts have been indeed rewarded this season, and I guess what I want to ask is: is it nice to have that recognition?

Piper: It is, it is – but I don’t think we really soaked it all in yet. And I think we won’t really have that time yet, until the end of the season.

It feels good – but I think we know that there’s more for us to accomplish, and there’s more for us to develop in our programs.

And, again, it’s just staying humble, staying grounded, and taking each opportunity as a way to grow with the programs.

This is what’s been helping us all season, you know?

Just enjoy each moment, and stay present, and not get caught up in the future.

***

[Interview by Florentina Tone © Inside Skating
Photos by Alberto Ponti, C. Nguyen, Florentina Tone
Other photos by International Skating Union
Homepage photo by Alberto Ponti]

READ MORE:
Piper and Paul’s beginnings. „We’re not satisfied unless we have pieced together something fresh and novel”