2025 Cup of China Ice Dance Podium (From L to R): Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (USA), Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA) and Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (FRA).
2025 Cup of China: Ice Dance
USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates took their eighth individual Grand Prix gold medal on Saturday after their “Paint it Black” free dance in Chongqing, China. Teammates Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik maintained second place to earn their first Grand Prix medal, the silver, while France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud secured the bronze.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Three-time World champions were commanding in their gritty rhythm dance to music by selections by Lenny Kravitz, producing level-four twizzles and rotational lift. They showed smooth transitions throughout, earning a level three and two on the midline steps, and a two on the partial steps. Nearly all elements received high positive grades of execution (GOE), and the team posted 84.44 points for first place going into the free dance.
Bates explained that they wanted to do something more “mature” and “kind of rock and roll” for their rhythm dance.
“Lenny Kravitz is just so eclectic and he’s got all sorts of music,” he pointed out. “We ended up changing some pieces of music throughout the summer, but we’ve always been on the Lenny Kravitz path. We feel like it’s got a connection and maturity. I think in the scope of what you see from the 90s rhythm dance, obviously everyone’s got their own take, but there’s a lot of pop and there’s a lot of club music. We wanted to do something that would stand apart from what most people are doing and do something a little bit more rock and roll. So we’re really excited about it!”
For the costumes, Chock said she was inspired by a lot the animal print in the 90s, noting it was very “prevalent and popular” at that time.
“For this tiger print, I feel like Lenny Kravitz just has this like inner tiger, so it kind of made sense,” she explained. “And then the chains from the 90s reminded me of the Chanel chain shows that were very prevalent in the 90s as well.”
And the choker was a no-brainer.
“I remember having a little plastic one when I was a kid, and those were the best,” she recalled. “The top of the shirt reminded me of some shirts that Lenny had, just like the shape he wore, the draping, like metal mesh shirts. So that was the inspiration for that. And then for Evan’s, Lenny wore a very, very similar outfit to this. You know, the brown belt, the jeans, so I was just very Lenny-inspired for Evan’s outfit. Lots of fun, so much fun!”
As they entered the new season, Chock and Bates emphasized a mindset grounded in gratitude and creativity, especially as they grow close to the end of their career.
“I think with the last three seasons, we’ve been very deliberate and intentional with our approach and our appreciation for what we do and what the sport has given us and what we are still continuing to learn,” she said. “Not just [thinking] about one competition in February, because every step, every building block on the way to that is just as valuable and just as important.”
Bates agreed, alluding to the fact that it’s difficult when you “frame” the Olympics as “the last time” or the “biggest competition.”
“I think it kind of puts an extra amount of pressure on it that doesn’t really serve us well,” he explained. “I think when we were thinking of music and stuff, we kind of went back to what we’ve learned since moving to Montreal and that is that our creativity is one of our biggest strengths as a team. Our goal was to continue to explore, to look for something new, to find a story to put on the ice. It’s a little bit nerve-wracking because you don’t necessarily have a piece of music in the backs of your minds for five years. So, we just had faith in our team and in our creativity to know that we were going to find something that was going to be great and that we loved. We felt like we did that. We were really excited about the programs we made and excited to be here.”
The two-time Grand Prix Final champions gave a magnificent and intense free dance to “Paint It Black” performed by Ramin Djawadi. The level-three one-foot and diagonal steps were very good, and the team earned a level-four on the curve-curve rotational lift. However, the straightline lift was only scored a level two and the twizzles a level two and four. Nevertheless, they placed first in this segment with 123.81, and maintained first overall with a total score of 208.25.
“We had a great time skating today the crowd was amazing!” said Chock. “It felt really good to perform our flamenco for the first time here in Chongqing. We feel like this was a great start to our season and we’re excited to get back home and bring more work before Skate America.”
Chock explained that she had always liked “Paint it Black” but never thought they would be able to perform it.
“Then we found this version from Westworld and we both fell in love with the music,” she said. “It was very powerful and dramatic. When we brought it to our coaches, they all loved it as well, so we knew we had the right music. We worked with Antonio Najarro to bring this idea into life. I think it really has a lot of incredible moments, one of the most detailed programs we’ve ever done. I think that it has a lot of potential to be our best program yet.”
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik
The five-time Challenger Series medalists put out a confident and edgy rhythm dance to music by “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe, placing second with a personal best of 80.43. Their routine was highlighted by strong level-four twizzles and stationary lift.
The team was thrilled that they had broken the 80-point mark for the first time.
“I was really nervous before we started,” admitted Zingas. “I thought my heart was in my throat. I was feeling like the world is all looking down on me. And then once we took our beginning pose, I forgot about everything and I just skated.”
“I feel today we skated for each other and for ourselves,” added Kolesnik. “We really, really want to fight for our position this season and this is just the first step to be back. For the first time, I feel like I don’t really care about the score. I’ve never worked so hard as I worked this off-season and the beginning of this season. All I wanted to do is just to come here and enjoy all the work I’ve done. I’m so happy about the sport after all.”
The teams costumes did not arrive on time, so they had to resort to mixing out their old costumes.
“This is the costume I made,” said Zingas. “The shirt I had in my closet and I just altered it to be tighter to fit my body better. And then shorts I got for like seven dollars.”
“The pants are from my last costume, and the shirt is from Zara. Zara, you can sponsor me!” laughed Kolesnik.
Zingas had large holes in her tights during practice, so borrowed a set from Alysa Liu.
The two-time U.S. pewter medalists produced a smooth and dramatic free dance to Romeo and Juliet which featured level-four lifts, twizzles and dance spin. Both the one-foot and diagonal steps were graded a level two and three, respectively, and they placed second in this segment with a new personal best score of 121.84 points. With a total score of 202.27, another personal best, they easily maintained second place overall for their first Grand Prix medal.
“I feel really, really happy,” said Zingas. “The whole day today, I just wanted to go out and just be ourselves, be the best we can be. And today, I didn’t even think we were the very best we could be, but we did what we needed to do, and I’m really, really proud of that. I’m proud of the performance coming here. You know, we worked really hard before the competition, and I think it showed.”
“I feel like I won the Olympics right now, but I’m just second at the Grand Prix event!” added Kolesnik. “But that’s how I feel. I feel so much happiness and joy inside of me right now, I can’t even describe it with words. I’m just so happy that we went out there with all this pressure that we never had before, going into this free dance in second place after Madison and Evan. It’s just an honor to skate with such strong competitors in the same warm-up group.”
Zingas felt that everyone was “inspiring” to her.
“Especially the females! Really strong skaters, really strong personalities on the ice,” she pointed out. “You know, I sometimes have an alter ego when I get on the ice; I get a personality, and I get very confident and stuff like this. But I have to really channel it, because off the ice I’m not like that! So, yeah, just being here with everybody, it makes me excited to keep working, excited to train. I like watching everyone; it makes me want to be bigger and bolder.
“This is still the beginning of the season,” Kolesnik summed up. “There’s so much more to come, and we’re very excited to be going to the next one in Finland.”
Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud
The 2025 European silver medalists place third in the Rhythm dance with a new season’s best of 77.62 points for their retro-funk routine to music by Eiffel 65 and Daft Punk. The twizzles and lift were both graded a level-four, but the midline steps received a level one and two.
“We felt very good,” said Lopareva. “The public is very warm, and we like it here, so we felt really supported and it was very joyful today to perform. We were focused on being driven and calm.”
“We just wanted to show everything that we worked on the last two weeks,” Brissaud added. “We needed to reset and start to work harder after Bratislava, and I think we did that here. Of course, there’s some technique yet to work on to become better, but we are happy with this performance.”
They also hinted that we might see a new costume at the next competition.
Skating to music by Björk and Clann, the three-time national champions put out a romantic routine which was highlighted by strong level-four lifts, twizzles and dance spin. Both the one-foot and midline steps were graded a level three, and all elements received positive GOEs. They placed fourth in the free dance and third overall with two new season’s best scores (118.98/196.60) to claim the bronze—their sixth Grand Prix medal.
“Today was stressful, but great,” reflected Brissaud. “Maybe because there were more people, or because we absolutely wanted to finally get one good free dance in competition this season. We need to improve on this, so it’s a step forward.”
He went on to explain the concept of the free dance.
“We decided to build up a story about a couple who really love each other and build a life together, but then some bad news comes,” he said. “The last part is them back in reality, needing to get over it, maybe for the last time.”
“When we first chose the music, we didn’t have a story in our heads,” Lopareva added. “But our choreographer, if I’m not mistaken, noticed it was like Björk, who is from Iceland. So, Romain (Haguenauer) said he wanted something ‘icy.’ That’s where the look, the blue and the white, came from.”
Their next event is Skate America in three weeks.
Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck
Spain’s Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck opened their rhythm dance with level-four twizzles, but Smart had a slip on the partial steps that was graded as a fall.
“We are all trying to figure out how to get the turns in the partial step Sequence this year because it’s still early in the season,” Dieck explained. “The mistake happened right after a turn. You can tell it costs a lot of points.”
The two-time Challenger series medalists went on to show level-three midline steps and level-four rotational lift in their routine to music by Robbie Williams. They scored 67.37 points for sixth place.
“It’s another day to learn,” said Dieck. “Of course, it’s not what we hoped for in the rhythm dance. GOE-wise, our coaches said it was good. It was just mistakes which caused, unfortunately, so many points. But yeah, we will reflect and then see where we can go from there. We have another program to do.”
The 2024 Skate America bronze medalists delivered a captivating free dance to selections from the Dune: Part Two soundtrack. They opened with a clever level-four rotational lift followed by twizzles which were also a level four. The dance spin and curve-curve lift were also a level four while the one foot and serpentine steps were a level three. The placed third in this segment with a new season’s best of 120.14, and with a total score of 187.51, moved up to fourth place overall.
“It wasn’t our best skate, but it was decent,” said Dieck. “We felt a few little wobbles, maybe not even visible, but the goal was to come as close as possible to how we train, and it was almost there.”
Smart agreed, adding that they have a long way to go this season.
“We’re happy to start with higher scores, and we have high goals,” she said. “We reached good levels today, but we need more than levels in the free dance—we need the skating skills, the presentation, everything in between. That’s what made our last program so special, its fluidity. We need to find that with this one, which will come with endurance and more practice under pressure.”
Dieck pointed out that it was a challenging program and that the footwork was different and more difficult.
“We elevated our elements from last season; the transitions are much harder, so we need to build the stamina to skate it cleanly,” he said.
Dieck said while they closed the book yesterday on their rhythm dance, he woke this morning feeling “ten times more anxious.”
“I had to call our life coach, have a good cry, and put my intentions in a different place for today,” he shared. “I was quite embarrassed by what happened yesterday; as a veteran in this sport, it was a tiny mistake I know I could fix easily. I had to own that embarrassment and use it as fuel and also remind myself why we came back: for the love of what we do, the connection, the storytelling, and performing—not just the scores and medals.”
They will compete again at Finlandia Trophy next month.
Hannah Lim and Ye Quan
South Korea’s Hannah Lim and Ye Quan put out a slick routine to Will Smith’s “Men in Black” which was highlighted by level-four twizzles and rotational left. They scored a season’s best of 73.68 points for fifth place in the rhythm dance, showing improved skating skills since last season.
“I feel like it was a good improvement since the Challenger event,” said Lim. “It’s a season best, so we’re pretty happy with that. I feel like I was a more nervous than before, but once I was in the performance, it all went away. I really enjoyed the performance here.”
“I feel like I really kind of made contact with the crowd,” added Ye.
They were excited to get the Skate Canada slot next week.
“That was a big surprise!” said Lim. “We just learned about it a few hours ago, so that’s an awesome surprise for us. During the rhythm practice this morning, our judge came up to us and she said, ‘maybe you will have Skate Canada.’ And I was like, ‘okay, I’m going to focus on this event for now and then I will be excited after.’ Then our team leader told us that we got it and I was like, ‘oh, when is it? Next week?’ I was like, ‘do I have time to go back home and go back?'”
The 2023 World Junior silver medalists put out a poignant free dance to “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber and “Adagio” by Lara Fabian, earning a season’s best of 112.11 for fifth place. The much-improved team earned many positive GOEs in all elements, including the level-four lifts, twizzles, and dance spin. They maintained fifth place overall with another season’s best total score of 185.79.
“We were actually a bit more nervous today than in our previous competitions, but we’re very happy with our skate and with the scores,” said Lim. “Also, the levels were pretty good, so we’re quite pleased with that.
Lim went on to explain the theme of their free dance.
“The story of our program is that he gets enlisted for war, and I am left at home, not knowing whether he will come back or not,” she said. “It’s the day of separation, and I’m living with that uncertainty, not knowing if he will return.”
“My costume represents a military uniform,” added Quan. “We changed it a bit because in pictures from the ice, my old costume looked too dark, almost completely black. We wanted it to look more like an actual military uniform.”
This was a solo Grand Prix for the team this season.
Rounding out the top eight
Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier of France placed sixth overall after placing sixth in in free dance (109.88/184.20). Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu finished seventh (165.71) followed by teammates Junfei Ren and Jianing Xing (153.17).
USA’s Caroline Green and Michael Parsons placed seventh (65.83) in the rhythm dance after Parsons took an uncharacteristic fall during the twizzles. They quickly recovered to produce level-three partial steps and a level-four rotational lift.
“We really skated well except for that mistake,” Parsons pointed out. “It was a really frustrating mistake to make. And what’s especially frustrating to me is I felt like coming here we were doing everything we were supposed to and everything felt really good. And sometimes things like this happen, and that’s the sport.”
“I was really proud of our ability to kind of compartmentalize and in the face of having a pretty serious error; just deliver the rest of the skate strong,” added Green. “I think we didn’t let the performance drop, even though it’s a pretty costly error, and I think that’s just a testament to how prepared we were going into this competition and how together we were at the start of the program today. I’m glad we were able to carry that through, despite the mistake.”
Unfortunately, the team withdrew before the free dance, citing injury.
“We were giving it our best shot at the practice this morning, giving it a best shot at the warm-up, but at the end of the day, I didn’t feel stable or strong enough to do this program safely with my partner,” said Parsons. “It’s really disappointing. I think we both really wanted to get there and show our program to the crowd and everybody watching on TV. But today was not the day to do it, so we’ll say it was time to rest, to recover. We work with the medical team here and look forward to NHK.”
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