Both ice dancers agree that this season’s short dance, set to selections from The Nutracker, will be the hardest one they’ve done to date.
“We really pushed ourselves physically this year in the short dance,” said 21-year-old Baker, “from both an athletic approach and aesthetic stand point. Angelika (Krylova), Kaitlin and I choreographed it. Angelika did the ground work for it, but we all feel it’s a group effort and have a great rapport with our coaches.”
The free dance, which will be to music from The Theory of Everything soundtrack, is an in depth concept for both Hawayek and Baker in terms of a story line.
“We are portraying the aspects of falling in love with one another and then throughout the program, I begin to develop the struggles one has dealing with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS),” Baker explained. “Not just the patient’s problems, but the emotional standpoint of Kaitlin as she helps me through the issues. We are very proud of the product Pasquale (Camerlengo) has created for the two of us and how we all worked together to create it.”