Interview Reed and Ambrulevicius: Triumphs and transformations

[gsk8]

Following their bronze medal triumph at the 2024 European Championships, Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius are wasting no time in their efforts to enhance their performance for the upcoming 2024-25 season. This past season marked a pinnacle in the careers of these ice dancers who joined forces in 2017.


They skipped a few provincial competitions, as well as the first of three Challenger Series, after Reed had dislocated her shoulder. However, they were back on the ice and took silver at 2023 Nebelhorn Trophy in mid-September. They followed up with a bronze medal win at both 2023 Skate Canada and 2023 NHK Trophy—their first medals in the Grand Prix series. Reed and Ambrulevicius then wrapped up the first half of the season after placing first at 2023 Golden Spin of Zagreb in December.

A month later, the remarkable duo secured another celebrated bronze at the European Championships, held in their home country of Lithuania. Wrapping up the 2023-24 season at Worlds, they placed a commendable sixth place, marking their best performance in this event to date. Adding to the significance of their achievement is the fact that they have been residing and training in Montreal since 2021.

During this interview, the five-time Lithuanian National champions delve into their season in detail, focusing particularly on their unforgettable experience at the European Championships in Ambrulevicius’ hometown of Kaunas. They open up about the range of emotions they experienced and reflect on their thoughts leading up to and following their performances, as well as the significant impact their achievements had on the people of Lithuania. Acknowledging the challenging preparations for the World Championships, they candidly discuss the strategies and support systems that proved instrumental in their journey.

Reed and Ambrulevicius are already back in training and have established new goals for the 2024-25 season. They share their thoughts about the new Rhythm Dance theme as well as what is important to them when choosing Free Dance music.

We also dive in a little deeper in their Free Dance theme from this season: digitalization.

Off the ice, Saulius is a gifted photographer. He shares what fascinates him about this form of art and which of their teammates he plans to shoot next. Allison reveals her hobbies and interests off the ice and talks about the inspiration she’s obtained from her older siblings Cathy and Chris, past and present.

 

[ladyjane]

Great interview. I like to read about them (and listen).

 

[gsk8]

They were fun!

 

[Skater Boy]

I think they are really making a statement especially without Russia. I would love to hear more about the Reed Family story. What is their story? They have had several kids who were world level competitors? Why the multi nation representation approach? Hoe do they represent so many countries? What needs to be done? Does it take money? Are they Americans? Japanese? Lithuranians? Armenians? Whatever? Is the last of the Reeds?

 

[RUKen]

All of the Reed siblings were born in Michigan and raised in New Jersey, USA. Their mother is originally from Japan. Cathy and Chris began ice dancing with each other as children and were members of US Figure Skating at the lower levels. There may have been multiple reasons for choosing to represent Japan as senior level skaters, but the most obvious is that they were instantly the best ice dancers available for the Japanese federation and as such could get international assignments. Allison did not have another skating sibling to team up with, so she found other partners who represented other countries. Her first partner was Otar Japaridze, who represented Georgia but was living in (or near) New Jersey. As she moved on to other pairings (Vasili Rogov of Israel and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania), she changed her affiliation to match her partners'.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I think they are really making a statement especially without Russia. I would love to hear more about the Reed Family story. What is their story? They have had several kids who were world level competitors? Why the multi nation representation approach? Hoe do they represent so many countries? What needs to be done? Does it take money? Are they Americans? Japanese? Lithuranians? Armenians? Whatever? Is the last of the Reeds?

The Reeds are Americans, with one parent (their mother) of Japanese heritage. Cathy and Chris Reed surely sought to skate for Japan because their Japanese heritage provided them with the opportunity to further develop their ice dance talent and compete at Worlds. This was a good arrangement for Japan too in trying to build an ice dance discipline.

At first, I didn't know Cathy and Chris had a younger sister who possessed similar talent. That is pretty amazing. Allison learned to skate at age three and she started out competing as a singles skater. As previously noted by @RUKen, Allison's first ice dance partner was Otar Japaridze of Georgia, and her second partner was Vasili Rogov of Israel. Thus, Allison has repped Georgia and Israel prior to repping Lithuania with handsome Saulius Ambrulevičius. Allison and Saul teamed in Spring 2017 and have steadily worked their way up the ranks in ice dance ever since.

It was nice getting to know Allison & Saul and hearing their speaking voices in this interview. I was interested to learn that they both are in significant other relationships off-the-ice, which further debunks fans' subliminal expectations that two partners are in a relationship due to the romance inherent in skating together. A lot of the time, the feeling of a team having a romantic connection turns out to be acting for the performance. LOL! Many teams in pairs and ice dance are mainly good friends who share more of a sibling relationship off-the-ice (as gender & sexual identities can vary). In some cases, on-ice partners may not even like each other or get along very well. Of course, by virtue of proximity, some partners end up dating but a love connection can be dicey and doesn't always endure. If partners are attracted to each other, slow and steady is advisable, especially when young. The partnership and career on-the-ice should be prioritized.

Another thing I found revealing is that Saul had encouraged Lithuania fed to put in a bid for the 2024 European championships once Hungary pulled out. Wow, that's cool, especially since Lithuania organizers did such a fabulous job. It was a very enjoyable Euros, with lovely icing on-the-cake for the country when Saul & Allison won the bronze medal in ice dance.

ETA:
I really hope Allison can get Lithuanian citizenship soon. She was denied her citizenship request in 2021, in the lead-up to the 2022 Olympics. Maybe it will help that they have made so much competitive progress.

 

[gsk8]

Until now, I really never had a chance to hear Ambrulevicius speak much, and I really enjoyed that in this interview. Especially when he talked about the audience in Montreal. He really opened up about a lot!

 

[iluvtodd]

I really like this team. One of the next flags I need to get is the Lithuanian flag (and the Latvian one for Deniss V.).

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

'Guns N' Roses' Allison Reed and Saulius AmbruleviÄius practice their 2023-2024 80's Rhythm Dance

Lithuanian Ice Dancers Allison Reed and Saulius AmbruleviÄius perform their 2023-2024 Rhythm Dance at the Ice Academy of Montreal, ahead of the 2024 ISU Worl...

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Wow! This is one powerful, sexy RD by Allison & Saul. Seeing it so close-up, as expertly filmed by Jordan Cowan of OIP, gives this performance even more punch and exciting impact.

Bonus: Here's Jordan discussing how he does his amazing work filming skaters up-close and personal. This was obviously filmed circa 2021 during the pandemic aftermath. I haven't seen this before, so it's nice to discover it. I knew Jordan was a competitive skater but it went over my head that he had competed in ice dance for Team USA, finishing his career 7th in the country, and then becoming a videographer and a professional ballroom dancer! Bravo Jordan!

Cinematographer @OnIcePerspectives on Skating While Filming & More | 21 Questions

Maria stopped by Bryant Park to catch up with figure skating cinematographer Jordan Cowan, aka On Ice Perspectives. They talk about his time on Team USA, bal...

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