USA’s Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin perform their free dance at the 2025 Dallas Classic in Plano, Texas.

Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin

When USA’s Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin teamed up in late 2023, neither skater imagined just how far their first season together would take them. Yet in under a year, the young American ice dancers medaled at every competition they entered before placing in the top 10 at the 2025 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

For Veselukhin, the path to this partnership began with a bold move from his native Russia in late 2022.

“It was a family decision,” he said. “My dad asked me if I wanted to come to the U.S. for a tryout,” he recalled. “I said ‘Yes, I wanted to try.’ I wanted to explore something new and see where it would take me.”

That journey first took him to Colorado, and a year later, to Connecticut, where he would eventually meet Aboian.

“His mom called my mom,” Aboian shared. “The tryout started over Thanksgiving in 2023 and kind of progressed into a full partnership in a month.”

The team currently trains under Denis Petukhov and Melissa Gregory at the Newington Arena.

First Season, Major Impact

Though their partnership was new, the duo clicked quickly on the ice. Entering the 2024-25 season, their goals were modest.

“We were at a completely different level as skaters from where we are now, and as a partnership, we were just forming,” said Aboian. “So, our initial goals were to compete in domestic competitions, skate our cleanest, and hopefully place in the top 10 in the Nationals.”

But they far exceeded those expectations. In fact, they didn’t even expect to get picked up for a Junior Grand Prix (JGP) competition. However, they medaled at both individual events, taking silver at JGP Bangkok and bronze at JGP Ankara.

Going into the 2025 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships, again, the team just wanted to skate clean and show the work they had done. It never occurred to them that they would take the title.

“Our federation was very supportive of us,” said Aboian. “So, it was kind of a relief going into nationals because on your first event it’s like, ‘Oh, are they going to like us? Is it going to be a very great event?’ At this event, we had a completely different mindset.”

The team had already competed eight times before U.S. Nationals, so the consistency of the clean performances offered a wave of relief to the skaters. It gave them confidence that they could skate clean and do their best in any condition.

“Looking back, I really, really loved junior nationals,” said Aboian. “The arena had this feeling—like it was going to be like a triumph, no matter how we skated. The energy in the stadium was incredible!”

Veselukhin agreed, adding: “We just wanted to try and show our best and what we worked on after the JGPs. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and winning a title was not something that was on our mind! It was our first nationals, so we just wanted to enjoy the event.”

They followed up with a strong finish of seventh place in their debut at Junior Worlds and were thrilled to have placed in the top 10 at this event.

“Just the fact that we were able to skate there was insane to me! ” Aboian said. “There were a couple of errors of course, but as it was our first Junior Worlds, I think it really didn’t really matter at that point. We knew what we had to work on and build upon for the upcoming season already, but it was definitely an amazing experience!”

“We are just so happy with all the results from last season,” Veselukhin said. “We are also grateful to each other that we came so far together.”

Their rapid success didn’t come without challenges. They credit the season experience and their coaches with teaching them how to work as a team—on and off the ice.

“It was definitely learning how to work together,” Aboian shared. “Throughout the season, we learned how to overcome anxiety, how to manage nerves, how to eat and sleep properly in new places. Those small things make a big difference.”

Veselukhin agreed: “We learned how to overcome situations and just do what we did in practice. That was one of the greatest lessons.”

Shaping Stories on Ice

Summer training has been intense—and star-studded. In addition to their coaching team, they brought in help from Olympic champion Oksana Grishuk, as well as Dmitry Chaplin and Enio Corboda, to assist on the choreography of their new programs.

This season, their rhythm dance is set to Madonna’s “Vogue” and features a clever photo shoot theme concept by Chaplin.

“We brought in the ‘Vogue’ dancer himself, Javier Madrid, who was in the Madonna show,” said Aboian. “We worked a lot of arms, refining our movements. And with Enio, we worked on quick ballroom as we are working on ballroom presentation and how our skating on ice is presented. Of course, our coaches are constantly working with us on our skating skills and creating new concepts.”

“Oksana worked with us on creating transitions for the free dance as well as some footwork,” said Veselukhin.

Their free dance offers a stark contrast: a dramatic narrative based on the Greek goddess Nike and her sculptor. It was choreographed by Gregory, Petukhov and Grishuk. The selections are “Hymnus Orbis”, “Salvation for a Proud Nation”, and “Surrender to Hope” by Yoav Goren.

“In the beginning, Daniil starts as the sculptor,” Aboian explained. “He sculpts me to life, and in return, I give him a victory. There comes a battle and there’s a victory towards the end. It’s a fluid idea; it will evolve and change a bit, but that’s what the main idea is.”

Beyond artistic development, they’ve also upgraded technically.

“We’ve been working on a couple of new lifts,” said Aboian. Veselukhin noted that the programs will include “a lot of new transitions” and improvements across the board.

Outside the Rink

Aboian is entering the 10th grade through Stanford Online High School. Her favorite subject is math, and this summer included a research project on brain cancer segmentation.

“I was thinking about going into neuroscience,” she said. “But now I’m not so sure.”

Veselukhin, who recently completed his studies in business and management, is taking time off to focus on skating. A tech enthusiast, he’s recently picked up photography.

“I’ve been doing photography for a few months, but my real love is aviation,” he said with a smile. “I love planes and would love to fly one day! I may work in this field in the future.”

Both skaters look up to Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov, citing her influence on their choreography and energy.

“I really enjoyed all her Madonna programs,” Aboian said. “It would be really cool to make our own version of those.”

“I just really enjoy watching their skating,” added Veselukhin. “I was really impressed by everything that she’s doing. It’s just really great to have that opportunity to work with her.”

Aboian also admires Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat: “They carried so much power. She had this attack, and with her red hair…it just added a whole other level of energy.”

What’s Next

After winning the 2025 Dallas Classic, their first domestic event of the season, the team is now preparing for the Lake Placid Ice Dance International and hopes to earn Junior Grand Prix assignments.

It’s a tall order for a team in only their second season—but if the past year is any indication, Aboian and Veselukhin are only getting started. Veselukhin is also working on his U.S. citizenship so that they can be eligible for the Olympic games in 2030.