On-ice photo by Melanie Heaney
Welcome to IDC’s new Team Series! In this series, we interview athletes who are entering the upcoming 2024-25 season or making their debut last season with a new partnership. In our second interview, we spoke with Hana Maria Aboian (14) and Daniil Veselukhin (17).
Hana Maria Aboian (HA): I saw the movie Frozen when I was three years old. Frozen is very popular and I love watching it because of the scene where Anna and Elsa skate on the pond together. I wanted to learn to skate like this, so when I saw figure skates advertised in a local newsletter for classes, I took it to my mom and eagerly pointed it out to her in the hope that she would take me to class.
She didn’t believe it, so I repeated my request several times, and finally, at the age of three, I took my first steps on the ice. It wasn’t smooth as I completely fell over and my mom held my hand the whole time, but I had a great time. I bought my first pair of skates, a really nice Zuka bag and signature Mondor apparel, and started learning to skate at the Nazareth Ice Oasis in Redwood City, California. Soon I started my freestyle skating career with coaches Zina Kovalenko, Cherylynn Sebastian, Susan Blaisdel and Charlie Tickner. I’ve been competing in ISI since I was 5 years old. I had a lot of success in the heats and heats. However, due to my mother’s job, we had to move to New Haven, Connecticut. There I started training with Svetlana Kulikova. She got me into the junior women’s singles division. I competed there for a year while competing in junior ice dance with my former partner and her son, Steven Moore. Initially, I was talking about ice dancing because it helped improve my skating skills and improve me as a freestyle skater. Over time, combining singles and ice dancing became difficult. I remember a game we had in Blaine, Minnesota. I had to warm up in my dance clothes, then run to another rink and do the free dance, and then right after that I had to do freestyle.
For next season, I decided to focus on ice dance because I love dance and focus on the expressions that are prevalent in ice dance. Additionally, the National Development Team camp was an incredible experience for me. I worked with amazing ice dancers and coaches like Tanis, Charlie White, and Judy Blumberg. Since then, I have been incredibly inspired and driven to continue working harder than ever before. Steven and I competed together for three years at the Junior, Intermediate and Novice levels. I really enjoy ice dancing because I can really express my passion for dance, which I developed at a young age through rigorous training in the Vaganova technique of ballet and years of competing in competitive rhythmic gymnastics.
My rookie season was cut short, and what followed was an extensive search for a partner. Through the ice dance partner search website, I was able to find a partner that was perfect for me and my instructor. I also switched to homeschooling and focused on training 6-7 hours a day. Now, after 6 months of skating together, we are preparing for our first season as a teenage couple.
Daniil Veselukhin (DV): I started skating when I was 4 years old. When I was 7 years old, I was invited to try out ice dancing, and that’s when my true journey into the world of figure skating began. That’s when I realized I wanted to be a professional athlete and be successful in this sport. I have had to move several times over the years to continue to develop and improve my skills. Figure skating has become something that I deeply love and value, and I am committed to doing my best to succeed.
What drew you to ice dancing?
ha: Ice dancing allows me to express myself and tell stories to the audience through music. It is a very precise sport with great attention to detail and technique. It requires elegance, musicality and great technique. When I dance on ice, I feel challenged and inspired, and I never get tired of learning.
DV: I really enjoy the feelings and emotions I experience while performing. I love watching famous ice dancing couples perform at national and international events around the world. I hope to strive to reach their level of excellence and continue to improve my skating and figure skating performance skills. I started figure skating because of my parents. I was often sick as a child, and my doctor suggested that my parents introduce me to figure skating lessons. When I started skating, my health improved and I fell in love with the sport.
Tell us how your partnership started. Describe the trial situation.
The partnership began when Daniel’s parents found Hana through the Ice partner search site. After discussions among the parents, we held tryouts at a local rink with U.S. Olympians Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov. The coaches thought we would be a good fit because they liked that we were hard workers and coachable. After weeks of training and skating together, we shot a video with OnIcePerspectives and announced our partnership.
What do you enjoy most about dancing with a new partner?
We’re really happy that we have a good working relationship on the ice and understand each other. We are all very dedicated and dedicated to our work. We both want to achieve a lot in sports.
What experience did each of you bring to this collaboration?
ha: I have very extensive training in ballet and rhythmic gymnastics and have extensive experience in a variety of performing arts. This taught me how to express the music and themes behind different stories.
DV: I bring a wealth of experience to our partnership as I have been focusing on ice dancing since I was a child and have participated in several international competitions in this discipline.
What has been the biggest adjustment for you so far in working together?One of the biggest adjustments we’ve made is adjusting our mindset to the new techniques our coaches are teaching us and the high level of skating that is now expected of us. We also adapted to new skating intensity and speed levels.
Tell us about your training website.
We train six to seven hours a day at the Newington Ice Arena. We have personalized fitness training, ballroom instruction and ballet every day. We also have unlimited ice time and daily personalized training with our coaches Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov.
Who is your coach? Will one or both parties have to relocate? If so, please tell us about this move.
Our coaches are former Team USA Olympians Melissa Gregory and Denise Petukhov. Daniel moved to Connecticut to train at our training center. In order to train with Daniel full time, I had to start online school in December.
Who is programming your show. Did anyone else help you arrange the music? If so, please share these experience.
Our choreographers are Melissa Gregory and Dennis. Our music was arranged by Alex at SportMusic.com.
If you could take a class with an ice dancer from the past/present, who would you choose? Why?
If we could teach a lesson to guest coaches, it would be Grischuk and Platov. They use art and magic, coupled with speed, to bring a level of excitement to the world.
What are you most looking forward to this skating season? What is your biggest challenge?
We look forward to showing our progress to the figure skating community. Our biggest challenge over the next six months will be learning how to compete together and overcome the obstacles that typically arise during the season.
Please share anything you’d like our readers to know about your team?
We are looking forward to this inaugural season and enjoying every moment with our coaches, family and friends.
