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 sixth interview, we meet senior ice dancers Sophia Bushell and Antonio Pena, who represent Great Britain and trained at the SK International Ice Dance School in Madrid, Spain.
Sophia Bushell (SB): I started skating when I was 4 years old. I started with single figure skating and a few years later I started pairs skating with my brother. I realized I was too nervous to try the jump shot, so we did ice dancing together instead. At the same time, I was still doing jumps. My brother and I have been skating together for almost 10 years. It was fun, but, I wanted to focus more on skating and take it more seriously.
My best memories so far are being able to compete internationally at a young age and experience that with my brother. We also performed together in some exhibitions and some on TV. When I was about seven years old, I realized that I had fun ice dancing in front of a crowd and I knew I wanted to do that for the rest of my life.
Antonio Pena (AP): I started skating very late. I was 11 years old that year. I was originally a soccer player, but one summer I decided to try skating during my summer break. This is when I realized I loved it. After a week I decided to join the school, the coaches saw my potential and I joined the skating club. A special early memory is when my grandparents used to watch me train, which would get me really excited and make me want to skate more.
What drew you to ice dancing?
SB: I tried all the subjects when I was younger, trying to figure out which one I liked best. I’ve been figure skating since I was 4 years old, and I’ve been pair skating with my brother since I was 6 years old. Then, I realized I didn’t want to do the “terrible” jump shot, so we did ice dancing instead. After a few years, I realized figure skating was simply not for me. I don’t like jumping, I prefer the basic caressing and dancing of ice dancing. I also went to a performing arts school in London and I always loved acting and dancing. Being able to be a part of a school like this while still skating convinced me that I wanted to ice dance, so I just focused on ice dancing and stopped jumping. I realized this subject was for me. Now I can dance more and practice my basic strokes, so I enjoy being on the ice more.
AP: I’m a figure skater and at my club they also have ice dancing, so I want to improve my skating skills. Since there were not that many boys in Spain, my coach told me that if I wanted to try ice dancing, I would have to dance with a partner. I did both until I attended an ice dance camp one summer and fell in love with ice dancing when I saw other amazing ice dancers. I decided to stop skating and start my ice dancing journey.
Tell us how your partnership started. Describe the trial situation.
AP: I remember I was skating with my sister and a girl wrote me asking about collaborating, but I told her of course I was with my sister, so it wasn’t possible at the time. When my sister stopped skating I was looking for a new partner and I remember this girl (Sofia) wrote to me a few years ago and decided to invite her to try out.
SB: After my partnership ended last year, I was also looking for a partner during this time. As my search came to an end, I received a message from Anto and decided to fly to Spain for a trial.
AP: I didn’t feel very comfortable at the beginning of the tryouts because I was only skating with pretty tall girls, but Sofia’s attitude and way of trying to make everything go smoothly, trying new things and working hard, was something I liked. admiration. I don’t see a lazy girl. I saw a girl who really wanted to work and that’s what I was looking for.
SB: For me, I felt comfortable starting this Monday, but what I like about Anto is I see him working hard and the good times we have throughout the week, and that’s what I know I Reasons for wanting him as my partner so we can enjoy the journey together.
What do you enjoy most about dancing with a new partner?
SB: My favorite thing about Anto is that we always have a lot of fun on the ice. There are always jokes, we are all eager to work hard and I really like Anto’s drive, having a partner who wants to push his limits every day makes training enjoyable. Training is enjoyable when you make it fun because it’s hard work, but having a friend on the ice makes the whole experience better…we’re in this together.
AP: How strong she is and super stable, but what I love most is that she always pushes me to do my job. I can be negative sometimes and she is positive all the time. I love the feeling of collaboration from the beginning.
What experience did each of you bring to this collaboration?
SB: We all train with our brothers and sisters. My first partner was my brother and Anto’s previous partner was his sister. I feel like this is an experience that a lot of skaters don’t have, so it’s nice to be able to share that same experience. Having this experience makes it easier for us to resolve issues with each other so we can make training easier and more efficient.
What has been the biggest adjustment for you so far in working together?
AP: For me, height was the biggest struggle because I only skated with taller girls. There is also Sophia’s British accent. At the beginning of the selection, I kept asking her to speak slower because I can understand English, but I was not used to it at first, so I couldn’t understand her.
SB: The biggest adjustment for me was moving to Spain and having to adjust some of the techniques I was already used to because Anto had been used to certain teaching methods for a few years and some things were new to me. We also struggle to figure out how to integrate our strengths to increase productivity. Because we are both people with strong personalities, it was difficult for me to understand his accent at first. Communication between us was a bit difficult, but now we have overcome this difficulty!
Tell us about your training website.
We train in Madrid, skating 4 hours on the ice 5 days a week and skating off the ice 5 days a week. Two days a week is ballet and two days a week is gym. We also include jazz and other dance classes. There are also sometimes ice lift courses, especially in the off-season. We had three other couples here which was nice as it was a small group but felt more like friends than training partners. We can support and draw inspiration from each other.
Who is your coach? Will one or both parties have to relocate?
Our coaches are Ksenia Monko, Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin. We have a lot of fun hanging out with them and they inspire us every day to be the best skaters we can be.
SB: I had to move to Spain to join SK Academy. It was a very easy and comfortable move as the coaches and other athletes here made me feel welcome right away. Everyone here is very friendly. I love how this academy works because it’s inspiring to be able to train with these other athletes and work with these great coaches.
Who is programming your show.
Our coach Ksenia designed the program carefully for us. We think she did a fantastic job and we are very grateful to her.
If you could take a class with an ice dancer from the past/present, who would you choose? Why?
SB: I’ve always wanted to take a class with Tessa Dede and Scott Moyle. Watching Tessa skate so effortlessly and beautifully is a big inspiration. Their collaboration also inspires me. The seemingly pure connection between the two is something I admire.
AP: I have always wanted to train with Sara and Kirill because there are not many ice dancers in Spain and they are an inspiration for skaters here. I was inspired by how much they contributed to Spanish ice dance and that’s why I joined their school. Additionally, I appreciate their trust in me and all the work they have done for me.
What are you most looking forward to this skating season? What is your biggest challenge?
We are looking forward to participating in international competitions and having fun experiences together. Our biggest challenge is figuring out how the games work together. Since we haven’t competed before, it will be a new experience. However, we have to wait until December for the international competition.
What’s your first game of the season?
We have our first qualifier in England in November.
Please share anything you’d like our readers to know about your team?
We hope that in the future, people will come watch us and be a good team and watch us do these cool tricks and lifts and be a team with good fundamental skating/strength and try to stand out from the other teams. We want to show our personalities on the ice, how well we work together and how hard we can push ourselves to see the future in this new journey. We are excited to showcase our show this season and make a name for ourselves.
