As the Winter Olympics kick off in Milan, one of the most popular sports, ice dancing, features athletes trained right here in Novi, Michigan.
While traditional figure skating focuses on technical jumps, lifts and spins, ice dancing athletes gain points for musicality and choreography all while dancing so closely with one another in tandem that the faintest slip of the skate could lead to disaster.
During Monday’s competition, Team USA athletes Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik flew across the ice, twirling in perfect unison to R&B hit “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe. Their artistry and technique put them in 6th place, with a final performance coming up Wednesday.
The pair is close behind Italians Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri in fifth place and Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, from Great Britain, in fourth.
Coaching the duo is Igor Shpilband, a former competitor for the Soviet Union and a 1983 World Junior Champion. He’s made Michigan a hub for Olympic-level ice dance training for the past 35 years.
“The energy was fantastic,” Shpilband said of the first few days of competition. “It's the first Olympics for Emilea and Vadym, and they're so excited to be here and so excited to represent the United States and Michigan.”
Ukrainian-born Kolesnik, 24, came to Michigan when he was just 15 to try out with coach Shpilband. Following his tryouts, the athlete was offered a place in the coach’s training group but was unable to move to the United States with his mom, Svitlana, due to visa-related complications.
Left without much of a choice, Kolesnik opted to move to the U.S. on his own and live with the family of his former skating partner, Avonley Nguyen, until he turned 18.
His mom joined him several years later, but he hasn’t been able to see the rest of his family since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
At this year’s Winter Olympics, Kolesnik is reuniting with the rest of his family for the first time — and introducing them to his new partner, Zingas.
The pair first met back in 2022 after coach Shpilband introduced them. At the time, Kolesnik was searching for a new partner after splitting with Nguyen in 2020.
Shpilband spotted Zingas practicing for a women’s singles figure skating competition in Germany. Impressed by her musicality, he convinced her to try ice dancing with Kolesnik.
“She was a great skater, and she was dancing so well,” Shpilband said. “You're not seeing it that often at the single skating event, when sometimes skaters (are) just focusing on the jumps and the spins and elements. But this girl was just dancing and having a lot of fun.”
Not only did the two share a love for ice skating, but they also both had roots in Michigan, which Shpilband said has given them something to connect on.
Zingas, 23, grew up in Grosse Pointe Pointe Farms and tried to make the 2022 Olympics as a singles skater representing Cyprus, her dad’s country of origin, but did not earn a spot in the qualifying event.
Zingas is now returning to the main stage, this time with Kolesnik by her side. According to Shpilband, it's a match made for winning.
“I can clearly see which teams can work in the future,” Shpilband said. “It's super hard to put together a dance team because especially the young kids, you don't know how they're going to grow up because they don't know if they're going to have the same dedication.”
Kolesnik and Zingas aren’t the only Team USA ice dancers with ties to Michigan. In fact, all six ice dancers competing for Team USA trained in Michigan with Shpilband at one point.
Shpilband’s former trainees include University of Michigan alumnus Evan Bates, who hails from Ann Arbor, and his partner Madison Chock, from Novi. The pair’s high-scoring performances helped the U.S. figure skating team win gold on Sunday, and they’ll be chasing an individual Olympic gold on Wednesday.
Shpilband coached Bates and Chock at the beginning of their partnership 15 years ago.
“I do remember her (as a) little girl walking into the rink,” Shpilband said. “It took some convincing for me to put them together, because Evan wasn't really sure in the beginning.”
The two, now married, have competed in four Olympics together and won three consecutive world championships. Shpilband said the level they’re competing at is something he would never have seen decades ago as an athlete.
“The technical difficulty is just not even comparable,” he said. “They’re required to do a lot more difficult stuff than 30 years ago, and they’re able to do it with a lot more quality and speed across the ice.”
Shpilband said small, imperceptible details can affect the competitors’ grade of execution and performance marks. What makes ice dancing unique at the Winter Games is the combination of athletic prowess and artistic flair.
“Ice dance is a really, really complicated sport,” Shpilband said. “You cannot be just successful with athletic ability. You have to bring some artistry. And the same way, you cannot be just artistic if you don't have a good, strong, solid technique and athletic skills.”
Bates and Chock are competing for the gold Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. EST, with Kolesnik and Zingas following shortly after at 2:15 p.m. in the free dance program.
