The Transparency, Tension, and Allure of Team USA Ice Dancers Isabella Flores and Ivan Desyatov

Am I a…fangirl?

Bella and Vanya: follow them on Insta

~Update 10/19: I am sad to say that we will likely not be seeing more from this couple this season and possibly longer due to Safesport allegations against him and some other issues that are coming to light. It still stands that they are very talented. I’m feeling really heartbroken and concerned for everyone involved. This is such an upsetting turn of events. ~

I’ll start with a confession: Though I skated for 11 years (ages 8-19), competed at the national level, and coached ice dance and moves in the field for over 20 years, I’m not much of a “skating fan.” This is probably because I needed to spend some time healing from my experiences and building some new interests and synapses. In the years when I was coaching, I spent so many hours in the rink and traveling around to test sessions and competitions that I didn’t really want to spend any additional time thinking about the sport in ways that didn’t directly pertain to my students. 

So it comes as a surprise to me that I have recently become enchanted by Team USA ice dancers Isabella Flores and Ivan Desyatov. I discovered them on Instagram at some point in the last year and have gradually transformed into what I can only qualify as a…superfan. Possibly because I’m writing full-time and not currently spending any time in rinks, I’ve spent quite a bit of time watching all of their reels, reading all the captions, and poring over the comments. I’m even paying $5 a month for extra BTS content. Who am I? 

In my younger years, I admired pair champions Gordeeva and Grinkov, ice dancers Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow and the French brother and sister team the Duchesnays. More recently, I’ve rooted for Maia and Alex Shibutani and Meryl Davis and Charlie White. But I’ve never tracked skaters’ seasonal scores or tried to scoop up any insider information about them. I have always watched the Olympics with interest, but that’s only every four years. Though I try to tune into the National Championships, I generally don’t sweat it if I miss them due to other obligations or if I simply can’t find the broadcast.

I’m just not the fangirl type – of skaters, or Hollywood celebrities, or even writers – so why am I refreshing my Instagram account to check if Bella posted anything new? I’m trying to figure out the allure…

1. Up Close and Very Personal:
The footage of their skating is fantastic. The camera is often held in close proximity by fellow elite skaters in their Colorado Springs rink, creating the effect that we are almost skating with them. Sometimes Bella even holds the phone and films while they’re in motion, like a true #skatecam. In one clip, she passes the phone to Vanya seamlessly so that the POV changes mid-lift. I can’t imagine! It has been a few years since I’ve had skates on. It’s been over 33 years since anyone carried me across the ice in a lift: I have claimed repeatedly that I disliked that part of the sport due to the risk involved and that I don’t miss it a bit. Watching them spin and seeing their freedom and strength as they hold on tight, with their blades ASMR-ing in the background…I can remember on a visceral level what it feels like. Maybe I do miss it, after all. 

2. Transparency:
Bella and Vanya are fast, they are agile, they rotate almost so quickly that they blur. In the process, they of course fall (all skaters fall while learning new elements or while trying to improve them). By recording and sharing their bloopers with the public, they confirm for all of us just how difficult this sport is. I see it as an act of both humility and confidence to share these imperfections. They are impressive enough that their mistakes only serve to make them human. Plus: they show themselves learning elements off the ice first, on padded flooring. This provides some insight into their safety measures and educates the audience on the progression most teams follow in order to master these acrobatic maneuvers on ice at high speeds.

3. Bravery:
Along these lines, we often catch glimpses of their open blisters, bruises, black eyes, and ice packs on their faces or on their legs after practice sessions. Often, Bella and Vanya seem to laugh off their falls and their pain (at least when the camera is on). But there they are again, back on the ice, trying that same move, or something equally gravity-defying. Bella trusts Vanya: he always protects her to the best of his ability. By the transitive property, we trust him too. This was my downfall, first as a pair skater then also as an ice dancer. As much as I trusted my brother, I was all self-preservation and no daredevil. Given how much I held back and how committed I was to not getting hurt, it's amazing that I managed to do the throws, split twists, and lifts I did. It’s also telling how much I got hurt despite (or because of?) my hesitancy. When Bella and Vanya come on the screen I get swept along with them, simultaneously reveling in their adventure vicariously, and very much bracing myself.

Look at them: as seen on Bella’s Instagram acct

4.Romantic Tension:
I don’t read (or even like) romance novels, but I don’t need to when I have this in my feed. In their lifts and final poses, Bella and Vanya often look to be on the brink of a kiss and their comments section is a-buzz with speculation about their relationship status. It isn’t new for skating fans to yearn for pair and ice dance couples to be off-the-ice couples, but this is the first time I’ve ever found myself wondering or caring. And yes, some skating partners do actually end up together (and also break up). I have no idea how much of their sexual tension is fabricated and how much of it is real, but I am here to say that it is COMPELLING. Keep in mind that until the last six months of my skating career, I skated with my brother. So this wasn’t the dynamic. In fact, it was more like: how can we play this blues, or tango, or samba, so that it is absolutely and utterly devoid of romance?

5.The Story:
He’s from Moscow; she’s American. He had partners in Russia for a long time; she’s competed with at least two partners before him. His arms and legs are covered in tattoos and he’s learning English; she’s petite with the poise of a ballet dancer. She’s studying math and says that her parents would kill her if she got a tattoo. They’re both a little bit fierce and a little bit silly. I don’t know if she’s more of the goofball in this duo (it seems like it) or if he is (he seems more serious), but they poke fun at each other and crack each other up in the process of training. They share some of their off-ice antics as well, proving to us that there’s life outside the ice rink. As athletes, that’s not always easy to see. At 21 and 24, they’re not kids, but they’re still coming into themselves. I realize that even with as much footage as they’re sharing, we are only getting a slice of their reality, but it’s fascinating and relatable. Watching them, I’m reminded of the camaraderie I had with my brother and my training mates: the songs we blasted in the rinks while warming up, the inside jokes, the summer Wednesdays when the girls all wore the same colored tights, and the guys wore batman T-shirts. Some people grow up on farms, some come of age in the desert. Some of us spend our young lives in ice rinks, inhaling zamboni fumes, and nursing ankle blisters.

Why train all the time when you can also have fun

6.The Bigger Picture:
For years, I’ve been grappling with (and writing about) the question: what does involvement in elite sports add up to beyond our placements? Or: what can we extract from all this training after the fact? Bella and Vanya have been granted a prestigious opportunity to compete at Skate America in Texas in October and are currently ranked 7th in the United States. More often than not, moving up the ranks in ice dance is only possible when the athletes above you retire. Who’s to say what’s ahead for this team? Of course they want to climb in the standings, improve their technique, and increase their scores. But I want to acknowledge that they’re doing something else, separate from the hierarchy created by this rigid system. Skating is, to a degree, a form of entertainment. It’s a skill, and I’d posit that it’s also an artform - viewers can all enjoy it aside from rankings and scores. Social media has allowed Bella and Vanya the unique opportunity to open a door into their world and invite us in. By sharing their vulnerabilities, their challenges, and their extreme talent, they are demonstrating (and reminding many of us of) the unique joy of being on the ice. Maybe also: The unique joy of life off the ice, too. And perhaps just, simply: joy.

~Jocelyn
See more of my writing about skating and life on my website.

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Are you currently refreshing the feeds of any athletes? Admit it! Thanks for reading.