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Hard-working Aaron aims to modernize 'Carmen'
Reigning U.S. champion moves full steam ahead with little break, plans five total quads
By Amy Rosewater, special to icenetwork.com
But with the 2014 Olympic Winter Games fast approaching (the Opening Ceremony is set for Feb. 7), Aaron has not had much time to kick back and celebrate -- quite the contrary. Aside from a brief respite in his home state of Arizona, Aaron already is in high gear for the upcoming campaign.
"I really am working hard," Aaron said. "I am shooting for Olympic gold, so I am putting everything out there."
Icenetwork.com managed to catch up with Aaron recently, and he opened up about his "time off," his new free skate and about visiting his old Tron costume, which is now housed at the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The following has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Icenetwork.com: Have you had much of a chance to relax?
Aaron: I got back to Arizona for about 2 1/2 weeks. I was so tired of the cold. It felt great to be there. I had lunch with my family a lot. I got to see my little cousins. It was great.
Icenetwork.com: Did you skate at all while you were home?
Aaron: I did. I was asked to be in a benefit show in Colorado Springs, so I skated a little bit so I was ready. I went back to my old rink and saw my friends and my former coach (Doug Ladret). They are part of my family.
Icenetwork.com: How are things coming along for the upcoming season?
Aaron: I am going to work with (choreographer) Pasquale (Camerlengo) for the short program and Lori Nichol for the long program. After the benefit show in Colorado, I went to Detroit to work with Pasquale on the short program. It is super cool. I am looking forward to debuting it this summer.
Pasquale really helped me get my levels up on choreography. The short program is way upbeat, and I think people will really get into it. I really want to make sure it stands out among the others.
For the long program, I really have to get my strength up. It is a four-minute, 45-second, leg-burning program. I am definitely excited to show how I can move differently. Lori found a contemporary arrangement of Carmen. It varies between a classic and modern take on Carmen. I feel it keeps people wondering what the music is until the very end, when you realize the music is Carmen.
When I came to Lori with the idea of Carmen, she wanted to make sure that we did an original spin on Carmen. Lori's choreography is truly amazing, and I love how she found a modernistic movement. I definitely wanted something known but not too overplayed. I know it's going to make me grow as a skater.
Icenetwork.com: This is the first time you have worked with Lori. When did you work with her, and what was the experience like?
Aaron: I went early to work with Lori. I actually came home from worlds (in London, Ontario) to Colorado Springs for a day, and then I went back to Canada (Toronto) to work with Lori. It's such a big season coming up that (coach) Tom (Zakrajsek) and I wanted to get to work on the new program early.
I worked with Lori six to seven hours a day. I had never worked with her before, but I had seen programs she had done for other skaters and I really liked them. I feel like she's such a great asset to our team.
She picked me up from the airport and had the music playing in the car. It was playing when we were in her house and when we went back and forth to the rink. She knew every beat. She told me, 'You gotta trust me.' Trust is so important to me, and when she said that, I knew I could trust her.
Icenetwork.com: As excited as you are for the upcoming season, there's got to be a part of you that is sad to say goodbye to your Tron short program, especially the fun costume.
Aaron: Oh yeah, definitely. I am pretty bummed. I liked that program a lot. And the costume is now in the hall of fame in Colorado Springs, which is really cool. What's really cool is that the United Tron Army tweets at me every once in a while. I am part of the Tron family.
Icenetwork.com: What have you got planned in terms of quads for your programs? Obviously, you made quite a statement last season with them.
Aaron: It is still early, but the plan is to have two in the short program and three in the long. I really like the triple Lutz and would like to have a quadruple Lutz, but I'm not just focusing on the jumps this time. I'm doing a lot of work with ballet and ballroom. And I just got new skates, so we'll see. My others were 2 1/2 years old.
Icenetwork.com: That's old.
Aaron: Yeah. Tom was not very happy that I kept them so long.
Icenetwork.com: How will your off-ice life be this season? You took about three classes last year. Will you be taking any this year?
Aaron: I definitely will take classes. It will ease my mind. I think skating all the time is not really healthy for myself. Maybe I won't take as many as I did last year, maybe one or two. I really want to get my real estate license.
Icenetwork.com: As a former hockey player, I imagine you were tuned into the recent IIHF World Hockey Championships. The U.S. men's team claimed the bronze medal over the weekend.
Aaron: Oh yeah, definitely. I was watching it. I will always watch hockey.
Icenetwork.com: Speaking of hockey, are you still crashing into the boards in practice? You took a few hits at worlds.
Aaron: (Laughing) Yeah, maybe a couple of times, especially with the new programs. I think I scared Lori a few times, but she picked it up pretty quickly.
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