Competitive ice dance is all about female and male partners creating beautiful shapes and stories together on the ice. Behind the scenes, however, the sport has struggled with issues of gendered power imbalances, and Olympic champion Gabriella Papadakis recently wrote about how female partners are often undervalued.
Fortunately, this is not the case for rising Canadian ice dance team Alicia Fabbri, 21, and Paul Ayer, 26. They’re a duo who truly respect each other’s strengths and complement each other in skill level, personality, and competitive approach. Respecting and valuing each other’s contributions is foundational to their partnership. It’s even the theme of their free dance this season.
2018: The beginning
Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer first connected in 2018 at the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships in Vancouver. Fabbri was competing in juniors that year with her first partner, Claudio Pietrantonio, placing 7th. Paul Ayer attended Nationals as a spectator with an eye out for potential partners. Ayer had already had three previous ice dance partners, but knew he had yet to find the right match on ice.
“Being a guy in this sport, there are a lot of girls who are searching for partners,” Ayer said candidly. “But I wanted to go to the Olympics, and I knew that not just any partner could do that. It would take somebody special, who not only has the physical capabilities, but also the mental capabilities, to help me get there. It takes two to tango.”
Fabbri and Ayer met in Vancouver, talked, and hit it off. They had previously competed against each other, but had never really spoken before. Shortly after 2018 Nationals, Fabbri and Pietrantonio ended their partnership. Ayer wasted no time in reaching out to Fabbri for a tryout.
“I told her pretty immediately that I was searching, and was interested in skating with her,” Ayer recounted.
“I was so new,” Fabbri said. “I never really did tryouts [before], because [with] my previous partner, we were just kind of teamed up. Paul was actually my first tryout, of all the tryouts that I did, and was the best one.”
Ayer was also impressed when they first skated together.
“For me, having done many, many tryouts, Ali was the first time that I had to kick it into second gear,” Ayer said. “The first circle that we did together, we were skating forward. Normally, I’d have to give maybe a 60% push to drive through the circle with the girl I was skating with. But the first pushes that we did in that circle, Ali was actually skating away from me. She would pull me for a second. I was like, ‘I’ve got to step up.’ I kicked it into second gear, and that was the first time I’d ever had to do that. She was the best I’ve ever skated with. So I knew that Ali was going to push me as much as I pushed myself. And it continues to be that way.”
Fabbri was looking for a partner with whom she could continue in juniors for several years. Ayer was about to turn 20, and only had one season left of junior eligibility. But it was such a good fit in other ways that Fabbri decided to go for it.
“The way we skated was really similar, and our body match was awesome. I was 15, but I was already pretty much looking like this, so it was hard to find a guy my age. I had to go a little older,” Fabbri said. “From the tryout, it was already so good. I was like, ‘Yes, let’s just do it.’”
Ayer made plans to move to Quebec to train with Fabbri, who was born in Laval (next to Montreal). Ayer grew up in Calgary, Alberta, in a family with international connections. His father is Canadian, but studied abroad in Spain and learned Spanish there. His mother is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. As a result, Ayer grew up speaking Spanish as his first language; he now speaks English and French as well. Ayer also lived in Mexico for a year, giving him an opportunity to experience the culture. He enjoys training in Quebec, but misses being near his family. It’s especially hard because his father has, sadly, been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Fabbri and Ayer started training with coach Julien Lalonde in spring 2018. Their sole junior season (2018-19) went well.
“We had two Junior Grand Prix [events], and we actually qualified to Junior Worlds. So it was really fun,” Fabbri said. “We finished ninth in [Junior] Worlds, which was amazing. Then we decided to switch coaches to Ice Academy of Montreal [I.AM].”
2019-2023: The road back from injuries, surgeries, and Covid
At I.AM, Fabbri and Ayer were excited to work with coaches Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, and Romain Haguenauer, as well as top teams such as Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron and Madison Hubbell/Zach Donohue. However, all was not entirely well. Ayer was suffering from a torn labrum in a dislocated shoulder.
“Because of how quickly Junior Worlds ended and the next season started, we decided to postpone my surgery until after the 2019-20 season. So I competed that first senior year without a labrum in my right shoulder,” Ayer said. “Then I got the surgery. And Covid [the pandemic] happened right after surgery. The six months that I was supposed to take off because of my surgery, everybody [else] was taking time off because of Covid. It worked out well.”
But the next couple years proved frustrating. Ayer recovered from surgery, but there were no international events in fall 2020 due to Covid. Then, 2021 Canadian Nationals got canceled. Fabbri and Ayer finally returned to international competition in autumn 2021 with two Challenger Series events. However, 2022 Canadian Nationals was disappointing, as they fell in the rhythm dance and placed seventh.
Things looked up in fall 2022, when Fabbri and Ayer were assigned to their first senior Grand Prix, the MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield, UK. But Ayer dislocated his shoulder again a week before the event.
“It was like: ‘Are we going, or are we not?’ It’s not fun; it’s not a fun way to compete. But we dealt with that together,” Fabbri said.
“Knowing that it was our first Grand Prix, and that we have to take every opportunity we get, we managed to train and prepare and do quite well and get our international [World standings] points. That was the goal at that comp,” Ayer said.
“We didn’t even know, in Sheffield, if he was going to be able to lift me, the morning of the free dance. It was really crazy,” Fabbri recalled.
After Sheffield, Ayer had a second surgery on the same shoulder. Once more, he was off the ice for six months. Fabbri went to California for a bit to train on her own.
“Obviously, for ice dance, you need to be two. There’s so little that I could do on my own. I’d be stroking for a whole day, and you know, it’s quite boring. I’m not going to lie,” Fabbri said. She sent videos back and forth to their coaches in Montreal, which helped.
It was a challenging time, but Fabbri and Ayer stayed patient and trusted that the potential of their partnership was worth the long recovery and wait time.
“I feel like we’ve learned a lot from injuries,” Fabbri said. “When you are injured, you can’t train at your best. We couldn’t do lifts or full programs. Now, whenever things happen, we just know we can do it. We’ve done it in the worst condition ever, in Sheffield. And we can lean back on that. We know how to react.”
The good news: Ayer says his shoulder is now in “fantastic” shape.
“Knock on wood, I haven’t had any shoulder issues since the [second] surgery. Which obviously takes a lot of off-ice and maintenance work, to make sure that my body isn’t going to relapse,” Ayer noted.
With Covid and injury troubles behind them, Fabbri and Ayer returned to competition in fall 2023 at Challenge Cup, CS Nebelhorn Trophy, and GP Skate Canada. The team finished the season with a surprise bronze medal at 2024 Canadian Nationals, setting them up well for this year’s campaign.
2024-25: Their time to shine
So far, the 2024-25 season has felt like a belated coming-out party for Fabbri and Ayer. For the first time since 2018, they skated a full slate of events in the fall, starting with Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, then two Challenger Series events, and two Grand Prixs.
After missing so much competition time the past few years, Fabbri and Ayer know how important these opportunities are.
“It feels amazing to have the power in our hands to get to where we want to go,” Ayer said. “We always had power, but now it feels like doors are opening and opportunities are in place to really take it ourselves. Exposure does make a difference in being known worldwide. As good as we can skate, and do skate, if the judges don’t know us as well, then it’s proven difficult to keep up with scores.”
One of their biggest highlights was winning the rhythm dance and bronze medal at CS Denis Ten Memorial in Kazakhstan. The result was unexpected and exciting.
“In Kazakhstan, we were not going for [the] podium, and we ended up on the podium, and we’re like, ‘Wow, it’s cool,’” Fabbri said.
“Same thing at Skate America–going out and being fourth [in the rhythm dance], sitting in the last flight. It was just doing our own thing, trying to be the people’s team. Because we were not going to be on top of the podium at Skate America. But if we can win the crowd, that’s in our control,” Ayer said.
Competition not only gives the chance for medals and points, but also valuable experience and critiques of their skating.
“We’ve been competing much more, so that means getting feedback from more judges than just the Canadian judges,” Fabbri said. “We’re watching the videos and getting that feedback and seeing what we can improve.”
Building on their strengths: “We’re trying to find what works for us”
Fabbri and Ayer know their what they’re good at: Power, flow, connection, interpretation. Another strong point is skating close together in dance holds.
“I actually think we’re one of the top teams, just in that sense,” Ayer noted. “A lot of other teams around the top will actually not be in holds like us, and will be in more hand-to-hand or easier holds. The positive to that is they’re a little bit freer to dance and perform. So it’s almost hidden that they’re not as close in position. We’re still trying to find the happy medium between opening it up and dancing more, but staying true to the ice dance aspect.”
“What works for one team, doesn’t work for the other,” Fabbri added. “That’s one reason I’m really grateful to train at I.AM, because you see [there] that it’s so different for everybody. We’re in that place of trying to find what works for us. This year and last year, I think we’ve really been starting to go, ‘Okay, this works for us. What would work even more?’ We’re more focused on detail work now. Trying to get it a little more clean.”
“We’re trying to push up the weaker items on our score sheets and become a well-rounded team,” Ayer said. “So we can appeal to the better nature of multiple judges. All of them, actually.”
Working with former training mate Zach Donohue on choreography has helped Fabbri and Ayer bring out their personality. Double Olympic medalist Donohue–with partner Madison Hubbell–has long been an inspiration to Fabbri and Ayer. The team feels a kinship to the powerful style and strong edges and chemistry that Hubbell/Donohue were known for. Donohue choreographed Fabbri and Ayer’s AC/DC rhythm dance last year, and they turned to him again for this season’s Elvis Presley rhythm dance.
“It wasn’t really planned that Zach was doing our program last year. It kind of popped out of nowhere, and we both felt it was so natural, building the choreography,” Fabbri said. “Whatever he was doing felt super-natural for us. We really have the same way of skating, and it’s very fun. So we reached out to him this year to do our rhythm dance. He was in Australia, and he couldn’t come to Montreal. We did the whole thing over Zoom. It took two weeks, but it went super-well. We’re really happy we did that.”
Fabbri and Ayer’s free dance is also special for the team. The program is set to cover versions of two famous 1960s songs –”It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and “You Don’t Own Me”–which explore the different roles and feelings women and men bring to relationships. Their version of “It’s a Man’s World” is sung by a woman, actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell, which contributes a revisionist feel to the program.
“It’s really [about] the equality of men and women, and how men can support women, and how we can learn to lean on each other, without being like, I don’t need you, or you don’t need me, or I can do this on my own,” Fabbri said. “So, bringing that forward. We have a good man-and-woman energy when we skate, and we really wanted to do something around that.”
“It’s not about trying to overpower or show any dominance or anything like that, but just to help support each other,” Ayer added.
The idea of a man and woman balancing, or helping, each other, in a relationship is key to Fabbri and Ayer’s partnership.
“We definitely complement each other,” Ayer said. “For example, as we build up to competitions … First of all, we both absolutely love competing, and that’s our highlight of skating–to compete, not to train. That’s why we do it. So, having that same dynamic–knowing that we’re excited to perform in front of a crowd and show our material–makes me feel like we’re in tune.”
“He’s very chill. He’s not going to get really stressed out. I can get more stressed,” Fabbri said. “So, when we take time in competition to really connect with each other, it’s very nice. We’re similar in that we handle the pressure well, but it’s nice to know that each other is there, just to help in balancing that.”
As Fabbri and Ayer look toward this week’s Canadian National Figure Skating Championships, they aim to keep that balance steady to help achieve their goals.
“I think those that hadn’t turned their heads for us [before], have now turned their heads,” Ayer said. “And we plan to continue turning everyone’s heads. Because we know we want to be on the Olympic team in two years, and we have to keep progressing.”
