Hawayek and Baker Hope to Spark Joy While Reaching New Heights at U.S. Championships

On a recent trip to a coffee shop near her home in Montreal, Kaitlin Hawayek was reminded why she and ice dance partner Jean-Luc Baker love figure skating so much.
 
"You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees – the last piece of music in Hawayek and Baker's Saturday Night Fever-themed rhythm dance – came on and, as Hawayek looked around, she was struck by the reaction.
 
"No matter what age, or what the person was doing at the coffee shop – studying, talking with somebody – every single person lit up, and either was tapping their foot or singing along," Hawayek said. "And just the power of the songs that we've chosen this year to spark joy in people, and give them a moment of escape from whatever is happening in their life, I think that's so powerful. And we've really been drawn to that idea, that our skating can be such a release of joy in people, which is why we love it so much, being able to perform this.
 
"It put the biggest smile on my face."
 
It was a fitting turn of events, as Hawayek and Baker are the ones known for their ability to induce smiles. It's a trait they've leaned into this season as they strive to take their skating to the next level and challenge the best teams in the world.
 
"We really want to focus our strengths to make them better," Baker said. "Because a lot of times, people really want to become a very, very well-rounded skater, but that puts you in an average place. With our personalities, we want to spark joy with our skating, and the more we can do that, the more we can move the audience and the judges, really, I think that it will be rewarded more and more as we produce that."
 
"At the end of the day, when you hit a certain level of eliteness in the sport, everyone is great," Hawayek added. "Everyone has an amazing skillset. Everybody is talented when you get to this level, but it's what sets you apart from the other teams. So we really have taken a look at what exactly does set us apart from the other teams."
 
As the season progressed, Hawayek and Baker also focused on optimizing their programs based on what they found was being rewarded by the judges. Since their Grand Prix season ended – they finished fourth at Skate Canada International and fifth at Cup of China – they've rearranged some elements and focused on the minute details to maximize not only the grades of execution, but also the ability to tell a cohesive story.
 
While Hawayek and Baker sat out of the Mentor Torun Cup in January after Baker ran a fever for several days, their training has been laser-focused, and they've felt the benefits of being intentional with their work.
 
"We were totally trained and ready for Poland, but it's just a matter of what our priorities are," Baker said. "Four Continents and Worlds after U.S. Championships, but we don't get those events based on Poland. We get them from U.S. Championships, and how our season pans out. We really feel like the training that we've had over the past six, seven weeks, has been very, very productive. We've really fine-tuned a lot of things, both from a GOE standpoint, from a skating skills standpoint, from a levels standpoint, and for our story for Kaitlin and I to have a deeper understanding and connect with the character we're portraying in both the short and the free."
 
Their free dance is set to "Beethoven's Fifth" and "Paganini's Caprice" No. 24 by Marcin Patrzalek, a Spanish guitar rendition of the classical pieces of music. It's a program that's allowed them to get into character and create their own story, and it's one they've enjoyed immensely.
 
However, the program getting perhaps the most attention is their exhibition program – a Swan Lake parody.
 
It's just the latest in a long line of entertaining exhibition programs Hawayek and Baker have skated.
 
"I had this idea in the back of my head, which I thought might be a little radical, but at the same time, who cares? It's fun," Baker said, laughing. "And it's an opportunity for us to show who we are. It's an opportunity that not many people in the world get to do.
 
"So I just came up with this idea, and Kaitlin trusts me 100% with what I think of, and she knows that if I'm really, really passionate about something, that I will make it happen."
 
While Baker was initially nervous about the crowd reaction to his costume reveal, Hawayek was worried about her own ability to just not break character.
 
"He is so over-the-top funny in this performance," Hawayek said. "And of course, I'm supposed to be this composed ballerina, and both of the times we've performed it so far, I take a moment to find my inner composure and keep a straight face when we do the number. But it's so much fun.
 
"And we love skating, and we have so much fun with skating, and everyone knows the sport is a lot of hard work and dedication and sacrifice, but why not be able to show the fun side of your skating as well? And oftentimes skaters don't really take that opportunity to do so. The gala is supposed to be a party, it's supposed to be a celebration of the competition. So we love the fact that we're able to celebrate and perform such a fun, unique performance."
 
Hawayek and Baker – and, yes, all three of their programs – will be in action at the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Jan. 20-26.
 
At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Hawayek and Baker earned their career-best finish, taking bronze.
 
Lest you think they're all fun and games, in 2020, they head into the U.S. Championships with an eye on moving up the ladder yet again.
 
"We always have the goal and the intention to go into our events as if we're going to win. With the intention to win," Baker said. "If you go in trying to compete for second, for third, for fourth, or whatever place you want or you think you deserve, you're probably going to get that. So we truly believe that we have the capabilities of winning. So our main focus is to go in with that intention and to maintain that thought, and to perform like we believe it as well."
 
They believe in their ability to win but, as always, they hope their skating means something more, and maybe brings some smiles – just like in that coffee shop.
 
"We also really want to allow the audience to take a couple minutes to step outside their lives," Baker said. "They're here to watch a skating event, and everyone has a lot of stuff going on, and there's a lot happening in life. Everyone has a lot of things that no one knows about, and if we can allow them to take four minutes for themselves and just get lost in our performance, to have some fun, to make them feel something that they didn't anticipate feeling that day. Maybe if they're upset or sad, to make them feel joy.
 
"We really want to move people with what we do, and that's the greatest pleasure I think we can take out of this sport, is being able to move people. And we love that."

The 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be live and on demand on the Figure Skating Pass on NBC Sports Gold. Tickets are available at ncskate2020.com.