Photos By: Crystal Kim
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps’ biggest challenge during the off-season wasn’t training, or equipment, or even coping with injuries. It was selecting their music.
The three-time Canadian champions, who won the world title in 2024, chose Carl Orff’s “Carmena Burana” for their short program and a medley by Spanish composer and guitarist Vicente Amigo for their free skate. But those selections weren’t necessarily their first choices. Early this summer, they – along with choreographer Lori Nichol — planned a different short.
“I did have an idea – “Sunset Boulevard,” which is a Broadway show – but Andrew Lloyd Webber’s (the show’s composer) people never responded to me,” Stellato-Dudek said in a private interview. “Another athlete I know made contact (with Webber) and he said no to all of his music being used.”
Despite this, U.S. ice dance bronze medalists Caroline Green and Michael Parsons have performed an exhibition program to “Sunset Boulevard” at several venues, including U.S. Figure Skating’s Summer Sizzler show in Norwood, Massachusetts in August.
“So, I don’t know how (that works) …. We don’t understand what’s going on with music, what fits the criteria for licensing, what’s allowed,” Stellato-Dudek added. “We (gave up the “Sunset” idea) so we’re not under the gun two weeks before the Olympics and have to change our music, or (get into) a law suit.”
Concerns about music usage stem from a lawsuit filed by musical duo Heavy Young Heathens against 2022 World pair champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, NBC and U.S. Figure Skating, for Knierim and Frazier’s use of the duo’s version of “House of the Rising Sun” without permission at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The lawsuit was settled out of court in July 2022 for an undisclosed sum.
“Sometimes, you get (an artist) who’s like, ‘Oh, I’m so excited you’re skating (to my song)!’ And then you get someone who says, ‘I’m going to sue!’” Stellatto-Dudek said. “It’s very unclear. And you know, we don’t have contacts in the (music) world. Even when we send an email, we’re getting no response. So how are we even supposed to clear it?”
Laufey, for example, endorses figure skaters interpreting her songs. World champion Alysa Liu performed her 2024/2025 short to Laufey’s “Promise,” and the Icelandic singer-songwriter honored the skater at her concert in San Francisco, crowning her as “Best Dressed” guest.
With such disparate reactions – from Lloyd Webber’s flat no, to Laufey’s endorsement – Stellato-Dudek thinks skaters need professional guidance on the issue.
“There has to be some kind of better connection,” she said. “If this is going to be the direction it’s going in, there has to a liaison in this position to help the athletes out. Because who do we know in that business?”
Music aside, Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, fifth at the 2025 World Championships in Boston, have added some difficult technical content for the Olympic season. They showed much of it, including an innovative pair backflip highlight move, in their silver medal performances in Angers. Two-time Japanese World champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won gold.
“We have worked on the triple toe – double axel (sequence) in our free program to the maximum,” Deschamps said.
“We have worked on the triple toe – double axel (sequence) in our free program to the maximum,” Deschamps said.
Along with coaches Josee Picard, Stéphanie Fiorito, and Manon Perron, who train them in Montreal, Quebec, the pair also targeted improving their skating skills.
“Everything is more balanced,” Stellato-Dudek said. “When people come to see us, and we’re skating well, one thing they say is that our glide is much better.”