A Q&A with figure skating choreographer Rohene Ward.
May 05, 2023
An interview between Lynn Rutherford and Rohene Ward, the renowned choreographer behind some of Jason Brown’s most iconic programs.
It is fitting that, when the Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) honors Jason Brown at its gala on May 8th, Rohene Ward will be honored for his achievements in choreography.
So many of Brown’s great moments are linked to Ward, his longtime choreographer: his exuberant “Reel Around the Sun” (Riverdance) free skate, which famously went viral in 2014, garnering more than four million views on YouTube. “The Scent of Love” free Brown used to win the 2015 U.S. title. And, more recently, an exquisite pair of short programs: “Sinnerman,” created by Ward in part to honor Alvin Ailey (1931-1989); and “Melancholy,” a poignant routine set to an Alexey Kosenko piano composition.
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“Rohene’s collaboration with Jason really brought out not only the excellence of his choreography skills, but also his coaching skills,” Moira North, founder of ITNY, said. “Because a great choreographer also has to coach and convince a performer to go that extra mile with the material.”
The Brown-Ward collaboration began in 2011, when Brown was still competing internationally as a junior. Many thought the skater would end his competitive career after placing sixth at the Beijing Olympics last year, but he returned to the U.S. Championships in January and won the silver medal, just 0.31 points behind Ilia Malinin, a skater 10 years his junior. He went on to place sixth at the 2023 world championships – without a quadruple jump, generally considered de rigueur for elite male skaters.
“This year is kind of a culmination, because both of Jason’s [competitive] programs, the short and the long, were done by Rohene,” North said. “Rohene is a special ingredient in competitive skating, in that he infuses it with musicality and artistry. Jason going back into competitive skating and doing so well without a quad brings back so much of our mission, which is looking at the artistry, the edges, the artistic merit of a program, and it is heartening to know there are judges that appreciate that.”
The following Q & A has been edited for length and clarity.
Lynn Rutherford: How has your relationship with Jason changed over the years?
Rohene Ward: It definitely became more personal as he got older and moved to Toronto in 2018. That kind of gave us the space to actually build a connection that was deeper than just working on the ice together. [He was] living on his own, and we talked about being unapologetic with who we are and authentically living to ourselves, versus just being people pleasers. And for him, that it’s okay to be authentically who he is and not what people want him to be, that it’s okay for him to be an artist and an athlete, versus an athlete first or [only] an artist. And that it’s okay for him not to have quads, that he is valued and brings a different value [to the sport].
We had conversations about culture, about acceptance, and about just living our truth, and not apologizing for not having what people think we should have, or not being what they think we should be. I mean, let’s just let the sport be the sport, and let’s just see who does the best that day. He has been counted out a lot, and I’ve been counted out, too. And what we have done over the years is learn how to not care; we use that as our fuel.
LR: Do you have a set way of working with Jason to create a program or does it depend on how you’re feeling at that time?
RW: It’s never set. I like it to be organic, and it’s different every time. … For example, “Sinnerman” and “Melancholy.” I would prefer to focus on those two, since those are the two, I would say, iconic pieces for him now, and they’re the two that happened at the same time during the pandemic.
They [are] both very reflective pieces but expressed in the opposite way. One [“Melancholy”] was internal. And the other [“Sinnerman”] was very external; it was about power and quickness and almost that race to survive, to understand our worth. [“Melancholy”] was about complete reflection inward, stripping everything (external) away, taking away all of the frantic ups and the downs to show the control and the power – [to show] how minimalistic things can also be powerful. You know, a glide of an edge, a hold of an edge, can be powerful, if done correctly.
[Ed. note: When skaters, coaches, and fans speak of “holding an edge” they’re usually speaking about the depth, steadiness, and/or smoothness of the skater’s stroking of the ice and their control in balances and transitions on the skate’s serrated edge. The axel jump, which Rohene discusses below, takes off from a forward outside edge, rotates in the direction of the take-off edge, and lands on the opposite foot of a back outside edge.]
LR: And if it’s done incorrectly, you don’t know what you’ll get from judges.
RW: I was talking to a judge and they were like, ‘Oh, we didn’t give [Jason] a 10 [for PCS] because the triple axel entrance was too long.’ And I said, ‘Well, have you ever gotten triple axel?’ And he said no, and I said, ‘Ok.’ Because [Jason] did hold the edge long, but the way he held the edge—I mean, it’s still controlled and the lean into the circle, which you don’t see people do correctly. So yes, it was a longer edge, but it was a correct, controlled, beautiful edge. People don’t understand how difficult it is to be as good as he is.
LR: I’m writing about your work with Jason for ITNY, but you’ve worked with many, many other skaters. You’ve done a rhythm dance for Madison Chock and Evan Bates, short program for Kaori Sakamoto, worked with Mariah Bell, Jimmy Ma, Courtney Hicks. Do you go to the rink with an idea of what the program will look like?
RW: I always want to highlight the athlete. I don’t try to hide flaws, I try to accent strengths. And for me, everything is in color. So when I hear music, I see color first. And then I see someone skating to that through the color, and then I see maybe what they would be wearing while they’re skating to it, because all that would look so powerful. [I think] ‘Oh, that would look so striking’ or ‘That would be so soft and incredible with that music.’ It really is all personal towards the athlete when I’m working, which is why it’s important to understand they all have something different to value.
LR: Do usually either select or make suggestions about the music?RW: Always, that’s my thing. But I give them options. I send them, like 15 pieces, and if they like three or five out of those pieces, we go to those five and [rank] from 1 to 5 which is the best. We work our way down. Then we get on the ice, maybe see how they feel the skate to, and then I can see naturally which ones they work to better or which ones they respond to better, or which ones get their attention more. It’s very organic.