On this week’s Rocker Skating Podcast, I got a chance to talk to Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius a few weeks ago after they won their second medal on the Grand Prix Series. First of all, Ambrulevicius teaches me to pronounce his name properly (!), but we get into a number of topics, including Reed’s citizenship and her first Olympics 16 years ago), their road back after their disappointing World Championships last season, their wish list for ice dance (compulsories?!), and so much about the process and choreography of their programs.

They also joined me for Episode 2 of the Rocker Rewatch series, where they commentate on their free dance from the Olympic Qualifying Event in September.

I talked to them about what they have missed in ice dance over the past few years with the rules of this Olympic cycle, including what they think of compulsories:

“I think it's a very good opportunity to very easily separate the teams that know how to skate in complexity and be creative in the same pattern that you do,” Ambrulevicius said. “You can easily tell like, that team covered the ice better that team and does this like turn out or this moment better than anyone else.”

Listen to Reed/Ambrulevicius’ interview (starting at the 23-minute mark), only available on the podcast version (not on the live version). We also preview the Grand Prix Final.