Lori Nichol

Lori Nichol
Lori Nichol in 2024
Personal information
Born1963 (age 62–63)

Lori Nichol is a Canadian figure skating choreographer and coach. She has choreographed programs for many elite skaters, including medalists at the World Championships and the Winter Olympics.

Career

Nichol was born in 1963.[1] She began skating at four years old at a rink in her backyard. Her family moved to the United States, where she began lessons. She was later coached by Don Laws. As a child, she was interested in music and expression, and she would make up her own choreography to the music chosen by other skaters at the rink.[2]

In 1983, Nichol joined John Curry's company. At the time, she had been working as a waitress and raising her young child. While she initially found the opportunity "magical", she said she became targeted for her weight, and that Curry demanded she be weighed every week despite her having little body fat. Nichol said of working with him, "One moment he could be so cruel. But the next moment he would compliment me in a very beautiful way and that would make me feel OK for a bit longer.[3]

She was eventually fired due to Curry finding her overweight, then later re-hired. During her second run with the company, she "felt trusted and admired", and Curry planned to cast her as the lead in a Firebird production; however, Nichol tore her hamstring before these plans could come to fruition. Curry paid to have her flown home.[3] Afterward, she underwent physiotherapy and took a series of jobs.[2]

In the early 1990s, a former cast member of Curry's company, Shaun McGill, asked Nichol to act as a substitute coach for him at the Granite Club in Toronto. Nichol found that she enjoyed coaching, especially working to develop a skater's artistry. Frank Carroll advised her that she should begin working in choreography. She began working with one of Carroll's students, Michelle Kwan, a relationship that continued for years.[2][4] Nichol has also worked as a coach for skaters such as Patrick Chan.[5]

During the 2006 Winter Olympics, Nichol worked as a figure skating analyst for CBC during their broadcast.[6] She was the 2010 recipient of the Professional Skaters Association's Sonia Henie award for bringing "recognition to the sport in a positive and favorable manner",[7] and in 2011 became the first choreographer inducted into their hall of fame.[1]

By 2015, when she was elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the Skate Canada Hall of Fame, skaters performing programs choreographed by Nichol had won 45 Olympic and World medals.[2][8] At the 2014 Winter Olympics, eleven singles skaters and a pair performed programs she choreographed.[8][9]

She has worked with the International Skating Union on its judging system.[2] When the 6.0 system was replaced with the ISU Judging System, Nichol said that while she did not enjoy some of the restrictions of the new system, she liked that falls were penalized less harshly so that skaters were rewarded for continuing to perform after a mistake. Before using music with vocals was allowed, she support its inclusion, and she also supported allowing more flexibility in program layouts, such as allowing both men and women to choose between a spiral sequence and a second step sequence (at the time, the former was required for women and the latter for men).[10]

Choreography technique and style

Nichol typically presents the skater with music choices and program concepts.[10] However, skaters occasionally come to Nichol with their own ideas, and Nichol helps develop what the skater wants to portray.[10][11] To begin the choreography with a new skater, Nichol often plays several pieces and watches how the skater moves to it to decide on movements that suit them and to observe how adaptable they are.[10] She works with the layout of elements within the program to decide on how to cut the music, noting that "spinning music is obviously very different from jumping music or step sequence movement."[5] She asks skaters to perform skating skills exercises such as compulsory figures and to experiment to discover new movements they can perform.[12][13]

For inspiration, Nichol studies modern dance and ballet, and she also visits museums.[10] She has worked with a music researcher, Lenore Kay, to understand how a piece might work for skating, and she frequently listens to music and imagines what kind of skater might perform well to a piece.[4][5]

In the 2012–2013 season, Nichol suggested Denis Ten perform a short and long program that were connected to form a single story rather than two distinct programs. Ten agreed, and their collaboration on the programs drew praise from choreographers and coaches such as David Wilson and Frank Carroll.[14] For her collaboration with Yuma Kagiyama's free skate to Turandot in the 2025–2026 season, she worked with Christopher Tin to compose an orchestration specifically for his program.[15]

Choreography

Her most notable clients as a choreographer have included the following:

References

  1. 1 2 "PSA Hall of Fame". Professional Skaters Foundation. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Lori Nichol: Welcome to the Skate Canada Hall of Fame". Skate Canada. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 Jones, Bill (2014). Alone: the triumph and tragedy of John Curry. London ; New York: Bloomsbury. pp. 282–291. ISBN 978-1-4088-5344-3.
  4. 1 2 Care, Tony (15 January 2011). "Choreographer Nichol thrives despite hectic schedule". CBC. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 DiManno, Rosie (7 February 2018). "Choreographer Lori Nichol keeps looking for the next gold record". Toronto Star. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Lori Nichol". CBC. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "EDI Awards". Professional Skaters Association. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Lori Nichol elected to World Figure Skating Hall of Fame". CBC. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Smith, Bev (23 May 2014). "Canadian choreographer Lori Nichol takes her place in the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame". Skate Canada. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Osborne, Magdalena. "Lori Nichol more than meets the eye". Absolute Skating. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  11. 1 2 Gallagher, Jack (6 April 2022). "A Look Back at the Special Beauty of Satoko Miyahara's Figure Skating". Japan Forward. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hasuno, Aya (26 August 2024). "ＹＯＵはどうしてローリーに？ フィギュア振付師が集中したわけ" [Why did you choose Lori? Why the figure skating choreographer was converged on]. Chunichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  13. 1 2 Ford, Bonnie D. (20 January 2010). "Cohen makes long-awaited return, but what can we expect from her at nationals?". ESPN. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  14. ↑ Hersh, Philip (19 July 2018). "A sad, untimely farewell to Denis Ten, iconic as "The Artist" on ice". Globetrotting by Philip Hersh. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  15. 1 2 Robert, Samuels (13 February 2026). "The Washington National Opera will have a starring role at the Olympics". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "Hongyi CHEN". International Skating Union. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "Alissa CZISNY". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 September 2009.
  18. ↑ Everhardt, Sarah. "26/27 Free Skate: "Rain, in Your Black Eyes"". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "Rachael FLATT". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "Alexe GILLES". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011.
  21. ↑ Gutmann, Lara Naki. "SHORT PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT". Instagram. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  22. ↑ "Marin HONDA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019.
  23. ↑ Smith, Beverley (8 December 1998). "Humphreys making another comeback after freak injury". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Mana KAWABE". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021.
  25. ↑ Choi, Jae-min (11 September 2023). "피겨 김예림-이해인, 새 시즌 프로그램곡 공개" [Figure skaters Kim Ye-lim and Lee Hae-in unveil new season program music]. 문화포커스 (in Korean). Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  26. ↑ "Mira Leung". Skate Canada. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009.
  27. ↑ Wong, Jackie. "More today: Isabeau Levito". X. X. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "Zijun LI". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017.
  29. ↑ "Beatrisa LIANG". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008.
  30. ↑ "Shan LIN: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  31. ↑ "Alysa LIU". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  32. ↑ "松生 理乃 Rino MATSUIKE". Fuji TV (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  33. ↑ "Brandon MROZ". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009.
  34. ↑ "Mirai NAGASU". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012.
  35. ↑ "Nobunari ODA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013.
  36. ↑ "Cheng PENG/Yang JIN". International Skating Union. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  37. ↑ "Cheng PENG/Lei WANG". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023.
  38. ↑ "Cheng PENG/Hao ZHANG". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016.
  39. ↑ "Andrei ROGOZINE". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015.
  40. ↑ "Jia SHIN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024.
  41. ↑ Nichols, Paula (14 October 2025). "From champions back to challengers: Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps set to chase Olympic medal dreams". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  42. ↑ "Tomas VERNER". International Skating Union. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  43. ↑ "Han YAN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020.
  44. ↑ "吉岡 希" [Yoshioka Nozomi]. Deep Edge Plus (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  45. ↑ "Xiaoyu YU/Hao ZHANG". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017.
  46. ↑ "Agnes ZAWADZKO". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011.
  47. ↑ "Caroline ZHANG". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  48. ↑ "Dan ZHANG/Hao ZHANG". International Skating Union.
  49. ↑ "Vincent ZHOU". International Skating Union. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
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