Jennifer Wester

Jennifer Nicole Wester (born February 27, 1985) is an artist and a former American competitive ice dancer. With partner and husband Daniil Barantsev, she is the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy champion, 2008 ISU Four Continents 4th place finishers behind Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (Olympic Champions 2010 & 2018), Meryl Davis & Charlie White (Olympic Champions 2014), and Kim Navarro & Brent Bommentre. Wester/Barantsev were also the 2008 World Championship first alternates for Team USA. They teamed up in 2003. They retired from competitive skating in the 2009-2010 season. Following which Wester continued skating professionally, attended and graduated from Yale University with a degree in Computing and the Arts and became a professional artist based out of Dallas, Texas.

Jennifer Wester
Wester/Barantsev at the 2008 Trophée Eric Bompard
Personal information
Full nameJennifer Nicole Wester
Country representedUnited States
Born (1985-02-27) February 27, 1985
Dallas, Texas, United States
Home townDallas, Texas, United States
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
PartnerDaniil Barantsev
Former partnerJonathan Harris
Former coachPasquale Camerlengo, Anjelika Krylova, Nikolai Morozov, Valter Rizzo
Former choreographerAnjelika Krylova, Pasquale Camerlengo
Skating clubDallas FSC
Began skating1997
ISU personal best scores
Combined total174.37
2008 Four Continents
Comp. dance30.95
2008 Four Continents
Original dance55.44
2008 Four Continents
Free dance87.98
2008 Four Continents

Personal life

Jennifer Wester was born February 27, 1985 in Dallas, Texas.[1] She has an older brother, Chris.[2] She is trained in shooting sports, including air, smallbore, and high-power silhouette. She began studying at Yale University in 2010. She became a multimedia and interdisciplinary artist upon graduation from Yale University with a Bachelors of the Arts degree majoring in intersection of Computer Science and the Fine Art (Computing and the Arts) in 2016.

Wester married Daniil Barantsev on May 6, 2006.[2] They have two sons, Anden Daniel Barantsev, born on December 29, 2011,[3] and Devin Daniel Barantsev, born in July, 2014.[4]

Wester took up metal sculpture during her time at Yale among other artistic practices. She now has a website dedicated to her work as an interdisciplinary artist: jenniferwester.info. Notable events in which she has appeared as an artist include the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's international music and arts festival, SOLUNA Festival, 2018. Her SOLUNA performance, Breaking Shadows, was hosted at The Cedars Union's Boedeker Building location.

Career

Early years in Skating and Skating career until 2002

Wester began skating as cross-training for shooting sports after her father read that skating could enhance her balance and thus improve her shooting skills. Soon after stepping on the ice however, she changed her focus from shooting to skating. She started skating at the America's Ice Gardens in Dallas, Texas in the fall of 1996,[5] under coach Monica Reyes.

Wester began ice dancing in the spring of 1999, partnered with Nicholas Hart on the junior level.[2] Their partnership dissolved in October of the same year. Wester continued ice dancing, testing through her US Gold Medal by the following summer. She then partnered with Italy's Massimo Scali and trained with him in Milan, Italy.[2] They skated in shows throughout 2000 in Europe but never competed together due to international skating regulations.

Wester returned to the United States in the spring of 2001. In 2002, she competed on the Junior level with Jonathan Harris at the US National Championships. However, that partnership ended immediately following that competition — the same time Wester underwent shoulder surgery to repair a torn ligament.

2003–2009: Partnership with Barantsev

Wester teamed up with Daniil Barantsev in Newington, Connecticut in March 2003.[6][7] She underwent surgery on her shoulder in 2003 and again in 2004.[2]

Skating association paperwork issues prevented Wester/Barantsev from competing nationally until 2005. As a result of ISU paperwork regulations, they remained ineligible for international competitions until the Russian Skating Federation granted Barantsev a release, in January 2007.[8] In the same month, Wester injured her knee in a practice immediately prior to the 2007 U.S. Championships, where they finished sixth. Initially believed to be a severe bone bruise, her injury was diagnosed in April 2007 as a fractured patella requiring immediate surgery.[9][10]

In the summer of 2007, Wester/Barantsev moved to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan to train at the Detroit Skating Club under the tutelage of Anjelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo.[10] Recovering slowly from her injury, Wester returned to the ice around mid-June 2007.[9] In September, the duo won gold at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy, skating in their first international competition as a team.

Wester/Barantsev placed fourth at their first ISU Championship together, the 2008 Four Continents Championships. In autumn 2008, they debuted on the Grand Prix series, Wester competing with pneumonia.[11]

A back injury to Barantsev led them to withdraw from the U.S. Championships in January 2009 and Wester underwent knee surgery later that year.[2] The two did not compete the following season and retired from competition shortly thereafter.

Later Skating career & Early Art Career

In 2010, Wester was cast on ABC's primetime television series Skating with the Stars as the professional skating partner for Vince Neil.[12] In the spring of 2011, she and Barantsev began running the Newington Arena Learn to Skate School at the Newington Arena in Newington, Connecticut. She performed, partnering Ruslan Goncharov, at the 2012 Tribute to Life Charity Exhibition at Newington Arena in support of the Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center at Hartford Hospital. In 2015, Wester joined the cast of Notti Sul Ghiaccio[13] produced by Endemol and Rai, as the coach and professional partner of Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia. See Clip Reels from each show here: 2010 Skating With the Stars 2015 Notti Sul Ghiaccio

In 2016, Wester launched a career in fine art after graduating from Yale University. Her first solo show was in metal sculpture at Life in Deep Ellum's Umbrella Gallery.

In 2017, Wester began appearing in various art venues painting on canvas while skating on inline roller skates designed to act as figure skates. In December 2017 she also debuted an audio/visual/projection art featuring the sounds of skating as a musical composition in collaboration with percussion artist and professional figure skater, Marco Garavaglia.

In 2018, Wester performed a new work commissioned for the SOLUNA Festival entitled, Breaking Shadows, in which she designed and skated to the movements of shadows, accompanied by an original musical composition of skating sounds and classical instrumentation in collaboration with Dutch sound artist, Baz Laakakers. Wester's work is often additionally produced in collaboration with Turkish born, Dallas-based artist, Can Turkyilmaz and New Hampshire born, Dallas-based artist, photographer, and event producer, Erica Felicella.

Wester is also highly active in the non-profit sector. She currently serves on various committees of USFigureSkating, is a member of the executive committee of Art Conspiracy, donates art for charity fundraiser shows, and serves no the board of a non-profit school, ArborCreek Montessori Academy.

In March 2017, Wester additionally began authoring a Montessori-based activity workbook series, Artistic Refinement Therapy Books & Exercises (ARTb), performing as a public speaker at Montessori conferences and as a co-host at events by Total Life Complete, including a web-based video series titled B-side on LinkedIn, and teaching art classes for elementary and middle school students.

Programs

(with Barantsev)

Season Original dance Free dance Exhibition
2008–2009
[10][1]
  • Rama Lama
    by Roslin Murphy
2007–2008
[14][2]
  • Cotton Eyed Joe
  • K and W Waltz
  • Cotton Eyed Joe
  • Singin' in the Rain
    by Irving Berlin
2006–2007
[2]
  • Tango compilation
    by Astor Piazzolla
  • Singin' in the Rain
2005–2006
[7]
  • Historia d'Amore
  • Samba de Bazil
  • Kalinka

Competitive highlights

(with Barantsev)

International[15]
Event 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09
Four Continents Champ.4th
GP Trophée Éric Bompard8th
GP Skate Canada7th
Nebelhorn Trophy1st
National[2]
U.S. Championships7th6th5thWD
Midwestern Sectionals1st1st
GP = Grand Prix; WD = Withdrew

(with Harris)

Event 2002–03
U.S. Championships9th J.
Midwestern Sectionals3rd J.
J. = Junior level
gollark: https://forms.gle/h8p1yFJWvjkjvBNj8
gollark: ?tag bismuth1
gollark: I have a bismuth crystal on the arbitrary pile on my desk.
gollark: Oh, bismuth is cool™, yes.
gollark: Also, yes, diamonds bad, buy ominous glass cuboids instead.

References
  1. "Jennifer WESTER / Daniil BARANTSEV: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009.
  2. "Jennifer Wester / Daniil Barantsev". IceNetwork. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
  3. Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (January 3, 2012). "The Inside Edge: Major life events abound". Ice Network. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  4. Rutherford, Lynn (July 28, 2014). "Glenn impresses in Detroit, but skater not satisfied". IceNetwork.
  5. Wester, Jennifer (June 26, 2014). "Jennifer Wester: Why I Skate". ice-dance.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014.
  6. "Jennifer Wester & Daniil Barantsev". ice-dance.com. May 2003. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007.
  7. Mittan, Barry (August 22, 2005). "Annie Oakley of the Ice". Skate Today.
  8. Elfman, Lois (September 4, 2008). "Ice dancers Wester and Barantsev ready to go". IceNetwork.
  9. "Jennifer Wester". ice-dance.com. April 2008. Archived from the original on February 27, 2012.
  10. Mittan, Barry (November 26, 2008). "Long and Winding Road for American Ice Dancers". SkateToday.
  12. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2010/11/11/pro-skater-pairings-host-and-color-commentator-for-abcs-skating-with-the-stars-announced-11114/20101111abc03
  13. it:Notti sul ghiaccio
  14. "Jennifer WESTER / Daniil BARANTSEV: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008.
  15. "Competition Results: Jennifer WESTER / Daniil BARANTSEV". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012.
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