"Karina Manta and Joe Johnson spent five years as ice dance partners on Team USA before retiring from competition in 2019. They then travelled with Cirque du Soleil's ice show and competed as pros on the UK television show, Dancing on Ice. Now, the pair coach at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink. The duo may have met on the ice, but their close friendship has remained constant since they first met thirteen years ago."
"After Manta publicly came out as bisexual in 2018, the duo became the first openly LGBTQ+ team to compete for Team USA. In ice dancing, there is often an assumption that there must be a romantic element between partners. Johnson said he doesn't understand the pearl-clutching around the idea of two women or two men skating together, as same-sex pairings are not permitted to compete"
Karina Manta and Joe Johnson retired from competitive ice dance in 2019 after five years as Team USA partners and later performed with Cirque du Soleil and on Dancing on Ice. They coach at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink in New York City. Their partnership began in Colorado Springs in 2013 after a coach arranged a tryout, and they credited persistence and compatibility for continuing together. Securing an ice dance partner often requires uprooting one's life to train in another state or country. After Manta came out as bisexual in 2018, they became the first openly LGBTQ+ team to compete for Team USA and they challenge assumptions about romantic elements in ice dance partnerships.
Read at www.amny.com
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