Massimo Scali (born 11 December 1979) is an Italian former competitive
ice dancer
Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...
. With partner
Federica Faiella
Federica Faiella (born 1 February 1981) is an Italian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Massimo Scali, she is the 2010 World bronze medalist, a two-time (2009–2010) European silver medalist, and six-time (2003–2005, 2007–2009) ...
, he is the
2010 World bronze medalist, a two-time (
2009–
2010)
European silver medalist, and a six-time (2003–2005, 2007–2009)
Italian national champion. They also won eleven Grand Prix medals.
Career
Early years
Massimo Scali began skating at the age of ten.
[ His early ice dance career was with Flavia Ottaviani, with whom he won six medals on the ]Junior Grand Prix
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
. They were the 1997/1998 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists. He and Faiella trained at the same rink under the same coach.[ After his partner quit skating, he briefly partnered with ]Jennifer Wester
Jennifer Nicole Wester (born February 27, 1985) is a visual artist and former American ice dancer. With partner Daniil Barantsev, she is the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy champion, 2008 ISU Four Continents 4th place finisher, and 2008 World Championship f ...
.[
]
Partnership with Faiella
Scali teamed up with Federica Faiella in 2001.[ Despite skating together for only a brief period of time, they were able to qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympics, where they finished 18th.
In their second season of competition together, Faiella/Scali won Italian nationals for the first time, and placed in the top ten at the European Championships. A year later, they moved into the top ten at Worlds. In the years leading up to the 2006 Winter Olympics, they continued to make steady progress up the ranks. Prior to the 2005-06 Olympic season, ]Barbara Fusar-Poli
Barbara Fusar-Poli (born 6 February 1972) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Maurizio Margaglio, she is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won nine Italian titl ...
/ Maurizio Margaglio
Maurizio Margaglio (; born 16 November 1974) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Barbara Fusar-Poli, he is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won nine Italian ...
, who won bronze for Italy at the 2002 Games, returned to the eligible ranks. Faiella/Scali became the second Italian team, and finished outside the top ten at the Olympics after a fall in the original dance.[
Following the season, they made a coaching change and relocated to the United States to work with ]Pasquale Camerlengo
Pasquale Camerlengo (born 14 April 1966) is an Italian former competitive ice dancer who is now a coach and choreographer. With Stefania Calegari, he won gold medals at Skate America, Skate Canada, and the International de Paris, and placed fift ...
and Anjelika Krylova
Anjelika Alexeyevna Krylova (russian: Анжелика Алексеевна Крылова; born 4 July 1973) is a Russian retired Ice dancing, ice dancer. With partner Oleg Ovsyannikov, she is the 1998 Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics, ...
at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...
.[ They had an up and down season in 2006-07 but enjoyed good results in 2007-08, including a fourth place at the Europeans and a fifth-place finish at Worlds.
In the 2008-09 season, Faiella/Scali finished second at the Trophee Eric Bompard and won their first Grand Prix event, the ]2008 NHK Trophy
The 2008 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the 2008–09 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo on November 27–30. Medals wer ...
. This qualified them for their first Grand Prix final, where they finished fourth. They won their first European medal, a silver, behind Russians Jana Khokhlova / Sergei Novitski.[ At the 2009 World Championships, a fall in the original dance ended their hopes of medal contention, and they finished eighth.
]
In the 2009–10 Olympic season, Faiella/Scali began their season with a bronze medal at the 2009 Cup of China. They withdrew from their next Grand Prix event due to Faiella's illness. At the 2010 Europeans, they won both the original dance and the free dance on their way to their second European silver medal. They finished fifth at the Olympics. Faiella fell ill after the Olympics and returned to the ice only four days before the World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
.[ The duo won their first world medal, a bronze, in Turin.][
At the 2010 World Championships, Faiella/Scali announced that they would return for another season. Their assigned Grand Prix events in 2010-11 were the Cup of China and the Cup of Russia. Visa problems delayed their training in the U.S. and Faiella had recurring back problems.][ They again finished third at the ]2010 Cup of China
The 2010 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on November 4–7. Medals were a ...
after Scali tripped on Faiella's skirts in both programs.[ They withdrew from the ]2010 Cup of Russia
The 2010 Cup of Russia was the fifth event of six in the 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Megasport Arena in Moscow on November 18–21. Medals were awarde ...
prior to the free dance due to Scali's back injury.[ At the 2011 European Championships, they placed ninth in the short dance but moved up to fifth after the free dance.][
On 15 March 2011, Scali announced on the team's website that they were retiring from competitive skating and that he would work with coach and choreographer ]Pasquale Camerlengo
Pasquale Camerlengo (born 14 April 1966) is an Italian former competitive ice dancer who is now a coach and choreographer. With Stefania Calegari, he won gold medals at Skate America, Skate Canada, and the International de Paris, and placed fift ...
's team at the Detroit Skating Club.[ However, in May 2011, after Faiella's recovery progressed better than expected, they announced through their official website that they would in fact continue to skate competitively.][ An injury to Faiella ended this comeback attempt, and in 2012 Scali confirmed that they would not return to competitive skating.][
Faiella/Scali often performed reverse lifts in competition, in which she lifted him.][
]
Coaching career
In 2011, Scali began working as a coach and choreographer in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...
at the Detroit Skating Club, alongside Camerlengo, Anjelika Krylova
Anjelika Alexeyevna Krylova (russian: Анжелика Алексеевна Крылова; born 4 July 1973) is a Russian retired Ice dancing, ice dancer. With partner Oleg Ovsyannikov, she is the 1998 Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics, ...
, Natalia Annenko-Deller, and Elizabeth Punsalan
Elizabeth Punsalan or Swallow (born January 9, 1971) is an American former competitive ice dancer. With her husband Jerod Swallow, she is a five-time U.S. national champion, two-time Skate America champion, and competed twice in the Winter Olymp ...
.[ He has worked with ]Madison Hubbell
Madison Hubbell (born February 24, 1991) is an American former ice dancer. She competed with Zachary Donohue from 2011 to 2022. With him, she is a two-time 2022 Winter Olympics medalist, a four-time World medalist, the 2018 Grand Prix Final cha ...
/ Zachary Donohue
Zachary Tyler "Zach" Donohue (born January 8, 1991) is an American former ice dancer. With Madison Hubbell, he is a two-time 2022 Winter Olympics medalist, a four-time World Figure Skating Championships, World medalist, the 2018 Grand Prix of Fig ...
,[ ]Danielle O'Brien
Danielle O'Brien (born 7 February 1990) is an Australian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Gregory Merriman, she is a six-time Australian senior national champion and three-time junior national champion. They have competed at the Worl ...
/ Gregory Merriman
Gregory Merriman, also known as Greg, (born 3 October 1988) is an Australian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Danielle O'Brien, he is a six-time Australian senior national champion and three-time junior national champion. They have c ...
,[ and ]Alexandra Paul
Alexandra Elizabeth Paul (born July 29, 1963) is an American actress, activist, health coach, and former model. Paul began her career modeling in New York before landing her first major role in John Carpenter's horror film ''Christine'' (1983). ...
/ Mitchell Islam
Mitchell Islam (born January 24, 1990) is a Canadian former competitive ice dancer. He teamed up with partner Alexandra Paul in 2009. They are the 2010 World Junior silver medalists, 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalists, and three-time Canadi ...
.[ Scali was working as a coach and choreographer at the Arctic Edge in Canton, Michigan with ]Marina Zueva
Marina Olegovna Zoueva or Zueva (russian: Марина Олеговна Зуева; born 9 April 1956) is a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor in ice dancing. Representing the Soviet Union with Andrei Vitman, she ...
. He coached Maia Shibutani
Maia Harumi Shibutani (born July 20, 1994) is an American ice dancer. Partnered with her brother Alex Shibutani, she is a two time 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World medalist (silver in 2016, bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2016 Fou ...
/ Alex Shibutani
Alex Hideo Shibutani (born April 25, 1991) is an American ice dancer. Partnered with his sister Maia Shibutani, he is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2018), a three-time World medalist (silver in 2016; bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2016 Fou ...
until their retirement in 2018.
In addition to his coaching career he has also choreographed for several skaters. His clients include:
* Karen Chen
Karen Chen (born August 16, 1999) is an American figure skater. She is a 2022 Olympic Games team event silver medalist, two-time CS U.S. Classic bronze medalist (2016, 2017), the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist, the 2017 U.S. nat ...
* Wakaba Higuchi
is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 World silver medalist and a five-time Japanese national medalist (bronze in 2015, silver in 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2022). On the junior level, she is a two-time World Junior bronze medalist ( 2015 ...
* Alysa Liu
Alysa Liu (born August 8, 2005) is a retired American competitive figure skater. Liu is the youngest-ever U.S. women's national champion, having won her first title at age 13. She is also the youngest to win two senior national titles at age 14 ...
* Mai Mihara
is a Japanese competitive figure skater. She is the 2022 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time Four Continents champion (2017, 2022), the 2018 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2019 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2022 MK John Wils ...
* Kaori Sakamoto
is a Japanese competitive figure skater. She is the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2022 World champion, the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time NHK Trophy champion, the 2022 Skate America champion, and a three-time Japanese national ...
* Akiko Suzuki
* Keiji Tanaka
is a retired Japanese figure skater. He is the 2016 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 U.S. Classic champion, 2017 Winter Universiade silver medalist, 2011 World Junior silver medalist, and a two-time Japanese national silver medalist (2016, ...
Programs
(with Faiella)
Competitive highlights
With Faiella
With Ottaviani
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scali, Massimo
1979 births
Living people
People from Monterotondo
Italian male ice dancers
Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Olympic figure skaters of Italy
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
European Figure Skating Championships medalists
Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital
Figure skating choreographers