Abhiroop Das
Created by Jeff Norton, Netflix’s ‘Finding Her Edge‘ dives straight into the world of Olympic-level figure skating, with Adriana Russo, a budding ice dancer, as the eyes and ears of the narrative. Adriana comes from a family of legendary skaters, including not just her parents, Will and Sara, but also her older sister, Elise. With athletic talent effectively coursing through their blood, it makes sense for the Russo family to start their own figure skating academy from scratch, raising a generation of prodigies with new and advanced training methods, all to compete with the very best the world has to offer.
Adriana, once a star skater of the Russo Rink, is presently on a hiatus and still reeling from her mother’s tragic death. However, with mounting debts, a diminishing reputation, and familial strife, the future of her family’s rink is in danger. This compels Adriana to find her roots and step back into the rink, this time with more passion and grace than ever before. Throughout this sports romance series, based on the eponymous novel by Jennifer Iacopelli, Russo Rink emerges as a narrative backbone, defining the dimensions of not just Adriana’s sports career but also her life.
Russo Rink Was Invented Specifically For Jennifer Iacopelli’s Novel
Russo Rink is a fictional figure skating rink and school created by writer Jennifer Iacopelli for her sports romance novel of the same name. While her primary inspiration for the story came from the 2018 Winter Olympics buzz surrounding the ice dancing duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the writer also drew from her love for Jane Austen’s classic novel, ‘Persuasion.’ In the novel, the protagonist lives in an estate known as Kellynch Hall, and although the context is completely different in Iacopelli’s story, it is likely that Russo Rink is her reimagined take on family legacy crystallized in the form of a location. This also translates to the story’s Netflix adaptation, spearheaded by showrunner Jeff Norton, which brings the site to life on screen.
While the rink may be a crafted setting, a layer of authenticity is added to it by its filming locations, which consist of actual ice rinks, training grounds, and other fixtures. Reportedly, a real-life rink called Eastview Arena, situated at 453 Grove Street East, in Barrie, Canada, served as the main lensing grounds for the in-arena figure skating sequences. It is likely that the rest of the visual elements of the Russo Rink were also filmed in and around the Ontario region, giving the world of ‘Finding Her Edge’ a lived-in feel. Since much of the story revolves around the family’s financial troubles, it was important for the creators to shoot on-site and maximise the emotional stakes on play.
Russo Rink Vaguely Mirrors Some Real-Life Academies Founded by Figure Skating Icons
In the show, Russo Rink is depicted as the school started by figure skating’s most legendary couple, Will and Sara Russo, who aim to raise the next generation of elite skaters. In real life, many world-famous athletes in the realm of figure skating have gone on to create their own figure skating academies to much acclaim. One famous example is the Angels of Plushenko Figure-Skating Academy, established by Evgeni Plushenko, a four-time Olympic medalist for Russia. Plushenko’s thriving academy, based in Moscow and with branches in other parts of Russia, has introduced several talents to the sport. However, though there are apparent similarities with the fictional Russo Rink, it is unlikely that the writers intended any such line of inspiration.
Other examples of similar academies include the Ice Academy of Montreal, founded by Canadian ice dance champions Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, alongside French coach and former competitor Romain Haguenauer. The academy is famously known for raising some of the best ice dancing athletes in the world, and that detail also applies to Russo Rink, wherein the ice dancing division is run by a character named Camille St. Denis. While there may be certain overlaps between the fictional academy and its real-life counterparts, it is probable that these are merely coincidental, owing to the research that went into making Russo Rink as realistic as possible. Thus, while the writers may have used real-life academies as reference points, there are no confirmed direct correlations as of writing.
Read More: Where is Finding Her Edge Filmed? All Shooting Locations
