Jennifer Wester
Jennifer Nicole Wester 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, Meryl Davis & Charlie White, 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 based out of Dallas, Texas.
Personal life
Jennifer Wester was born February 27, 1985 in Dallas, Texas. She has an older brother, Chris. 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 in 2016.Wester married Daniil Barantsev on May 6, 2006. They have two sons, Anden Daniel Barantsev, born on December 29, 2011, and Devin Daniel Barantsev, born in July, 2014.
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: . Notable events in which she has appeared as an artist include the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's international music and arts 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, under coach Monica Reyes.Wester began ice dancing in the spring of 1999, partnered with Nicholas Hart on the junior level. 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. 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. She underwent surgery on her shoulder in 2003 and again in 2004.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. 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.
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. Recovering slowly from her injury, Wester returned to the ice around mid-June 2007. 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 .
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. 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. In the spring of 2011, she and Barantsev began running the at the Newington Arena in Newington, Connecticut. She performed, partnering Ruslan Goncharov, at the at in support of the .In 2015, Wester joined the cast of produced by Endemol and Rai, as the coach and professional partner of Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia.
See Clip Reels from each show here:
In 2016, Wester launched a career in fine art after graduating from Yale University. Her first solo show was in metal sculpture at .
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, and New Hampshire born, Dallas-based artist, photographer, and event producer, .
Wester is also highly active in the non-profit sector. She currently serves on various committees of , is a member of the executive committee of , donates art for charity fundraiser shows, and serves no the board of a non-profit school, .
In March 2017, Wester additionally began authoring a Montessori-based activity workbook series, , performing as a public speaker at Montessori conferences and as a co-host at events by , including a web-based video series titled B-side on LinkedIn, and teaching art classes for elementary and middle school students.
Programs
| Season | Original dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
| 2008–2009 | by Corner Stone Cues by Vangelis by Kronos Quartet | by Roslin Murphy | |
| 2007–2008 | by Irving Berlin | ||
| 2006–2007 | by Astor Piazzolla | ||
| 2005–2006 |