AUBURN – Local ice skating lessons have always been pretty basic: Stand. Go. Stop.

Without falling.

As they advanced, some Ingersoll Arena students wandered away to play ice hockey. A few went looking for private coaches. If they wanted to progress, they didn’t really have a choice.

Until now.

Josiah Modes, a national medalist with a passion for pairs skating and back flips, and his wife, Yulia Sudakova-Modes, a Moscow skating champion, are taking over. Starting Tuesday, the international performers will direct and coach Auburn’s Learn to Skate program.

“I have no doubt there’s a lot of talent here,” Modes said.

Modes, 29, began ice skating at 10, taking advantage of an indoor rink near his mother’s workplace in Florida. A natural skater, he immediately fell in love with the sport. But at 15, after five years of recreational meets and local competitions, he got disillusioned and quit.

That retirement ended as soon as a pair of Olympic coaches saw him skate.

“They said ‘you can’t quit; it’s a waste of your talent,'” he said.

Within a year, with help from his new coaches, Mode made it to the national ice skating championships. Within a few years, he had a medal in junior pairs skating.

Mode eventually gave up competing in favor of performing. He was skating in an ice show at Busch Gardens in Florida when he met his wife.

Yulia Sudakova-Modes, 27, a Russian-born skater, took to the ice when she was 2 or 3 years old. Taught by Olympic champions and the coaches of Olympic champions, she was a Moscow champion herself by the time she hit her teen years. At 17, she came to America and began performing in ice shows in Florida.

The couple married a few months after they began dating. They spent their first years together performing throughout Asia and Europe.

Modes began getting Maine job offers when he was visiting family here a couple of years ago. People wanted him to coach.

“That kind of stuck in my head a while,” Modes said.

After a couple of years performing in Germany, the husband-and-wife team decided to settle down and start a family. Modes immediately thought of Maine. His wife, who wanted four seasons and dry air, fell in love with the place.

They made a permanent home in Harpswell earlier this year. This winter they will run skating programs in Rockport and Auburn.

Peter Bushway, director of Auburn Parks and Recreation, is thrilled to have them.

“They’ve got some game,” he said.

Kathy Cain, who started Auburn’s skating program and ran it for 13 years, is just as happy. She will continue to volunteer, but will leave the program’s future in their hands.

“I hope it grows,” she said. “I hope they bring out the interest.”

For now, Modes and Sudakova-Modes will teach one class for beginners and one class for advanced students, both on Tuesday afternoons. Russian-trained, she’s able to teach the structure and technical proficiency young skaters need. He brings a passion for pairs skating, as well as the ability to “make it enjoyable but also work hard.”

Modes, who has done everything from double-axels to back flips, also hopes to teach boys that they can ice skate and still be macho.

For the first time, the Auburn program will be sanctioned by the United States Figure Skating Association, allowing students to compete, to become national champions. The new directors believe they can take students that far.

“We want to keep that (basic) level as well,” Modes said. “But we want to give the opportunity to people who want to expand their skills.”

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