by Jacquelyn Thayer If American ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker know their stylistic strengths, they know even better how they aim to expand them — beginning with a season’s debut at this week’s Finlandia Trophy. Their new short dance, featuring “Waltz of the Flowers” and “Dance of the Parents” from The Nutcracker, came…
Dance This season, Two for the Ice is adding to its analytical series by tracking first events to first events* — how leading dance teams fared in 2014-15’s debut against this season’s. As a matter of further interest, the four top U.S. and Canadian dance couples who competed at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic…
by Jacquelyn Thayer Taking on a Ravensburger Waltz with a classical ballet twist was a task Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam were loath to take lightly. “Any time you tackle a new program, there are countless hours that go into researching, choreographing and perfecting the style of movement,” said Islam. “With a world-renowned style like…
by Jacquelyn Thayer A planned West Coast vacation for Canadian ice dancer Asher Hill — journeying from Vegas to L.A. up through Vancouver to meet with skating friends — prompted an unexpected invitation from British Columbia-based Nicole Orford, recently split from a five-year partnership with Thomas Williams. “Nicole was like, ‘Oh, since you have your…
by Jacquelyn Thayer British Columbia/Yukon Territory Super Series SummerSkate BC SummerSkate is unusual among the pre-season regional competitions for — like a regular season event — holding short and free segments as a combined event; this is due to its status as part of the BC/YT Super Series. For our purposes, it might also be…
by Jacquelyn Thayer Note: On-site impressions, supplemental to coverage afforded by livestream, were provided by two sources who wish to remain anonymous. Additional teams were contacted for comment, and the article will be updated to reflect their quotes if provided. Senior Short Dance Protocols Senior Free Dance Protocols Senior dance at the Skate Canada Central…
by Jacquelyn Thayer Though also well-represented in junior dance (discussed later), the senior dance event at the 2015 Quebec Summer Championships (Championnats québécois d’été 2015) in Pierrefonds was overwhelmed with entries from the Gadbois Centre — five of seven couples in each segment hailed from the school led by Dubreuil, Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer, and…
This year, as in many others, Ottawa’s Minto Summer Skate presented the first major outing for many of Ontario’s dance teams at all levels — including national and international medalists at both junior and senior. With Grand Prix and national silver medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier debuting their free dance — a piece, per…
by Jacquelyn Thayer After two seasons bouncing between a junior international circuit and senior national championships, Canadians Madeline Edwards and ZhaoKai Pang found their entrance to the full-time senior scene a prime time to try on a new look. The method? A dramatic tango free dance to music from Bacalov: Misa Tango and choreographed by…
As the summer off-season transitions into what’s really become a pre-season — with a significant number of elite competitors across all disciplines tackling summer competitions in preparation for the Grand Prix and Challenger Series of the fall — Two for the Ice will be presenting a series of event recaps, from quick analysis to on-site…
