Road to Nationals: Weaver and Poje, Chock and Bates

For reigning Canadian dance champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, next week’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Halifax marks a full circle moment — the couple made their national, and senior, debut together there at 2007’s event, capturing a surprise bronze medal alongside Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

“We kind of got thrust into the spotlight then, and we’re here now ten years later,” said Weaver. “It’s an incredible feeling, now under such different circumstances but still, nonetheless, we’re the two kids that are having fun.”

2007’s newcomers, whose goal then was the Junior Worlds team and perhaps a top five senior finish, are now 2016’s veterans. But after two world medals and a national title, the focus is one of enjoying the holistic experience — not getting lost in the minutiae. A post-Grand Prix Final stint in Christmas on Ice in Japan, where they revived their initial Elvis-centered waltz short dance, presented a chance to re-focus energies.

“It helped us to perform in front of an audience and remain comfortable in that mode,” said Weaver. “We’re able to still perform our elements and twizzles and creative pattern, but in front of a crowd every night — sometimes twice a day — so that was really important for us as we develop, to keep on pushing ourselves in that realm and not get too focused on little tiny details.”

And Nationals offers a central opportunity to highlight that emphasis. “We want to make sure that we enjoy the performances and it comes across to the audience so that we don’t become flat — we don’t lose ourselves in run-throughs, the run-through mentality,” said Poje.

But the details, of course, matter a little, and the couple are also focused on refinement. “It’s not just about having a good program now — it’s about doing everything really as best as we possibly can now in the second half of the season,” said Weaver.

If the seasons since 2007 have brought technical improvements and a rise in stature, they’ve also brought a greater appreciation for the big picture. “I think, compared to last year, we’re more confident,” said Weaver. “Maybe a little bit calmer and wiser.”

“It’s just performing and enjoying what we do,” she said. “Of course, pushing ourselves to the next level every time, because in order to win, I think we need to be ten steps ahead of everybody — we can’t just be a little bit better. But Canadians is about enjoying the season that we’ve had so far and using the feedback from there and keep growing. I think the mantra is ‘Just never stop learning,’ and that’s our plan for this year.”

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Icenetwork is making available teleconference audio in advance of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, with yesterday’s call with 2015 champion ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates so far posted. The duo note that while making a few minor changes to their programs since the Final, focus now is centrally on “settling into” the material; additional topics include the mentality of title defense and the nuances of skating in today’s ice dance era.