by Jacquelyn Thayer
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 notable for its dearth of upper-level pairs, given the discipline’s currently limited presence in the region. The Vancouver Ice Dance Academy led by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, however, continues to raise a decent number of couples across the discipline, and every team covered in this recap can claim the school as home.
Senior Short Dance, protocols
Senior Free Dance, protocols
Injury meant an advance withdrawal for Madeline Edwards and ZhaoKai Pang from the senior dance event, but training mates — and 2015 junior national champions — Brianna Delmaestro and Timothy Lum made their senior debut, taking a wide first in both segments for an overall total of 135.90. While low levels on both Ravensburger sequences and partial step sequence in a short dance to Ella Fitzgerald’s “By Strauss” and the An American in Paris version of “S’Wonderful” brought a score of 49.72, they made a solid showing with their Bollywood free, with strong elements contributing to a score of 86.18, competitive with the best senior marks set at Central Ontario Summerskate (Thornhill) that same week. Delmaestro and Lum will be making their season international start in two weeks at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City and following that up with a trip to October’s Finlandia Trophy.
The other couples comprising the senior event — silver medalists Alexa Linden and Addison Voldeng and bronze medalists Roxette Howe and Jean-Luc Jackson, both new pairings — made their summer starts at Lake Placid Ice Dance International. Linden and Voldeng’s total here of 110.78 was comparable with their mark at the previous event. Unfortunately, the event livestream concluded in the middle of their Scarlet Pimpernel short dance — only 0.04 points higher than their Lake Placid outing, though 1.76 better on TES — and before their second-place performance of an Alice in Wonderland free dance. A score of 66.60 on the latter included Levels 1 and 2 on the step sequences and an extended lift deduction — likely the major factor reducing their score from Lake Placid’s 68.24. A total of 96.48 for Howe and Jackson was a nine-point improvement over Lake Placid; their French-themed waltz to music from Charles Trenet and Mireille Mathieu received 36 and change at both events, with the Ravensburger and partial proving troublesome, but a free to pieces from Breakfast at Tiffany’s grew by 8.52, with a twizzle fall at Lake Placid and a much-improved spin in BC making the biggest differences.
Junior Short Dance, protocols
Junior Free Dance, protocols
SummerSkate marked the third pre-season comp for both junior victors Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker and silver medalists Ashlynne Stairs and Lee Royer, also both set to make their JGP debuts together next week in Linz, Austria. Mileage paid off for Sales and Wamsteeker, who in BC improved their Lake Placid Ice Dance International and Minto combined scores by 17 points for a total of 135.6. A short to “Steppin’ Out” and “Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk” received 53.52, while the couple picked up 82.08 on their Spartacus free.
A total of 112.62 for Stairs and Royer, meanwhile, was a slight drop from Minto’s high of 114.7, but did earn solid TES in both segments, even with a third-place overall finish of 45.72 on a Cinderella waltz, in addition to 66.90 on a free to Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Third overall, and second in the short, went to new Korean team Ho Jung Lee and Richard Kam, who two weeks ago finished an impressive fourth at their first JGP (Bratislava). At SummerSkate, the two did especially well in PCS, picking up second-best marks on both a La Traviata short dance of 47.84 and tango free of 63.52.
There may be no better way to wrap up our pre-season coverage than to reflect the reality of its rapid segue into the actual season for juniors competing on the Junior Grand Prix. To that end, a quick look at how scores have stacked up for those teams — with the caveat that most, only two events in, have yet to compete:
A number of JGP-bound pairs also competed this summer, but with pairs having only been contested at JGP Riga — and all but one of those teams having only competed at one pre-season event — statistics are rather limited. Of those who competed at Riga and on the summer circuit:
While TFTI’s focus is, by mission, on those teams representing North American nations, we’d like to highlight a few up-and-coming junior couples who might otherwise fall out of that purview.
1. Gwen Sletten and Elliot Verburg (JGP Colorado Springs) – Though fourth-place finishers at last season’s British championships, this very young team — currently 13 and 15, with December birthdays — just won IJS Sheffield by 18 points after placing seventh at Lake Placid International. I first took notice of the team when they competed at the lower ranks in the U.S., with a natural musicality and precocious ease of performance (especially for Sletten) belying their status. Last season — their first as juniors, and first representing Great Britain — they upped the program difficulty with more complex transitions and changes of hold and direction in a fun quickstep- and Charleston-referencing Chicago free dance. They’re smartly maintaining that level of difficulty now in a dark waltz and a free dance to selections from Funny Girl, which highlights their major strengths, while twizzles, a long-time bugaboo, are gradually becoming more assured. While the two are not expected to make a high finish in their very first major international, a placement in the top 10 may be achievable. More important is the experience; with their ages, time is on their side, and the more mileage they can attain at this early stage, the better, as history has demonstrated for some other longstanding couples.
2. Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac (JGP Linz, JGP Logroño) – Last season — their first as a team — the French duo competed at two senior internationals and placed second at French nationals behind Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. With both still age-eligible, they’ve now taken to the junior ranks, thus far placing third and first in the short and free dances at Lyon’s Summer Cup and subsequently winning both segments at the Quebec Summer Championships. Having had the opportunity to watch them up-close in Pierrefonds, it was apparent that they bring a power and speed driven by strong skating skills, while armed with a set of dance-driven programs that make an impact, showcasing both elegance and modernity. The French junior ranks are solid this season, with Angelique Abachkina and Louis Thauron winning silver at last week’s JGP Riga, but these two should have their own chance to make an impression.
3. Rikako Fukase and Aru Tateno (JGP Linz) – This new couple, representing Japan and training in Montreal, also competed at Quebec, finishing sixth in both segments in a 10-team junior field. Two seasons ago, Tateno took silver at the junior national level with Kumiko Maeda, while Fukase previously competed in singles. Though the two have room to grow technically and, simply, together, they possess a natural charm and ease, well showcased in a ballet waltz and a free to “Dream a Little Dream” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” that should serve in good stead as they develop further as a team.