by Jacquelyn Thayer This week’s Grand Prix Final features a fair range of U.S. and Canadian teams. In pairs, Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford and Julianne Séguin and Charlie Bilodeau will make repeat appearances; in dance, last year’s three U.S. entries — Maia and Alex Shibutani, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and Madison Hubbell…
by Jacquelyn Thayer This Grand Prix ice dance team-by-team analysis has been expanded from recent Snapshot Stats features on Two for the Ice on Tumblr. CHOCK & BATES vs. WEAVER & POJE A pair of world medalist teams in an oft-unsteady position: Madison Chock and Evan Bates ceded the U.S. national title to Maia and…
by Jacquelyn Thayer The free dance at 2016 Skate Canada International showcased little movement from the short — but did feature a range of high-scoring performances and more than a few technical twists. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir successfully completed their Grand Prix comeback debut, winning their sixth Skate Canada International title with a total…
by Jacquelyn Thayer While the short dance event at 2016 Skate Canada International might have drawn most attention for its return of Olympic and world champs and its match-up of several recent high-scoring couples — the real joy lay in its infinite variety. With a program permitting one of two very broadly-defined secondary rhythms —…
by Jacquelyn Thayer Victory at Autumn Classic International served as a successful first step of a two-year comeback plan for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. And shortly after, the team were back to work with free dance choreographer David Wilson. “It was always part of the plan — you kind of create, try to make…
With Finlandia Trophy, the pre-Grand Prix — and most pivotal — stretch of the ISU’s 2016 Challenger Series has concluded, along with the debuts of most of the US and Canada’s international dance teams and pairs. Notable absences like Maia and Alex Shibutani (USA) and Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (CAN) in dance, and Alexa…
by Jacquelyn Thayer It’s common enough for skaters with neighboring levels of success — she a 2014 national novice champion with her previous partner, he 2015’s novice bronze medalist with his — to forge new partnerships as prior ones conclude. For Canadian juniors Keelee Gingrich and Parker Brown, such a match has also meant another…
by Jacquelyn Thayer In ice dance’s current sea of soft lyricals, a free dance with some grit is bound to stand out. And from a team whose last free showed a buoyant, vintage bent, the contrast is even more striking. Karina Manta and Joe Johnson, seventh at last season’s U.S. Nationals and bronze medalists at…
In the second question in Two for the Ice’s Ask the Expert series, ice dance coach and Mariposa School of Skating dance director David Islam — whose students have included current Junior Grand Prix competitors Hannah Whitley and Elliott Graham and 2010 Junior World medalists Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam — tackles the question of…
The earliest ice dance events of summer — Lake Placid and its championship and international competitions, Minto Summer Skate and the Championnats québécois d’été, or Quebec Summer Championships — are, by near definition, starting points for the long September-March international stretch to come. And by this nature, scores are traditionally mixed at best: star competitors…
