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 Ontario Summer Skate — more frequently known as Thornhill — featured a line-up of likely-international competitors in the running for a spot on next season’s Canadian national team. Leading things off in the short dance only, however, were three-time national medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who marked their first time competing a short dance at Thornhill in five seasons of partnership. Video of the skate was unavailable for livestream viewers, due to a camera glitch, but one on-site source reported on their quirky, somewhat psychedelic approach to the waltz, choreographed by coaches Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs, unexpectedly pairing the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” with classical cuts including composer Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Les Sauvages” from Les Indes galantes. A score of 65.16 was a best among senior competitors in this off-season, though less than one point better than marks posted by Alexandra Paul & Mitch Islam and Madison Hubbell & Zach Donohue at last week’s Quebec Summer Championships, perhaps setting the stage for compelling competitions to come on the Challenger and Grand Prix circuits. Gilles and Poirier are currently poised to compete at Skate America and Trophée Eric Bompard, and are likely to tackle an earlier B event.
Thornhill further marked a coming-out party for Gilles and Poirier’s training mates, the new couple of Nicole Orford and Asher Hill, who skated with a strong sense of ease despite the brevity of the pairing. After a second place score of 55.94 in the short dance, with an elegant take on Etta James’ “My Heart Cries” and Johnny Mathis’s “It’s Not for Me to Say,” the team won the free dance with 89.81, in a piece set to selections from The Theory of Everything and choreographed by Orford’s previous coaches Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe. With no international ranking together, and split couple/returning skater rules tending to change by season, the couple are not currently known to be positioned for a Grand Prix alternate slot and did not receive the final host pick at Skate Canada International. However, they’re almost certain to compete on the international scene and, with good enough results, may move into the alternates list for Grand Prix consideration; certainly, major competition together for the already-experienced skaters will only benefit both team and the national field.
In their second competition of the summer after July’s Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, Andréanne Poulin and Marc-André Servant, in their first Thornhill as new members of the Scarboro group, continued the good results established there. Though a fluke fall for both on the short dance‘s straight-line lift — “My skate just slid right off of his leg so there wasn’t much we could do,” said Poulin — meant a two-point deduction and the loss of that element, resulting in a score of 46.04, a clean skate of the spirited and romantic program to “Bon voyage dans la lune” and “A New Deal” from Michael Giacchino’s Ratatouille score was mathematically positioned to catch third in that segment. Indeed, the couple made a solid comeback in the free dance, finishing second with a close 88.65 and picking up a segment-high TES of 47.46 to Orford and Hill’s 45.78. The program, drawing on Alexandre Desplat’s score for the film Birth along with Debussy’s Piano Trio in G Minor, relies on the team’s connection and comfort with abstract movement while highlighting an improved power.
“We are extremely happy with the performances we put out,” said Poulin. “Obviously, the short dance at Thornhill wasn’t perfect but we got higher levels in our Ravensburger which is something we worked on a lot since Placid.”
The couple’s move to Scarboro from Pierrefonds, Quebec, has proven a positive change alongside improved health after a run of injuries for Servant. “Things have been going extremely well,” said Poulin. “We couldn’t be happier with our decision — it’s like we got that boost of energy and motivation we had been missing since the injury. We’ve really focused our training on skating big and on gaining a good consistency. We feel like we have improved and the feedback has been quite positive.”
The two will be competing next at October’s Skate Canada Autumn Classic in Barrie, Ontario.
Lauren Collins and Shane Firus, who made their senior debut at Minto, improved on their overall performance here. A classical ballroom short dance featuring Shostakovich’s well-known “Waltz” from Jazz Suite No. 2 and Johann Strauss’ “Radetzky March,” choreographed by Romain Haguenauer, demonstrated complex content and good ice coverage, capturing a third-place score of 51.90. Another bronze came in the free, with a confident performance of the subtle, worldly and retro-tinged dance to “Beautiful Tango” from Hindi Zahra and “Song of No Regrets” and “Breakfast in Baghdad” by Youn Sun Nah, created by Shae Zukiwsky. A score of 81.05 came with Level 4s on all elements but the step sequences, an improvement from Minto.
“We felt that we had a stronger and more confident showing at Thornhill, compared to Minto,” said Firus. “We wanted to achieve higher levels in our pattern dance as well as some lifts in our free dance. We were able to accomplish this.”
Working with outside choreographers was another step in the team’s efforts to develop in their sophomore season.
“Romain was very thorough and an efficient choreographer to work with,” they said. “He really pushed us for more intricate transitions and a more complex partial step sequence. Shae was fun to work with and has a very unique style — he gave us a program that would push our artistic capabilities and make us grow as performers.”
The good outing should also put the team in good stead for their first senior international at next month’s Nebelhorn Trophy.
Rounding out the senior event were Mariposa’s Jocelyn LeBlanc and Danny Seymour, who also competed at Minto. Marks of 44.10 on a Cinderella short dance and 70.56 in their free dance to “Poseidon’s Tale” showed significant growth from that first event, with the lyrical free, though hit with an extended lift deduction, especially highlighting the new team’s shapes and lines.
Junior Short Dance Protocols
Junior Free Dance Protocols
Thornhill also afforded viewers at home their first glimpse of well-matched new junior team Mackenzie Bent and Dmitre Razgulajevs, who easily took first in both segments after similar results at Minto. Though their short dance to Margaret Whiting’s “Time After Time” was marred by a fall for Bent on the no-touch midline step sequence, the error came late enough to drop the element to a Level 2 — rather than invalidating it entirely — and the pair picked up 49.80 with remainder Level 4s on an otherwise strong skate. A Prince of Persia free dance took a more dramatic narrative approach, receiving 75.85 with an extended lift deduction. The couple will make their international debut at JGP Colorado Springs in two weeks.
Silver in both short and free went to 2015 novice champions Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha. After a split in the earlier part of this off-season during which Lajoie teamed with Anton Spiridonov, with whom she initially registered for the Quebec Summer Championships, the duo reunited — and were accompanied at Thornhill by Gadbois Centre’s Romain Haguenauer. Their waltz to Eugen Doga’s “Gramofon,” earning 45.44, demonstrated solid footwork and musical expression while the free dance revisited last season’s successful Don Quixote program, highlighting some comfort with balletic styling. With a score of 67.77, on a skate that included Level 4s on all elements but two Level 3 step sequences, the team’s biggest room to grow comes down to GOE and PCS.
Rounding out the podium in both segments were Scarboro’s Megan Koenig-Croft and Jake Richardson, who paired a playful baseball-themed take on the waltz for 45.42 points with an Outlander-scored free dance, which showed a more serious performance mode for the team and picked up 62.65. Though the only team not to pick up a Level 4 on at least one Starlight Waltz pattern in the short, the free did bring good Level 3s on both step sequences, and the consistency in their marks since Minto may have been strong enough to more firmly establish the team, currently listed as substitutes, for JGP consideration.
Making their junior debut after a withdrawal from Minto were 2015 novice bronze medalists Ellie Fisher and Parker Brown, presenting an ambitious set of programs. A Sherlock Holmes short dance from Zukiwsky showcased their confidence as a duo, with a fourth-place score of 44.28 including an extended lift deduction and Level 1 final rotational lift. Their free dance score of 58.10, ranking fifth, came in a Russian folk free dance by Kelly Johnson that evoked certain memories of ice dance past — the same music scored Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s junior national champion free dance of 2003-04. The program’s high difficulty may have contributed to some technical issues here, including Level 2s on the step sequences that open and close the program in addition to struggles on the spin and twizzles, but should also serve to bolster the very young team’s growth.
Wrapping up the junior roster were another set of 2015 novices, Victoria Oliver and George Waddell, who train with Andrew Hallam at Toronto’s more famously singles-oriented Cricket Club. In the short, the team placed fifth with marks of 42.98 with a Sound of Music medley while moving up to fourth in the free with 61.30 on a Charlie Chaplin-inspired program choreographed by seven-time British champion Sinead Kerr. Footwork sequences posed some difficulties in both programs, netting Level 2s across the board, but character work seems a strength for the team.
Senior Pairs Short Program Protocols
Senior Pairs Long Program Protocols
With the late withdrawal of new duo Hayleigh Bell and Rudi Swiegers, after a training accident resulted in concussion for him, an already-small senior pairs field dropped further: Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan were the only pair to compete both short and long programs, while Marin Ono and Wesley Killing also skated the short.
In a 48.94-point short to the Beatles’ “Come Together” — the song’s second known-use in the junior and senior ranks so far this season — and a swingy Big Band free (82.46), Jones and Reagan, accompanied at the event by new coach (and five-time Canadian pairs medalist) Bryce Davison, showed some growth in connection from last season, though still struggling on jump elements. Though not assigned to the Grand Prix, the pair will likely pick up international opportunity this autumn. The short proved more challenging for new pair Ono and Killing, who received 31.92 on a skate to the Interstellar soundtrack that included a fall on the throw triple loop and an additional deduction for time violation.
Junior Pairs Short Program Protocols
Junior Pairs Long Program Protocols
The junior event was led in both segments by 2015 novice silver medalists Olivia and Mackenzie Boys-Eddy, who demonstrated their strong sense of on-ice personality and good developing handle on the elements, particularly with Level 4s on the triple twist and two of three lifts. That first skate, to a medley of blues-rock staples “La Grange” and “Black Betty,” received 41.90, while an Addams Family long program earned 70.71. Silver went to Allison Eby and Brett Varley, who made a good showing with 39.14, including an impressive length-of-the-axis lift, in a short program to Colin James’ “Surely,” along with a West Side Story free for a score of 70.33. The close marks included errors for each team, with falls for both pairs and an edge call for the Boys-Eddys on the double flip, meaning the stage may be set for more intriguing match-ups as the national qualifying competition circuit gets underway.
Two other pairs faced a few more significant technical struggles. Cassandra Leung and Richard Beauchesne finished with bronze in both segments, taking 25.38 in a Chopin short and 53.04 in the free; after an aborted lift in the short, the team skated more cleanly in the free, though picked up a time violation deduction. Close behind were Colleen Collins and Alexander Brauner with 23.88 in the short to “The Feeling Begins” and “Incantation,” which included a fall on side-by-side double axels and an invalidated death spiral, and 52.50 with majority negative GOEs in their Ragtime free.
Up Next:
Watch for a quick look at last week’s BC Summer Skate alongside a wrap-up of the pre-season circuit!