Ice Dance of the North

Celebrating the underdogs & up-and-comers of Canadian ice dance

[icedanceofthenorth]

Congratulations to all the junior competitors at Canadian Nationals! This year saw some great programs and many promising teams.

1. Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha SD (1) FD (1) Interviews: post-SD  post-FD 2. Ashlynne Stairs/Lee Royer SD (2) FD (2) (unmuted copy JGP Ljubjlana) 3. Danielle Wu/Nik Mirzakhani SD (4) FD (3) 4. Valerie Taillefer/Jason Chan SD (3) FD (5) 5. Alicia Fabbri/Claudio Pietrantonio SD (7) FD (4) 6. Irina Galiyanova/Tommy Tang SD (6) FD (6) post-FD interview 7. Sabrina Bédard/George Waddell SD (11) FD (7) 8. Olivia Han/Grayson Lochhead SD (5) FD (8) 9. Keelee Gingrich/Parker Brown SD (8) FD (11) post-SD interview 10. Gina Cipriano/Jake Richardson SD (9) FD (12) 11. Ravie Cunningham/Cedar Bridgewood SD (12) FD (10) 12. Yohanna Broker/Matthew Korkoian SD (13) FD (9) 13. Priya Ramesh/Brandon Labelle SD (14) FD (13) 14. Jolie Che/Paul Ayer SD (10) FD (15) 15. Kaitlyn Chubb/Alex Gunther SD (15) FD (14)

Protocols: SD FD

Photo Credits: Sean McKinnon, Skate Ontario

Good luck to Lajoie/Lagha and Stairs/Royer at the Bavarian Open this week!

[danielleearlphotography]

thank you.

[icedanceofthenorth]

Junior Grand Prix competitors and 2013 Canadian pre-novice champions Hannah Whitley and Elliott Graham announced Hannah’s retirement. :(

[icedanceofthenorth]

Congratulations to all the competitors in the junior dance event at Challenge 2017!

1. Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha 2. Valerie Taillefer/Jason Chan 3. Ashlynne Stairs/Lee Royer

Short Dance Group 1

Short Dance Group 2

Short Dance Group 3

Short Dance Group 4

Short Dance Group 5

Free Dance playlist

Interview with Lajoie/Lagha

Full results

Protocols: SD FD

[twofortheice]

Snapshot Stats: Canadian Ice Dance’s New Benchmarks

Skate Canada’s International Assignments page for 2016-17 includes a link to a document outlining selection criteria for assignment to any senior international event. While preference goes to those with potential to place top five at a senior international – possible and even achieved by many low-ranking teams depending upon the international – and achievement of the low TES minimum requirements for 4CC, the key language is that of the minimum target scores, which skaters “must” have achieved internationally during the 2015-16 season, and domestically at either the 2016 National Championships or a yet-to-come event this summer. This document reflects some changes from last year’s targets.

The domestic minimum is 150, internationally 140, to have been achieved at any international event. Charted above are the scores attained by Canada’s senior dance field in 2015-16 at Nationals and their best international, as well as those earned by two junior couples, Bent/Razgulajevs and Sales/Wamsteeker, who will move into senior this season. Of the list above, only five of those 2015-16 senior teams (Weaver/Poje, Gilles/Poirier, Paul/Islam, Linden/Voldeng and Cambell/Granger) are confirmed yet as continuing together and competing this season .  

Skate Canada allows itself to make exceptions, such as for Virtue and Moir, and this may also allow wiggle room for Challenger or B assignments for the junior couples moving up to senior. But if followed otherwise to the letter, these current benchmarks would grant senior assignments for only the top five finishing couples at Nationals – with one of those couples since retiring and another electing not to compete this autumn. Last season, six senior couples competed at Challenger events (four of those additionally on the Grand Prix), two more at Canada’s Autumn Classic International – an intermittent Challenger – and another at Coupe de Nice. (Additional international scores seen above were obtained at Lake Placid Ice Dance International, an event separate from the senior internationals discussed here.)

While new teams with internationally-experienced partners, like Sarah Arnold and Thomas Williams or Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus, may see an opportunity on the Challenger or B circuit this autumn, it’s also clear that the increasingly stringent requirements could have an impact on current confidence for those who should be looking towards a post-2018 future.  

[missmarakate]

Accurate depiction of my feelings

[icedanceofthenorth]

Madeline Edwards and ZhaoKai Pang today confirmed/announced a split after almost nine years of partnership; he’s retiring while she may continue after continued recovery from ankle surgery. The team’s achievements include the 2013 junior national title, a bronze medal at the 2014 Junior World Championships, and qualification to the 2014-15 Junior Grand Prix Final.

[contagiousrhythminmybrain]

“Even though our partnership was far too short, we accomplished so much in that time, and I couldn’t be more proud of us!” - (x)

[icedanceofthenorth]

This early entry list for Quebec’s summer competition confirms the reports of Lauren Collins and Shane Firus’s split and Shane’s new partnership with Carolane Soucisse (Simon Tanguay retired this spring). 

Brianna Delmaestro and Timothy Lum also split in the spring; Brianna is currently on Ice Partner Search.

It’s a tough off-season for Ice Dance of the North!

[balletfever89-deactivated201902]

[1seniorlady-deactivated20220805]

Aww, does this mean the split between Orford/Hill is confirmed?!

[weapoprotectionprogram]

I seriously hope not but they need the funding it seems.

[1seniorlady-deactivated20220805]

I can’t imagine SC would have deliberately left them off the team if they hadn’t retired, though stranger things have happened. Doesn’t the team typically consist of the top 5 from the previous season’s nationals? O/H were fifth and should have been named to the team (even with the return of T/S). 😭😭

[weapoprotectionprogram]

It doesn’t make sense for them to be named to the team. The team is exactly as it should be. There isn’t room for O/H.

[saucylittlesmile]

Yes, the team usually consists of the top five skaters/teams from the previous Nationals.  Sometimes there is more, if SC decides to grant a spot to someone who did not compete at the previous Nationals.  Sometimes there is less, if a skater/team retires. 

After doing research on the funding issue, I’ve come to see that being named to the team does not actually equal funding – it’s where you finished at Nationals that determines funding, through either the Skate Canada High Performance Grant or through Sport Canada Athlete Assistance (but not both).  There is  a correlation, but not cause-and-effect. 

Nicole had funding through the SPAA last season, because of her partnership with Williams the season before.  She was granted $10 800. Asher had no funding, as his partnership had ended earlier.  Even if they were no longer on the list for this upcoming season to receive SPAA (the list is not out yet), their fifth place finish at Nationals would have granted them each $5000 from the SCHPG, which would have been nearly the same amount as Nicole’s SPAA.  As a team, their funding would not change, though of course I do not know how they personally viewed and used any of that funding.

With that said, there would be no reason for Skate Canada not to include them on the National Team.  Being on the National Team means that they would attend the High Performance Camp in September to be evaluated and share in team building exercises and press.  They would be considered to be sent to international events.  But their funding wouldn’t change, and it doesn’t guarantee that they would actually get international events.

[icedanceofthenorth]

In fact, there’s recent precedent just in dance for Skate Canada naming 6 couples to the National Team:

2011-12: Virtue/Moir missed Nationals; fifth-place Harvey/Gagnon retained a team spot (this announcement preceded Crone/Poirier’s split);

2013-14: Weaver/Poje missed Nationals; fifth-place Ralph/Hill retained a team spot

While we have no official word of Orford/Hill’s current status, it seems unlikely that Skate Canada would have deliberately left them off the National Team to make room for V/M -- it runs counter to recent decisions in dance and other disciplines, and as saucylittlesmile has noted, it would have very little impact on funding. Non-National Team members can and do also receive even prestigious international assignments -- like Delmaestro/Lum and Collins/Firus last year on the Challenger Series -- so this also shouldn’t be taken as a statement from SC about refusing to support O/H competitively.

In all likelihood, this National Team lineup probably simply, unfortunately, says more about where O/H stand than it does about Skate Canada.

[danielleearlphotography]

Nicole Orford & Asher Hill by Danielle Earl Photography Via Flickr: 2016 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships

[danielleearlphotography]

Brianna Delmaestro & Timothy Lum by Danielle Earl Photography Via Flickr: 2016 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships

[danielleearlphotography]

Andréanne Poulin & Marc-André Servant by Danielle Earl Photography Via Flickr: 2016 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships

[icedanceofthenorth]

Get to Know... Nicole Orford & Asher Hill

Though the pairing is new, Nicole and Asher have each been mainstays on the post-2010 Canadian scene. With first partner Kharis Ralph, Asher won 2008′s junior national title and competed at the 2012 World Championships. Nicole and Thomas Williams were 2011 junior national champions and picked up an unexpected senior national bronze in 2013. And when Kharis retired in 2014 and Thomas shortly after the 2015 Canadian championships, longtime friends Nicole and Asher decided to tryout for fun -- and soon made it official.

Program creation was a union of each partner’s background. While the short dance to songs by Etta James and Johnny Mathis was choreographed by coach Carol Lane -- Asher’s own coach since the early years -- their Theory of Everything free dance was created by Nicole’s former coaches Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe. 

In October, after only a few full months of training, the team scored their first international victory at Skate Canada's Autumn Classic International. Skate Canada Challenge, however, proved a tougher competition. With so many couples in the running for a good placement in the national field, scores were close and mistakes -- like a twizzle problem in their short dance -- costly. Nicole and Asher finished fifth overall, but experience could make them tougher competitors at the big event.

Off the ice, both are dedicated university students. Nicole is studying long-distance at Simon Fraser University, having planned to become full-time after the split from Thomas, while Asher majors in Occupational Health and Safety at Ryerson University. Asher is also a budding choreographer: he created the 2014-15 Red Queen free dance for Mackenzie Bent and Garrett Mackeen, and was also responsible for selecting he and Nicole’s free dance music this season.

(Photo credits: Stephen Bell, Carol Lane)

[icedanceofthenorth]

Congratulations to the Junior Dance medallists!

1. Mackenzie Bent/Dmitre Razgulajevs - 145.31  (SD, FD 29:40)

2. Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha - 141.23 (SD, FD 7:50)

3. Melinda Meng/Andrew Meng - 139.12 (SD, FD 22:00)

Protocols: SD, FD

Photo Credits: Sean McKinnon, Skate Ontario

[twofortheice]

Canadian Nationals a Coming of Age for Mariposa Dancers • Two for the Ice

This week, senior dance at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will include a pair of training mates with a history of their own. In 2012, Mariposa School of Skating’s Lauren Collins and Danny Seymour became Canada’s novice ice dance champions. Four years later, the skaters will make their national senior debuts — Collins with Shane Firus and Seymour with Jocelyn Leblanc.

[icedanceofthenorth]

Get to Know... Carolane Soucisse & Simon Tanguay

Carolane Soucisse and Simon Tanguay teamed up in 2012 and train under Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer. As juniors they placed ninth at their first Nationals together in 2013 and fifth in 2014. They received one international assignment as juniors to JGP Minsk in 2013 where they finished sixth. They only competed domestically in their first year as seniors with second place at the Skate Canada Challenge and ninth at Nationals where their paso doble short dance was well-received by the judges.

Their 2015/16 season got off to a great start with two international outings at Lake Placid and Coupe de Nice resulting in bronze medals. They were the lucky winners at the Skate Canada Challenge on a podium that was essentially a dead heat. They finished first in the short dance with L4s on both patterns of the Ravensburger waltz but encountered troubles on their twizzles in the free where they placed fourth. A good result at Nationals will be reliant on following their short dance with a clean free.

Their short dance is set to the chanson française 'Mon Amant De St Jean', a choice befitting of a Quebecois team.

The opening straight line lift provides the highlight to their 'Still Loving You' free dance, choreographed in a dramatic lyrical style.

(Photo Credits: Carolane Soucisse & Simon Tanguay)

[needsmorepizzazz]

Ellie Fisher/Parker Brown - Sixth, Canadian Junior Nationals (121.06)

Short Dance - 47.87

Free Dance - 73.19

Photo Credits: Sean McKinnon, Skate Ontario

[icedanceofthenorth]

Get to Know... Brianna Delmaestro & Timothy Lum

Brianna Delmaestro and Timothy Lum, training mates at the Vancouver Ice Dance Academy under Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, joined forces in April 2013. Timothy had been considering ending his skating career before pairing with Brianna, who had been his initial preference as a partner. They had a solid first season, earning two fifth places on the junior grand prix circuit and a bronze medal at the 2014 Canadian Nationals. During their second year as a team they came into their own, medalling at both their JGP events and dominating the domestic junior circuit with wins at Skate Canada Challenge and Nationals. Unfortunately Canada only had two spots for Junior Worlds which went to JGPF finalists and former junior champions Madeline Edwards & Zhao Kai Pang and Mackenzie Bent & Garrett MacKeen who were competing as seniors domestically. Brianna and Tim's engaging programs, a short dance using music from the Dirty Dancing 2 soundtrack and a Charleston free showing great command of style, would likely have scored well.

Their first international experience as seniors did not go as well as they would have liked, with their sixth place finish at the U.S. Classic marked by low footwork levels and a disallowed lift in the free dance. Levels were still low at Finlandia where they finished seventh, but improvements were seen in the free dance with a fifth place in that segment. A win at sectionals and a fourth place in a very competitive Challenger field with a mark only two points behind that of the winners gave a strong end to their 2015.

Their short dance, which they have grown more comfortable with as the season has progressed, pairs foxtrot with waltz to the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald's 'By Strauss' and S'Wonderful from An American in Paris for a charming ballroom feel.

They tackle Bollywood music in their free with some lively selections perfectly suited to their performance style. They use hand gestures and flexed feet to great effect and choose lifts and twizzles well-suited to the theme.

When they're not skating both Brianna and Tim enjoy outdoor activities. Brianna (whose father was an Italian national champion) is a yoga enthusiast and a keen cook with a great interest in nutrition as illustrated by the recipes on her Youtube channel. Tim enjoys a wide variety of sports, and deserves some kind of award for best gift-giving partner for his present of a jigsaw of the two of them in a pose from last year's free, a favourite program of theirs.

(Photo Credits: Tricity News, Skate Canada, Inside Skating, Brianna Delmaestro)