Northern Lights #27: Reporting Live from Not-Saint-John

When Skate Canada announced that they were having their eponymous international event in New Brunswick, I wanted to make the trip. And if Skate America hadn’t been in Detroit, about a mile from my best friend’s downtown apartment, I probably would have. But in the end, a Detroit trip was a tenth of the cost of a Saint John trip, and so I missed Skate Canada for the first time since I began attending in 2008. I kept telling myself that it was a smart move, and that I was getting to photograph some of the top American teams that I wouldn’t otherwise shoot this year, but last week, it felt weird to watch the second Grand Prix on my computer screen. I missed a great event, and I’m looking forward to Canadians even more now.

How about a Skate Canada recap then? (results)
Of course no one is shocked by Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir’s victory. They captured their fifth Skate Canada title, but for the second year in a row, they did not run away with the gold medal. Last year, Tessa & Scott (pictured, right) struggled in the short dance and led Italians Anna Cappellini & Luca Lanotte by only .01 heading into the free dance. This year, their margin over Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje was a little bigger (almost 3 points), but small errors by both Tessa and Scott on the twizzles left them a bit vulnerable. In the end, they pulled out the win, scoring 181.03, but Kaitlyn & Andrew are closing the gap. As a Canadian dance blogger, that’s a good problem to have, in my mind!

Tessa & Scott’s short dance is fantastic. I love their expression, the choreography, and the music. Their old costumes worked well, but I expected a quick change, since they were recycled from 2011. I love the new ones, both Tessa’s black dress and Scott’s grey (not white!!) shirt. If they can hit it with all level 4s, I think they’ll soar past 80 points at Canadians. Last week, I was particularly impressed with their footwork, and I wasn’t the only one. They earned level 4 and maximum GOE, netting them 11.00 points for the element. Simply excellent, aside from the twizzle mishap. Their free dance, on the other hand, is more of a work in progress. The dance scored 107.88, which is a strong score, considering a few level issues, particularly on those footwork sequences. I don’t love this dance like I loved “Carmen” last year, but I recognize its incredible difficulty and Tessa & Scott’s skill at making the tough steps look easy. They debuted new costumes for this dance too—pink on Tessa, maroon shirt on Scott. I like the colours all right, but would like something deeper on Tessa. I suspect that she will change her dress anyway, if only because it gathers awkwardly between her legs while she skates. And with a couple weeks at home to sort out the technical issues, I expect to see even stronger marks in Paris (with or without a new dress).

Kaitlyn & Andrew did an amazing job with both programs, building on what they put on the ice last month in Salt Lake City. I actually never had time to go back and watch the short dances from Salt Lake, so my first viewing of their “42nd Street” short was Friday’s 70.35-point scorcher. They have improved so much over the past few years, and I especially noticed the difficulty in their tango free dance. I feel like they’ve really stepped things up with quality footwork, even between elements, and they skated extremely well. Their total score of 175.23 was less than 6 points away from Tessa & Scott’s, and Kaitlyn & Andrew have just reminded everyone that they are in the hunt for an Olympic medal this season. They have four weeks before their second Grand Prix event, Rostelecom Cup.

Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam struggled with the technical side of their enchanting “Crazy for You” short dance, and were unable to reach the 59-point mark that they set at Nebelhorn Trophy. It was a shame, because the performance aspect of the dance was just fantastic. They came back strong on Saturday, though, with a 90.03-point free dance that didn’t have a single level problem. I love the look of both of their programs and can’t wait to photograph them. I am so pleased that they are making great strides towards skating more consistently. They have plenty of time now to work on technique and continue to grow the programs, but they should be able to be confident that they have strong material for this season. Alex & Mitch were 5th overall (4th in the FD) with 143.77 points.

Nice is Nice! (results)
Two Canadian teams competed at Coupe de Nice in Nice, France, last week. I was so happy to see Skate Canada send teams to this event—they do not usually—because both of these teams deserved to get out on the international circuit this season.

Kharis Ralph & Asher Hill finished fourth, scoring 131.91 points. I enjoyed their classic take on the short dance, but their Finnstep levels were only 1 and 2, so that is an opportunity for improvement. Their Brazilian free dance was delivered with plenty of energy, but the rotational lift at the end of the program only earned a level 1, and their footwork sequences were both level 2, which they would probably like to increase for Canadians. Kharis & Asher are on the roster for NRW Trophy in Dortmund, Germany, this coming weekend, so they will have a quick turnaround between events, and I look forward to see if they can make some tweaks and improve on their levels a bit.

I have been waiting for a couple of years to see Elisabeth Paradis & Francois-Xavier Ouellette (pictured, left) to compete at their first international assignment. It was worth the wait, because they did a great job. Their short dance performance was entertaining, but the 45.70-point score was not what they’d hoped for, due to a level 1 call on the rotational lift and a two-point music violation. It’s my guess that the panel felt that “Ballroom Blitz” did not suit the character of the Finnstep. Four of the seven judges hit the button for the deduction (majority rules), so it was a close decision. They came back strong in the free dance, though, where they tied for the highest TES of the competition and earned 81.70 points. They were fourth in the free and fifth overall, with a total of 127.40.

Octoberfest Roundup (results)
While I was busy not finding time to blog, Octoberfest happened two weekends ago! The annual event in Barrie, Ont., drew a huge number of competitors at the lower levels. I wish it had been a week earlier; I would have been able to go for a day! But it ended up being the same weekend as Skate America. 

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier were back on the ice for the short dance, their first competitive event of the season after Poirier’s broken ankle set them back over the summer. They scored 59.25 with some low levels (2 on footwork, 1 on FS1) and earned 7s & 8s for program components, so it seems like their Caro Emerald program was well-received, despite some technical hiccups. Their next competition will be NHK Trophy in about a week and a half.

The senior event in Barrie saw another delayed season debut—Andréanne Poulin & Marc-André Servant were back after Servant’s long recovery from a stress fracture. They ran into some issues in the second half of their free dance and missed a lift altogether, hence a low score of 63.62. They’ll be back on the ice next week at Québec Sectionals.

Americans Ginna Hoptman & Pavel Filchenkov took the silver in the SD (behind Gilles & Poirier) and the gold in the FD. Victoria Hasegawa & Connor Hasegawa were third in the SD and second in the FD, and Bianka Gadosy & Benjamin Smyth picked up the remaining medal, bronze in the free.

In the junior event, Lauren Collins & Danny Seymour (pictured, right)netted 117.00 points across the two events, their highest total yet this season, after a silver medal in the short dance and gold in the free dance. Their Central Ontario rivals, Katie Desveaux & Dmitre Razgulajevs, won the short dance, but did not skate their free. Samantha Glavine & Jeff Hough won the bronze medal in the short dance. Audrey Croteau-Villeneuve & Dominic Barthe’s free dance is still winning medals—it won silver here—and Catherine Daigle-Roy & Alexis St-Louis picked up the bronze in the free.

The rest of the levels were skated as combined events. The novice level was a close race between Hannah Whitley & Elliott Graham and Valérie Taillefer & Jason Chan, perhaps a preview of Challenge. Whitley & Graham earned 84.31 points and the gold medal. Taillefer & Chan only scored 81.88 for the silver here, but they have hit 90 points already this season. Megan Koenig-Croft & Jake Richardson won bronze with 73.42 points, exactly one point ahead of Ceduna Magee & Lucas Kitteridge.

The pre-novice level featured an incredible 17 teams from five sections. What a great event! Laura Emery & Dean Holbrough won their second straight event, scoring 62.83 points. Québec’s Cassidy McFarlane & Kyle Cayouette were just behind them with 62.26 points. Ellie Fisher & Parker Brown took bronze with a score of 60.04. All three medalists earned personal bests at this event.

Juvenile was another big field, with 13 teams. Taylor O’Neill & Theodoor Broker won the gold medal, earning 43.82 points. It was another close race at this level; Yasmine Clemente & Nolen Hickey were right on the leaders’ heels with 43.69. Only about a quarter of a point separated two Western Ontario teams in third and fourth places, but in the end, it was Camille DeThomasis & Liam Carr who secured the bronze medal over Payton Beckett & Kameron Jeromkin, 41.58 to 41.21.

How is it time for Sectionals already?
This season is just flying by, and I can hardly believe that it’s time to sort out section websites and check for sectional rosters. This year, sectionals are spread out over two weekends, and this coming weekend will kick things off. Dance events will be held this week in Québec, Western Ontario, and Eastern Ontario.

Each section may send up to 4 teams at the senior, junior, novice, and pre-novice levels to Skate Canada Challenge, held in Regina, Sask., in early December. Québec is technically two sections that operate as one, so they may send up to 8 teams at each level.

No cuts will be made at the senior level, across the sections. I would love a year when there are enough teams to need cuts at the sectional level, but that is a long ways off, if it ever happens! Perhaps if all of these pre-novice and juvenile kids keep going!

Québec is the only section that will cut at the junior level, so this week will be a nail-biter for several teams there. They have 12 teams registered to skate; two of those have byes. Melinda Meng & Andrew Meng and Carolane Soucisse & Simon Tanguay will go to Challenge because of their JGP assignments, but 8 more teams will have to qualify this week.

All 6 novice teams in Québec will advance. The pre-novice level has 10 entries, so two teams will not qualify for Challenge. Juveniles and Pre-Juveniles in Québec compete at a separate sectional event, not held until February. 

Eastern Ontario has low numbers at all levels, so all of their teams will advance to Challenge. Mackenzie Bent & Garrett MacKeen, the highest-ranked dancers in EOS, are not scheduled to compete this year.

Western Ontario will not hold junior or senior dance events at their sectional, and they only have one novice team. They have plenty of depth in the younger levels, though, with five pre-novice teams, seven juvenile teams, and five pre-juvenile teams.

Watch This!
My “Watch This!” pick for this week is Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam’s free dance from Skate Canada.

Tessa & Scott and Kaitlyn & Andrew may have been jockeying for the spotlight, but don’t miss this stunning dance.

Up Next!
I’m going to do my best to actually post next week, when I plan to go over Sectionals highlights, preview the remaining Sections, and write a belated recap of this season’s JGP action.

As always, send your comments, suggestions, and questions to [email protected].