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Mel's Editorial#15: July 2, 2005Spring Training the Canton Way I have to admit, I was a tad overwhelmed. It wasn't a competion, wasn't even during the competitive season, yet I was watching four senior dance teams sharing a sheet of ice, training for a new season. It might not have been the most exciting session - no one was doing run-throughs and there was a lot of repeating choreography over and over again, but I was enthralled. I'd never seen anything quite like the session on Igor Shpilband's ice on Monday, June 20. My friends and I had driven from central Michigan that morning to see, primarily, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir and Siobhan Karam & Josh McGrath. One of the girls in my group designs and maintains their official websites, so we were looking forward to meeting up with them and checking out their new material. We were in for so much more. Over the next five hours, I watched the phenomenon that occurs every day on one of the ice surfaces in Canton, Michigan. World silver medallists Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto shared the ice with U.S. Novice hopefuls Brianne Oswald & Nathan Truesdale. Canadian silver medallists Megan Wing & Aaron Lowe traded sessions with one of the teams that has begun to nip at their heels, junior world silver medallists Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir. The atmosphere is clearly very competitive, but as soon as the skaters get off the ice, it's easy to tell that they have great friendships with each other and it seems like a really healthy atmosphere. It was hard to watch everything that went on because the level of talent on the ice at one time was just overwhelming, but I did try to watch the new pairings of Jamie Silverstein & Ryan O'Meara and Lydia Manon & Brandon Forsyth. Lydia & Brandon weren't having the best day and I later heard that they were breaking in boots and fighting illness, so I didn't get a chance to see much of them. However, they do look very solid and comfortable with each other, as I expected they would. Jamie and Ryan were a little rough around the edges, but it was encouraging to see them working on increasingly difficult elements and it seems that Jamie's comeback to the sport is going to back a big splash, perhaps even as early as the Lake Placid competition. If there's one thing that ice dance at Nationals will not be next year, it's boring! The dynamic, energetic Canadian teams of Virtue & Moir and Karam & McGrath both look motivated and ready to take on the challenges of the new season. Siobhan and Josh are working on a more mature look that should make them appear right at home at their Grand Prix début, Skate America. Meanwhile, Tessa & Scott are continuing in their attack on difficulty and speed and I don't have any question that they're going to have another fantastic year on the Junior circuit. I've definitely saved the best for last. Especially after watching them work harder than anyone else on the ice, Megan Wing & Aaron Lowe are, without a doubt, my favourite dance team. This eighteen-year-old team is clearly on a mission to represent Canada in the 2006 Winter Olympics and they're going to do everything they can to reach that goal. We watched them work and rework the same section of choreography for their original dance, never satisfied until it was perfectly executed and basically on autopilot. The most interesting part was that even though we watched the same ten seconds over and over again, we never lost interest as they discussed with the choreographer, tried something new, reverted to the old, changed the directions, and the like. I'm not sure there's another team with the execution that Megan and Aaron display, but then again, I'm not sure there's another team in the amateur ranks that has been together for eighteen and a half years! For reasons I have never understood, this team has taken a beating among some of the serious skating fans and are often looked upon without much expectation for greatness. I wonder if the naysayers have ever seen them practice the way that I have, because there isn't any way to deny their work ethic, dedication, and genuine personality. I wish that I lived closer to a training centre like Canton. I think it's easy to criticize skaters that you're not fond of if you're just watching them perform on TV, but when you see what these athletes go through every day to skate at such a high level, a deeper understanding is formed. If I had the drive to do one thing the way that some of these youngs kids do, well, I might have made a good musician after all. Archives -- Contact -- Features -- Guestbook -- Links -- Webmistress (c)2004-7 Melanie L. Hoyt All rights reserved. |