I watched a lot of ice dancing at the 2008 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships held in Lake Placid, New York, and loved every minute of it. In the Championship Ice Dancing event, the Compulsory Dances were the Paso Doble and the Starlight Waltz, and the Original Dance (comprising 50% of the overall score) was to a Folk/Country rhythm. I'm still educating myself on all the different facets of ice dancing so it was a true education for me to watch these competitors take to the ice and perform three dances each.
When it was all over, the West Coast ruled supreme. Julie Keith and Michael Ricigliano from St. Moritz Ice Skating Club in California won the gold with a very sophisticated presence on the ice. Although Julie fell during the Original Dance and the team placed third in the Original Dance, they won overall with outstanding Compulsory Dances. I especially liked Julie's skating - it has a very effortless, mature and sophisticated look and feel to it. Julie is a 44-year-old realtor and Michael is a 46-year-old software engineer, and they both view skating as an "oasis" which allows them to be better parents, better at their jobs, and be more healthy -- physically and mentally. They're both coached by Russian greats Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, Olympic gold medalists and World champions in ice dancing. Michael said his biggest concern was the side-by-side twizzles, which he described as the "triple axel" of ice dancing. Julie and Michael placed first at the 2008 Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals, held in Portland, Oregon. This is Julie and Michael's sixth straight win at these Adult Nationals, which is unbelievable to me because the field of competitors in ice dancing is of the highest caliber.
As a reminder, U.S. Figure Skating holds the Eastern, Midwestern and Pacific Coast Sectionals. Skaters wishing to compete in Championship events at Adult Nationals must place high in these sectionals. The Championship Masters events also do not have age categories so you may see skaters in their twenties competing with forty-somethings and beyond, which certainly makes it more interesting and exciting!
I was thoroughly mesmerized by the silver medalist team of Anna Li and William Eastler of the Seattle Skating Club. They placed second to Julie and Michael in the Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals and this is their very first Adult Nationals. There was great chemistry between them and I later found out they are a real-life engaged couple! Anna, a 40-something marketing director at an organic bakery, and 30-something William, a software developer at Microsoft, have only been skating together for one year. I asked Will what drew him to the world of ice dancing and as all of us can relate, he said:
It comes down to the feeling of edges. It's just the speed and the lean....That's why I love dancing...getting the acceleration out of the curve is amazing.
The bronze medalist team of Laura Rose-Lewis and Kiel Leighton from the Portland Ice Skating Club have gotten Anna and Will beat in terms of the length of partnership -- Laura and Kiel have been ice dancing partners for only six months(!) and they look amazing together. Laura, a 43-year-old business owner, reminds me of Olympic pairs skater JoJo Starbuck. (JoJo teaches a skating clinic at Rockefeller Rink where I skate, and talking to Laura -- her demeanor, physique and modesty -- made me think of JoJo.) Kiel is a 23-year-old technical support specialist for a credit card company and competed at U.S. Nationals in novice ice dance. Laura and Kiel placed first in their Original Dance with a great skate to Willie Nelson's On the Road Again and I have to say, it was my favorite Original Dance. They placed fourth at the Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals.
Note: U.S. Figure Skating does not allow the media to film the actual competition; however, if you are an icenetwork subscriber, you can watch many of the performances on video.
Complete results for Championship Ice Dancing are as follows:
Place |
Name |
Points |
C1 |
C2 |
OD |
1 |
Julie Keith / Michael Ricigliano St. Moritz ISC |
71.85 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Anna Li / William Eastler Seattle SC |
70.10 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
Laura Rose-Lewis / Kiel Leighton Portland ISC |
66.33 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
Deborah Reyman / Mark Reyman SC of Southern Connecticut |
57.00 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
5 |
Lauren Zell / Michael Barsotti SC of Oregon |
56.12 |
4 |
5 |
7 |
6 |
Debra Gaultier / David Gaultier Detroit SC |
55.31 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
Jacqueline Philipp / James McNab SW Michigan SC / Ice Box SC |
55.19 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
Dai-Rei Sun / Rinat Farkhoutdinov Individual / Stars FSC of Texas |
48.72 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
Nancy Hoblack / Michael Marcanio Carolinas FSC |
48.69 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
WD |
Julia Radlick / Jordan Johnson SC of Oregon |
9 |
9 |
CLICK HERE FOR BONUS INTERVIEW WITH GOLD MEDALISTS JULIE KEITH AND MICHAEL RICIGLIANO!
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