I LOVE to watch ice dancing, BUT I never thought the US would have so MANY strong teams in this discipline! I’m VERY proud that we have such accomplished dancers going to the Vancouver Olympics. Can we beat the Russians? Hmmm… we’ll have to see. But we can be TOUGH competitors this year!
Part-time University of Michigan students Meryl Davis & Charlie White (pic above) defeated Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto for the 1st time in their careers. Davis & White had a very creative Original Dance (OD) this year with Bollywood music. Their style and flair remind me of my fave team, Marinna Anissina & Gwendal Peizerat (FRA).
In their Free Dance, D&W skated to music from Phantom of the Opera. Though both teams had well-choreographed/difficult/engaging programs, D&W had better music than B&A. I think the audience was leaning a little more toward D&W also. I esp. liked D&W’s lifts and how they used the music. They are BOTH very strong skaters; they were paired up 10 years ago!
Bronze medalists Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates (pic above) had a very fun and fast-paced country-western OD. The audience LOVED it! (Evan shares a house on the UMich campus w/ Charlie White.)
Samuelson & Bates, who I learned about last year, are very strong/athletic skaters. But they can also be artistic, as they showed in their FD.
Knightleyemma 