Eight teams head to Barrie for Autumn Classic

by Laura Flagg | Photo by Liz Chastney

Eight ice dance teams will be competing in Barrie, Ontario at the Skate Canada Autumn Classic International.  As none of the world’s top ice dance teams are in the field, there could be some surprise medalists.

Making their international debut as a team are Karina Manta and Joseph Johnson (pictured).  Coached by Patti Gottwein in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Manta and Johnson are in their second season together as a team and have made enormous improvements since they finished 10th at the junior level last season at U.S. Nationals. 

Their fellow Americans, Danielle Thomas and Daniel Eaton, are coming off their own international debut in Salt Lake City last month.  While they had a solid short dance, they will be looking to make improvements to free dance to Czardas.  Thomas and Eaton teamed up earlier this year and are coached by Marina Zoueva in Canton, Michigan.

Another team in their first season are Nicole Orford and Asher Hill.  Both had success with previous partners, with Orford placing as high as third and Hill placing as high as fourth at Canadian Nationals.  Orford and Hill will be performing a free dance to music from The Theory of Everything.  They are coached by Carol Lane.

On the other end of the partnership-length spectrum are Orford and Hill’s training mates, Andreanne Poulin and Marc-Andre Servant, who have been skating together since 2009.  The 2012 Canadian Junior champions placed 8th last season in seniors at Canadian Nationals.  Poulin and Servant will be skating their new free dance to “Birth” by Alexandre Desplat and Piano Trio in G Major by Claude Debussy.

Also training with Lane in Toronto are Cortney Mansour And Michal Ceska.  The Czech National Champions recently finsihed 6th at the Nepala Trophy.  They will be doing a foxtrot to “La Vie en Rose”, along with the requisite waltz, for the short dance.

Taylor Tran and Saulius Ambrulevicius have also already made their debut for the season, placing 8th at the US International Figure Skating Classic in September.  They train with Zoueva, alongside Thomas and Eaton.  Their free dance is to “Le Notti de Cabiria” by Nino Rota.

Finsihing right behind Tran and Ambrulevicius in Salt Lake City were Emily Pike and Patrick Adderley.  They finished 2nd in Juniors at the Australian National Championshps last season.

While Celia Robledo and Luis Fenero train in Montreal, Quebec with Romain Haguenauer, they will be representing their home country of Spain in this comeptition.  They placed 22nd at the European Championships last season.

The short dance will be skated on Wednesday, October 14th with the free dance is on the 15th.