Getting to Know Allie Rose & J.T. Michel

IDC is highlighting some of the new partnerships that are debuting in the 2017-18 competitive season.  Up next is Allie Rose & J.T. Michel who are coached by Michelle Marvin and CG Lee and train in Ardmore, PA.  Feature photo by Daphne Backman.

IDC: Can you share with us your individual skating journeys?

Rose:  My journey started at the age of 5 with learn to skate. I joined the synchronized ice skating team at my rink a few years later and fell in love with the competitive nature in skating. I spent a few years competing freestyle and many coaches suggested that I should try ice dancing. I saw how fun it looked to be lifted and to skate with a partner and decided that ice dancing was for me.

Michel:  I began skating when I was around nine years old. I woke up one day, and out of the blue I decided that I wanted to try figure skating. I bugged my parents until they decided they would take me to try skating. As soon as I stepped on the ice, I knew it was going to be my sport because I had never felt a feeling quite like it. I worked hard and quickly began to see myself move up the levels in freestyle, until I decided I wanted to pursue ice dance and work with a partner. After three years of training with my first partner, I became the 2014 U.S. juvenile ice dance champion and two years later I made the podium again with my partner, Gianna Buckley. Recently, I traveled to many different rinks around the United States, and I went to the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, where I met my current partner, Allie Rose.

IDC: How did your partnership get started?

Michel:  Our partnership started when I traveled to Philadelphia for the tryout.  As soon as I saw the rink and went in, I felt the same feeling I felt when I stepped on the ice when I was nine.  I had a good feeling about that place. I first fell in love with the rink, and then I fell in love with skating with Allie when we stepped on the ice together.

IDC:  What do you like most about skating with each other?

Rose:  I like skating with J.T. because he’s such a fluid skater. It feels natural skating with him and he has a lot of passion for skating.

Michel:  I like skating with Allie because she is such a hard worker and will not give up until we have mastered what we are working on. I can see her determination every time we skate together, and I know that she really cares about skating and training.

IDC:  If you could have a lesson from any ice dancer past/present, who would it be?

Rose:  I would love to have a lesson with Meryl Davis and Charlie White because I look up to them and a lesson would be amazing. They’ve accomplished so much on & off the ice.

Michel:  I would love to have a lesson with Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron.  I love their fluidity on the ice and watching them skate in general.  

IDC:  Can you give us some background on your programs this season?

Michel:  This year, many texts were sent back and forth deciding our music for the season.  I was still in Louisville at the time and we wanted to get our music set, so our coach Michelle Marvin found great music selections for both short and free dance.  Of those, we liked the idea of having a Latin jazz short dance rhythm and Cha Cha to “A Night Like This” by Caro Emerald, and a bluesy 1930’s and 40’s theme for our free dance.

IDC:  Is there anything you would like our readers to know about you as a team?

Michel:  Both of us have been involved in serving our communities in many ways. We have both been fortunate to be awarded the USFS Athlete Ambassador Awards in consecutive years.  We recently volunteered together in Philadelphia as well.