If you don't know the name - you may be one of the few.  Let me refresh your memory.  David Pelletier and partner Jamie Sale were Canadian, World (2001) and Olympic pair champions in 2002.  The judging scandal that was uncovered at the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 where Jamie and David ultimately turned in their Silver medals for Gold was the impetus for the overhaul to the judging system that is now in place today.

Fast forward to 10 minutes ago and a quick conversation with my new booth buddy David Pelletier!  I have some great news for Canadian skating fans who are subscribers to the CBC BOLD Digital channel - David is going to join me for all of the action at the Skate Canada International event in Kingston. HOLY COW!!  Am quite excited!  Turns out - he is too! 

I remember a couple of years ago, David striding with purpose in my direction to tell me that he followed skating on BOLD exclusively and wanted me to know it.  Today, I asked him why:  "It's because I think skating can take itself too seriously sometimes and I like the fact that BOLD feels more conversational to me.  I like the candor and I like the fact that you still get what you need.  For me it makes me feel more like I am part of the event."

We all know it's not for everybody, but for those of us that like to follow skating and like to be the first to spot new talent long before it hits that last flight, it's great.

For David Pelletier - skating past, present and future is interesting and he says that this is the ideal time to see who will start the climb towards the next Olympics in Sochi in 2014.  He elaborates: "People come and people go. It's interesting to see who stayed after the Olympics. After all, it's less than 4 years until the next time so to see the programs at the beginning of the season can let you know who might be the ones to watch."

In between talking about three year old son, Jessie, who he describes as the love of his life I asked him which side of the boards he prefers.  He says : "The 'rush' of competing being out there in front of the public and in front of the fans and getting that moment where you can show the world and convince those 9 people on the judging panel that you are the best. It is amazing to challenge yourself and when it is the time to ask yourself 'who is going to show up today?'. It's a question of being in control.  As the coach, you are out of control  - your job is done once you get there to the competition. For the skater it is only half done once you get there They still have to skate and anything can happen when an athlete is under stress."

If I wasn't going to be on BOLD this weekend - I would want to watch BOLD.  We're going to have LOTS to talk about !

David Pelletier and Pj Kwong - never thought I would see those two names together!

Don't forget - comments, questions and anything else- to pjkwong@pjkwong.com.

***TAKING THE ICE by Pj Kwong - makes a great gift! www.takingtheice.com ***

I am THRILLED to announce that I am joining the International Figure Skating Magazine family as a regular contributor and that  I will soon be posting a link where people can go to subscribe and get a discount! My first IFS assignment was about Synchro and gave me the chance to chat with lots of insiders.

Hi all!  Ok...dance heaven may be a slight exageration...how about by a nice kidney shaped pool on a lounger with a drink with an umbrella in it?  In any event, where I was last night was maybe the most pleasant place imaginable: a cool rink on a warm night with some hot skating!

I had mentioned in a blog last week that I would be going to a Gala put on by and to support the ice dnacers at Ice Dance Elite at the Scarboro Figure Skating Club which would include all of the skaters form bottom to top.  It was a treat!

The 4 Junior teams skated their Short Dances and Free Dances and I have to say that a special mention has to go to Abby Carswell and Andrew Dolman whose Flamenco inspired free dance had the requisite amount of male/female tension and drama, not to mention speed, power and skating skills to keep me on the edge of my seat.  The Viennese Waltz is the foundation for the Junior Short Dance this year and it was fun to see not only the music and costume choices but also to see just when and how the 2 sequential (obligatory) patterns would pop up.  Depsite all of the teams being in the same boat with relatively new programs, they looked polished and prepared and did not disappoint. I was also intrigued by how well Canadian Novice Dance champions, Kelly Oliveira and Jordan Hockley were able to portray their version of Singing in the Rain for their free dance.

With the very young teams, there is often an imbalance in power between the boy and the girl until the boy starts to grow, get stronger and mature.  One of those teams is Katie Deveaux and Dmitre Razgulajevs who are competing at a Novice level and demonstrated superior speed and edge control in their West Side Story free dance.  Not only did they deliver on the technical elements, they showed confidence and strength, portrayed the Maria and Tony roles perfectly AND they used all of the good bits of the music!  (Gotta love that!).  Another promising young team competing at the juvenile level is 8 year old Irina Galiyanova and partner Matthew Ward who skated to an adorable sailor inspired program.  I first met Irina when I visited the school to interview Crone and Poirier (her favourite skaters she tells me) and coach Jon Lane had her demonstrate her amazing flexibility for me.  Poised and clearly bendy, it was a treat to see her talent put to use on the ice!

Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill are going to be the subject of an upcoming blog and suffice to say that Kharis' sweet smile and dainty presence on the ice are the perfect counterpoint for partner Asher's dashing masculinity highlighted wonderfully in their "Cinderella" short dance.

The piece de resistance came as the show's final skaters,  Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier took their position to skate an exhibition program.  The music failed and instead of bailing, they performed what was supposed to be the first part only of their "Eleanor Rigby" free dance.  This is the program that was choreographed by the legendary Christopher Dean and we were being afforded a first look, however small which was exciting.  I kept waiting for the music to stop.  It didn't and they skated the whole program.  What struck me were the layers of movement and the "oneness" of Vanessa and Paul even more so because the program is still very new.    There is a lift that is so startling in its' originality, it took me a second to register that what I had seen was accurate.

I am really excited about the changes in ice dance and am looking forward to seeing more dancers over the summer in preparation for a great season.  There seems to be ever increasing room for artistry and athleticism in dance.

Inside the rink,  my Mom and I were just another couple of (thrilled) people in the crowd who were on our feet even before the music ended.

Hold that thought.  I will be coming back to it in a bit.

Today I found myself in 'ice dance heaven' on a visit tp Ice Dance Elite at the Scarborough Figure Skating Club.  I was there, along with my Mom who is an ice dance judge, at coach Carol Lane's invitation to see some skating, specifically to start to wrap our brains around the new Short Dance component in the ice dance competition.  I was also looking forward to chatting with Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill - look for their story in an upcoming blog.

I have to tell you that this is a particularly busy summer program.  It runs for 8 weeks and boasts 14 dance teams at all competitive levels including 4 Junior, 2 Senior and an International team in attendance.  The  program structure is quite simple:  it runs from 6:30 - noon weekdays and the skaters are divided into a higher or lower session depending on their level and skaters are also expected to participate in a ballet class in the morning followed by a fitness class a little later on.

What we arrived to see was Performance Day, where the skaters get the chance to do a more structured run-through of their program(s).  It was fun to bounce around from one level to the next and from one kind of program to another.  The thing that amused me more than anything was the large bristol board pinned to a cork board with the days of the week going across the top and the skaters' names running down the left side.  There were lots of colourful push pins already in place underneath the day's name and beside the skaters' names.  On closer inspection (which I then confirmed with Carol) there is a unique system in place to evaluate run-throughs based on the colour of the push pin:

CLEAR = Outstanding Performance

GREEN = Clean run-through

BLUE = One error

YELLOW = Up to 2 errors

RED = You're in trouble :)  Do it again!

Sometimes it's the small things that can help motivate an athlete the most!

The best thing was seeing the short dances.  They have been described as a combination of a compulsory dance and a choreographed part with required elements.  The Junior skaters have to incorporate 2 patterns of the Viennese Waltz, while the Seniors have to incorporate 1 pattern of the Golden Waltz and as long as the tempo is correct, you have your choice of music.  Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier wowed us their short dance to Alicia Keys'  "Falling".  Without seeing it, I wouldn't have expected it to work and work it does in a very sultry and sophisticated way.  I wasn't sure about the concept, but I think the short dance is going to work and hats off to Carol and coaching partner Juris Razgulaevs for getting all those programs put togther in the last 6 weeks! (All dance coaches were in the same boat of having to wait for the Short Dance and it's rules to be passed by the ISU Congress mid-June)

During a quick goodbye hug, Vanessa and Paul mentioned that they were going to be at the Mariposa Gala in Barrie on the night before they were performing in their own gala.  What gala I asked? Ice Dance Elite's teams will all be performing and previewing all of their programs for the coming season.  I am going to be there to see not only some great skating but some more sort dances.  Call it research :)  You can come to this fundraiser too if you like.  Tickets are available for purchase at the door, with the price of $10 for adults and less for students and seniors.  The date is Wednesday, August 4th at Thornhill Community Centre at the corner of John St and Bayview.  Paul said that the audience can leave comments for the skaters and the show is called "So You Think You Can Judge?"

It took me a minute, but I told you I would get back to it! :See you there :)

It took from about 4:30pm until about 2:30am by car to get from Aston, PA back to my house in Toronto.  Lots of coffee, lots of laughs and some great skating conversation made the trip fun on the way back fro the Liberty competition.

The purpose of the trip was to try and get a head start on the season, try and see how the changes have played out in the programs and to also have the chance to talk to some people about my book which comes out in about six weeks, Taking the Ice.  I will tell you more about the book later.

What kept us at the rink yesterday was the senior men's free skate event which included Canadian men's champion and two-time world silver medallist Patrick Chan.  

I also wanted to get a second look at American Keegan Messing from Alaska who had really impressed me in the short program from the day before.  

I can overlook weaknesses in a skater at this point in the season if there is something that captures my attention.   It is true that Keegan is a bit wild but his speed, power and jumping ability alone make him a skater to watch.  Although not originally named to Junior Worlds in 2010, he nevertheless ended up there and finished in 4th place.  I can definitely see that he is one to keep your eye on.

As the final group of skaters took the ice, people filtered in to the rink to settle into a spot to be able to watch Patrick Chan's free program; the second last skater in the flight.

His music is the same from this past season - The Phantom of The Opera - but the program has been totally revamped.   After a superb quad toe in the short, he attempted another one as his first element in the free.  He fell on the landing edge but....and this is a significant but...the jump was fully rotated and the ease with which he went into it makes me think that he is comfortable with this new addition.  The other new addition was a solid triple Axel/triple toe combination -his first in competition  He fell on the second triple Axel so ended up with 2 points in deductions from the totall overall score.

The crowd was very appreciative.  It doesn't mean that there weren's some people who thought that if Patrick was going to go to the trouble of re-doing his Phantom free program then why not go with new music as well.  I am speculating when I say that with the challenges that Patrick had in the Olympic season,  perhaps he never got to totally explore the Phantom character.

I spoke to (friends and) announcers Robin and Carol and it was Robin who said:  "Patrick is one of the few skaters that I watch where I don't care if he jumps or not, his expression is that good." 

What struck me yesterday was if you watched just his skating, he skates faster and with more power than he ever has.   He seems to have come of age over the past few months and his new found maturity has helped him develop a new found and powerful presence and persona that positively fills the rink.  All that even before you realize just how fast he is going.

Patrick took the free program with Keegan in second place.

Just another one of the highlights for me from the Liberty competition.  I am going back next year!