Canadian Ice Dancers Twirl their Way to Gold

Speaking as somebody with two left feet, I thoroughly respect the brave souls who take to the ice and dance with metal blades attached to the soles of their shoes.

Ice dancing, though related to figure skating, is more like ballroom dancing on ice in that it is always performed in pairs, there are no jump requirements, and more attention is placed on intricate footwork and style. It was first competed at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, but did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976.

I loved watching the ice dancing during this season’s Olympics. While I’m a die-hard hockey fan and am still hoarse from celebrating our recent victory against Russia, I thoroughly appreciated the “Tango Romanticas” as well as the original routines performed by the talented Olympic athletes.

Of course, Canada was always in the back of my mind, and our performance this year reduced me to tears. Canadian dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took home a historic gold medal as the first and youngest ice dancing champions in history at 20 and 22, respectively. Not bad for their first Olympic experience!

It was their chemistry that did it for me. The team has been training together for 14 years and it showed in their playfulness and synchronicity. Unlike figure skating, ice dancing lacks the drama of throws and the fear of falls — it relies on the choreography and the energy brought forth by both dancers.

Virtue and Moir certainly had both, and their chemistry was tangible as they skated to Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5, appropriately portraying a young romance. While the pair (who once dated in their early teenaged years) are only close friends, love was certainly in the stands: Fans burst into tears and applause as the duo’s finale brought the 11,000-strong adoring audience to their feet.

— Stephanie Maris