Burnaby 8Rinks Centre of Excellence Annual Gala

[alilou]

Japanfan, SandraMGfan, Rosaleen and myself all went to the gala this afternoon. Here's my report.

We got to sit right by the boards, so excellent seats.

The on ice announcers were Lorenza Sammerelli and Kevin Bursey (just in case some of you actually know who they are ).

1. The Junior Academy/Intermediate Ensemble - all the little ones. The boys in green shirts and black pants (apparently meant to be frogs) and the girls all dressed in their sparkly finest princess dresses complete with tiaras. They were totally adorable

2. Adonis Wong - 2011 pre-novice mens Canada Winter Games champion. He didn't seem really grounded over his blades. Fell on one of his jumps. Not a lot of flow. Needs much deeper knees and edges. Sorry Adonis

3. Megan Yim - 2011 pre-juv ladies BC/YT Sect champion. Wow! Just wow. Here's one to watch for the future. Only 9 yrs old. Skated to "The Swan" complete with white tutu and swan headdress. Excellent performance. Amazing command of the ice and maturity of performance for one so young. And lots of nice doubles.

4. Jayda Jerome - 2011 Cdn pre-novice champ. Skated to Amelie. Pleasant. Not as good as the 9 yr old.

5. Mitchell Gordon -2011 Cdn novice champ. skated to Big Band swing. This boy is good!

6. BC Centre of Excellence Senior B Group Ensemble - about 40 kids in black doing an ensemble/kinda synchro number. Messy but fun.

7. Kitty Qian - 2011 Cdn junior silver medalist. Skated to some GFB. Some good jumps (doubles), nice performance.

8. Nicloe Orford and Thomas Williams - 2011 Cdn junior champs. skated to All My Lovin' from across the universe. With his blond wavy hair and good looks he's Canada's own Charlie White Love this team.

9. Brianna Delmaestro - 2011 novice BC/YT sect champ. Diamonds are a girl's best friend from Moulin Rouge. Perhaps a bit young to be skating to this music ("come on boys" ). And I know I should find something nice to say about her, but..... It wasn't awful, just not memorable.

10. BC Centre of Excellence Dance Team Group Ensemble - featuring Edwards&Pang (novice Cdn champs), Jiang&Wamsteeker (pre-novice Cdn champs) and Bruser&Lum (novice Cdn silver medalists) plus 2 other dance teams. All the girls in jewel toned dresses and the boys in tuxes skating to "Call me Irresponsible" and other songs of that ilk. It was lovely. Wing&Lowe are sure creating a good dance school here. (Too bad Edrea and Edbert Khong's parents pulled them out of skating )

11. Devun Neuls - BC/YT sect senior champ. Skated to "St James Imfirmary". Fighting an injury but gave a good performance.

12. Nam Nguyen - Cdn junior champ skated to "Smile" and "Don't stop til you get enough". He was great as usual, very entertaining and lots of triples. He's such a performer!

13. Tarrah Harvey and Keith Gagnon - senior national team members. Skated to Purple Rain. I like these two but they seemed a bit shakey today (he fell). They did some good lifts, including a reverse gender lift. And they need more speed.

14. Kevin Reynolds - skated to violin elevator music, but I still enjoyed him. He did several triple jumps, all very secure. And whatever the haterz say his artistry has improved sooo much (esp since Shae Lynn) and it really shows in his exhibition performances.

At some point in the proceedings Kevin Bursey did a rave about Joanne McLeod and her "creative genius" and asked for audience appreciation. It was a very tepid response.

Also one of the girls performing was from Coquitlam Skating club which surprised me. I thought the show was only for BC Centre of Excellence skaters.

At the end Joanne McLeod came onto the ice and presented the (new) annual sportsman of the year award (can't remember who it went to), and same as last time I went to this gala ( a couple of years ago) she gave herself a pat on the back - "my success is only because of all the great people I've chosen to work with me" There's a better way to show appreciation for the people you work with than to give kudos to yourself for choosing them.

Overall it was a good show and a fun afternoon. I'm glad I went.

Also good to see Rosaleen again. She is making slow progress, and seems lighter/happier.

[victoriajh]

OH i wish i had known!! I would have come down to see you all!!! glad to hear about Rosaleen- it has been along recovery for her =( she must be so proud of rudy and Paige tho!!! ( not that they skated today but I know she is a HUGE fan of theirs)

[SandraMGfan]

Nothing much to add, absolutely none of my pics turned right so nothing to show...

Megan Yim was a delight. Unbelievable for a 9 year-old!

[alilou]

Nothing much to add, absolutely none of my pics turned right so nothing to show...

Megan Yim was a delight. Unbelievable for a 9 year-old!

So sorry about your pics I was looking forward to seeing them.

[alilou]

OH i wish i had known!! I would have come down to see you all!!! glad to hear about Rosaleen- it has been along recovery for her =( she must be so proud of rudy and Paige tho!!! ( not that they skated today but I know she is a HUGE fan of theirs)

Too bad you didn't know. It would have been nice to see you again. Next time we'll start a thread!

[Japanfan]

Another for Megan Yim.

I'll add that Kevin had his hair done in tight curls again today. I much prefer the messy straws look but hope he tries something different. His artistry has improved leaps and bounds and the hair just isn't working.

[Sylvia]

Belated thanks for your detailed report!

3. Megan Yim - 2011 pre-juv ladies BC/YT Sect champion. Wow! Just wow. Here's one to watch for the future. Only 9 yrs old. Skated to "The Swan" complete with white tutu and swan headdress. Excellent performance. Amazing command of the ice and maturity of performance for one so young. And lots of nice doubles.

Here's Megan Yim's Juvenile level version of "The Swan" in a recent competition in April: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ECqXyfP6oI

4. Jayda Jerome - 2011 Cdn pre-novice champ.

Here's Jayda Jurome's winning Pre-Novice FS at Challenge in December 2010 (she landed two 3S): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqOepfOFug

5. Mitchell Gordon -2011 Cdn novice champ. skated to Big Band swing. This boy is good!

Here's a 2010 pre-Vancouver Olympics profile piece on Mitchell Gordon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3PQ8M_V5tU

[champs]

Is Beata Papp not skating at this rink any more?

[mag]

My understanding is the younger boy, Benjam? is still there but the older boy ... the one who went to Jr. Worlds, is now skating out of Coquitlam. Not sure what is happening with the girls.