2022–23 Canadian Ice Dance: News and Updates

[Colonel Green]

She definitely was, see 02:34: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikzI1EqkTRI&ab_channel=SS1020
The choreographic sliding movement was introduced in the 2018/19 season

I specifically asked her what she thought of them when I interviewed her at the 2019 nationals (she concurred with "murder on the knees" as an assessment).

 

[4rkidz]

Glad she is keeping the skirt, I love how she uses and dances with it, so hopefully just a freak accident.

 

[Colonel Green]

With Piper and Paul (and Kaitlin and Jean-Luc) out of Four Continents, Marjorie and Zach have the opportunity to end their season with an ISU championship medal, even if they don't get to go to Worlds.

Unrelatedly, Nadiia's nationals vlog is up:

 

[geoskate]

Congratulations to Fournier- Beaudry/Soerensen on setting ISU personal bests in rhythm dance, free dance and overall! The new personal bests are already up on the ISU website.

Lajoie/Lagha set an ISU personal best in the free dance.

 

[Colonel Green]

It looks like Piper and her fiancé got married today!

EDIT: September, apparently.

 

[tony]

It looks like Piper and her fiancé got married today!

Comments say it happened in September.

 

[Wyliefan]

Kind of crazy timing, but I guess they just felt like going for it! Congrats to them!

 

[honey]

During the Skate Canada commentary, Carole Lane said that Piper had gotten married this summer. I wondered if she’d misspoke and meant to say got engaged, but obviously she did get married! Beautiful picture!

 

[Colonel Green]

Comments say it happened in September.

Apparently they’re still planning a bigger ceremony later, per Piper.

 

[skategal]

It looks like Piper and her fiancé got married today!

I don’t think it’s today. I think that was last summer/fall in NS (he is from Joggins, NS area and they were here for a visit.)

In one of the broadcasts (it might have been GPF?) Carol Lane commented that it was a big year for Piper because she bought a house and got married.

I was and then thought maybe she meant engaged.

But yeah….I think she let the cat out of the bag.

Congrats Piper and hubby.

 

[victorskid]

The marriage date, according to Piper's Instagram post was September 3, 2022 She used the photo to wish her husband Happy Valentines Day

 

[greenapple]

Here's an article about what happened on the day Piper and Nathan got engaged.

Piper Gilles: Sky High Proposal – International Figure Skating

In June 2022, Piper Gilles said yes to a proposal of her longtime boyfriend Nathan Kelly on a mountain peak in Colorado Springs.

ifsmagazine.com

 

[danafan]

Sales and Wamsteeker have ended their partnership. He is retiring to be a pilot in the Air Force but she wants to continue.

Instagram

www.instagram.com

 

[BlueRidge]

Sales and Wamsteeker have ended their partnership. He is retiring to be a pilot in the Air Force but she wants to continue.

Instagram

www.instagram.com

oh no, I love them! Well I guess he's doing what he wants so good for him! I'll miss them.

 

[Colonel Green]

Sales and Wamsteeker have ended their partnership. He is retiring to be a pilot in the Air Force but she wants to continue.

Instagram

www.instagram.com

Retiring to become an RCAF officer rates fairly high on the list of unusual retirement announcements.

 

[chantilly]

It’s a shame since they improved so much. But Canadian ice dance is so crowded and I just think that they would be stuck around top 5 with the teams around and coming up.
Good luck to Haley finding a new partner though.
And good for Nik to go after another dream

 

[Colonel Green]

Looking ahead to Junior Worlds, the focus is mostly on Bashynska & Beaumont, for obvious reasons, but I'll also be interested to see how Yu & Giang fare, since they're the only one of the three teams attending who will still be junior-eligible next season.

 

[Ena Grins]

I didn't realize until now that Gauthier/Thieren were aging up next year. They have a lot of promise as a team and would probably have benefitted from another season on the JGP. Hoping they have a strong showing at Junior Worlds so they can go into their first senior season with confidence.

 

[Colonel Green]

Canada qualified to send two teams to the Youth Olympics again. After two consecutive fourth-place finishes, is this finally the time to win a medal? I’m not sure which teams will be eligible next season.

 

[almiranara]

is there any novice team moving up to junior next season?

 

[chantilly]

How many points did B/B lose at Junior worlds?

When all was said and done they were quite behind.

I know M/M and L/Q had rocky seasons up to that point so I understand the scores they had up to worlds weren’t necessarily indicative of what they would normally receive skating clean.

But we’re B/B expected to get al least silver and challenge for gold?

 

[angi]

How many points did B/B lose at Junior worlds?

When all was said and done they were quite behind.

I know M/M and L/Q had rocky seasons up to that point so I understand the scores they had up to worlds weren’t necessarily indicative of what they would normally receive skating clean.

But we’re B/B expected to get al least silver and challenge for gold?

They lost quite a lot in the RD for the BV of the two parts of the pattern, to compare:
M/M - 11 points (max), L/Q - 9.5 points, B/H - 10.25 points, B/B - 7.5 points
They also got the lowest GOE for the patterns compared to the other three. Their midline step sequence also got the lowest GOE of the four teams.
In the FD they again got the lowest BV out of the top 4, but not by much and also he had a small error on the twizzles.
But in general, they looked (IMO) the least impressive out of the top 4 and their material felt the most dated to me. M/M, L/Q, and B/H laid out really strong performances and B/B came across as tight.

 

[Sylvia]

Jan. 6:

Wishing Piper a full recovery! 4CC may be out of the question, depending on the recovery time, but hopefully Piper & Paul will be in fine shape to compete @ Worlds.

Piper posted this video 2 days ago: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpgKUuPAZEN/

Training for worlds after having surgery has come with its challenges, but we’ve been putting the work in and things are right back where we want them to be. Some days have been harder than others but we’ve continued to believe in ourselves. Can’t wait to be back performing for all of you!!

 

[Pink Cats]

Jan. 6:

Piper posted this video 2 days ago: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpgKUuPAZEN/

After any abdominal surgery, you have to wait 6 weeks and have clearance from your surgeon to lift more than 10 lbs because they don't want you to get a hernia. So I can see how they would have to delay or work around some parts of their training.

 

[clairecloutier]

Just wanted to share an interview that I did with Lajoie/Lagha at Four Continents:

Lajoie/Lagha: “Worlds is the piece that is missing to have had the perfect season”

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha have had a breakout season in 2022-23. But when the rhythm dance starts next week at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, they will unfortunately be m…

adivinesport.com

They talk about their thoughts on their season, how they chose their programs, their regret at missing Worlds, their take on next year's 80s rhythm dance, and Zak's music fights with Romain .

 

[marbri]

Just wanted to share an interview that I did with Lajoie/Lagha at Four Continents:

Lajoie/Lagha: “Worlds is the piece that is missing to have had the perfect season”

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha have had a breakout season in 2022-23. But when the rhythm dance starts next week at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, they will unfortunately be m…

adivinesport.com

They talk about their thoughts on their season, how they chose their programs, their regret at missing Worlds, their take on next year's 80s rhythm dance, and Zak's music fights with Romain .

Oh god, please do NOT skate to MJ next season. Romain I am counting on you.

 

[BlueRidge]

Oh god, please do NOT skate to MJ next season. Romain I am counting on you.

exactly what I said

 

[clairecloutier]

Here's an interview with Piper and Paul, which was actually done at the Grand Prix Final but only released now, by Florentina Tone for Inside Skating:

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier: “Going into this year, the focus was: Find joy”

On the ice, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are some of the most flamboyant skaters out there. Portraying their characters to the fingertips, being one with them as soon as they step on the ice, and even in their final reverence to the audience. They’re not just telling the story, they are the stor

www.insideskating.net

They talk a little bit more about how they found and developed their programs for this season.

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

Congrats to Paul & Piper on their second Bronze medal at the World Championships!! Though I'm sure they were hoping for even more with the earlier arch to their season and the GPF win, I am so proud of their ability to overcome Piper's appendectomy and recover to still medal.

But I can't help but think of what feels like the Canadian Ice Dance curse struck again, where anytime a team won the GPF, they went on to lose Worlds in the same season, or the opposite scenario happened. And the curse struck twice this season in both Senior and Junior Ice Dance . I think Virtue/Moir were the only exception to this in the 2016/17 season.

Winning GPF, Losing Worlds in the same season:
Gilles/Poirier (2022/23 season): 3rd at Worlds, 1st at GPF
Bashynska/Beaumont (2022/23 season): 3rd at Jr Worlds, 1st at Jr GPF
Weaver/Poje (2014/15 season): 3rd at Worlds, 1st at GPF
Weaver/Poje (2015/16 season): 5th at Worlds, 1st at GPF

Winning Worlds, Losing GPF in the same season:
Virtue/Moir (2011/12 season): 1st at Worlds, 2nd at GPF
Lajoie/Lagha (2018/19 season): 1st at Jr Worlds, 4th at Jr GPF

 

[angi]

I would have had FB/S with silver at this event, the top 3 FDs were kind of a mess while they skated both their programs the best and cleanest they've ever skated.