A banner and medals honoring the 2010 Olympic accomplishments of Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Meryl Davis and Charlie White hang at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton, Mich.
“I think it’s a very big thing for North Amer-
ica to have three ice dance teams on the podium,” Zoueva said. “It was the golden era [of ice dance] in the Soviet Union, now it is the golden era in North America.” In the mixed zone in Moscow’s MegaSport
Despite having the world’s top ice dance teams sharing the same ice, Zoueva and Shpilband are able to keep everyone happy and motivated with an efficient and fair distribution of their time and efforts. Helping headline the Canton camp are World champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani.
Zoueva said. “At the beginning of the season it’s hard to develop the techniques for the new tricks, and pairs’ coaches are excellent for that.”
WORKING RELATIONSHIP
Nowadays, Shpilband and Zoueva share a bond so deep they spend days at a time with no lengthy conversation. “We don’t need too many words to under-
stand each other,” Shpilband said. “Sometimes just a look is enough.” Professional disagreements arise. Preparing
Davis and White’s Olympic free skate, Zoueva felt certain Te Phantom of the Opera was the perfect showcase for the Americans’ speed, athleticism and dramatic storytelling. Shpilband wasn’t sure; the music had been used too often before. In the end, Davis and White skated Phantom to great ac- claim, winning Olympic silver. “When we disagree, Marina usually wins,”
Shpilband said. “It’s true,” Zoueva said. “But we go back and
forth.” Evan Bates, who competes with Madison Chock, said each coach brings distinct skills to the table.
“Igor is unbelievably creative and bril- liant with adding transitions and steps and in- tricate holds and things like that,” Bates said. “Marina is really incredible at looking at the big picture and the story and kind of taking a step back and looking at everything. In that way they really complement each other well.” Bates and his former partner, Emily
Samuelson, arrived in Canton in the spring of 2010 and were immediately comfortable. “We definitely had a different technique and
style when we came and they didn’t try to give us a whole makeover,” he said. “Tey give you the input and the opportu-
26 FEBRUARY 2012
nity to affect your own style, and that’s why you see all of these teams and they look different. It’s not cookie cutter. No two teams look exactly alike. Te choreography is specific to each person’s style and that is just being perceptive and being smart.” When Chock’s partner, Greg Zuerlein, re-
tired, and Chock and Bates decided to team up, Shpilband and Zoueva were supportive. “Tey put in a lot of work with us and then
when Greg quit skating, they just wanted what was best for me, and they nurtured that and helped me with tryouts,” Chock said. “Tey just wanted to support me and do whatever was best. Tey were totally on board. Tey had my back.”
DOMINATION IN MOSCOW In 2006, Shpilband and Zoueva led Belbin and Agosto to Olympic silver. In Vancouver in 2010, their teams captured gold and silver. But their stellar achievement thus far was at the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships in their old hometown of Moscow, when Canton teams cap- tured all three spots on the podium.
Zoueva is renowned for having the ability to pull out the emotion and character of her dancers. Here she is with Madison Chock.
Arena, the walls of which are lined with busts of the Soviet hockey stars of his youth, Shpilband spent nearly an hour accepting a chorus of con- gratulations and questions from Russian journal- ists, who treated the naturalized U.S. citizen as if he was still one of their own. “I have no words to express it, maybe you should ask me a week from now,” Shpilband said. “Right now, it feels like yes, we have been working many, many years. “Many teams have contributed to it and not
just me — there were officials, other judges, of course Marina. I hope it is going to push U.S. ice dance even further.” It’s a long way from that day 20 years ago,
when a 26-year-old ice dancer with no prospects defected to the U.S. out of simple fear. And there’s no end in sight. Even with 10 Olympic and World medals, and countless national and international medals, Shpilband and Zoueva are far from content. Teir stable is rather small this season, just six or seven senior couples, and they’re not too happy about it. “It’s not the maximum number, that’s for
sure,” Shpilband said. “We could use more. Even the most experienced and talented team, they learn something from the little ones.” Bates, for one, would welcome more training
partners. “Tere is an established schedule and it never
feels too crowded out there,” he said. “Tey’ve done it for so long, they’re professionals, they nev- er slight anybody. It’s exciting to be able to skate with the best three teams in the world, among the others.” Warned that their proclamation may result in
a flurry of phone calls from interested skaters and parents, Zoueva shrugged. A few more couples would just mean a few hours less sleep and more work, and they love work. “Tat’s fine, we are open to it,” she said.
“Each team we have, we also learn more. Unfor- tunately we don’t have any novice or junior teams now. Everyone thinks we don’t want any, but we do. We want to start again. “We want to have little ones. We won’t stop.”
PHOTOS BY JACQUE TIEGS
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