With 11 entries from seven countries, this was a short competition with an extreme range of abilities, including four couples who placed in the top five of the world championships last April.

1.  72.15 (34.71+37.44) Meryl Davis, 25, attired in an in-your-face enticingly flamboyant, orange one-sleeved outfit, playfully flicking her long ponytail sexily in partner Charlie White’s face, took a positive step forward Saturday. She and her 24-year-old partner, who was strutting his machismo in a black number with plunging V-neck, successfully defended the title they have held three times before.

Asked whether their significant others get jealous of this flirtatious behavior on the ice, they both laughed. White said, “I don’t think I’ve ever dated anyone who isn’t a skater so they know exactly what does and does not go on on the ice!” They skated first of the last four couples and got low marks – that is to say low marks compared to previous competitions this season. But they still lie first, a smidgeon, 0.55, ahead of their closest rivals.

The current world and US champions and Olympic silver medalists skated up a storm, shaking and vibrating to every beat of their Sambas, Batucardos and Jennifer Lopez’s On the Floor, divided by a slower, more sensual section in the middle with Life is a Carnival. They have some interesting moves, including a final “transition” lift in which she swings through his legs and he lifts her in front of him. The “transitional” is optional and gets no Level but it is recognized and rewarded in the choreography component mark.

They earned Level 4 for their opening twizzles and for their curve lift but only Level 3 for the three other required elements, which are the two sequences of the Rhumba and their non-touching steps. White said, “The performance felt good. Technically, the marks are a little low for our standards. It’s hard going from competition to competition with the different technical people giving you different Levels.

“I don’t feel like we’ve taken a step back from where we were at at the Grand Prix Final, where we had all Level 4s (the maximum). They are maybe being a little more harsh. The altitude makes it a little more difficult so I’m happy with the way were able to bring it off tonight. You can’t be mad at the callers. They were consistent throughout this competition, but they may vary from competition to competition. We feel that different callers focus in on different things, but they are just doing their job. After the competition we will figure out what exactly went wrong.”

Asked if Davis’s hair flapping in his face was distracting during the program, White said, “I don’t notice it anymore. I’m so used to it since it’s in the same spots probably every time and in practice, too. We practice that way so I get used to getting hit in the eyes. We work hard on selling the program. We feel the characters we portray are becoming stronger.”

Davis said getting lower levels, “is a little bit frustrating. We all come in prepared, knowing different callers come in expecting different things. Bit it’s still a little disappointing, that’s for sure. Our Rhumba is a bit slower than the rest of our program but it’s in the character of what we try to play. We’re certainly more focused in the Rhumba than we are on the connecting steps.”

2.  71.60 (33.92+37.68) Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the Olympic and 2010 world champions, skated right after their main rivals, with whom they have trained for many years. They began with a samba Hip Hip Chin Chin by Club des Belugas, followed by Diana Krall singing the Rhumba Temptation and Thalia’s Mujer Latina samba.

Moir, 24, said, “It was a good skate for Tessa and I, the way that we attacked it. I made a couple of mistakes and there are some places where we can make up some points at Worlds, but all-in-all, the changes we have done in the last month, and specifically in the weeks since nationals, have really worked well. We had a strong skate, so we have to be happy with that and it sets us up well for tomorrow.”

Virtue, 22, who wore a new redish-orchid outfit adorned with tropical, over-sized flowers, and silver straps across her bare back, added, “It felt great. I was really pleased with the performance level and the execution of most of the elements. We kind of lost it a little on the (non-touching) circle (steps) at the end but right from the start we attacked the program and we are really pleased with our progress. Performance-wise it definitely was a step up. We lost a little bit in the circular footwork at the end, but we know we can make up a lot of points there and I think it's definitely building in the right direction heading into Worlds.”

Moir admitted he had ambivalent feelings about the specified Pattern Dance which must be incorporated in this routine. “The (two sections of the) Rhumba are worth so many points. What you’re seeing, in our case, is that we are almost afraid to make a mistake. That’s not the attack we necessarily like to take. One little turn (the open chocktaw) is worth so many points. To be honest, you have to dumb down your program to put the Rhumba in. That’s how I feel. It’s the challenge with some of these older and simpler steps in compulsory dances versus the (decades more modern) Golden Waltz or Tango Romantica.” They received only one Level 4. The rest of the moves were deemed Level 3.

3.  64.23 (31.43+32.80) Kaitlyn Weaver, 22, and Andrew Poje, 24, the Canadian 2010 holders of this title, who were fifth in the last Worlds, pulled a minor upset, taking third place ahead of the Americans Maia Shibutani and her brother, Alex, who are the 2011 world bronze medalists.

Despite that reversal, Weaver, dressed in a tiger outfit with long sleeves but bare shoulders, said, “This wasn't our strongest performance. We had our goals in mind when we came to this competition and that was to get higher Rhumba levels, make more of a performance and really light up the crowd. I think we did two of the three. We didn't get our Rhumba levels, unfortunately. We're definitely going back to the drawing board again and really figure that out because that's points that we just leave on the table that we are totally capable of doing. Every (Technical) panel is different. Everyone has different criteria that they highlight. We just have to make sure we don't leave any grey area. We are very proud of how we stuck to the performance of that program.”

Weaver and Poje, who skated last, started their routine with both sections of the Rhumba. The two patterns of steps, which each take the couples half way around the rink, are identical but are done starting at opposite sides of the rink which gives the judges and the Technical Panel a different viewpoint. Such over-emphasis on a technicality of “stepping wide” in the “Open Chocktaw” may be taking the steps to an extreme that Walter Gregory certainly never envisioned when he invented this exercise in a rink in London (England) in 1938. Skaters then, almost exclusively upper class, viewed skating as a social pastime channeling the appeal of the ballroom onto the exclusive environment of the ice skating “clubs” and the women would have been horrified to be called “athletic”.

The skaters then had none of the muscular prowess and high speed of today’s competitors. Gregory’s ghost is probably turning in the grave, laughing hysterically at the contortions that are currently being forced on competitors for his invention, the “step wide” Open Choctaw. It was a perceived lack of skill on this technicality which resulted in Weaver and Poje receiving only Level 2 for both Rhumba sequences on a scale which goes from zero to four. They received Level 4 for their straight line lift and twizzles and Level 3 for their non-touching steps.

Weaver said, “We trained the Rhumba harder than ever after nationals so to see the levels be lower is frustrating. Every caller has a different objective they are looking for. We need to go home and cover the gray areas so there will be no doubt the next time. The tough callers make us better. It makes us stronger. It makes us push harder because you never know who you’re going to get as a caller. I think it makes us all better.”

Weaver and Poje interpreted Rhumba D’Amour, music used by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean when they returned to the Olympic Games and won bronze in 1994, a decade after winning Olympic gold. Their 1994 version received the maximum 6.0 under the old system which was reserved for perfection. But if today’s skaters were timed, they surely would post speeds which are far faster than those from that not so long ago year. Weaver and Poje also had a samba section, set to Batacuda by DJ Dero.    

Weaver, 22, an American who left the United States as a teenager to team up with the Canadian Poje, 24, said, “This was one of our better performances this season. We started out a little bobbly with the rhumba patterns but we forgot that and built toward the end. That’s hard to do with this rhythm (rhumba and samba) and to get through and have energy throughout. “We were happy to incorporate the audience. We are looking forward to doing this one more time at the World Championships.”

Poje said about the Rhumba part looking slower than the rest of the program, With the rules being where they are with the Rhumba, we’re trying to bring excitement to the program. Sometimes it might look a little empty or feel a little lackluster. We all try to portray our version of the Rhumba.” 

4.  63.38 (31.86+31.52) Maia, 17, and Alex Shibutani, 20, who were runners-up for this year’s US title, skated right after Virtue and Moir. They lie just a sliver (0.85) behind the Canadians. He said, “I think it’s another good experience for us. We want the judges to be tough because then we know what we have to work on when we get home and be ready for the World Championships. I think all the skaters this week are feeling the effects of (altitude), so it’s up to us to do as well as we can and take it as an experience. We’re used to it, having trained here earlier in our career. We know what the lung burning is about, so it’s not like I start freaking out like I’m dying or something and I know that it will pass. You don’t panic. We rely on our training and our muscle memory and we were really well prepared coming in.”

They skated to three Sambas, Batuca by DJ Dero; The Girl From Ipanema; and Samba de Janeiro by Bellini. They took the bold but permissible route of presenting the rhumba to new music. Maia Shibutani said, “This is great preparations for Worlds. I think this is a very good experience for us and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season, especially tomorrow.” Although they received the maximum Level 4 for their twizzles and their rotational lift, their first rhumba sequence was only Level 2. The second sequence, and their non-touching steps were Level 3.

5.  40.10 (20.64+20.46-1) Madison Hubbell, 20, and Zachary Donohue, 21, only teamed up together this season, but earned bronze medals at the US championships. However he fell on the “a counter change of edge” during their first element, the non-touching circular steps. In addition to the deduction of a point for the fall, they received only a Level 2 for this element, and also for their second rhumba sequence. However, they were the only couple to earn three of the maximum Level 4, - for their first sequence of the rumba, their straight line lift and their twizzles.  

Hubbell was pretty down after the performance, saying, “It obviously was a pretty poor performance. We really worked hard in the time that we had which was only a few days from nationals. We felt like we made significant improvements on our short dance and I think we displayed those in the practices. Unfortunately, we went out there today and it didn’t click. We are going take today as today, rest tonight, and comeback and fight tomorrow. So we’ll look forward to the free dance.” They performed to a Mambo, Samba and Rhumba.

6.  48.52 (23.71+24.81) Alexandra Paul, 20, and Mitchell Islam, 22, Canada, skated to the main theme from 2046 and The Havana Slido, were the 2010 World Junior silver medalists, and were fifth in the recent Canadian championships. This was their debut in this event. Their straight line lift was Level 4, their twizzles Level 3, the first section of the Rhumba and the non-touching steps were Level 2 but the second sequence of the Rhumba was only Level 1. They lie 1.41 behind Hubbell and Donohue. 

Islam said, “This was the best one we’ve done all year and it’s really all we’ve wanted to do here. We went out there and did the best we could.” She said, “We just really wanted to perform because we really haven’t been able to do that. It’s been a rough season. Our goal was two good performances and that’s how we wanted to end our season. (on the start of the season) It was slow because I hurt myself in the summer and then again in Japan, so it was kind of like a never-ending struggle with injuries. But it didn’t take too long to heal from Japan, so I was able to actually be able to get back to training like we did at the end of summer. So it’s like our beginning of the year all over again, just a fresh start.

7.  45.42 (24.00+21.42) Xiayang Yu, 25, and Chen Wang, 25, China’s four-time champions, executed a Cha Cha, Mambo and Sambo, have been competing in this event since 2003 with a best place finish of 7^th in 2006 and last year.  

8.  40.10 (20.64+20.46-1) Danielle O’Brien, 22, and Gregory Merriman, 23, are the five-time Australian champions. They skated to Mambo Mambo by Latin Soul Syndicate and a Samba by Ay Mama. They are now training at the Detroit FSC. This was their fifth appearance in this event.

9.  39.93 (21.49+18.44) Anna Nagornyuk, 16, and Viktor Kovalenko,  20, the Uzbekistan national champions, were competing in this event for the first time. They presented a Rhumba, Cha Cha and Samba.

10.  35.93 (20.64+15.29) Corenne Bruhns, 21, and Ryan van Natten, 24, the Mexican National champions, only teamed up last year. She came 10^th in this event last year with her previous partner, Bernjamin Westenberger. They executed a Rhumba to Mariposa Traicionera by Paul McCoy and a samba to Pegate by Ricky Martin.

11.  25.53 (13.22+13.31-1) Cortney Mansour, 17, and Daryn Zhunussov, 20, train in the United States with Nikolai Morosov but represent Kazahkstan. They performed to Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps by the Pussy Cat Dolls and the Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha. Three of their Levels were 1 and the non-touching steps  2, but their lift was Level 4.