(31 October 2016) The ice dance competition was the greatest highlight of Skate Canada 2016 in the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. It had the highest general level, the dancers made almost no mistakes and there was no fall at all. Especially the spectators who like contemporary music were delighted. The short dance was the absolute highlight because most of the chosen Blues, Swings and Hip Hops have a wild, hot and crazy sound and were interpreted in a very attractive way. The Blues and Swing versions of today are much hotter than those from 10 or 20 years ago, the Hip Hop is new for seniors anyway.

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir from Canada are the Olympic gold medal winners of 2010 and silver medal winners of 2014. After a two season break, they returned to the ice and showed that they are as good as ever. They won Skate Canada for the sixth time, this time with 189.06 points. Their interpretation of the three famous songs "Kiss", "Five Women" and "Purple Rain" by Prince in the short dance with emphatic and sexy movements was absolutely world class. The stellar non-touch midline step sequence and the curve lift got eight times GOEs of +3 each, the other three elements mainly +2. The components had an average of 9.4, with two perfect 10.0 from the Canadian judge Sylvain Guibord as highest ones, which was absolutely justified. Two elements had a level 4 and three a level 3. Virtue‘s disco-like costume improved the excellent presentation.

Moir commented: "It was a thrill for us to be back out there on the ice, a great start to our season. We’re really looking down the road to PyeongChang and kind of started our journey again today. We left some points on the table level-wise and that we’ll be looking to improve, but for end of October we’re very pleased. That performance was the kind of energy we missed, to be honest. It's a big reason why we came back -- we want that pressure. We were really together, the fans were electric for us, and that was truly a special moment."

Their free dance to "Pilgrims on a Long Journey" by Coeur de Pirate and to "Latch" with vocals by Sam Smith also was excellent, but in spite of intricate footwork looked a bit less perfect, which is normal in October. Virtue had a slight wobble on the twizzle sequence which cost them a level, GOEs of +2 or +3 and the first place in the free dance, but it was enough to win overall. They collected a level 4 for two lifts and the spin and a level 3 for four other elements. But their components were by far the best ones and reached an average level of 9.4, with two 10.0 for composition and interpretation from the Russian judge Lolita Labunskaia as highest ones.

"Tessa and I were pretty excited about this week", Moir commented. "This wasn’t the free dance we’ve been doing in practice, but we were excited with having fought through it. It’s a stepping stone for Tessa and I, we’re just starting to build. Getting back on to the ice under this pressure is something we have to learn to do again. We knew it would be a big challenge coming back. There's not really space for us. We knew that we have to be better than we've ever been, in order to compete with these teams. I think it just started to drag a little bit as it got closer to the end."

Virtue added: "Especially since we competed at Autumn Classic, we've made some great strides with this free dance. Both technically and emotionally, we went back to the drawing board, got back to the intention of every movement. We made a lot of improvements and now it's just putting that into place when it gets to competition time."

The 2016 world bronze medalists Madison Chock & Even Bates from Igor Shpilband’s school in Novi, Michigan, skated much better than at their first two Challenger Series competitions in Germany and Slovakia in September. They won the silver medal with 188.24 points, nine more than at the Nebelhorn Trophy. You could see how hard they have worked since. Both programs looked quicker and hotter and the levels were higher. Their Blues, "Bad to the Bone" and their extremely speedy Hip Hop "Uptown Funk" included four level 4 elements: the curve lift, the Blues pattern, the twizzles and the non-touch side by side step sequence. The partial step sequence had a level 3 and they set a new personal best with 76.21 points. They edged Virtue and Moir in the technical segment score, but their components were a bit lower, which was correct, and had an average of 8.9.

Bates pointed out: "This is our third competition this season, which I think really helped us to feel prepared and it was our best skate thus far. We executed our elements the way we wanted to and I think our technical score reflected that. When the crowd gets into it and we get excited, the challenge is to stay consistent on the elements. We got a Level 4 on our non-touching step sequence, and that's our last element, so I think that we're grounded and having a good balance between performing and skating cleanly."

"At the beginning of the season, it was a little daunting for us to do the hip hop, just because it is such a different way to move than we were used to," Chock added. "We worked really hard on it, and our choreographer, Rohene Ward, was wonderful getting us out of our comfort zone and into his program."

Chock & Bates won the energetic and even at the end extremely dynamic free program to "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, which was choreographed by Christopher Dean, thanks to two more technical points than Virtue and Moir. The Americans executed six level 4 elements, only the serpentine step sequence had a level 3. All elements received at least one GOE of +3, the rotational lift even six, and their components were around 9.1, with some 9.5 as highest ones.

Chock explained: "This was definitely our best performance so far this season. Our program still has room to grow and we’ll definitely keep practicing and work hard on being even more consistent. This was a great start to the Grand Prix circuit for us and we’re excited to go to Russia next week."

"Last season was a tough one for us", Bates added, "but it fueled the fire within us and made us search a little bit, look within ourselves and see what we need to find to get back on top of the national podium."

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier won the bronze medal with 182.57 points a bit surprisingly because at the Nebelhorn Trophy five weeks ago they had been four points behind Cappellini & Lanotte. Dressed like disco teenagers in the 80ies in the short dance, they brought the crowd to their feet with the Blues "Oh What A Night For Dancing" by Barry White and to "Disco Fever" by Leroy Green and Ron Kersey. They collected a level 4 for three elements and a level 3 for the partial and the non-touch step sequences.

Poirier commented: "Today it was a real pleasure to perform our program. We really were able to draw that energy from the audience. There were a few sticky moments, but I think the good thing is that we didn’t let it faze us and we just continued to enjoy the performance. We learned from the quick change of the short dance before worlds last year that really relatable characters read well on us, so that's something we want to continue. I think we kind of knew right away we wanted to do disco. We're making a tribute to an era that is gone."

In their free dance, the Canadians performed a characteristic and entertaining Tango to "Con Buena Onda". Five of the seven level elements were rewarded with a level 4, the two step sequences with a level 3. Like Chock and Bates they had many GOEs of +3, but not as many. "Paul and I enjoyed every moment of our performance today. I think we did everything we wanted to do here. We’ve improved on our scores every single competition so far and getting a personal best is something we’ve been working towards in every little detail", Gilles said.

"We want to test ourselves against these world podium teams this season," Poirier added. "Each time we can go out and prove to ourselves we can be in striking distance, we can be contending, the more confidence we are doing to build. There are several months left in the season. We're going to be fighting for a spot on the world podium this year and that's going to take every ounce of cleverness and hard work that we have."

The 2014 World Champions Anna Cappellini & Luca Lanotte from Italy finished only fourth with 180.35 points, which is a bit disappointing for them. They lost more than three points in she short dance to the Blues "Cry for me" and the Boogie Woogie "Choo Choo Boogie" when their partial step sequence only got a level 1.The other elements had excellent levels and their components were around 9.0, but the program was not as hot as the medal winners‘ short dances. In the free dance to a medley of Charles Chaplin soundtracks, they performed a charming program and Lanotte certainly played Chaplin with his characteristic movements. But compared to the contemporary programs of the three medalists, the program looked a bit old-fashioned, in spite of many very nice and romantic moments. Five elements had a level 4, the step sequences levels 2 and 3 and the components an average of 9.1.

Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin (the son of the 1988 Olympic Dance Champion Andrei Bukin) from Russia ended up on fifth place with 168.10 points. They came to Canada after a surprising victory at the Finlandia Trophy over Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue who were sixth at the World Championships 2016. In the Blues and Hip Hop short dance, the Russian‘s lift unexpectedly only got a level 1 though nine times a GOE of +2. Their twizzle sequence had a level 4, the other three elements a level 3. In the free dance to a Tango medley mainly by Astor Piazzola, their unique twizzle sequence in a squatted position (they are the only couple in the world to do that) was rewarded with five GOEs of +3 and four other elements got a level 4. Their components were around 8.5.

Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker from the school of Angelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo in the Detroit Skating Club, fifth at U.S Nationals in January 2016, are sixth, earning 162.19 points. In the short dance they performed a Blues and a Hip Hop version of "Feeling Good". Three elements had a level 4, the partial step sequence a level 2 and the non-touch step sequence a level 3. Hawayek commented: "We left a lot on the table. It wasn't 100 percent, which is to be expected this early in the season. We're happy with the score, but we know we can improve."

Their free dance music was not contemporary, but the classical version of Franz Liszt’s "Liebestraum" (Dream of Love). They had included some additional rhythm beats in order to have the required clear rhythm change. Their program was a nice contrast to the many other contemporary programs. Their performance was quite fluid, very romantic and ethereal and had four level 4 elements and components with an average of 8.0. Hawayek said "Every time we perform it there are certain things that are getting stronger and certain things we need to improve. There were points we left on the table today, cleanliness wise. But all together we're happy with the direction we're headed this season."

Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam from Canada, who train with Dubreuil, Lauzon and Haguenauer in Montreal like Virtue and Moir, ended up eighth, earning 144.85 points. They also showed a free program to "Liebestraum", but mixed it up with a Hungarian Rhapsody in the last minute. Their program was clearly less fluid. They were also beaten by their training mates Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen who compete for Denmark. They finished seventh with 156.71 points after performing "La Vie En Rose" by Edith Piaf in a dynamic way and collecting four times a level 4 and three times a level 3 in the free dance.