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(18 January 2016) Maia and Alex Shibutani, the
brother-sister dance duo who are the 2011 World bronze medalists,
five-time U.S. National podium finishers and 2014 U.S. Olympic team
members, are about bringing their performance to a whole new level
as they hope to make a big impact with the audience at the 2016
Prudential U.S. Championships in St. Paul with their programs this
week.
This accomplished skating duo, who have been at the helm of the
world-dominant ice dance contingent for a number of years now and
were fourth at the International Skating Union Grand Prix Finals in
Barcelona last month, cite experience as one of their main assets
that have been instrumental in helping them catapult to a whole new
level of showmanship and artistry this season.
“The plan always was to continue to improve and challenge
ourselves so we could be the team we possibly could be,” said Alex
Shibutani, 24, in a pre-Nationals conference call.
The plan seems to be working most effectively, as the duo, who
have three U.S. silver and two U.S. bronze medals, have managed to
craft one heck of a stellar competitive resume based upon their a
unique dynamic performing as brother and sister, a thing that has
turned out to be one of their most powerful assets as a dance team,
ultimately.
This past season, the team, who works with the iconic Marina
Zoueva in Canton, Michigan, the coach who guided Meryl Davis and
Charlie White to first at the 2014 Olympics, scored gold at the NHK
Trophy, silver at Skate Canada and fourth at the Grand Prix Finals,
missing the podium by only a slim margin, set the skating community
on fire with buzz over their powerful free dance to ColdPlay’s ‘Fix
You.’
Their unique interpretation of this poignant musical piece is one
of a kind and also seems to portray many of the experiences they
have faced in their exciting and challenging journey as an elite
international dance team, a program that so far this season, has
earned them a standing ovation in every event at which they have
competed.
“Our experiences over the last several years have created a
really strong impression out on the ice,” said Alex.
His sister, Maia, 21, agreed.
“I think our performances are really coming from an honest place
where we’re really performing and enjoying every moment,” she said.
The duo, who rose up the national and world ranks at relatively
quick speed, are regarded as one of the most technically apt around,
as they are known for executing lightning-quick twizzles and turns
as well as difficult and breathtaking lifts, among other difficult
elements.
At the same time, the Shibutanis are regarded as also one of the
most intriguing and interesting teams around as they are known for
their memorable interpretations to different musical compositions by
various artists ranging from Michael Buble and Michael Jackson to
Johann Strauss and Richard Rodgers, which has helped earned them
huge artistic respect in the skating community.
“We’ve done everything in our power to do our very best,” said
Maia. “We want to continue to push ourselves to grow and discover
[new things about ourselves] and we want to continue to tap into our
potential which we feel is unlimited at this point.”
The two, reputed to be some of the hardest-working skaters in the
sport, spend hours off and on the ice each day working on honing
their technical and artistic skills, in the hopes of breaking
greater skating barriers and attaining all-new heights in regard to
their performance level.
Somehow this year, their level of dedication and hard work seems
to be more evident than ever, as in each competition so far this
season, both Maia and Alex flew around the ice with a whole new
level of speed, attack, ease and confidence and appeared to be in a
whole new place in terms of their overall execution.
The Shibutani’s main goal, in the end, is the simply the idea of
attaining new levels of strength and aptitude so they continue
hitting a whole new levels in regard to their presentation as a
dance team.
“It’s about training as hard as we possibly can and Alex and I
are confident and strong,” said Maia. “The audiences have been
reacting with a lot of enthusiasm and we’re really excited about
that.”
With that, the audiences in St. Paul should be in for a good show
in regard to this team, no doubt.
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