|
Wheaton Ice Dance Academy on WUSA9 Television
10/10/2007
Young Skating Surprise
Written by Levan Reid
9SPORTS NOW
Created:10/9/2007 4:19:25 PM
©2007 W*USA9 & Gannett Co., Inc.
Read the Article
Watch the Movie
Download the Movie - Warning: 19mb file!
Right click the link above and click "Save Target As" to save the movie to your computer.
Unfortunately, our server can not handle this large file at the moment. Please check back later or watch the video above.
[transcript of the video]
Wheaton, Md. (WUSA) - They glide across the ice to songs that were produced before they were born.
"Could you just say your age for me?"
"I am 8 and I am 10," says Danvi and Vu Pham.
These so-called "tiny ice dancers" have been lacing up the skates and cutting an ice rug since before they were in kindergarten. The moves can become complex.
"Sometimes I think, this move is so hard that I am going to fall," says Quinn Carpenter. "Then you just do it like Whoosh, like that."
But practice has them all performing big. The partners execute routines that help them become victorious over ice dancers twice their age. Communication on the ice is a major part of their success.
"We constantly talking to each other," says Kyle McMillan. "Just to like make sure know what they are doing."
The orchestrator of this ice program is Alexei Kiliakov. He decided to take individual skaters and pair them up to maximize their talents. The idea worked. His skaters took home medals at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships.
"It takes feeling of each other when you skate," says Alexei Kiliakov. "You can't look to your partner and already see that partner lift right hand up. It takes time and it takes experience."
Now at the end of the day, it's all about performance. Can you get it done when the lights are on during the competition? As you know, young kids can be notoriously nervous. So from group to group the confidence level is different.
"When I get on the ice and I see everybody," says Victor Suttora. "It starts getting me really nervous. I'm like, I am going to fall over. Oh no Oh no."
Sometimes it gets a little scary when you begin," says Lorraine McNamara. "Then you get out there and you see everybody smiling and you think of yourself smiling and it becomes really fun and it's not scary anymore."
|
