VIRTUE/MOIR ANNOUCE THAT THEIR FD WILL BE A LATIN DANCE
Canton ice dancers Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir honored at Comerica Park
Six months after winning the Olympic gold medal in ice dancing at the Vancouver Winter Games, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are back at the Arctic Figure Skating Club in Canton preparing for the upcoming figure skating season.
Jo-Ann Barnas of the Free Press ran into the duo Tuesday night at Comerica Park, where Virtue, 21, and Moir, 22, presented the game ball before the Tigers' 8-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Virtue and Moir, both Ontario natives, were honored at Canadian Night at the ballpark.
It has been a hectic few months for the world and Olympic champs. And the skaters are returning to a discipline that has undergone significant change this off-season: Ice dance has reduced its number of segments from three to two -- now the short dance and free dance. (Think of the short dance as a combo of the former compulsory dance and original dance. This season, the pattern dance for the short dance will be the Golden Waltz.) Here are excerpts of what Virtue and Moir had to say:
Moir, on being honored at Comerica Park: "It's pretty neat for us because we've grown to love the Tigers in the six years we've been in Canton. So when they e-mailed us to be a part of it, we were honored. I was this close to Jim Leyland. That was pretty neat."
Virtue, on some of their highlights since the Olympics: "We really enjoyed touring. It's the first time we've done a complete tour of Stars on Ice; we had an amazing Canadian cast. Meeting Prince Albert in Monaco was incredible, and we recently had dinner with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (in Toronto). So it doesn't get much better than that."
Moir, on the highlights: "We dropped the puck at a couple of hockey games. We became pretty good friends with Ken Holland and Mike Babcock at the (Olympics), and they've had us down to a game."
Moir, on returning to training: "Balance is the key, and I think as much we love to tour, when it was over and we were back in Canton, we were excited to be back to a normal life. We're competitive people, so to be back in training, to be competitive with Meryl (Davis) and Charlie (White) and the rest of the competition in the world, is good for us. It feels normal. There are some different directions that we're going to try to take our skating." (Note: Davis and White, Olympic silver medalists, train with Virtue and Moir in Canton.)
Moir, on their programs for this season: "We haven't announced our music, really, but I don't think we're trying to keep any secrets. We're doing a Latin free dance, and our OD is, obviously, a waltz; I mean, our short dance."
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