Post by MileySmiley08 on Feb 26, 2008 22:18:01 GMT -5
When Alex Paul and Jason Cheperdak traveled to Ottawa to compete in the BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals recently, neither of them knew what to expect.
Having only spent a year together in Novice Dance, they were hoping just to make it to the top five.
With a fifth place in the first compulsory dance (Blues) and a fourth in the second (Paso Doble), they were well on their way to the top five. but to guarantee their position, they needed to shine in the free dance. Fortunately, the free dance is their greatest strength, and they came through with the top performance up to that point.
“We knew we scored well. It was almost a personal best,” said Cheperdak. Their previous personal best was a skate that won them first place at the Skate Canada Western Challenge in December.
Back in Ottawa, with the first-, second-, and third-place dance teams still to come, it was a question of whether they would stay on top.
“My dad was going nuts,” said Cheperdak of the time everyone had to wait for the other teams to perform. “I think it’s harder for the parents.”
Their free dance is set to Josh Groban’s Alla Luce Del Sol, a tune that their coach David Islam describes as a powerful, lyrical piece that suits the style of the young skaters.
“The piece allowed them to play off of their strengths,” said Islam.
While their performance may have only “almost” been a personal best, it gained them a first in the free dance portion and placed them on the podium with the bronze medal.
“Our goal was the top five,” said Cheperdak. “To medal was amazing.”
With great presence on the ice and what Islam describes as “beautiful lines,” the two give the impression of having been made for each other as partners.
“Jason and I connect well on the ice,” said Paul, “We’re good at skating together.”
Connecting well and being good at skating doesn’t do justice to the power of this young team.
According to Islam, based on their national placement and the buzz they’ve created, they’re a team with huge potential. Next year, they move up to the junior level, and since they only recently started working together he expects the improvement curve still to be steep.
“They have huge potential, but Junior is a big step,” Islam said, adding their goal is to compete in at least one Junior Grand Prix event this year.
While on the ice, they appear to be made for each other, it hasn’t always been that way. When Jason was looking for a new partner, he traveled to Barrie, Quebec and the U.S. Paul had always competed in singles and when she met up with Cheperdak, had never ice danced before.
“It wasn’t the best thing,” said Paul, of their tryout. “It was interesting, but it would have been hard to tell (how well they would work together). It was an experiment.” Both she and Cheperdak describe changing to dance like learning to skate all over again.
Cheperdak began ice dancing the previous year and with Paul’s lack of experience it was a tough beginning. Add to that their diametrically opposed learning styles and it was a rough three or four months.
Cheperdak, when working on a problem, prefers to repeat it over and over, Paul prefers to step back and think it out. Over time, they’ve learned to meet in the middle.
“They’ve gained a respect for each other and recognized the qualities that can work for the team,” said Islam.
Both Cheperdak and Paul have retired from singles skating due to the demands of the dance training. With two compulsories and a free dance program they spend their three hours a day on the ice training specifically for ice dancing.
“I don’t have time to do both,” said the 16-year-old Paul, who is in Grade 11 in King City, “There’s a lot more things you have to do.”
Paul may not have had any ice dance experience, but with years of singles skating combined with jazz, ballet, modern and tap dancing off the ice, her skill comes as no surprise.
“I’m good at interpretation,” said Paul. “I’ve always been doing both (skating and dancing) at the same time.” She has what those in the ice skating world call “a nice run to her blade.”
Cheperdak comes from Vancouver Island, and is billeting with a Barrie family while he trains at Mariposa and attends Innisdale Secondary School. He started skating at 11 and now, at 18, Islam describes him as having a lovely carriage and a mental love of skating that’s difficult to teach.
He said his ultimate goal is to be a national gold medalist and to attend world championships, but he tries to keep his goals realistic. In terms of the Olympics he said 2010 is a possibility, if they’re lucky, but 2014 is more realistic and definitely a place where they could do better.
Following the Nationals, the two had a week off before beginning training for next year. Now they have new programs to learn, which includes adding 20 seconds to the free skate and incorporating another lift, and says Cheperdak, “practise, practise, practise.”
www.simcoe.com/article/64451
