Skate America Thursday Practice

Today's practice day started with the men. The first group featured Takahiko Kozuka, and I forgot just how smooth his blades are on the ice. It's a treat watching him do crossovers around the rink. He popped a number of jumps during his run-through, but his skating was still sublime. Also in the first group was Daisuke Murakami. He looked very solid on his jumps.  Samuel Contesti was in his usual entertaining form, giving lots of personality to his footwork.

The second group included all the American men. Richard Dornbush skated his new Beethoven short program. All of the guys were a little shaky in their run-throughs, but hopefully that means they've all gotten past the jitters and will be in good form tomorrow night.

The ice dancers were up next, and we were treated to a variety of costumes. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat had on their full Egyptian gear and make-up, while Isabella Tobias and Deividas Stagniunas were hard to miss in bright red. Deividas took off his shiny red jacket for the run-through, so I'm wondering if it's just an accessory to his costume. The Canadian teams, Alexandra Paul/Mitch Islam and Kharis Ralph/Asher Hill, kept up the tradition of Virtue/Moir and Crone/Poirier and wore all black warm-up outfits.

In the second group, Meryl Davis and Charlie White debuted their new free dance to "Die Fledermaus." They didn't do a full run-through but the parts I saw were light and lovely. Meryl's light blue dress was stunning and the skirt moved beautifully with the music. All the dance teams skated their free dances and skated them well. Should be a great competition!

I didn't make it to the pairs or ladies practices today but hope to catch the pairs tomorrow, in addition to the men and dance. Here is the link to my photos from today:

2011 Skate America Thursday Practice