Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill are clearly on a mission. Just when some people might have written them off, they came back full-force last season and even earned their first trip to the World Championships where they finished in 12th place. Wow!
Fast forward to last week and a quick chat that I had with them back stage at the annual Ice Dance Elite summer Exhibition shw where the Scarboro ice dancers get the chance to showcase their newest programs.
This season’s Short Dance for the Senior rank features a pattern of the Yankee Polka paired with one to three of polka, March and Waltz rhythms. Kharis and Asher’s music was the CanCan and from Gigi – and I can tell you it is delightful.
It was Kharis’ Mom who first thought up the idea of the music/theme and then went searching on the internet for an image of Gigi and when she found what she was looking for, had it approved, took it to the dressmaker and – voila!
For Asher, the high point of his week (and maybe his parents’ ?) was at the show. Earlier, a few days before in fact, he got into a traffic accident (he’s fine – but the car – not so much) – his twin sister (a fellow skating coach Acacia) broke her ankle and his other sister backed the other car into the first one. Sigh.
But when I say that the show and in particular their Short Dance was a high point, I meant it. As much as Ralph and Hill had improved last season, they appear to have gotten even stronger and faster again.
Here is what they had to say about their skating this season:
Obviously, this season is as important as any in these skaters’ lives with berths for Worlds and Olympics at stake. Looks to me like they are up for the challenge.