Maia and Alex Shibutani Fan Page

Training w/ Corky Ballas Article (And Video!)

2012-01-31T19:44:00.002-05:00

Shibutanis try ice dancing with the stars

BY MICHELLE SMITH
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The on-ice samba step might have been the giveaway.

As the sibling ice dance team of Alex and Maia Shibutani came off the ice following an attention-getting 72.61 score in their short program Friday afternoon at HP Pavilion, there seemed something vaguely familiar about what they had done, the way they had moved on the ice.

The kind of thing one might see on, say ... "Dancing with the Stars."
Ballas is the reality show's most senior dancer. He has been partnered with Cloris Leachman and Florence Henderson in two different seasons on the show. He also recently appeared in a commercial with "Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara.

His son is fellow show professional Mark Ballas, and Corky Ballas taught the popular Houghs -- Julianne and Derek -- everything they know. (Mark Ballas partnered with Kristi Yamaguchi to win the DWTS title in 2008.) The Shibutani siblings got in touch with Corky Ballas through their agent, using the Yamaguchi connection, and headed to Los Angeles to begin working with him after the worlds last summer.

"But we are the first skaters he's worked with in a while," Alex, 20, said. "Obviously with his background, his son, Mark, and Derek and Julianne, we were honored to work with him. He's such a fun guy to work with. It was an intensive boot camp-style Latin training with him. He's kept up with our performances. He thought we could use a breath of fresh air."

Alex said he and his sister were looking to "attack" this program; it was a crowd favorite Friday for its speed, precision and fun, and it won over the judges. The Shibutanis held the lead until Meryl Davis and Charlie White took the ice. The current world champs, who have also won the past four U.S. titles, turned their own Latin short skate into the highest score ever recorded for a short dance (76.89). Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue sit in third at 57.56.

The Shibutanis (or "The Shibs" as they are known around skating circles) train on the same ice with Davis and White in Canton, Mich., under coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva. They are almost literally training in the shadow of the best ice dancers in the world and trying to break out of that shadow.

"Marina and Igor told us, 'Don't hold back on anything,'" Alex said. "We needed to see what's working and what isn't working, so when we go home, we can make the necessary adjustments. We want to peak at the right time."

The coaches had high praise for the Shibutanis' performance.

"It was awesome, awesome," Zueva said. "All the changes worked really well. Most Latin dance movement is very sharp off ice, but it totally disappears on the floor because the surface is different. [Ballas] found them the best movement on ice."

They worked with Ballas again in Detroit after the ISU Grand Prix Final, where they finished fifth. Alex said they have gotten "really comfortable" with the Latin style, a break from their usual, more classical style.

"The new program is much more exciting and a much stronger vehicle for us," Alex said.

"We just thought it was a good change for us," Maia, 17, said. "Latin has been a challenge for everyone, but I think it's been a challenge that we've embraced. We are having a lot of fun, and the steps in this revised program are a lot more challenging, but we are enjoying it."

The team also changed up music and costumes. The costumes were created by Randall Designs, which does costumes for -- you guessed it -- "Dancing with the Stars."

The siblings wouldn't directly say whether they thought they needed this kind of change to increase their competitive edge and pull them closer to their heavily favored training mates.

"I feel like Marina and Igor do such a great job with all their teams," Maia said. "We all have different styles and our own programs. They are really able to help find what you are good at and highlight that. It's a great training environment."

Alex said he and his sister made the change for the "long term."

"At the rate that we are improving, we felt like it was the right time," Alex said. "It really was the perfect time for us to make an adjustment."

(From Alex and Maia's Facebook)

Making History Article

2012-01-29T21:30:00.006-05:00

Check out this great article from the Detroit Free Press which goes pretty in-depth about Maia and Alex's skating and training history! Scroll to the bottom for the photos from the article.

(Original Article Link)

BY JO-ANN BARNAS
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Their spats were typical for their age back then, mostly kids stuff, like arguing over who got to push the elevator button first.
"Nothing too major," Maia Shibutani said with a laugh.
Her older brother, Alex, added: "We were lucky, even then. When you're brother and sister, you don't have to mince words."
The ice dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships begins today with Meryl Davis and Charlie White as undisputed favorites to win their fourth consecutive national title. Last April in Moscow, the 2010 Olympic silver medalists became the first U.S. ice dance team to capture the gold medal at the world figure skating championships.
As remarkable as that was, another story line was celebrated that day in Moscow, an achievement as refreshingly unexpected as hydrangeas blooming in early spring.
Occupying the last spot on the podium behind world silver medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada was a team of youthful siblings whose style and precision skating make them appear blended as one.
The bronze medalists were the Shibutanis, who train with Davis and White and Virtue and Moir at the Arctic Figure Skating Club in Canton with coaches Marina Zoueva and Igor Shpilband.
When Maia and Alex -- then 16 and 19 -- moved up from fourth place to third after being aided by a fall in the free dance by European Champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France, they became the first U.S. ice dance team to win a world medal in their rookie senior season.
This weekend at HP Pavilion, the Shibutanis -- U.S. silver medalists a year ago in Greensboro, N.C. -- will try to qualify for their second senior world team. The short dance is today, the free-dance final Saturday.
"They're amazing," White said of his teammates. "In our first year as seniors, Meryl and I were fourth in our first Grand Prix and seventh at worlds. Their strength is the way they're able to match everything so perfectly. Their base is so strong.
"They have one of the brightest futures in American ice dancing."
Winning combinations

Brother-sister acts aren't nearly as rare as one might think in ice dancing.
Four sets of siblings competed at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, most notably seven-time British champions Sinead and John Kerr of Great Britain, who finished eighth.
One of the most successful brother-sister ice dance teams ever was France's Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay, the 1991 world champions and 1992 Olympic silver medalists.
Until this past season, the Shibutanis shared the sibling spotlight in the U.S. with Madison and Keiffer Hubbell, who skated together for 10 years, winning U.S. titles at the juvenile, intermediate and junior levels, before placing fourth twice at senior nationals. They ended their partnership last spring; Madison Hubbell is competing in San Jose with new partner Zachary Donohue. The team is based at the Detroit Skating Club.
Although Maia and Alex Shibutani both started as freestyle (singles) skaters before teaming up in 2005 at ages 10 and 13, the siblings say they never considered trying figure skating's other team discipline -- pairs -- because of the risk of injury involved in executing perilous overhead lifts and other tricks. (Another local sibling connection: Danielle and Steve Hartsell, representing the Detroit SC, won the U.S. pair title in 1999).
Sitting next to a corner window at a coffee shop in Ann Arbor near the University of Michigan where Alex is a sophomore (Maia, a senior at Huron High, will attend U-M next fall), the ice dancers were asked why they never gave pairs skating a try.
They laughed in unison at the question.
"The whole lifting thing? I didn't want to be responsible if anything bad happened," said Alex, now 20.
In ice dance, no overhead lifts or jumps of more than one revolution are allowed. That's not to say, though, ice dance doesn't teeter on the daring side. The discipline features some of the most innovative and gravity-defying lifts around.
"Ice dancing fits us," said Maia, 17. "We just fell in love with it. We were so impressed with the skills and the flow."
Added Alex: "We saw right away that ice dancers were the strongest skaters."
Mother knows best

The Shibutanis were first put together as a team by figure skating coach Kathy Bird at the Harvey School skating rink in Katonah, N.Y. But the idea actually came from their parents, Bird said.
"Naomi (Shibutani) called me over to the side one day and said, 'What do you think about them trying dance?' " Bird said by phone this week from New York. "I said, 'Well, if you can get them to hold hands and not go 10 rounds with each other, OK.' "
Bird laughed. Truth was, she had no idea if teaming them up would work. Would they squabble? Would they hate ice dancing?
"They were just little peanuts at the time," Bird said. "But once they started to stroke on the ice, it was easy to see it would work."
They were such a happy team that Bird nicknamed the Shibutanis "Mac and Cheese." Alex fit the cheesy moniker because he was always smiling and looking at the judges and the crowd when they performed.
Partnering up had advantages. The Shibutanis eliminated many of the concerns other teams might have -- such as coordinating schedules and travel -- because it was all in the family. Squabble? Sure, sometimes. But even today, Alex and Maia say they're each other's best friends.
To Bird, ice dance was a natural fit for the siblings because of their love of music -- thanks to their parents.
As freshmen at Harvard -- years before they began dating -- Naomi competed against her future husband for a solo as members of the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra. Naomi played Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1; Chris Shibutani, who was also a flutist, performed Grieg's Piano Concerto. (Naomi won.)
"We grew up knowing way more about classical music than popular music," Alex Shibutani said.
Throughout their skating career, Naomi Shibutani selected many of Alex and Maia's program music. But the influence of their primary coaches, Zoueva and Shpilband, runs deep.
The Shibutanis moved to Michigan in 2007 -- the spring before their inaugural junior season -- after two years in Colorado Springs, Colo. Before then, they commuted to several clubs on the East Coast for training.
Naomi said they were drawn to Canton for two reasons -- the coaches, and the club's proximity to the University of Michigan. The family lives in a condo complex in Ann Arbor -- Alex has his own unit two floors down from Maia and their parents. Their grandmother resides five floors up.
"For us, education is really important," said Naomi Shibutani, who was born in Japan but grew up in Miami. "You need to be prepared for life after skating."
Chris Shibutani currently works in Chicago as a portfolio manager. He commutes to Ann Arbor every weekend.
"Organization is a good word for our career," Alex said.
Evolving would be another one.
Zoueva and Shpilband have taken care in developing programs that are suitable yet challenging for the siblings. Their free-dance choreography this season -- to Glenn Miller selections from the "Sun Valley Serenade" soundtrack -- evokes an upbeat feeling. Their short dance is a samba.
"You can be sexy, but you don't have to be sexy to each other," Shpilband said of the Latin dance. "You can be playful to the audience."
Zoueva said: "Maia and Alex are now mature skaters. This year's programs are much more technically harder and stronger than past years."
The siblings won two medals on the Grand Prix circuit this season and qualified for the final, where they took fifth.
Bird said Zoueva and Shpilband have brought out the best in the Shibutanis' skating.
"Maia and Alex have always done pieces to me that are meaningful and joyful," she said. "There's plenty of ways to reach an audience, it doesn't have to be sensual. They're saying that skating can be beautiful, uplifting and technically exquisite, and Maia and Alex have taken that to such a mature level."

(Click the photos for full-size!)

2012 Nat'l Videos

2012-01-28T23:53:00.008-05:00

SHORT DANCE:

You can watch the following Tweet Seat and Athlete Lounge backstage interviews and press conferences from IceNetwork for free even if you do not have an account!

FREE DANCE:

PODIUM:

2012 Nat'l Results

2012-01-27T18:24:00.005-05:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 37.50
Program Components Score: 35.11

Total: 72.61 (Personal Best)

They finished 2nd place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 52.78

Program Components Score: 54.45
Deductions: 1.00

Total: 106.23 (Personal Best)

They finished 2nd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 178.84 (Personal Best)

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 2nd

AWESOME job!! >u< Congrats on yet another silver medal at Nationals, Maia and Alex!!!

Maia Talks to Teen Vogue

2012-01-22T13:49:00.003-05:00

Interview from TEENVOGUE.com
BY LAUREL PANTIN

Ice Skater Maia Shibutani on Practice, Performances, and What It Takes To Be A Pro Athlete"

Talk about impressive! At just eighteen years old, Maia Shibutani has traveled the world, won countless competitions in pairs skating with her older brother Alex, and is getting ready to head off to the University of Michigan this fall. Somehow, Maia carved time out of her schedule to chat with us about what keeps her motivated and how she manages to get along with her big bro. Look out for her at the US Skating Championships on January 27th and 28th, where she and Alex will be competing!

How did you get started in skating? At what point did you know it was going to be more than a hobby for you?

I first started skating when I was four years old. I grew up in Connecticut, and skating birthday parties were really popular when I was young! My parents wanted me to know how to skate so that I could have fun at the parties. I started off taking group classes but immediately fell in love with skating and asked for private lessons. It became my passion, and I knew very early on that I wanted to be a skater.

How do you motivate yourself to work out or practice when you really don't want to?

Everyone has days when it is really hard to buckle down and practice. I've learned that putting in effort on those difficult days really matters and can make a big difference in the long run. I believe that if you love what you do, you can always find a way to consistently motivate yourself. It can be as simple as skating to some music on my iPod or remembering that there is always someone else out there who is willing to put in that extra effort.

What music do you like to listen to before a competition?

I listen to all sorts of music and I go through different phases, but Katy Perry always pumps me up!

What have been some of the most exciting and important wins for you and your brother?

The past year and a half has been very exciting for us. Last year was our first year at the senior level, and we accomplished a lot! Last January, we came in second to our training mates, Meryl Davis and Charlie White (2010 Olympic Silver Medalists), at the United States Figure Skating National Championships. As a result of our placement at Nationals, we represented the U.S. in our very first World Championships held in Moscow, Russia, last April. We quite unexpectedly won the bronze medal and were on the podium with our training mates Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Olympic Gold Medalists). Since we all train together with the same coaches, it was an unforgettable experience for all of us.

This season, we won the silver medal at the Cup of China Grand Prix event, held in Shanghai, China, and our first gold medal at the senior level at the NHK Trophy Grand Prix Event, held in Sapporo, Japan. I am very excited for our upcoming National Championships and the rest of the season!

How do you guys get along when you've been on the road together for so long? Any advice for getting along with your siblings?

Considering how much time we spend together, Alex and I get along really well. Like all siblings, we have disagreements about really inconsequential things, like what we want to listen to in the car or what we want to eat, but we also realize that the bond that we have is very strong because we share the same goals and dreams. We have fun hanging out together, and we know that our skating enables us to travel the world quite extensively and build memories and experiences together.

My advice is to realize that the relationship you have with your sibling is very special. Don't take it for granted! Your sibling is one of the few people who you can experience your entire life with—both the good and bad days. No matter how difficult it is to get along sometimes, at the end of the day, know that your sibling will always be there for you.

How would you describe your on-ice style? What kinds of things do you like to wear when you're competing?

My on-ice style changes depending on the program and type of music we have. For example, this year one of our programs has to be Latin dance. At Nationals for that program, I'll be wearing a bright purple dress with lots of crystals and fringe. My other costume is for a swing program, and it has a completely different look. From the beginning when we are creating costumes, I like to have a lot of input into the design. It's important for me to have a very feminine look, but I also need to have something that is comfortable and that I can really move in.

What about off the ice? How would you describe your personal style?

When I'm off of the ice and have an opportunity to wear something other than workout clothes, I like clothes that have simple yet elegant lines. Early on, my mom encouraged me to save my money and buy a few really nice pieces rather than a whole bunch of clothes. I love wearing jeans, a simple shirt, and an Eileen Fisher or Burberry jacket. I think that scarves are great accessories that can really dress up something simple. At special dress-up events, I don't try to look too much older than I am, but I want to look sophisticated. I love Max Studio and BCBG. One day, I would absolutely love to wear an Elie Saab dress. That would be a dream come true.

What are your daily must-have makeup products?

At my age, I'm a big believer in looking natural and fresh. On a day-to-day basis, I don't have much time to put on makeup, but I absolutely love my Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner and mascara. I use Kerstin Florian cleansing gel to keep my skin from breaking out because of the constant physical activity, and I also like Pevonia products as well.

What about for a competition? Do you get to have fun with your makeup or do you keep it simple?

I do try and be more liberal in applying makeup. In a big arena, you want your features to show up. I like to focus on my eyes by using more eyeliner. I'm also careful about choosing my lip color and using a lip liner for shaping. I am constantly looking to Teen Vogue for makeup tips!

What do you like to do on your days off?

On my days off, I like to spend time with friends. I live in a great college town—Ann Arbor, Michigan—so there is always something to do or see! Through skating I've made a lot of friends who live in other parts of the country and around the world, and I like to chat with them through Face Time. One of my favorite things to do is spend time with my two Maltese puppies, Lily and Po (named after the main character in Kung Fu Panda). They are so lovable, and it's great that they are always so happy to see me! I also collect all sorts of memorabilia from our travels and spend a lot of time decorating my poster boards and room with them. I always try to take lots of pictures, buy a few postcards, and get some small item that reminds me of each place we've traveled. For example, I have a bouquet of carved wooden flowers from Amsterdam, some traditional nesting dolls from Moscow, and some traditional wood and paper crafts from Japan.

What advice do you have for other young aspiring athletes?

To do anything well, I think that you have to have passion and conviction about your sport. There is no question in my mind that you must absolutely love what you are doing. Being an athlete is physically grueling and oftentimes downright painful. For that reason, you have to have a clear vision of what your goals are and know that you can achieve them by taking small steps every day. Give yourself a little pat on the back when you accomplish something, but be ready to take the next step to become even better. It's always easier said than done, but I try.

(Take a look at the original slideshow here~)

FSH Skating With The Stars Gala

2012-01-19T17:04:00.005-05:00

This April Maia and Alex will be attending the annual "Skating With the Stars Gala" as a part of the Figure Skating in Harlem program!

FSH is a non-profit organization that works with young girls to improve their health and academic life through skating. It has now been operating for 15 years. It's a great cause!

This Gala takes place in the beautiful outdoor Trump Wollman rink in Central Park, New York City on April 2 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and features celebrities and some of the top names in skating!

Tickets start at USD $300 and give access to skating with the participating skaters and a buffet.
For more information on how to order, please see this article.

Click here to go to the official FSH Event page!

Please check back as the date approaches!

2012 Nationals Schedule

2012-01-18T21:47:00.005-05:00

The updated version of the 2012 US Nationals practice/competition schedule was released today! The following times are in the Pacific time zone:

(as of 1/18/12)
Friday, January 27
Short Dance: 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 28
Free Dance: 12:00 p.m.

~Click here for more detail, including practice times (PDF file)~

3rd Tweet of the Week Win for Alex

2012-01-10T23:09:00.002-05:00

Alex's New Year's Resolution tweet once again captured the Tweet of the Week title for him at Universal Sports today!
From Universal Sports:

If you think Alex Shibutani is only a figure skater, you're sorely mistaken. As evidenced by the following tweet, he's also a calculating businessman:
"I want to own a gym... But only in January. I'll convert it to a fast food chain for the rest of the year. #resolutions"
With 70 percent of readers' votes, that tweet was shrewd enough to defeat Alicia Sacramone (18 percent) and Jason Richardson (11 percent), thereby earning Shibutani the latest title.
Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to go join Shibutani's gym before it becomes a fast food restaurant. Stay tuned for the next set of nominees on Friday.
(original article here)

We'll have to wait for Universal Sports updated Tweet standings!

GPF Videos

2012-01-04T15:56:00.001-05:00

SHORT DANCE:

FREE DANCE:

Grand Prix Final Articles

2012-01-04T13:30:00.003-05:00

Shibutanis not thinking about sophomore jinx

Winning a world ice dance medal is often the culmination of a long senior career, sometimes nearly a decade in the making. But Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani are doing things their own way.
After taking home world bronze in their first season on the senior international circuit, the siblings might be expected to feel the weight of increased expectations -- and more than a few critical eyes -- their sophomore season. But heading into their first Grand Prix Final, both say it's just business as usual.
"Last season was great, and by the end of it, we had a lot of experience and it showed in our performances," Alex, 20, said. "We exceeded expectations but this is a new year. We're working just as hard, if not harder."
Igor Shpilband, who with Marina Zoueva coaches the team in Canton, Mich., thinks their appetite for training is unmatched.
"I didn't think they could work any harder than they did last season, but they are," Shpilband said. "They always ask for more."
As usual in their young careers, the work is paying off: They're ahead of last season's pace.
"It's the first time we've qualified for the Final," Maia, 17, said. "Last season, we won two [Grand Prix] bronze medals and we were alternates. This season, we've won silver and gold medals."
"It's still a building process," Alex said. "No one expected us to be third in the world, and our expectations for the Grand Prix this fall were tempered. We want to go out and continue to improve as a team, each competition and each day. We're still building for the long term. We know there will be some ups and downs."
The siblings, recovered from their "Asia trip" -- back-to-back Grand Prix events in China and Japan -- are anxious to hit the ice in Quebec City.
"We've improved our technical difficulty and transitions, which are steps we knew we needed to take to reach the level we're striving for," Alex said. "Having not qualified [for the Grand Prix Final] last year, and not having expected to, we're very happy with the way things have gone so far."
They opened the new season at Finlandia Trophy, where they placed second to Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the Canadian Olympic champions.
"At Finland, the whole point was to get the programs out there, see how they feel," Alex said. "After that, it's just a matter of continuing to work hard and stay focused."
The 2011/2012 short dance, including two sequences of the rumba compulsory, is challenging many top teams, and the Shibutanis are no exceptions. At NHK Trophy, where they won gold, Maia and Alex stood third going into the free dance, a few points off the lead. They made up ground with their free to Glenn Miller hits featured in the 1941 Sonja Henie movie Sun Valley Serenade.
Heading into the Final, they've had a solid month to work on both routines.
"It was challenging having [back-to-back] competitions. We were a bit fatigued," Maia said. "But it was fun to have Igor [Shpilband] with us for the whole two weeks, and we felt that when we got back to Canton, we showed visible improvement. We're confident for the future. Now we have to take what we learned and apply it."
"Our upward trajectory can continue [with the programs]," Alex said. "We don't see a problem."
Last season, the siblings tackled Foxtrot and Quickstep rhythms in Irving Berlin's "Let's Face the Music and Dance." This season's free dance, choreography by Shpilband and Zoueva to "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "In the Mood" and "Moonlight Serenade," evokes a comparable feel and upbeat attitude, but Alex doesn't feel its derivative.
"In a way, I'm a student of the sport, and it's a lot of fun to [trace] the different looks and different phases of ice dance," he said. "The ISU has made it clear it wants upbeat programs with an audible beat. I guess you could say this season's [free dance] is similar to last season's, in that both really try to bring the authenticity of that era (1940s). But the style is different, the theme is different.
"The free this season is much faster paced. Maia and I would say to Igor and Marina, 'The first 30 seconds feels way harder than the entire program last season,' but we knew our coaches were pushing our boundaries, while also picking music within the guidelines the ISU set."
Even with a world medal in hand, both skaters -- who train alongside the world's two top-ranked contenders, U.S. world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Virtue and Moir -- still speak with the abandon of newcomers, insisting several times they have "nothing to lose."
"We've analyzed our performances; we're going to the Final planning to be aggressive and show our improvement and set ourselves up for the rest of the season," Alex said.
"Actually, it will be like practicing at home. We're young, still at the beginning of our careers. We're going to go out and attack and enjoy it. You only compete at your first Grand Prix Final once."
BY LYNN RUTHERFORD

During practice one of the first ice dance practices here, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani swung into their “Chattanooga Choo Choo” tap dance and suddenly, there were six skaters doing the steps instead of two.

The siblings’ training partners – Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir – were out there tapping away, too.

“We saw it out of the corner of our eyes,” Maia said.

“We heard the audience’s reaction; normally, that section doesn’t get that much applause,” Alex said. “So it was the most we got for that part, but it was really fun. It was nice to know we each know each other’s routines so well that we can shadow each other.

“In hindsight we could have foreseen this happening all last week. They were kind of mocking, a little bit of fun.”

Moir claims it was all a deliberate plan to keep the atmosphere light.

“It’s always so serious,” he said. “The reality is we have fun at home and [we wanted] to have fun here, maybe get them to loosen up a little bit at their first Grand Prix Final.”

“We’ve been talking about this with Meryl and Charlie for a really long time,” Virtue added. “And oddly enough we still don’t know the steps exactly. We tried our best. It’s Maia and Alex’s first go at the Grand Prix Final and there can be a lot of nerves, a lot of pressure and anything we can do to get a laugh.”

So, is Alex plotting a way to get back at his training mates?

“Yeah, I am,” Alex said.
BY LYNN RUTHERFORD

GPF Results

2012-01-03T20:55:00.003-05:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 34.15
Program Components Score: 31.38

Total: 65.53 (Season's Best)

They finished 5th place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 47.78

Program Components Score: 47.24

Total: 95.02 (Season's Best)

They finished 5th place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 160. 55 (Season's Best)

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 5th

Congrats on the first Senior GPF as well as two season's best programs!!

Update 12/27

2011-12-27T13:07:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone!

Due to a long string of incidents involving wireless internet troubles, computer problems, and a nasty virus, I haven't had proper internet access since the Grand Prix Final. Unfortunately, this also means the site hasn't been updated for a few weeks.

Problems now resolved, I want to assure that over the next few days the site will be completely up-to-date! I apologize for not being able to provide the usual coverage this time and any inconvenience or worry this may have caused.

Thank you for everyone's patience during this time, and I look forward to being able to cover Nationals next month in a more timely way!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, a very happy holiday season, and a great New Year this weekend!

Grand Prix Final 2011 Qualifying!

2011-11-27T17:25:00.004-05:00

The regular GP season has officially ended and for the first time Alex and Maia will be headed to the GPF as seniors! This year it takes place in Quebec City, Canada!

With their total, they are in third place after the entire Grand Prix season! Click here for the ISU GP ranking info sheet with more detailed results.

With a second-place finish worth 13 GP points in China, and a first-place finish worth 15 GP points in Japan, they finish out of the circuit with 28 total points.

The GP Final begins December 7, so stay tuned for more information.

NHK Trophy 2011 Videos

2011-11-12T16:08:00.004-05:00

SHORT DANCE WARM-UP:

SHORT DANCE:

FREE DANCE WARM-UP:

FREE DANCE:

AFTER FD REACTIONS + INTERVIEW:

MEDAL CEREMONY:

NHK Trophy 2011 Results

2011-11-11T01:46:00.006-05:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 29.50
Program Components Score: 30.52
Deductions: 1.00

Total: 59.02 (Season's Best)

They finished 3rd place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 45.84

Program Components Score: 46.99

Total: 92.83 (Season's Best)

They finished 1st place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 151.85 (Season's Best)

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 1st

CONGRATULATIONS!!! First senior Grand Prix Victory!

Cup of China Videos

2011-11-06T05:17:00.004-05:00

SHORT DANCE:

FREE DANCE:

PODIUM:

Cup Of China 2011 Dance Awards Ceremony by GrinyasEntertainment
EXHIBITION:

EXHIBITION GALA FINALE:

NHK Trophy 2011

2011-11-05T16:15:00.001-04:00

For the second Grand Prix stop of the season (in a row!) Maia and Alex will be attending the NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan at Makomanai Arena! The schedule is as follows:

Short Dance:
Friday, November 11 : 14:55 (2:55 p.m.)

Free Dance:
Saturday, November 5 : 12:00 (noon)

You can find the full event schedule HERE~ (PDF)

>> Click here for the official website of the NHK Trophy <<

Best wishes to all the skaters--especially Maia and Alex! You have the ability to make others smile with your programs!

Cup of China 2011 Results

2011-11-04T04:50:00.004-04:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 27.71
Program Components Score: 30.08

Total: 57.79

They finished 2nd place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 43.14

Program Components Score: 48.47
Deductions: 1.00

Total: 90.61

They finished 2nd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 148.40

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 2nd

Great job on the highest GP placement so far Maia and Alex!! So awesome!!

2011 Cup of China

2011-11-03T10:12:00.000-04:00

*~Live results will be posted here!~*

Maia and Alex's first Grand Prix circuit event of the season begins on Friday in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center! The schedule for the dance event is:

Short Dance:
Friday, November 4 : 15:30 (3:30 a.m.)

Free Dance:
Saturday, November 5 : 14:30 (2:30 a.m.)

Check out the full event schedule here!
You can watch the event live on IceNetwork or Universal Sports as usual if you have a subscription!

> Click here for the official Cup of China event website <

Maia and Alex do your best~! Enjoy skating in China!!
HAVE FUN!

ESPN "Family Buisness" Article

2011-10-18T20:49:00.004-04:00

Alex and Maia's post-season thoughts, hopes for the new season, and some interesting familial insights are highlighted in this great article by ESPN. The full article is below:

Finding a figure skating partner is a tricky endeavor, requiring the elements of athletic evaluation (think NFL combine), subjective judging on appearance and synchronicity (think "Dancing with the Stars") and the intangible of personal compatibility (think online dating).

Then, throw in a few life-changing decisions, such as who's going to pull up hometown roots, and you begin to wonder how any team lasts longer than a few months.

Ice dancers Alex and Maia Shibutani count themselves lucky never to have had to worry about any of that. Their ideal partner was right there at the breakfast table. After some success as individual skaters, the brother and sister switched to ice dancing -- with each other.

No getting-to-know-you awkwardness. No angst about coaching. No coordination rides to the rink and practice times with another family.

They started out as a cute-kid team in figure skating's lower levels, where the slim-limbed look-alikes steadily progressed to win national titles and international medals as juniors.

Then, in a stunning rookie season at skating's top level last year, the Shibutanis took one giant leap together. Alex, now 20, and Maia, 17, became the first ice dance team in U.S. history to win a medal (bronze) at the world championships in their debut senior season.

They also became the first rookie dance team from any nation to medal in each of their international senior Grand Prix competitions.
The Shibutanis took silver at the 2011 U.S. championships and at Four Continents behind Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who went on to win America's first world dance title.

The brother-sister team is not slowing down this year, either, with the same work ethic and an even more technically challenging free dance.

"We're really looking forward to this season," Maia said. "We have a lot to be excited about. Last year, worlds was just the cherry on top of an already great season, so we're excited to show our improvement. We worked really hard in the short offseason to try and show how we've grown, so that's the goal."

Ice dancers, unlike pairs figure skaters, do not perform jumps or throws and typically are not separated by more than two arm-lengths. Unlike pairs or singles skaters, ice dancers adhere closely to the music's beat or rhythm. The sport is rooted in ballroom dancing.

Until White and Davis won Olympic silver in 2010, the most familiar names in U.S. ice dancing were Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, the five-time U.S. champions, world silver medalists and 2006 Olympic runners-up.

Now, look out for the Shibutanis, who might well be at the top of their game for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

They're young yet so technically proficient, said co-coach Marina Zoueva, that the international federation last year used their skating to train judges in identifying how competitors can score bonus points on certain elements.

"Mentally, they are very mature, very intelligent," Zoueva said.

Zoueva said the Shibutanis are more self-reliant than others their age.

"Some kids come and say, 'Oh, we can't do it, can you help us?' [Alex and Maia] always say, 'Yeah, that's not comfortable, maybe we can do this another way' … They bring their ideas how to fix stuff," she said. "I love this. This means they are thinking."

The Shibutanis credit a tight family and an unusual training environment for their climb. In 2007, the Shibutanis moved from Colorado Springs to the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton, Mich., and a dream team of stablemates: Belbin and Agosto (now retired), Davis and White, and Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who would go on to become 2010 Olympic champions.

The older, more accomplished Davis and White don't consider themselves mentors to the young duo.

"They're both so mature, we feel like they know exactly what they're doing," White said. "They're great to be around, they're the hardest workers and they're not taking their success for granted. We definitely can't take it easy."

Guided by notable Russian coaches Zoueva and Igor Shpilband, Davis and White led a startling club sweep of the world championship podium last spring in Moscow: Davis and White, followed by Virtue and Moir and the Shibutanis, who admittedly surprised even themselves.

Standing fourth to European champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat after the short dance, the Shibutanis skated a near-perfect free dance to win bronze.

"Our expressions in the kiss-and-cry area says it all," said Alex, who looked stunned when the results were announced.

Skating in the last group at worlds in Moscow felt an awful lot like skating in Michigan. Alex and Maia warmed up with four of their training partners.

"We were literally giggling during the practices," Maia said.
Coaches and skaters point to the Shibutanis' musicality -- the instinct not only to select the right music but also to perform it on the ice -- as an unusual trait for young skaters.
"We have worked hard to have a strong technical foundation, but what we hope distinguishes us is our ability to connect with our audience," Alex said.

But it's no surprise, considering their parents, Chris and Naomi, met as Harvard musicians. Dad played the flute, and Mom was a concert pianist.

Their athletic roots are harder to explain.

"Our parents were not serious athletes," Alex said. "Dad skated recreationally on a pond."

Chris grew up in Chappaqua, N.Y., and Naomi, born in Japan, grew up in Miami. The Shibutani siblings started skating at ages 7 (Alex) and 4 (Maia) in New York. Chris currently works with a hedge fund in Chicago and is able to come home on weekends, Maia said.

The siblings started skating together when Alex was 13 and Maia 10. This is their eighth season.

The key to success as a brother-sister team?

"We live pretty separate lives outside of skating," Alex said.

Alex, known among skaters for his popular blogs -- he won an outstanding English scholar award in high school -- lives in his own apartment and attends classes at the University of Michigan. The 5-foot-3 Maia, who lives with Mom in the same apartment building as Alex, is a straight-A honors student and senior at Huron High School after years of home schooling. She is working on her application to Michigan this fall.

By all accounts, the two get along well. Alex described his sister as, "the most mature person I've ever met … a 30-year-old trapped in a 17-year-old's body."

In an interview, they tag-team each other's answers. How do they keep sibling spats and familiarity from wrecking their partnership?

"It would be silly for us to say everything's daffodils and rainbows," said the 5-foot-11 Alex. "Because we're both very driven, it's easy for small conflicts to arise. Because we're brother and sister, since the beginning of our existence, Maia's known how to push my buttons, I've known how to push hers.

"Because we're close, we're able to …"

"Work it out," Maia said. "We know that we want the same things; that's the main thing."

They train seven or eight hours a day, including as many as three straight hours of on-ice practice. From a young age, they were known for extraordinarily hard work and attention to detail. As juniors, the Shibutanis skated at least an hour a day longer than other kids at their level.

"[Their] mom videoed everything," said Patti Gottwein, who coached the duo in Colorado Springs when Alex was 14 and Maia was 11. "Then they would go home and they would study the video. … They had a ballet room in their home; they would rework stuff in the evenings. I don't know too many people that do that. The parents are very much an integral part of what their training is."

Certain advantages come from skating with a brother or sister. Long-term stability is a plus. It's harder to split with your brother or sister than it is with someone outside the family. Having one set of parents involved in decision-making is easier than two.

But being brother and sister in a sport largely rooted in romance presents a challenge. Alex said they are careful to select tasteful programs without shortchanging their artistry.

Still, "their spectrum of programs is not as wide," White said. "I can understand some people just have a preference when they watch skating, want to see some kind of love relationship. That's not necessarily what you have to see. You don't have to be in love."

Gottwein said it's unfortunate that judges tend to favor the familiar romantic storyline in ice dance.

"I do think there is a challenge of a sibling team being able to create that magic on the ice from an emotional standpoint," she said. "They're going to have to be creative in their choice of material."

Gottwein said the Shibutanis may be able to open up the sport.

"You get into the dance world, not the ice dance world, and there's such variety," she said. "Right now our sport is a little narrow in what they're looking for. Maybe the Shibutanis is a team that can broaden that."

Those who have watched the Shibutanis blossom know that's not too much to expect from a team whose members have had the big picture in mind since they were young. You get the feeling they're just getting started.

"If anything, our results last season and at worlds especially have only motivated us more to push ourselves harder," Alex said, "because we witnessed firsthand what hard work can really accomplish."
BY MERI-JO BORZILLERI

(original article page)

GOOOO Maia and Alex!! You can accomplish anything!

EWC 2011 Videos

2011-10-18T19:39:00.001-04:00

An Evening With Champions this weekend was a huge success, and ended up raising over $100,000 for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute! :D

Here are videos of Maia and Alex (or Skating Royalty, as Paul Wylie would say) performing SUN VALLEY SERENADE FD at the show:

The Saturday show finale:

~CLICK HERE to view videos of the Saturday show by SaSherka!~
Through this post, you can view the opening number, Maia and Alex's program, and the finale (the user preferred their videos not to be directly linked)~

Performing THE PRAYER:

Here is their part in the finale:

~ Photos From TWITTER and yunakim.com~

A big thanks to those who attended the show and recorded the performances! What an awesome show!!

More from Finlandia

2011-10-16T13:36:00.008-04:00

Check out the updated photo gallery from Finlandia (or click the image) for more than 180 beautiful photos of the event!

Special thanks to everyone who attended and provided the great photo coverage.

Also be sure to take a look at the videos as well for a professional camera version of the FD.

Alex's 2nd Tweet of the Week Win

2011-10-15T15:02:00.004-04:00

Alex won Universal Sports Tweet of the Week "gold" for the second consecutive time in his nominations! Congrats! Check out the winning tweet from the Finlandia Trophy:Universal Sports said:
We're not sure if it has anything to do with the recent announcement of the iPhone 4S, but Alex Shibutani logged onto Twitter recently in a phone-flinging kind of mood:

"Just read that mobile phone throwing is an int'l sport that started in Finland in 2000. Might have to give it a try. #timeforanewphone"

With 63 percent of readers' votes, that tweet had had enough far-flung appeal to defeat Bridget Sloan (29 percent) and Cullen Jones (8 percent), thereby securing Shibutani his second Tweet of the Week victory.

(~full article here~)

Congrats again to Alex! Those reading his twitter can't stop smiling~

Finlandia Videos

2011-10-07T17:45:00.006-04:00

SHORT DANCE:

FD PRACTICE 1:

FD PRACTICE 2:

FREE DANCE:

FREE DANCE (PRO CAM):

MEDAL CEREMONY PT.1:

MEDAL CEREMONY PT.2:

PRESS CONFERENCE PT.1:

PRESS CONFERENCE PT.2:

Many special thanks to tamriko666 for catching most of the event on video and uploading so quickly!

Finlandia Trophy Results

2011-10-07T14:38:00.011-04:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 28.00
Program Components Score: 30.45

Total: 58.45

They finished 2nd place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 45.46

Program Components Score: 48.17

Total: 92.63

They finished 2nd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 151.08

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 2nd

Congrats on the silver medal!! And for two really fun new programs! It's going to be a good season~ :D

Finlandia Photos

2011-10-07T06:23:00.002-04:00

(From International Figure Skating)

Finlandia Starting Orders + Live Coverage

2011-10-06T16:55:00.007-04:00

Maia and Alex will be starting the competition in the starting order of:

Warm-Up Group 1, #3 (3rd overall).

For the FD, they will be skating last in:

Warm-Up Group 2, #5 (10th overall)

Also, be sure to check out Sunday's live coverage of the competition HERE! It is available to watch for anyone from any country, even outside of Finland.

Finlandia Trophy 2011

2011-10-03T05:56:00.005-04:00

The Finlandia Trophy finally takes place this Thursday through Sunday in Vantaa, Finaland at the Vaalti Areena. The schedule is as follows:

Short Dance:
Friday, October 7 : 19.55 - 21.50 (7:55 p.m. - 9:50 p.m.)

Free Dance:
Sunday, October 9 : 12.00 - 14.05 (noon - 2:05 p.m.)

For the full schedule, click here~
Check out the official website of the event here!
Starting orders will be posted as they are updated after the draw.

GOOOO Maia and Alex!
Do your best~ we believe in you!!
Have fun and enjoy Finland!

New 2011-2012 Short Dance Music!

2011-09-28T14:35:00.003-04:00

According to their updated IceNetwork profiles, Maia and Alex have a great upbeat program planned including the songs:
"Batucada" by DJ Dero
"Skip to the Bip" by Club des Belugas
"Jazz Machine" by Black Machine
Take a listen to the tracks below~!

BATUCADA

SKIP TO THE BIP

JAZZ MACHINE

Alex Wins Tweet of the Week

2011-09-27T09:02:00.004-04:00

Universal Sports announced Alex as the winner of their Tweet of the Week contest, just beating Apolo Anton Ohno!

Universal Sports made the announcement with:
It bears mentioning that Apolo Ohno's most recent entry into the Tweet of the Week contest contained a direct reference to the movie Bloodsport, because the recently-concluded Tweet of the Week matchup between Ohno and Alex Shibutani was a pugilistic voting slugfest that would havemade Jean-Claude Van Damme himself rather proud...
...Based on the way things have been going lately for Red Sox fans such as Shibutani, the closely-contested win over Ohno probably counts as a much-needed victory.

(read the full article here!)

In case you missed Alex's tweet:Congrats, Alex (and everyone who voted)!! Looking forward to more entertaining and relevant tweets as usual!

SKATING Magazine Maia & Alex Cover Issue!

2011-09-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

The SKATING magazine "Maia and Alex" issue is now available online~!!

You can view the entire magazine here, or look at the pages specific to them below. The full article is also available in computer text version for those who need to translate it to a different language, or just find it easier to read.

Check out the great article that covers lots of things about Alex and Maia! Special thanks to Lynn Rutherford who wrote this informative and entertaining article.

(click for full size)

DESIRE, HARD WORK, PUT SHIBUTANIS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
BY LYNN RUTHERFORD

One of the most memorable moments of the 2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Moscow came in the kiss and cry after marks flashed up for Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani’s free dance.
“You won a medal,” Igor Shpilbandtold a stunned Alex. “Now, don’t have a heart attack.”
Weeks later, reminded of his coach’s words, Alex can only laugh.
“He was right; it was a complete surprise,” the 20-year-old said. “It was such an amazing moment. We put a lot of work into the season. We loved that program.”
Shpilband and his coaching partner, Marina Zoueva, followed the scores and knew their young charges were in the running for the bronze, but wisely kept their skaters in the dark. Te knowledge was added pressure the moment didn’t need.
“Normally, there are monitors backstage, but we avoided those in Moscow,” Alex said. “Igor and Marina didn’t tell us anything. They wanted us to go out and focus on ourselves.”
“All we wanted in Moscow was toput out two programs we could be proud
of,” his 16-year-old sister said. “When we found out about the medal, I don’t think ‘surprised’ was the word. We were a little shocked.”
The team’s fast competitive rise began in earnest last fall, when Alex realized with a jolt that his little sister wasn’t quite as little anymore.
The siblings were on the ice in Canton, Mich., with some of their training partners, including Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
“I was kind of out of it; we had just finished a run-through and I was pretty tired,” he said. “A lot of us were out there, and I started skating over to Meryl, thinking she was Maia.
“Maia had forever been the shortest person on the ice at any given time and now
she blended in. I remember telling her, ‘I think I almost just skated to Meryl.’”
Maia, of course, was delighted to be confused with a skater of Davis’ caliber, not to mention her 5-foot-3‒inch height.
“Of course, he was too embarrassed to tell Meryl about it; I guess she’ll find out now,” she said. “It was kind of funny for me to hear.”
Maia’s growth spurt — she thinks she may have sprung up more than three inches in the past year — was a final piece of the puzzle for the team. No longer cute youngsters, they had transformed into elegant grown-ups.
“This was our seventh year of doing dance together, and I was 9 when we
started, so of course I was quite the diminutive little skater,” Maia said. “But I think as we’ve matured and grown and worked on our skating, we’ve started to shed that ‘cute’ label.”
“Maia has gotten a lot taller and it really enhances our line and look on the ice,” Alex, who stands about 5 foot 10, said.

=============={{}}===============

RECORD-BREAKING SUCCESS

No one could have predicted the kind of year Maia and Alex have had.
The team won bronze medals at NHK Trophy and Skate America, the frst ice dancers ever to medal at both of their Grand Prix events in their debut senior season. At the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, N.C., they gained the highest technical element score in the free dance event with a sparkling quickstep and foxtrot
routine. A few weeks later at the 2011 ISU Four Continents Championships, they took
silver behind Davis and White.
Then came the head-turning result in Moscow. In skating’s modern era, only one other team — Russia’s Anjelika Krylova and Vladimir Fedorov — won a medal their first
time out at the World Championships.
It was no surprise to their training partners, who have shared the ice with them
at Canton’s Arctic Edge Ice Arena since 2007.
“We skate with them every day, so we see how hard they work, how much they’ve
improved,” Davis said.
“They make us stay on top of our game,” White said. “We can’t just say, ‘Oh,
we’ve got our Olympic silver medals and we can just mail it in.’”
Zoueva, who coaches the Canton ice dancers with Shpilband, thinks old-fashioned hard work, combined with talent, has taken the siblings to the top.
“Everything they do on the ice is organized,” she said. “They are always ready to
work and listen. Nothing is wasted.”
Alex and Maia’s first coach, Kathy Bird, who taught them in Greenwich, Conn., and
Katonah, N.Y., a decade ago, agrees with Zoueva’s assessment.
“Nothing is done at 100 percent; it’s done at 300 percent,” Bird said. “No matter what it is — a costume, a piece of music, a program — they think about what they can do to make a certain angle better.”
Bird, who calls the Shibutani clan her “second family,” thinks Maia and Alex inherited their focus and musicality from their parents, Naomi and Chris, who met while students at Harvard University. Both are accomplished musicians; Naomi on piano and Chris on several instruments.
According to Bird, the high-achieving parents never pushed their kids to become
skaters. Rather, the catalyst was tiny, strong-willed Maia, who first hit the ice at age 4.
“Maia knew she wanted to be a skater from the start,” Bird said. “From the beginning, she had a wonderful sense of body and line.”
The coach remembers Alex’s devotion to Boston’s sports teams, a passion he still cherishes.
“Sometimes he would come to the rink, shoelaces untied, hanging his head. I’d
say, ‘What’s the matter — did the Red Sox lose?’ she laughed.
“He is three years older than Maia, but he became serious about skating after
she did. There was a power-skating class at the rink and the girls were just running him over. But he kept plugging away and one day he was as fast as the girls.”
Today, Alex is as dedicated to time management as his sister; as a youngster,
though, he had his tardy moments.
“One of my favorite memories is when Naomi would say, ‘We’re leaving for home
in five minutes,’” Bird said. “Maia would take her skates off, get ready and go out to
the car. Alex was always late.
“So Naomi would drive 50 yards down the driveway, and Alex would chase after the
car with Maia looking out the car window laughing at him. Back then, Maia was in
charge; Alex chased after her.”
Both siblings competed in singles, Maia as a pre-juvenile and Alex as a juvenile.
After they attended the 2001 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Vancou-
ver and were awed by the speed and skill of the ice dancers, Naomi suggested they
might give it a try themselves.
“I said it would be great, if Maia would hold Alex’s hand and we could keep the two from tussling,” Bird said. “One day after school we started them stroking together. I think Maia said, ‘Alex, stop pinching me!’ about 10 times. It was typical brother-and-sister stuff.”
Bird suggested the family work with 1976 U.S. ice dance Olympians Andrew
Stroukoff and Susan Kelley, who coached the siblings to the juvenile silver medal at the 2005 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships. They also worked with five-time
U.S. ice dance champion Judy Blumberg.
As they progressed, they needed more ice time than was readily available to ice dancers training in the New York City area. After working with Colorado Springs-based choreographer Tom Dickson to prepare programs for the 2004-05 season, they relocated to Colorado in 2005 to train at the World Arena under Patti Gottwein, with assistance from Rich Griffn, Damon Allen and Erik Schultz.
The promising youngsters also worked with 1984 Olympic ice dance champion Christopher Dean, and in 2006, forged a relationship with modern dance teacher Kathy Johnson that continues to this day.
“She has been such a huge influence on us in regard to the way we move and the way we think about our movement," Alex said.
Te siblings continued their rapid rise, winning the 2006 U.S. intermediate title. The following year, they claimed novice gold with a well-received free dance
to Memoirs of a Geisha, choreographed by Dickson.

==========={{}}===============

‘DAWDLING IN THE CORNER’

With Alex’s college years approaching, after the 2007 U.S. Championships,
the family relocated to Ann Arbor, Mich., where the siblings could train in Canton under Zoueva and Shpilband and attend the highly rated University o Michigan.
In Canton, Maia and Alex mixed with heady company, including not only Davis
and White but five-time U.S. ice dance champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto and future Canadian Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
“When we first came to Canton, Tessa and Scott, and Meryl and Charlie were first-year seniors and they are out there furiously tango-ing,” Maia said. “Tanith and Ben were skating as fast as anyone could possibly imagine, and we were kind of dawdling in the corner. Everyone was very friendly; we were just a little intimidated, I guess.
“Finally one day Scott came over and told us, ‘You guys have as much right to be here as anyone,’ which was really thoughtful
of him.”
Maia and Alex continued to progress, with a few bumps along the way.
They moved up to the junior level for the 2007‒08 season, but could not compete on the Junior Grand Prix because Maia was a few weeks too young. Still, they placed fourth in juniors at the 2008 U.S. Championships.
In the fall of 2008, they hit the international circuit, winning gold and silver medals and placing fourth at the Junior Grand Prix Final. They captured silver behind another fine Canton team, Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein, at both the 2009 U.S. Championships and World Junior Championships.
At the 2010 U.S. Championships, they claimed junior gold — their third U.S. title in four seasons — but placed a disappointing fourth at the 2010 ISU World Junior
Championships. Undaunted, they trained harder than ever that summer.
“I guess it would be easy for someone to think that not medaling at Junior Worlds gave us extra motivation,” Maia said. “For us, we already knew we really wanted to make an impact in seniors and show how much we improved.”
“I think what we’ve learned through our career so far is that there are lots of ups and downs, but we train to be as ready as possible,” Alex said.
The picture snapped into place when they began working on their 2010-11 programs; a short dance to “Carousel Waltz” and free dance to a medley of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” and Irving Berlin’s “Face the Music and Dance.”
“Our free dance was done by Marina and right away it just flowed,” Maia said.
“She knew her vision. We’re just glad that everyone else sees the entire
picture we worked on.”
Asked what the siblings needed for success on the senior circuit, Marina said, “Power, power, power,” something she and Shpilband drilled into Alex and Maia with endless stroking sessions.
“We’ve always been the youngest at any level we’ve been at, so we’re
used to projecting maturity and competing against people who are three, four and
this year up to 10 years older,” Alex said.
“Your look on the ice is very important and we worked on that a lot. We tried to show consistency in our training and keep our noses to the grindstone.”
It worked; Zoueva now calls the “the most elegant team I’ve ever seen.”
“Tat is so nice for us to hear,” Maia said. “The great thing about Igor and Marina is they won’t necessarily compliment you directly, you hear it though other people, which is really sweet. I think that’s their strategy. If you have someone stroking you and telling you how good you are all the time, it would be hard for any of us to improve.”

================{{}}====================

THE SIBLING ADVANTAGE

Ice dance is often looked upon as a romantic sport, with its rumbas, tangos and
sambas. While some think brother-and-sister teams are constrained by propriety, both
Maia and Alex count their familial relation-ship as a big plus.
“Sometimes someone will say, ‘Oh, I get the icks when I see brother-and-sister
teams,’” Alex said. “Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but in the ballroom world there are many brother‒and‒sister couples. I don’t hear any complaints when people
watch Julianne Hough and Derek Hough perform on “Dancing with the Stars.”
“Maia and I are very aware of the perception out there and I think we’ve done a good job keeping our programs tasteful.”
In the end, the advantages—similar work ethics, drive, and temperament—out-weigh any negatives.
“We know each other so well, which sometimes doesn’t work to our advantage when it comes to small arguments, because we know how to push each other’s buttons,” Alex said. “But at the end of the day, she is always going to be my sister, and I am
always going to be her brother. There are so many different kinds of
love.”

==============={{}}================

ACADEMIC HONORS

Te relocation to Ann Arbor worked well on and off the ice.
Alex is now a sophomore at the University of Michigan, while Maia will be a
senior at Huron High School in the fall.
“Before moving to Michigan, I had been homeschooled from the second grade,” Maia said. “Te whole idea was for me to have a balanced life, and I’m doing that academically, but it’s definitely not a fairytale. Sometimes it’s hard to have consistent [school] friends with my schedule. That’s what is great about skating, I travel and make friends all over the world.”
Maia earned double honors in Greensboro: In addition to winning the U.S. silver
medal, she was named to U.S. Figure Skating’s Scholastics Honor Team. The award ceremony was held right after the siblings performed their short dance, and Alex joked that his sister should skip the mixed zone interviews to take her place on the ice.
“Like I was going to do that,” Maia scoffed.
“I see how hard Maia works and she is so mature beyond her years, I just wanted
Alex said. “I said, ‘We are going to stand here and wait and hear your name called,’ but she’s right, it wasn’t feasible.”
Alex, who hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and earn an M.B.A. someday, enjoys both communications and business classes.
“I take credits in the spring and summer to stay caught up,” he said. “I’m focused on school because skating isn’t everything. Not every day at the rink is going
to be perfect, and having something else to focus attention on is very helpful.”
The family lives in the same Ann Arbor apartment building, with Alex on one foor, Maia and Naomi on another and Naomi’s mother, Michiko, on a third. Chris, who now works in Chicago, joins them as often as he can.
As a freshman, Alex shared an house with fellow skaters White, Evan Bates and Trevor Young, but his culinary shortcomings encouraged him to move closer to home.
“As much as I enjoyed living with the guys, living in the same building as my mom allows me to eat home-cooked meals,” Alex said.
“He means stuff that isn’t burned,” Maia said.
Two puppies, Lilly and Po (after the character in Kung Fu Panda) have joined the mix, to everyone’s delight.
“They are tremendous greeters after a day at the rink,” Maia said. “Just running around after them is a good
workout.”

============={{}}===============

TRAGEDY BRINGS PERSPECTIVE

Alex and Maia — along with their Canton training mates — expected to head
to the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, scheduled to start on March 21. Instead, tragedy struck. Thousands of people were lost to the earthquake and tsunami in
the eastern portion of Japan.
After nearly two weeks of uncertainty, the ISU scheduled the championships for April 24-May 1 in Moscow.
“The tragedy in Japan, in one word, gives you perspective,” Maia said. “It’s only a skating competition.”
“The most important event of our career thus far collided with an unimaginable disaster in Japan,” Alex said. “It shows there is so much more to life than skating. We’re so lucky to have our home and family to keep us grounded.”
In the weeks leading up to Moscow, Shpilband and Zoueva took the team back
to basics, working on the Golden Waltz sequences in their short dance and polishing
steps in their free dance.
“We paced ourselves; Igor and Marina did an incredible job keeping things calm at
the rink,” Maia said.
It worked: The siblings placed fourth in the short dance, then climbed to third overall with a near-flawless outing of their free dance.
Best of all, they laughed all the way.
“We couldn’t help it; sharing the ice with those top teams, we were cracking up that morning in the warm-up,”
Alex said. “We were watching ice dance at Worlds for the first time 10 years
ago and definitely chuckling at how far we’ve come.
“We always said we were going to keep things light and have fun, and it’s
worked well for us so far.”
Winning a World medal didn’t inspire them to take a vacation; far from it. With the exception of a travel snafu that stranded them in Paris for one day, Maia and Alex haven’t skipped a day of practice since Moscow.
“We’re so excited and motivated to start the new season,” Alex said. “This success s just pushing us forward. Our careers are only beginning.”
Zoueva and Shpilband stood ready with new ideas for music and programs, upping the ante with even more difficult elements, including eye-catching lifts.
“We’re hard at work, learning new material,” Maia said. “There’s a lot we can improve. We definitely want to challenge ourselves with some new program concepts.”
“Now that we finally believe we are seniors, it’s time to enhance our persona on the ice,” Alex said. “We want to improve both our technical and our artistic side.
“For us, the big goal is the Olympics in 2014, but beyond that skating is a long road so we’ll see where we go. Our story is definitely still being written.”

Champs Camp 2011

2011-08-25T17:38:00.011-04:00

It's once again time for Champs Camp in Colorado Springs!

From the USFSA website:

The camp consists of skaters who are scheduled to compete in the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, which kicks off with Skate America in Ontario, Calif., Oct. 21-23.
"We are excited to bring in our athletes and their coaches for Champs Camp," said Mitch Moyer, senior director of athlete high performance. "This time will give us an opportunity to see the athletes' programs early in the season and provide them with valuable feedback."
Skaters will spend time on the ice at the World Arena, where they will perform their short programs and free skates in a simulated competition environment on Thursday and Friday. A panel of specialists will meet with each competitor to offer technical feedback on the programs. After arriving and going through an orientation process, athletes will gather Wednesday night for a special keynote address. Throughout the week, athletes will also attend classes provided by U.S. Figure Skating that focus on subjects including social media, sports medicine and high- altitude training. A team-building activity will take place Saturday evening at the OTC.

(From Universal Sports -- click for full size)

Interview about the new short dance w/ Universal Sports!

Click above for more pictures of Day 3 and all Champs Camp pictures in the gallery!

An Evening With Champions 2011

2011-08-15T14:34:00.001-04:00

Maia and Alex will be attending the 41st "An Evening With Champions" (Jimmy Fund) ice show, marking their second appearance in a row!
The charity show benefits the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute which specializes in cancer research.

The show will run for 2 days at the Harvard Bright Hockey Center:

Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 2:00 PM

Tickets are on sale now at http://www.aneveningwithchampions.org/buy-tickets (you can order online or by phone).
See the full cast list here! For even more info, visit the official site.

Go support Maia and Alex and the Jimmy Fund this October!

*This was the charity that Maia donated her Scholastic Honors money to earlier this year!*

New 2011-2012 Free Dance Music!

2011-08-08T17:10:00.000-04:00

The new Free Dance program music was released today through IceNetwork!
Maia and Alex are going for an energetic and "light" program featuring a new dance style, tap dance, from the classic movie Sun Valley Serenade!

Have a listen to the tune, "Chattanooga Choo Choo":

From IceNetwork.com:

Like Virtue and Moir, world bronze medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani are taking a lighter approach. Their new free dance is choreographed to the Glenn Miller music of the 1941 Sonja Henie film Sun Valley Serenade. Selections include "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and the siblings perform a tap dance section in the program.

Blades on Ice Articles

2011-08-08T16:35:00.002-04:00

Maia and Alex were featured very prominently in this month's issue of Blades on Ice magazine! Here is the full article on them as well as some other excerpts and photos from the magazine:

It’s been a whirlwind season for Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, the brother-sister team that stood on the world podium in their debut senior season with bronze medals hanging around their necks. For some onlookers it was a distinct surprise as well as a rare occurrence for an American ice dance team to find themselves on top of the world stage, particularly at their very first appearance at the most prestigious event in the sport of figure skating.*
But Maia, 17, and Alex, 20, are no strangers to success.
They have been winning medals ever since they began to compete in 2005. They won the US Novice Ice Dance title in 2007, a series of gold medals on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in 2009, and the US Junior Ice Dance title in 2010. Their only disappointment was a 4th place finish at the 2010 World Junior Championships — a setback that just spurred them to work even harder. It also helped that Maia grew almost three inches last spring and summer, looking every inch a lovely young woman at 5’3” to complement Alex’s 5’10” lean muscular frame. They train in an environment of competitive excellence with the top two dance teams in the world, Olympic and World champions Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir and Olympic
silver medalists and new World champions Meryl Davis & Charlie White, coached by two of the most prolific trainers in the discipline — Marina Zoueva and Igor Shpilband. It wasn’t easy for this young team to tackle the difficult Golden Waltz Pattern Dance, the major portion of the new Short Dance, when even veteran teams had their share of problems in hitting the precise steps that the technical panels were demanding. Their initial efforts of their Carousel Waltz program showed some nerves with a fall at the beginning of the first of the five required elements in
the Short Dance, in their first international, the Nebelhorn
Trophy.

A Magical Evening on Ice Exhibition

Of course they improved, winning bronze medals at the NHK Trophy and Skate America on the Grand Prix circuit, and with each medal-winning effort gaining notice and rave reviews, leading up to their electrifying performances including their delightful interpretation to Nat King Cole’s rendition of Smile and Let’s Face the Music and Dance Free Dance at the US Championships in Greensboro, NC where they thrilled the audience to bag the silver medal. Alex said, “The results are great and speak for themselves. It’s really more for us the path that we took to get there. We worked so hard over the summer. We love our programs and we love to skate with each other, that’s the biggest takeaway for us. We are doing the right things in the right direction and we are going to keep working hard. We love what we do, and training with Tessa and Scott, and Meryl and Charlie, and everyone at our rink
really helps us do that.”
They were named to the Four Continents Championship team, which was held in Taipei, just weeks after Nationals and came away with yet another medal, a silver, after which Maia commented, “We were excited to compete this week. This is our first year as seniors and our first major championship so we were very excited with our performances. We had a lot of fun out there and think this will really help us going into Worlds.” Alex added, “We came into this competition looking to attack and chase. We felt we had nothing to defend in our first year senior so we were aggressive all week in practice. We pushed ourselves in the competition and had a lot of fun.
“Like Charlie said, there’s not much time between Nationals and Four Continents. Us being the new kids on the block, it was an interesting experience this year. We’ve handled it well so far and each performance has built on to the next one and we are excited to go to Tokyo in a few
weeks.”
Of course the terrible events that hit Japan — a 9.0 earthquake and resulting massive tsunami, in those intervening weeks put a pall on everyone’s excitement for the final big event of the season. It was just so shocking to see the news, Alex said, “It’s reminiscent of any horror disaster movie you’ve seen, but here, it’s come to life.” Worlds was postponed shortly then moved from Tokyo to Moscow, thanks to the Russian Skating Federation, which almost miraculously managed to pull it together to host the event a month later.
Far from being intimidated going into the premier event of the season, the Shibutanis oozed self-confidence. “We aren’t going to settle at all. We are going to keep pushing forward,” Alex remarked. “There is a lot we know we can work on.

Worlds Podium~!!

“We are both satisfied with the progression of our programs this year. From the beginning, we have loved our music and we’ve loved our choreography. It’s been a fun process for us and a huge building experience.”
Winning a bronze medal at Worlds was the cherry on top of the cake that completed their amazing season. Weeks later once the euphoria calmed down, they took a look back at how they approached their incredible success.
“It is difficult to pinpoint a single most important aspect, but it probably comes down to a combination of attitude and partnership,” said Alex. “In terms of attitude, we really took ownership of the importance of having a strong senior debut. We kept ourselves focused and had the discipline to pay attention to details.
“In terms of partnership, we are so fortunate to have such a strong and trusting partnership with our coaches and with many different people — including dance teachers and trainers who believe in us and work with us every day.”
Just to compete at Worlds was a dream come true as Maia said they had grown up watching Worlds on
television. “Amidst such a competitive field, to skate under the pressure and intensity of the final group for the Free Dance at our first Worlds was the biggest competitive challenge we have faced in our careers so far. It was a great learning experience, delivering two strong performances under such circumstances.
“We loved the entire experience of our first Worlds. From the very start of the season, we decided that it was our personal goal to qualify for the World Championships. By the time we got to Moscow, we were already so proud to have had the season that we had up to that point… To be able to share that experience together with our friends and training mates Meryl, Charlie, Tessa and Scott and our coaches Marina and Igor, especially during the joyful medal ceremony, was a real highlight.”
Alex feels their greatest strength is that they are both driven individuals. “We love what we do and we share the same goals. We aren’t afraid to trying things and we always push ourselves and each other to improve and be the best we can be.
“We are always looking to improve all aspects of our skating. We will continue working hard with our coaches and our results from this year have only inspired us to work harder.”
Both skaters train early in the morning at the rink by 6:00 am, and then Maia, an honors student, will take off to her senior year in high school, while Alex is in his second year at the University of Michigan, majoring in business administration.
“Pursuing an education during the competitive skating season can certainly present some significant logistic challenges,” Alex admitted. “Education has always been important to us. While going to school and skating inevitably means we are always very busy, we feel strongly about the importance of having balance in our lives.”
Having achieved so much in just their first year as seniors puts some pressure on them coming into the
new season, but it only makes them more determined to become stronger athletes, better performers and smarter competitors.
Maia opines, “This is just the start of what we hope will be long and satisfying careers for us in this sport, and each season presents another step along the journey. For the upcoming season, amongst the goals that we plan include raising the bar technically — through developing and performing innovative footwork and lifts especially. We are also looking forward to demonstrating versatility
and are excited about the opportunity to show another side to our skating and personalities with the Latin-themed Short Dance.”
To that end, Alex said they continue to work with specialists in ballroom, ballet and modern dance. “We have always believed that exposure to instruction in a wide range of dance styles, is absolutely essential to our training as ice dancers. Every season that we have been training as ice dancers, we have worked with many terrific people off ice.”
They are scheduled to compete at the Cup of China and NHK Trophy and are looking forward to their very first trip to China as well as returning to Japan once again for the NHK Trophy. Their programs are still in the developmental stage but we can expect excellence as they continue to build on a solid foundation of technical and interpretive skills.

Team Canton at the victory celebration~

* The last time a US couple earned a medal in their first entry to the World Ice Dance Championship was in 1958 in Paris, more than 50 years ago when Andree Anderson & Donald Jacoby took the bronze. It was only the seventh time the World Ice Dance Championships had been held. There were two other previous occasions — in the inaugural event in 1952 Carol Peters and Daniel Ryan won bronze and in 1957 Sharon McKenzie & Bert Wright also won bronze.

*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*:*.*

From the article on Worlds Short Dance:

“Maia and I are so
happy, but what makes it really
special is owning the podium
for Marina (Zoueva) and Igor
(Shpilband).” — Alex Shibutani

Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani (USA) made an amazing debut in Moscow. Last year in The Netherlands at the World Junior Championships, they finished fourth overall, which was particularly galling since they’d won silver the year before. That lit a fire beneath their feet and they have worked incredibly hard this season, gaining the runners-up place at Nationals despite their youth. She is16 and he turned 20 just a few days before they competed in Moscow. It helped that she has grown considerably this past year.
Immediately, they returned from that event in Holland, they set themselves new standards and worked harder than ever in Canton. “We had to,” said Alex, “Stepping up to seniors is a big leap. And we had programs that demanded an added sophistication. For us, it’s been awe-inspiring to work alongside these couples. When we first came to Canton, we were almost afraid to skate out onto center ice. It was like ‘Holy smokes! Look how hard these guys work!’
“They (Davis & White and Virtue & Moir) have pushed the sport so far and they’re amazing role models for Maia and me to look up to. Being here, where we are right now, makes us proud. It’s really a tribute to Zoueva’s and Igor’s creativity and their tremendous skill in coaching. For Maia and me, it just feels like we’re just getting started.”
The Shibutani’s Short Dance to Richard Rodgers’ Carousel Waltz, won kudos the first time out, in Oberstdorf in their first competition of the season in September. Performing in Moscow, the Shibutanis scored their season’s best and gained fourth place, (66.88 points) a full point ahead of the Russians, Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev, who were fifth in this section. The Shibutanis earned Level 4 for all but the second sequence of the Golden Waltz, which was Level 3. Alex said, “The dance was good. It’s been a long year and I think we skated really well. We were well prepared coming into the competition. The audience was great. We love the rink. Russia has done a fantastic job setting up for everyone. It’s a big (relief) to have done the Short Dance. Finally, the competition has started. It’s nice to get one event over. After we finished, I told Maia to relax and enjoy the moment of knowing the feeling of our first World Championships. I really wanted to soak it all in.” Maia agreed with her big brother. “It felt great to get the first program out there. We have been really, reallyexcited and looking forward to our first Worlds for so long. That program was a lot of hard work that we were able to put together throughout the year with Marina and Igor, and that was the best way to start the competition off.”

Special thanks to Blades on Ice for providing such comprehensive articles and exclusive interviews!!

Happy Birthday, Maia!!!

2011-07-20T16:16:00.002-04:00

~Today Maia turns 17 years old~

A wonderful new year is on it's way! :D

SKATING Magazine Worlds Article

2011-07-13T14:30:00.007-04:00

The July issue of the USFSA's SKATING magazine spotlighted the medalists from Worlds. The except with Maia and Alex is here:

Fourth after the short dance, Shibutani and Shibutani gained ground with with their elegant free dance set to quickstep and foxtrot rythms, which earned a season-best 96.91 points. European champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France both fell duing their routine, paing the way for the siblings' podium ascent.

"We were a little suprsied but really excited," Maia, 16, said. "Our goal was this year was to make it to the World Championships. We're here to soak up every single second."

"We're really proud of each other, how we skated and how we handled ourselves in the first year at the senior level," Alex, 20, said.

BY LYNN RUTHERFORD

You can read the rest of the article and the whole digital magazine HERE.

~~**~~**~~**~

Here are some pictures of the Alex and Maia dolls from Worlds before they went on their "trip" to Moscow! A blogger named Alice created these cute dolls~(and the big sign)!

Detailed even in the back.With the sign from Worlds!

2011-2012 Grand Prix Assignments!

2011-06-27T10:51:00.004-04:00

The ISU has released the list of Grand Prix Assignments for the 2011-2012 season. You can view the official release here on the ISU site, or the USFSA announcement page. More information on the events will be posted as it becomes available.
Alex and Maia were assigned to:

Cup of China - Shanghai, China - November 4-6

NHK Trophy - Sapporo, Japan - November 11-13

GO MAIA AND ALEX!
Let's look forward to the second Senior GP season!

Celebrate in Canton

2011-06-19T16:54:00.006-04:00

The Canton, MI community is holding a celebratory event for the 2011 Ice Dance World Medalists that train at Arctic Edge Arena!
You can meet Maia and Alex as well as Meryl, Charlie, Tessa and Scott on Tuesday, June 21.

For location and contact info, look at the full press release:

(Canton, MI – June 14, 2011) The Canton Community will host a special event in celebration of the 2011 World Figure Skating Championship Ice Dance Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medalists, who all currently train year-round at Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton, MI. These World Champions achieved the extremely amazing feat of an unprecedented podium sweep in the ice dance category held in Moscow, Russia this past April to bring home Gold, Silver and Bronze to the Canton community.

This congratulatory special event is scheduled to take place at
Kickers All Star Grill, located at 46555 W. Michigan Avenue, in Canton, MI on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 from 6-7 p.m.
Canton Township employees and Arctic Figure Skating Club members are set to honor these competitors from 5-6 p.m., while the public is invited to attend a meet-and-greet from 6-7 p.m. to celebrate the achievements of these three talented ice-dancing teams and coaches who have spent months training on the ice at Canton’s Arctic Edge Ice Arena, located at 46615 Michigan Avenue.

The world watched as: Meryl Davis and Charlie White of Team USA received the Gold Medal; Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Team Canada took the Silver Medal; and Maia and Alex Shibutani of Team USA were awarded the Bronze Medal in Moscow, Russia on April 30, 2011.

The Canadian Team of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir also earned the 2010 Gold Medal in Ice Dancing at the Vancouver Olympics, while the American Team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White received the 2010 Silver Medal in Ice Dancing at the same Olympics.

All three pairs of these World Ice Dance Champions currently dedicate hundreds of hours training on the ice at Canton’s Arctic Edge Ice Arena year round and incredibly are all trained by the same coaches, Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva. Last month Shpilband and Zoueva were recently recognized by the Professional Skaters Association as Coaches and Choreographers of the year. Igor Shpilband was also elected to the Professional Skaters Hall of Fame for the United States.

Zoueva is a Russian-Canadian ice dancing coach and choreographer. Together with Igor Shpilband, she coaches and choreographs for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won the gold medal for Canada; and Meryl Davis and Charlie White, the American silver medalists. Shpilband, a former Soviet ice dancer and current ice dancing coach, was born in Moscow and defected to the United States in January 1990. Shpilband became a naturalized United States citizen in 2000. These elite coaches continue to work with world-class athletes in Canton, MI,

Hosted by Canton Township and Arctic Edge Ice Arena, this World Figure Skating Championship celebration will give the community a chance to join these athletes for a special congratulatory meet and greet that will include photo opportunities as well as refreshments. For more information on Canton’s special World Championship Ice Dancing Celebration, call 734/483-5600 or visit Cantonfun.org

Updates June 2011

2011-06-14T20:57:00.005-04:00

The updated photo gallery from Worlds now has over 150 photos! Take a look.

The Competitive History page was also updated! Now the page contains more information in a more organized manner including links to videos, individual program scores and detailed results. Check it out!

>> Take a look at Maia and Alex's photo gallery from the "Magical Night For Tsunami Relief" show here <<

Vote for Maia and Alex '11

2011-06-14T01:30:00.005-04:00

USFSA is once again holding it's annual Reader's Choice Award for skater(s) of the year (also known as the Michelle Kwan Trophy).

The voting is open to everyone and having a USFSA membership is not required.
Let's support Maia and Alex in the ballots!!

[Click here to go to the voting page!]

Magical Night Video

2011-06-10T11:11:00.002-04:00

Special thanks to unimagine818 for taping the event!

Coaches of the Year/Edi Award

2011-06-06T13:44:00.005-04:00

~*~ MARINA ZOUEVA & IGOR SHPILBAND ~*~

~BEST COACHES/CHOREOGRAPHERS~

The PSA (Professional Skaters Association) chose Mr. Shpilband and Ms. Zoueva as Coaches of the Year! They were also honored with the Paul McGrath Choreographer of the Year Award! Check out the USFSA page.

Congratulations to Marina and Igor and thank you for always serving as an inspiration, guidance, and a steady presence.

Maia and Alex's 2011 Nationals Short Dance was recognized for the Edi Scholdan Award as the best program in the entire ice dancing competition! Congrats!

Team A for 2011-12

2011-06-05T12:30:00.003-04:00

For the upcoming season, Maia and Alex have achieved the envelope rank of Team A--Tier 1! This means the following criteria was met over the past season:

Placements 1st-3rd at the 2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships

Last season, they were Team B--Teir 1.

For a full list of the envelope picks, click here, and for more information on the qualifying criteria, click here.

Building Momentum

2011-05-31T22:35:00.003-04:00

[This article is from the June 2011 issue of International Figure Skating magazine]

Every skater dreams about achieving the level of success that ice dancers Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani have enjoyed this season. With podium finishes at all but one of their competitions heading into Worlds, the siblings made quite a splash in their debut at the senior level.

The 2010 U.S. junior champions have meta-morphosed from a hope for the future into bona fide contenders in just one season.

“With Maia turning 16 last July, this was the first season we were eligible to compete internationally at the senior championship level,” said Alex, who turned 20 on April 25. “Maia grew over three inches in the past year, and it definitely helped to improve our overall look.

“We worked to improve on every aspect of our skating every season and tried to ensure that we developed all of our skills simultaneously.”

The Shibutanis opened their 2010-11 season at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany, where they finished fifth. “It was our first senior competition, and it gave us an opportunity to perform our programs before our Grand Prix assignments,” Maia said.

“It was so exciting for us to compete against teams that we have admired for years, and although we did not have our best performance in the short dance, it was a good experience. We learned how to come back from a rough short and put out a strong free dance.”

The team returned to their training base in Canton, Mich. to make some adjustments to their programs before heading to their Grand Prix assignments — NHK Trophy and Skate America. They captured bronze medals at both events.
“It was almost surreal for us to be standing on the podium,” Alex recalled. “We’ve been told that no other team has ever medaled at both of their events in their first year on the senior Grand Prix circuit. We were so thrilled to learn this and are very proud of our accomplishment.”

Both also enjoyed the social life on the senior Grand Prix. “Some of my best memories are from the final nights when we would hang out with friends from all over,” Maia said. “That included finding food, generally a 24-hour McDonald’s, and playing various board games.

“When we were at Skate America, a bunch of U.S. and some Canadian skaters played a hilarious game of Cranium that lasted so long that we were all extremely slaphappy. I am pleased to report that Adam Rippon and I ended up victorious.”

The duo went to the 2011 U.S. Champion-ships as potential medalists, a goal that they had set for themselves at the end of last season.

“From the moment we returned from Junior Worlds last year, we set goals for this season,” Alex explained. “We were determined to show improvement, and we knew how important it was to skate well and make a strong impact right from the beginning. Our goal from the outset was to make the World team.”

Maia agreed, adding, “I think there was a lot less pressure on us considering that it was our senior debut, though there is always pressure when you compete at any event of this caliber,” she said. “It is impossible to escape how important the event is to the competitive season.”

The Shibutanis danced into second at nationals behind training mates Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Though unable to keep pace with the Olympic silver medalists’ component scores, Maia and Alex outscored their teammates on the technical mark in the free dance.

They were quick to give credit to Davis and White, whom they also competed against at both of their Grand Prix events. “We were very happy to have the opportunity to spend the entire season traveling with Meryl and Charlie. Being newcomers to the senior scene and facing new competitive challenges, their presence at the same events was comforting for us,” Alex said with obvious appreciation.

The Shibutanis continued their medal-winning streak at Four Continents in February, capturing silver. “I don’t think it really hit us until we got home,” Maia said of their podium finish. “We felt pretty tired after the high from nationals, and it took a lot of discipline for us to stay focused. While it was an extremely competitive field, it was helpful that we had skated against most of the teams
earlier in the season.”

Like everyone else, the Shibutanis were devastated by the events in Japan, which put their Worlds debut in jeopardy.

“When we found out about the move to Moscow, we were very appreciative of all the hard work that went into making the decision to relocate the event. We have never been to Russia before and are excited for the opportunity to skate in our first Worlds there,” Alex told IFS in late March.

“We have had an amazing season, and we are really looking forward to giving it our all in Moscow,” Maia added. “That being said, our thoughts continue to be with the Japanese people, who have always shown such kindness and support to us.”

BY ELVIN WALKER

(original article here/graphic by fudgybar)

A Magical Night for Japan Red Cross Tsunami Relief

2011-05-30T10:09:00.003-04:00

On Thursday, June 9, Maia and Alex will be participating in the "A Magical Night for Japan Red Cross Tsunami Relief" ice show along with Takahiko Kozuka, Akiko Suzuki and Haruka Imai, which takes place directly after the regular show.

If you are in the area, you can take the opportunity support Maia and Alex and contribute to the Japanese Red Cross!

You can get more information as well and order your ticket by phone by calling the Detroit Skating Club at (248)-332-3000, Ext. 101

For the Japan Relief show, tickets are $45.

Worlds 2011 Extras

2011-05-10T17:19:00.003-04:00

AFTER MEDAL CEREMONY:

FREE DANCE PRACTICE (FIRST HALF):

PRESS CONFERENCE:

Watch the rest of the press conference videos here!

BACKSTAGE MEDAL CEREMONY:

FREE DANCE WARM-UP BACKSTAGE:

FANCAM SHORT DANCE:

Photos from 2011 Worlds

2011-05-03T14:07:00.003-04:00

Please take a look at the Photo Gallery for the latest pictures from Worlds!
100+ pictures and growing!

To view the full HQ photos (900 pixel+), please download them to your computer first or view the photos in fullscreen :)

Worlds 2011 Videos

2011-04-29T15:31:00.010-04:00

All we can do is thank you for a season of beautiful programs, Maia & Alex!

SHORT DANCE:

POST SHORT DANCE INTERVIEW:

FREE DANCE:

POST FREE DANCE INTERVIEW:

EXHIBITION GALA:

SKATING FRIENDS FOR JAPAN MESSAGE:

Worlds 2011 Results

2011-04-29T12:40:00.006-04:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 36.14
Program Component Score: 30.74
Total: 66.88 (personal best)

They finished 4th place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 48.14
Program Component Score: 48.77

Total: 96.91 (personal best)

They finished 3rd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 163.79

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 3rd

SIMPLY AMAZING!!!!!!!!! First time at Worlds and landed right on the podium! Maia and Alex you were beyond phenomenal!!! WHAT a debut!

Happy Birthday, Alex!!!

2011-04-25T20:05:00.003-04:00

~Today Alex turns 20 years old~
Another great year is on the horizon!!

GO @ Worlds!

2011-04-21T21:51:00.004-04:00

GO MAIA AND ALEX!
Have a wonderful time at the senior World
Championships--you're awesome! >u<

5 Favorite Things

2011-04-14T17:54:00.003-04:00

Maia Shibutani, 16, and Alex Shibutani, who turns 20 on April 25th, are a typical brother-and-sister duo. They answer for each other, finish each others sentences and share similar sharp senses of humor. In their dwindling downtime, the fast-rising ice dancers -- who won two Grand Prix medals last fall and captured the silver medal at the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships -- enjoy playing with their puppies, Lilly and Po, and listening to all types of music. But keep Alex out of the kitchen.

What's your favorite movie?
Maia: I think we should go with Kung Fu Panda. It inspired us to name one of our dogs Po.

Alex: Yes, I think that's a must for both of us.

Maia: I don't think we have any favorite sappy movies we can tell you the names of right now.

Alex: I could make a joke and say I love watching The Notebook, but I can't honestly say I've ever seen the movie.

How about food?
Maia: I like cooking, my dad likes to cook, and my mom likes to cook. I think whatever Alex doesn't cook is my favorite.

Alex: I will eat anything that is edible. I'm a college student, put something in front of me and I will most likely eat it. I would say pizza, but I wouldn't want spaghetti to feel left out.

What's on your iPods?
Alex: Our parents were classical musicians, and so I think we've been blessed with having . . .

Maia: . . . diverse tastes. So it's not like Alex is going to say just rap or anything, because I think we like all genres.

Alex: We've been exposed to so many different types of music. It really depends on the mood. I listen from anything from John Mayer or Jack Johnson, to The Roots, to Yo-Yo Ma, it's so broad.

Maia: I really think we're not the best people for this favorites thing.

Favorite downtime activity?
Maia: Spending time with our puppies, Lilly and Po.

Alex: That's actually been a recent development. We spend a lot of time with them. They're so much fun.

Maia: At competitions, I know that one of our favorite things is playing Apples to Apples, or Cranium, or other board games with the other skaters. And I just have to say Adam Rippon and I are the most awesome team when it comes to team board games. Anyone who plays against us had just better watch out.

Alex: I really don't enjoy losing to Maia and Adam, so if I have to say something I'll say I like hanging out with the guys at the rink. The other day Charlie [White] came over to my apartment and we played video games for maybe four hours straight. Something completely unrelated to skating and school.

What TV shows do you enjoy?
Alex: I'm not going to go out on a limb and say, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. I like watching comedy shows with witty writing, so mostly NBC shows like 30 Rock, Community, and one that is a little bit more inflammatory is an FX show called It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That one seems to be a favorite amongst a lot of the guys. I'm also a big ESPN buff, big sports fan, so shows like Pardon the Interruption.

Maia: I do like The Office and 30 Rock and also the Food Network and some of the Bravo shows like Top Chef.

(http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110413&content_id=17721986&vkey=ice_news)

Talented and Generous

2011-04-04T18:00:00.003-04:00

From An Evening With Champions (Jimmy Fund) Staff!

We would like to give a special shout-out to Maia Shibutani, an American ice dancer who performed at the 2010 Evening with Champions show with her brother Alex. Maia and Alex recently won the silver medal at both the U.S. Championships and Four Continents Championship. Congratulations to both of you for your amazing accomplishments!

Last week, Maia also received a $1,000 Scholastic Honors Award prize from the United States Figure Skating Association, which she generously donated to the Jimmy Fund on behalf of An Evening with Champions. We are very grateful for Maia's gracious gift, and we wish her the very best through the rest of the competitive season.

Maia Shibutani, you have truly shown your potential both on and off the ice. Thank you again, and we hope you will be able to join us again in October 2011.

Once again, demonstrating such a big and caring heart!! (The awards were actually given out during the ice dance competition, so Maia couldn't make it to the picture)

2011 World Championships in Russia

2011-03-26T09:30:00.002-04:00

The new site of the World Championships 2011 is Moscow, Russia! The Championships will take place from April 24 to May 1.

The official announcement from the ISU can be found here.

Worlds Updates

2011-03-15T21:24:00.007-04:00

Thank you to everyone who has kept Japan in their prayers, and thank you to those who took action by donating. Japan is a resilient country, but many of those people in the north, especially in Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate prefectures still need all the help they can get.

Special thanks to Maia and Alex as well for being so adamant in their support efforts--many fans were made aware of the Red Cross releif program thanks to them!

For the Japanese people who were directly or indirectly affected: we are right behind you and believe in your incredible strength! We love you

As more developments are released about the status of the 2011 World Championships, please check back. The following articles provide some information on the situation currently:

Official: http://www.isu.org/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,4844-128590-19728-18885-312813-3787-4771-layout160-129898-news-item,00.html
Unofficial: http://english.gazzetta.it/More_sports/15-03-2011/three-options-for-the-world-championship-80502610822.shtml

Heart and Hope for Japan

2011-03-13T11:25:00.009-04:00

The following article is from icenetwork.com by AMY ROSEWATER:

When ice dancer Alex Shibutani woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning, he went through his usual early-morning rituals. Checking in with the news online was among those tasks.

But unlike the usual emails about skating, Shibutani, like most Americans, were awakened to

news about the country of Japan being throttled by a massive tsunami and an 8.9-magnitude earthquake.

"It was just so shocking to see the news,'' Shibutani said. "It's reminiscent of any horror disaster movie you've seen, but here, it's come to life.''

Shibutani and his sister, Maia, are scheduled to travel to Tokyo to compete

in their first World Figure Skating Championships on March 21. The Shibutanis plan on traveling with their parents. Their mother was born in Japan but Alex Shibutani said they have no close relatives living there now.

According to Shibutani, he has been alerted by officials from U.S. Figure Skating to continue training in anticipation of the world championships, which are scheduled for March 21-27. The quake reportedly hit about 230 miles from Tokyo but was powerful enough to cause much damage in the city, disrupting train and air travel and shutting down a multitude of communications operations.

Still, the ISU earlier today released a statement saying: "The ISU, while expressing its sympathy to the Japan entities, is confident that the local conditions will permit to regularly conduct the Event.''

According to the ISU, Yoyogi National Stadium appears to be intact following the earthquake and tsunami. Yoyogi National Stadium was built as a venue for the 1964 Olympic Games, which were held in Tokyo.

The last time the World Championships were canceled was 50 years ago when the entire U.S. world team, along with coaches, family members, officials and judges were killed in a plane crash en route to the championships in Prague.

"Right now, the plan is the same and we plan on competing,'' Shibutani said. "The whole season has been building up to this and we all are looking forward to skating for the people of Japan. A lot of work has been put into this season and we've achieved a lot of our dreams but whatever happens, happens. Skating is secondary in a situation like this.''

Shibutani said he and other skaters have already discussed ways to help in the massive relief effort that will be needed in Japan and urged skating fans to text the Red Cross as one way to help immediately. (Fans can text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to #Japan and #tsunami relief.)

News of the devastation was the topic at the Arctic Edge Arena in Canton, Mich., where the Shibutanis train alongside several other top teams including Olympic gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Davis and White have been especially looking forward to competing at these worlds because they have been victorious at every competition they've entered this season. If they were to win in Tokyo, it would mark the first time an American team would capture a world championship in ice dancing.

Competing in their first season at the senior level, the Shibutanis have made quite a run this season. They placed third in both of their Grand Prix events, including the NHK Trophy in Japan, and they placed second at nationals and at the Four Continents Championships.

The Shibutanis have enjoyed competing in Japan, and last season their original dance was performed to traditional Japanese music.

Figure skating's popularity has exploded in Japan in recent years. In 1992, Midori Ito became Japan's first Olympic medalist (silver). Japan played host to the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano in 1998 and in 2006, Shizuka Arakawa became the first Olympic champion to hail from Japan. The last time Japan played host to the world championships was in 2007 when the event was held in Tokyo.

Japan's Mao Asada is the reigning world champion and her rivalry with Korea's Yu-Na Kim has been expected to be the top event of the world championships. Japan also features the reigning champion on the men's side with Daisuke Takahashi hoping to defend his title in Tokyo.

"The fans in Japan are so educated about figure skating,'' Shibutani said. "And the people there are so supportive. I hope that we can compete there and be kind of a light for the people there.''

4CC Articles + World Ranking Info

2011-02-24T19:47:00.007-05:00

{Alex's Bog} - {Blog Photos} - {Maia and Alex's Facebook Photos} - {Photo Gallery}

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U.S. silver medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani continued their ascent in their first senior season with a solid performance to Carousel Waltz in which Alex slightly struggled on the twizzles. The brother-and-sister team finished fourth with 62.04 points.

"We salvaged the level though, which was important," Alex Shibutani said referring to the twizzle. "We are thrilled about getting level fours on both sides of the Golden (Waltz). Even though we got level four at nationals, it was good to get that continued validation that we're in the right direction. Definitely more to work on going into Worlds, but we were happy with our performance today."

Except by TATIANA FLADE (http://goldenskate.com/articles/2010/4cc_sd.shtml)

☆*:;;;;;;:*☆*:;;;;;;:*☆*:;;;;;:*☆*:;;;;;:* FREE DANCE ☆*:;;;;;;:*☆*:;;;;;;:*☆*:;;;;;:*☆*:;;;;;:*

Shibutani and Shibutani drew attention again with an excellent performance to Smile and Let's Face the Music and Dance. They were rewarded with high levels for their elements, getting a level four for the lifts, spin, twizzles, and the circular footwork and a level three for the diagonal steps. The brother and sister team scored 93.34 points and moved up from fourth to second at 155.38 points.

"We were excited to compete this week," Maia Shibutani offered. "This is our first year as seniors and our first major championship so we were very excited with our performances. We had a lot of fun out there and think this will really help us going into Worlds."

"We are both satisfied with the progression of our programs this year," her brother Alex added. "From the beginning, we have loved our music and we've loved our choreography. It's been a fun process for us and a huge building experience."

Excerpt by TATIANA FLADE (http://goldenskate.com/articles/2010/4cc_fd.shtml

Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, who train alongside Davis and White, and Virtue and Moir, in Canton, Mich., continued their phenomenal senior debut season by climbing from fourth after the short dance to win the silver medal.
The siblings' light and elegant free dance to Quick Step and Foxtrot rhythms earned 93.34 points, and they ended with 155.38 overall.
"This is our first year as seniors and our first major championship, so we were very excited with our performances," Maia said. "We had a lot of fun out there and think this will really help us going into Worlds."
"Us being the new kids on the block, it was an interesting experience this year," Alex said. "We've handled it well so far, and each performance has built on to the next one, and we are excited to go to Tokyo in a few weeks.
"We are both satisfied with the progression of our programs this year. From the beginning, we have loved our music and we've loved our choreography."

Excerpt by ALEXANDRA STEVENSON (http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110218&content_id=16676858&vkey=ice_news)

~WORLD RANKING NEWS~

"American ice dancers Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani continued their ascent in the icenetwork.com World Figure Skater Rankings, moving up five spots to No. 9 with a silver medal at last week's ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei"

Check out IceNetwork's world ranking , the ISU's career ranking, and the season ranking!

Keep going Alex and Maia, we are cheering for you!! Congratulations!

4CC Videos

2011-02-21T18:05:00.001-05:00

Free Dance:

Exhibition Gala:

4CC 2011 Results

2011-02-17T06:47:00.002-05:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 34.22
Program Component Score: 27.82
Total: 62.04

They finished 4th place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 48.76
Program Component Score: 44.58

Total: 93.34

They finished 2nd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 155.38

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 2nd

IceNetwork 4CC Blog

2011-02-15T19:58:00.003-05:00

Check out Alex's entertaining blog on their experience at (and getting to) Taiwan! Here are the first few paragraphs--please follow the link to read the full entry!!

This week, we'll be chronicling our experiences in Taipei at the Four Continents Championships -- blog style. It is our first trip to Taiwan, as well as our first time competing at Four Continents.
In some ways, for Maia and I, our journey to Four Continents began five years ago. When we lived and trained in Colorado Springs, Maia and I were able to watch Four Continents live in 2006 and 2007. In between helping out backstage in the media room and on the ice with the medal ceremonies, we began dreaming about someday being able to compete in the competition. Although we didn't know it yet, we were watching some of our future training mates and friends -- Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. It was incredibly inspiring.
Fast forward five years, and we are thrilled to find ourselves traveling alongside Meryl and Charlie and Tessa and Scott to our first Four Continents and are looking forward to what should be an exciting and memorable experience.

(...read the rest here on IceNetwork!)

4 Continents Schedule + Starting Orders

2011-02-10T18:16:00.006-05:00

The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships will take place in Taipei, Taiwan this season! The times listed below are in CST (China Standard Time):

Short Dance (Warm-Up Group 3, starting number 10):
Thursday, February 17 - 16:00 (4:00 p.m.)

Free Dance (Warm-Up Group 3, starting number 9):
Friday, February 18 - 20:00 (8:00 p.m.)

*Full event schedule here*

2011 Nat'l Videos

2011-01-30T22:29:00.006-05:00

Universal Sports Truth Booth:
Skating Spectacular Exhibition:

Behind the Scenes:

Click on one of the following to go to the press conference!
(You need to scroll down the page, and these are available without a subscription)

Also check out Maia and Alex's interviews from the Athlete Lounge!
(You need to scroll down the page for these as well, also available without a subscription :)

SHORT DANCE:

FREE DANCE:

2011 Nat'l Free Dance/Backstage Photos

2011-01-30T00:57:00.003-05:00

Many photos from the Free Dance and Ice Network's backstage were added to the gallery! As always, check back for new photos added as they are released.
Click here or on the photos to visit.

Nationals Articles

2011-01-30T00:07:00.003-05:00

゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜SHORT DANCE。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

The 2010 US Junior Champions, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani are the closest challengers to the leaders [Meryl Davis and Charlie White], and nearly caught their more experienced training mates in the technical elements score.

"The score is awesome," Alex said proudly. "I think that we have skated well all year, and it feels like we've been building up to a performance like we just had. The short dance is new for everyone, but for us the golden waltz is a new compulsory dance for us. It was a challenge, and we've had some mistakes earlier in the season, and we feel like we've built up to this moment, so it is really gratifying."

Sixteen year-old Maia and nineteen year-old Alex opened with their The Carousel Waltz program with a spectacular set of twizzles, the highest scoring twizzles of the competition. Like the leaders, the Shibutanis also earned level four for each of their technical elements.

"Just like everyone else, (the twizzles come from) a lot of training day in and day out," Maia admitted. "Since it was an option (to do three sets of twizzles) this year, our coaches and we decided that it would be a good idea to do the three sets. It pushes us and makes us stronger skaters. It just seemed like the right option for us."

Shibutani and Shibutani earned 70.47 points with their program, and are in great position to earn one of the three spots available for the US Team in the World Championships later this year in Tokyo.

"Our goal strictly was to skate our best," Alex explained. "That's been our goal all season. For us to go out and do what we did, skating last in our group, and having to wait back stage was a great learning experience for us.

Excerpt by Elvin Walker (http://goldenskate.com/articles/2010/us_sr_sd.shtml)

"Twizzles are obviously one of their [Maia and Alex's] best attributes," White said of the siblings, who share their training ice in Canton, Mich., as well as coaches Igor Shpiland and Marina Zoueva. "It's hard to keep track of them, they go by so quickly."

The siblings also gained Level 4 for their fancy turns, and did the two-time reigning U.S. champions one better by dashing off not two but three sets in their outing to Richard Rodgers' "Carousel Waltz."

Alex declined the twizzle crown, deferring to White, who is four years older.

"Charlie is in a class of his own; he's the twizzle king," Shibutani said.

"Maybe we'll do a 'twizzle off' when we get back [home]," was White's rejoinder.

The Shibutanis, who accomplished the unique feat of medaling at both of their Grand Prix events their first senior season, have never skated better. Their 70.47 points also included five Level 4 elements. "The score is awesome," Alex said. "It feels like the whole year has been leading up to this performance."

Except by Lynn Rutherford (http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110128&content_id=16527926&vkey=ice_news)

゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜FREE DANCE。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

In their senior national debut, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani proved that they are ready to compete at this level by winning the silver medals. With the highest technical score of the competition, the 2010 US Junior Champions may threaten Davis and White's dominance sooner than later.
"This whole year since the off season we've been gearing up for this competition, and our goal was to make it beyond nationals and make it into the next two (events)," Alex said after their free dance. "I'm just really proud of ourselves and how we really fought through this week and put out two really good performances. This whole season has been such an amazing thrill for the two of us."
Shibutani and Shibutani skated to music from Charlie Chaplin and by Irving Berlin, and took the challenge of ballroom dancing to heart. Each step was reminiscent of something that Fred and Ginger Rogers might have performed had they been ice dancers. Their score of 173.18 points proved that they were junior skaters no more.

"It's easy for us to forget that we are first year seniors," Maia shared. "We wanted to be really prepared and make an impression.

Alex added, "It's a clean slate when you move up to senior, and we wanted to make sure that our impression was very strong. We wanted to cleanse ourselves of the junior level right away, and I think that we did a good job of pushing ourselves every day."

Excerpt by Elvin Walker (http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2010/us_sr_fd.shtml)

Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani began their first season in the senior ranks with one overriding goal: "We wanted to cleanse ourselves of the junior label," said Alex.
With two Grand Prix medals last fall, the siblings have done that and more. Their coming of age continued in Greensboro with an elegant, fleet-footed program to Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" and Irving Berlin's "Let's Face the Music and Dance" that gained seven Level 4 elements and a higher technical score -- 52.34, vs. 52.16 -- than Davis and White's.
"The score doesn't matter at this point," Alex said. "We were really up for this competition and are glad to make it beyond nationals to the next two [the 2011 Four Continent Figure Skating Championships and worlds]. We're proud of how we fought through this week.
"I don't think we ever imagined the amount of success we would have this year. We're trying to stay humble."
The siblings, who like Davis and White, and Virtue and Moir, train in Canton, Mich., under Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva, stepped up their games after an unexpected fourth-place finish at the 2010 junior worlds.
"There were no regrets last season; we felt we did everything in our power," Alex said. "We were disappointed and it did light a fire under us.
"Both our [technique and on-ice connection] had to progress at an equal rate; we couldn't do the same types of things [as in the past]. Maia getting three inches taller definitely improved our look on the ice."

Excerpt by Lynn Rutherford (http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110129&content_id=16531912&vkey=ice_news)

2011 Nat'l Short Dance Photos

2011-01-28T19:33:00.001-05:00

Click here or on the picture to view photos from today's Short Dance!

Feel free to check back regularly as photos will continue to be added as they become available!

2011 U.S. Nat'l Results

2011-01-28T16:26:00.004-05:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 38.43
Program Component Score: 32.04
Total: 70.47 (personal best)

They finished 2nd place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 52.34
Program Component Score: 50.37
Total: 102.18 (personal best)

They finished 2nd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 173.18 (personal best)

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 2nd

CONGRATULATIONS MAIA AND ALEX! Just beautiful!

U.S. Nat'l Starting Orders

2011-01-27T18:03:00.006-05:00

15 couples have qualified for this year's dance competition on the Championship level--the following are Maia and Alex's starting orders:

Short Dance :

Starting Number (overall): 10 of 15

Free Dance :

Starting Number (overall): 12 of 15

Click here for the full starting order list--live results will also be posted on this page once the competition starts!

** HAPPY SKATING!! **

U.S. Nat'l Practice Photos

2011-01-27T13:18:00.003-05:00

Thank you to Jennifer Comeaux for once again providing great photos from the practice session!

In order to make things more organized, the photos along with the original link or link to the album have been uploaded here (or you can click the picture above).

From now on, the "Photos" menu button will now link to a new gallery instead of simply linking to the posts tagged "photos" on this site. However, you can always visit the tagged posts by clicking on "Photos" in the "Categories" sidebar.
This gallery will let visitors find pictures more quickly and easily :)

U.S. Nationals 2011 Schedule

2011-01-05T20:34:00.003-05:00

This year the United States National Figure Skating Championships will take place from January 22-30 in in Greensboro, North Carolina! Listed below are the times and dates for the senior ice dance events and practices (all times in Eastern Standard Times):

Short Dance:
Friday, January 28 - 3:00 p.m. to 5:40 p.m.

Free Dance:
Saturday, January 29 - *Groups 1 & 2* 12:35 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. // *Groups 2 & 3* (Live) 4:25 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.

*for a full event and practice schedule, click here*
Congratulations to Maia for being honored as a 2011 Scholar Athlete!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-21T17:16:00.006-05:00

Have a happy and healthy holiday season, everyone!

From the most recent issue of USFSA's SKATING magazine, here's an excerpt from the article "Changing Landscape" by TROY SCHWINDT:

Trying to create a stir in Portland will be the likes of Maia Shibutani and her older brother Alex Shibutani, who are making their Grand Prix Series debut this season. They are the reigning U.S. junior ice dancing champions and in 2009 finished second at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
"We have watched the Grand Prix events on television ever since we started skating," said Alex, who with Maia trains in Canton, Mich. "It is amazing for us to see how far we have come. Competing on the circuit will be so much fun, and we are ready for the challenge and to show how much we love skating."
Skating at home should be a thrill, they said.
"We anticipate a very supportive crowd in Portland," Maia said. "We can't wait to perform for the fans."

Also from SKATING--can you find "Maia and Alex" and "Shibutani" in the word search?

Inside Edge + Skate America Interview

2010-12-04T20:44:00.005-05:00

On IceNetwork, you can view a brief interview with Maia and Alex after Skate America where they discuss the season so far, their bronze medal and what it's like to skate together.

An subscription account is not required to view this video, and it can be found on this page :)

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They are also featured in the Nov. 30 Edition of "The Inside Edge". Here's the excerpt entitled "Face the music and smile":

We love Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani's programs this season, particularly the fresh and lovely free dance to "Smile" and "Let's Face the Music and Dance." We gave them a call to hear about their first season on the senior Grand Prix, in which they won bronze medals at the NHK Trophy and Skate America.
"We've been told we're the first team to medal in both Grand Prixes their first year senior," Alex told us.

"We're excited to be the first alternates for the Final," added Maia. "It was a cool experience to skate in two Grand Prix events. We were honored to have the opportunity and we really enjoyed skating with Meryl [Davis] and Charlie [White]."

"Traveling with Meryl and Charlie added some familiarity to an unfamiliar situation," Alex went on. "Everyone took things more seriously [than on the Junior Grand Prix], but we had fun. We were so well received the last time we went to Japan, and obviously Skate America is just like nationals, so we knew we would be getting lots of support. We feel really blessed and happy that we medaled at our first two Grand Prixes."

Maia and Alex told us that they didn't have time to do any sightseeing in Japan this time.

"I saw the back of some very interesting bus seats," Alex laughed. "On the last night we went out with some pair skaters and sang some karaoke. Ross [Miner] and John Coughlin definitely got into it!"

Maia shed some light on why she may have had singing on the brain. "I roomed with Ashley Wagner," she said, "And we watched all of Season 1 of Glee. We did belt out some Journey."

We brought up the unfortunate moment when Alex's blade got caught in the hem of Maia's skirt, during the short dance at NHK. What did he think as he fell?

"An expletive," joked Alex. "When your face is two inches from the ice one second after you were upright, it's pretty shocking. Luckily we were able to recover fast enough to get back on our music."

"It was like, 'Oh no!'" said Maia. "We've trained in that skirt multiple times, it was just kind of like, 'Oh man.' We're lucky that the skirt piece didn't fall off!"

We told the siblings how much we love their free dance this season. Will they be making any adjustments to either program for U.S. championships?

"We're so happy with the success we've had so far, and it surpasses anything we could have planned, but we're going to make small adjustments to both programs to add some speed and power," said Alex. "In the short dance, we'll be taking a look at the Golden Waltz section to try and make some improvements there. Other than that, just some good old-fashioned Marina Zoueva-style training!"

"Marina [Zoueva] did such a great job with our free dance and we're so grateful," said Maia. "We picked the music, and we really connected with it this year. We never get sick of it -- we can train it at 6 a.m. and still be happy! I guess it's kind of corny, but we've been telling ourselves all season to smile and face the music and dance."

By Sarah S. Brannen and Drew Meekins (full article)

Also, the profile page on this site was updated to be more organized and easier to understand, and the "Lastest Results" sidebar was added to quickly see results, photos, videos and articles from recent competitions. :)

Skate America Articles

2010-11-17T21:32:00.005-05:00

゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜SHORT DANCE。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

The Shibutani siblings also improved upon their short dance at NHK, where they won bronze. There, Alex tripped up on Maia's skirt during the Golden Waltz section; here, not only has the skirt been shortened, but Maia grasps her hem as she exits from her shoot-the-duck position.
"She holds it long enough to make sure I don't step on it," Alex said, adding, "We have nothing to lose this year. We worked hard all summer; we knew we were ready to make the jump [to seniors]. Getting third place at NHK was a big surprise. It's nice to see results."

Excerpt by Lynn Rutherford (http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101113&content_id=16096508&vkey=ice_news)

Finishing in fourth place with a new personal best of 56.46 points are American siblings Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, the NHK Trophy bronze medalists.
"This year our approach is that we have nothing to lose, and we've worked really hard all summer," Maia explained. "We thought that we were ready to make the jump to the Grand Prix, and we're just trying to do our best at each competition and it's been really nice to see good results."

Though the performance was a crowd favorite, the Shibutanis admit that the Golden Waltz has been a challenging puzzle to solve in their first season as senior skaters.

"The Golden Waltz is much more difficult than many of the other compulsories that we have done before," Alex said. "But we like the dance a lot, and we're going to keep building on each performance as the season progresses."

Excerpt by Elvin Walker (http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2010/sa_sd.shtml)

゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜FREE DANCE。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

It was a second consecutive bronze for the Shibutani siblings, who also took third place at NHK.
The young team gained one of the best crowd responses of the event with their frothy convection of a Foxtrot to "Smile" and Quickstep to "Let's Face the Music and Dance." They also showed the most impressive twizzle sequence, a series of the three, just one of six Level 4 elements.
The Shibutanis placed third in the free dance with 88.35 and ended the event with 144.81.
"[Twizzles] have always been one of our favorite elements, so it made sense to add the third [set], to get an added feature [for Level 4]," Maia Shibutani said.
"They really have some of the best twizzles in the world, so we wanted to show them off," said Marina Zoueva, who with Igor Shpilband coaches Davis and White, and the Shibutani siblings, in Canton, Mich.
"From now on, from here through to U.S. nationals, we will be working on [adding] more power, power, power on the ice. How we do that is a professional secret."

Excerpt by Lynn Rutherford (http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101113&content_id=16096508&vkey=ice_news)

Moving up from fourth place after the short dance to win the bronze medal are Americans Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani who skated a classic ballroom program with style and grace.

"We just love our program this year, I don't know what else to say," Maia gushed after they finished skating. "It's just so much fun to skate everyday."

Brother Alex agreed. "It's us. It's classic dance, and we're trying to bring that across to the ice, and share the enjoyment that we have skating together with everyone else."

The Shibutanis did three sets of twizzles in their twizzles level four sequence, and earned all but two level fours in their program.

"We've just been working hard on all of the elements- our power and such. Our twizzles are just another one of those elements," Maia explained.

Excerpt by Elvin Walker (http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2010/sa_fd.shtml)

Although younger and less experienced than Davis and White, the Shibutanis performed a charming, almost “old school” dance program that contained no tricky lifts, just pure dance and superb choreography. Skating to “Smile,” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” they presented quick dance steps as a pair and were perfectly in unison on the individual moves, all the while smiling and projecting youthful joy at being on the ice.

Alex Shibutani said they were surprised to be on the podium, describing their third-place showing as “icing on the cake."

Excerpt by Ellen Spitaleri (http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=128984901194438100)

Skate America Videos

2010-11-14T12:33:00.008-05:00

CONGRATULATIONS!

Short Dance:

~HQ version of the SD is also available here from Universal Sports~

Free Dance:

~HQ version of the FD is also available here from Universal Sports~

Exhibition Gala

FD Practice video is available on IceNetwork.com here!

Skate America Results

2010-11-13T19:34:00.004-05:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 30.08
Program Component Score: 26.38
Total: 56.46

They finished 4th place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 46.79
Program Component Score: 41.56
Total: 88.35

They finished 3rd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 144.81 (personal best)

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 3rd

Skate America Photos

2010-11-12T17:43:00.018-05:00

*more will be added as they become available*

By Marissa Diaz: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]
By CBC Canada: [01]
By Universal Sports: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]

By IceNetwork: [01] - [02]
By Brett Barden (SkateToday): [01] - [02] - [03]
By Getty Images: [01] - [02] - [03]
By Jennifer Comeaux: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05]

By Universal Sports: [01] - [02] - [03]
By IceNetwork: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]
By Getty Images: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05] - [06] - [07]
By Brett Barden (Skate Today): [01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05] - [06]
By Jennifer Comeaux: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05] - [06] - [07] - [08] - [09] - [10] - [11] -[12] - [13] - [14] - [15] - [16] - [17] - [18] - [19] - [20] - [21] - [22] - [23]
Other Sources: [01]

PODIUM (Getty Images): [01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05] - [06] - [07]
PRESS CONFERENCE (ice-dance.com): [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]

Skate America Starting Orders + Schedule

2010-11-12T17:28:00.005-05:00

9 couples are competing at Skate America this year, and here's Alex and Maia's starting orders:

Short Dance : Nov. 13: 15:50 (3:50 p.m.) GMT

Warm-up Group: 2 of 2
Starting Number (overall): 6 of 9

Free Dance : Nov. 24 11:00 (11:00 a.m.) GMT

Warm-up Group: 2 of 2
Starting Number (overall): 6 of 9

Go go go Maia and Alex and happy skating! :D

NHK Trophy Videos

2010-10-22T07:57:00.000-04:00

Short Dance Video:

Free Dance Video:

Exhibition Video:

NHK Trophy Photos

2010-10-22T07:56:00.020-04:00

Practice:

Thursday morning (ice-dance.com): [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]
Thursday afternoon (ice-dance.com): [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]
Friday morning (ice-dance.com): [01] - [02] - [03]
(icenetwork.com): [01]
Saturday morning (ice-dance.com): [01] - [02] - [03]

Short Dance:

(Getty Images): [01] - [02] - [03]
(ice-dance.com): [01] - [02] - [03]

Free Dance/ Podium:

(Getty Images): [01] - [02] - [03]
(ice-dance.com) Podium: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05] - [06] - [07] - [08] - [09] - [10] - [11] - [12]
(ice-dance.com) Free Dance: [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]
(SkateToday): [01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05] - [06] - [07] - [08] - [09]

Press conference:

(ice-dance.com): [01] - [02] - [03] - [04]

Lots at Maia & Alex's Facebook Album!

NHK Trophy Results

2010-10-22T02:12:00.007-04:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 28.57
Program Component Score: 26.11
Deductions: 1.00
Total: 53.68
They finished 5th place in the SD

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 42.67
Program Component Score: 40.58
Total: 83.25

They finished 2nd place in the FD

Total Competition

Total Score: 136.93

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 3

NHK Trophy Starting Orders

2010-10-21T06:07:00.004-04:00

10 couples are assigned to NHK Trophy this year, and here are Alex and Maia's starting orders:

Short Dance : Oct 22: 15:00 (3:00 p.m.) JST

Warm-up Group: 2 of 2
Starting Number (overall): 7 of 10

Free Dance : Oct. 23 14:30 (2:30 p.m.) JST

Warm-up Group: 2 of 2
Starting Number (overall): 6 of 10

Good luck and happy skating! :)

"Ready to Take Center Stage" Interview on LifeSkate

2010-10-17T19:28:00.001-04:00

Thank you to Maia and Alex and Lifeskate for this great interview before NHK Trophy!
Below is the Q&A excerpt from the article, but the full article can be found here.

゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

Q: This is your first season as competitors on the senior Grand Prix circuit. How are you a different team this year than last year?

Maia: We worked very hard during the off-season on our speed, and our maturity. We feel we have made great improvements in all aspects of our skating.

Alex: Maia has grown a lot this summer and our look is that of a more mature, powerful team. Although it is our first year as seniors on the national and international level, we are very confident in the progress that we have made and are excited to show our programs this fall. We have been working with Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva to increase our power and speed, but still make it look effortless.

Q: Can you describe your short and free dance this season and the process of creating the dances? What kind of input do you have in the costumes, choreography and music?

Maia: Our short dance is to “Carousel Waltz” by Richard Rogers and our free dance is to “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” by Irving Berlin – both performed by Nat King Cole. We had a great time choreographing our free dance! Everything seemed to come together very naturally. The lyrics are kind of a statement about what we are trying to do – smile even through the tough days and just dance! In terms of selecting the music, While Marina and Igor may suggest a certain style of music, we have always made a point of searching for and choosing our own music. We feel very strongly that we need to be attached to our music—that it needs to be a part of us. Regarding our costume, they are obviously directly influenced by the music we choose, and we always work closely with our costume designers in order to attain the look we are trying to achieve.

Alex: Our programs fit us perfectly. They are different from what we have done before because I think they reflect more of our personalities. Our short dance is from “Carousel”, and Maia, in particular, has loved this music since she was very young. This year, both Marina and Igor worked together to choreograph our short dance, and Marina choreographed our free dance. Because we felt very close to our music, working with them on our choreography was a lot of fun during the creative process. Both of them allowed us to be a part of the whole process and they love our programs as much as we do.

Q: What do you think are your best qualities as a team? What do you think needs improving?

Alex: Both of us love to perform, and I think that it shows. When we are skating together, I think that the audience can see that we relate to each other and love what we do. There are always things that can be improved upon, and we are constantly working to become a stronger dance team.

Maia: Being a brother-sister team, we know each other very well – sometimes too well. When it comes down to it, we are out on the ice together doing something we love. It is really a family affair.

Q: You are training alongside Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein and Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates, among other top US dance teams. What kinds of things have you learned from being surrounded by the top teams?

Maia: We train in a great environment. It is a friendly one, and everyone at the rink is trying to be the best that they can be. I think it fosters a higher level of skating and performance. Our particular situation enables us to see some of the world’s best teams every day. Without a doubt, it is inspiring. We do, however, try to really focus on ourselves, and what we need to do to improve.

Alex: We feel that this year, there are no real expectations or pressures for us to achieve anything results-wise. However, we do envision ourselves being successful at the senior level, and we are prepared to make the transition a successful one.

Q: I've often read that families are separated when their children need to train at an elite level. Did your parents move with you to Michigan?

Alex: Michigan was not our first move. We originally learned how to skate when we were living in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. When we were intermediates, we moved with our mother to Colorado Springs to train. Our dad worked in New York, and would come out to see us on the weekends. After living there for a couple of years, we moved to Ann Arbor. Now our dad works in Chicago and does not have to travel as far to see us on the weekends.

Q: What kinds of sacrifices have you made in order to be a competitive skater?

Maia: The fact that we have moved twice for our skating has been a sacrifice. We are a very close family, and it was tough not to be able to live together as a family when we were younger. Of course, you have to have priorities. Going to school and skating is a tough combination, but what can you really achieve without sacrifice?

Q: Is your goal the 2014 Sochi Winter Games? If so, how will you plan to get there?

Maia: It is every athlete’s dream to go to the Olympics. We would be so honored if we could represent the US at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. While our immediate focus is to take things one day at a time, it is definitely our goal to compete at the Games.

Q: Do you hang out together after practice or generally go your separate ways?

Alex: After skating, we don't normally see each other too much. I have my own apartment, and we both have busy school and workout schedules. On weekends, we spend a lot of time as a family and try to eat meals together as much as possible.

Q: Alex -- Do you feel protective of Maia as your little sister on and off the ice?

Alex: Of course! I will always be protective of Maia because I love and care about her a lot. But I don’t think of her as my little sister. She is so intelligent and she has always been very sophisticated and mature. When we’re on the ice, she’s my partner and we try to treat each other as equals. I have so much respect for her. She’s an amazing ice dancer, and an amazing person.

Q: Alex, you are 19 and a student at the University of Michigan. What can you tell us about your major?

Alex: I am a part-time student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I have not selected a major yet, but I am interested in business, sports management, and journalism courses. I am taking a sociology course that discusses “Sports as Culture in Advanced Industrial Democracies” and I am also signed up in an introduction course to Psychology.

Q: Have you thought of careers post-skating?

Alex: I am interested in pursuing media/management opportunities after I have finished my skating career. I am an avid sports fan and statistician. I follow many different sports (especially football, baseball, and basketball). Being able to utilize my knowledge from my skating experiences as well as my interests in business and media would be ideal.

Maia: While I love skating, and know that it will always be a part of my life, there are many other things that would be exciting to learn about and explore. Education has always been very important to our family, and maintaining a full-time commitment to school provides balance to my life. My experiences in skating, from training and competing, have exposed me to many different things – including music, design, and different cultures. I am 16 and currently a junior in high school and am definitely looking forward to attending college. Ultimately I can see myself studying for an advanced degree in either law or business. I am hopeful that the discipline and creativity I have learned as a competitive skater will provide me with opportunities to pursue many different possible careers.

Q: Maia -- What is your favorite subject in school?

Maia: My favorite subject in school is English. I love to read, write, and be challenged. Reading is a great escape from one’s everyday life. It allows you to look at life from different perspectives. I also find that writing is a wonderfully creative outlet.

Q: What is a typical day like for you?

Alex: I wake up at 4:00 a.m. so I can be at the rink by 5:30. I warm up so that I can be on the ice for our 6:00 lesson with Marina. We skate from 6:00 – 10:30 every weekday, working with Marina, Igor, Johnny Johns, Adrienne Lenda, and ballet/modern dance instructors. After skating, I go to class and then workout in the afternoon/evening before doing homework and eating dinner. I try to get to bed by 9:30 every night.

Maia: I wake up at 4:30 every weekday to be at the rink by 5:30. We skate essentially non-stop from 6 - 10:30, and then I go to school. I take four academic classes every day and am done with school by 2:30. By supplementing my in-school classes with online coursework, I am able to keep pace as a full-time student. My usual weekday afternoons are busy with homework and a mix of off-ice training. I always also try to make time to play with Po, our family puppy. (If you noticed the difference in what time we wake up, it’s because Alex is pretty slow :)

Q: What were your favorite memories from watching the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games?

Alex: I was able to supplement what I saw on TV with what I heard from my friends who were there. I loved watching the skating events, but watching the gold medal hockey game (USA vs. Canada) was amazing as well. Maia and I were unable to watch Tessa and Scott, and Meryl and Charlie live because we were waking up early to train for Junior Worlds. I still got goose bumps watching both teams skate online.

Maia: Watching the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games was very inspiring. It was so exciting to see a lot of our friends on Team USA and the performances of our training mates. It was a different experience watching people you know perform – kind of nerve-wracking because you want them all to go out and do their best since you’ve actually seen them train every day.

Q: When skaters fall or have a misstep, I often wonder what is going through their minds. During the short dance at Nebelhorn, you bobbled on the twizzles -- can you describe for the layperson what happens in an athlete's mind? Are you in shock? How do you recover?

Maia: Unfortunately at Nebelhorn, in the short dance, the mistake was costly and we did not receive any points for that element. The mistake was a fluky one, and it was initially quite disorienting. At times like this, you find out whether you can rely on all aspects of your training, including figuring out how to pick yourself up and continue on with the rest of the program. It is important to stay in the moment, and focus on the elements ahead. The most important thing is to always learn from the experience. We know that with each performance, whether it is ideal or not, we are gaining experiences which will help us become better competitors.

Q: How satisfied were you that you were second in the free dance at Nebelhorn and finished fifth overall?

Maia: Alex and I were very satisfied with how we skated. Regardless of the scores or placement, we were determined to show how our hard work since the end of last season put us in a position to deliver a strong performance early in the season. After a disappointing Short Dance, it was very satisfying to be able to come back strong in the Free Dance. Coming in second place in the Free Dance for our senior international debut was very exciting and gratifying.

Q: What happens after you return from competitions?

Maia: After competitions, we go home and discuss our events with Marina and Igor. Throughout every season, after every event, there are experiences and helpful feedback to consider. Our aim in competing at Nebelhorn was to get some initial competitive experience at the senior level before the Grand Prix events. We are both excited and motivated to keep making the kind of improvements that will help us grow and develop throughout the season.

NHK Trophy 2010 Schedule

2010-10-15T17:55:00.006-04:00

The following are the times for the 2010 NHK Trophy ice dance events! Times are in JST (Japan Standard Time):

Short Dance:
Friday, October 22 - 15:00 (3:00 p.m.)

Free Dance:
Saturday, October 23 - 14:30 (2:30 p.m.)

The full event schedule can be found here (Japanese).
Ice Network and Universal Sports will stream the events live online!

Arctic Edge Exhibition Photos

2010-10-11T21:29:00.005-04:00

Many thanks to T G for uploading pictures from the Arctic Edge of Maia and Alex's SP!

[01] - [02] - [03] - [04] - [05] - [06] - [07] - [08] - [09] - [10] - [11] - [12] - [13] - [14] - [15] - [16] - [17]

The full album is here~

Nebelhorn Video

2010-09-28T05:24:00.005-04:00

Here the video from Maia and Alex's wonderful new Free Dance!! Thank you to pianomaya65 for uploading this video!

Exhibition Program:

Photos from Nebelhorn

2010-09-26T21:49:00.015-04:00

From Ice Network (backstage):

01 - 02 - 03 - 04

From Ice-Dance.com:

Practice: (SD) 01 - 02 - 03 -04 - 05 - 05 - 07 (FD) 08 - 09 - 10 - 11 - 12

Short Dance: 01 -02 - 03

Free Dance: 01 - 02 - 03 -04

Other Source:

Free Dance: 01

From O Sports:

Short Dance: 01 - 02 - 03

Nebelhorn Trophy Articles

2010-09-26T10:51:00.006-04:00

゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

USA's Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani recovered from their faulty short dance and were ranked second in the free dance. Their dance was set to Smile and Let's Face the Music and Dance. The lifts and steps looked effortless and smooth and gained mostly +2 and +1 grades of execution from the panel of judges. The spin and the lifts were a level four, the twizzles a level three, but the two step sequences garnered only a level two and one.

The brother-and-sister team moved up from eighth to fifth in the final standings.

"Today was definitely a personal victory for us," said Maia. "The short dance obviously wasn't ideal, but we're going to work hard and improve on that. For our first (senior) event, I think we're really happy."

"It was great to get our feet wet before the Grand Prix season," added Alex. "We came here for the experience and to understand what it felt like to be at a senior competition and to show our programs. We've gotten great feedback this week and we are very encouraged by the result of our free dance."

Excerpt by Tatjana Flade (http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2010/neb_fd.shtml)

゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

Maybe the biggest news of the event was the free dance of Americans Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani. Skating to Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" and Irving Berlin's "Let's Face the Music and Dance," both performed by Nat King Cole, the Shibutanis placed second in the segment, receiving the highest GOEs of any team in the competition. The highlight of their free dance was their twizzle sequence, for which they received +3 GOEs from three judges, and their lift combination, which earned a 1.70 GOE.
Their performance in the free dance was especially satisfying considering they were way back in eighth place after the short dance, in which they received no credit for their twizzles when Maia fell early in the sequence. The Shibutanis finished fifth overall.

Excerpt by Mickey Brown (http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100925&content_id=15065688&vkey=ice_news)

2010 Nebelhorn Trophy Results

2010-09-23T15:48:00.003-04:00

Short Dance

Technical Elements Score: 21.21
Program Component Score: 26.69
Total: 46.90

They finished 8th
place in this competition
Detailed Scoring

Free Dance

Technical Elements Score: 41.47
Program Component Score: 44.63
Total: 86.10

They finished 2nd
place in this competition
Detailed Scoring

Total Competition

Total Score: 133.00

OVERALL PLACEMENT: 5th

2010 Nebelhorn Trophy Starting Orders

2010-09-22T17:43:00.006-04:00

16 couples are competing at this year's Nebelhorn Trophy competition--here are Alex and Maia's staring numbers!

Short Dance : 14:00/2:00 P.M. (CET) Central European Time

Warm-up Group: 1 of 4
Starting Number (overall): 4 of 16

Free Dance : 13:15/1:15 P.M. (CET) Central European Time

Warm-up Group: 3 of 4
Starting Number (overall): 12 of 16

Go Maia and Alex!! Good luck!

On-time Arrival: SKATING Magazine & Tidbits from Champs Camp

2010-09-01T21:12:00.008-04:00

The following is the full article from the August/September issue of skating magazine entitled "On-time Arrival" by Amy Rosewater:

Seven years ago, Maia and Alex Shibutani made a road trip from their home in Old Greenwich Conn., to Washington D.C., to watch the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships.
Had they not been spectators at those championships, they might not be where they are today -- entering their seventh season as American ice dancers and training with the goal of making the the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Maia and Alex were both singles skaters at the time, but when they watched Shae-Lynn Bourne and Viktor Kraatz glide their way to the World title and saw the passion and energy Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto possessed when they skated, they returned home with a renewed goal -- to skate together as ice dancers.
By the spring of 2004, they were ice dancing together and by 2005, they were second at the juvenile level at the U.S. Junior Championships. The Shibutanis later trained in Colorado Springs Colo., and in 2007, they relocated to suburban Detroit and began training alongside none other than Belbin and Agosto.
Nowadays, the Shibutanis are senior-level ice dancers and are considered one of America's up-and-coming teams. And they know what it takes to make it to the top since the practice alongside 2010 Olympic gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
"I made a point of talking to Tanith recently and told her that in retrospect she had such an impact on us," Alex said. "They have done so much for the sport and have always been so supportive of us. I just wanted to let her know that. Their impact is not lost on us."
The Shibutanis are coming off a big season. They began their 2009-10 campaign with two Junior Grand Prix Series titles an placed third at the Junior Grand Prix Final. In January, they captured the 2010 U.S. junior title in Spokane, Wash., the same host city where they won the 2007 U.S. novice crown. They went on to place fourth at the World Junior Championships.
Perhaps the biggest highlight for the Shibutanis this past season was when they performed their original dance, a Japanese-styled folk routine, at the Junior Grand Prix Final, which was held in Tokyo. Their mother, Naomi, was born in Japan, although she spent much of her life in Miami. They have distant relatives in Japan, but the experience of being there left a lasting impact.
"We were really touched by the fans," Alex said. "We really wanted to do justice to our folk dance."
This upcoming season will be an even bigger one for the sister-brother couple as they will compete at the senior level. They took about six dance tests to make the jump and as Alex put it, "It's senior, baby!"
"I think they are ready and I hope they are ready and I will do everything possible to make sure they are ready," said Marina Zoueva, who with Igor Shpilband coaches the Shibutanis.
In some ways, skating at the senior level will be nothing new to the Shibutanis. After all, they train regularly on the same ice as Olympic champions. Maia called Davis and Virtue "role models" and Alex added that both Davis and White and Virtue and Moir have helped their skating.
In addition to the Shibutanis and Davis and White, there are three other senior-level U.S. dance teams who train in Canton, Mich.: Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein, Shannon Wingle and Timothy McKernan and the 2010 Olympians Emily Samuelson and Evan bates, who are newcomers to the rink after a recent coaching change. There are also a handful of other top teams at the rink representing other countries.
Of course, because the Shibutanis train in such an elite environment they also know firsthand how much they need to do to be successful at the senior level. As do their primary coaches, Shpilband and Zoueva, as well as Johnny Johns and Adrienne Lenda.
"After junior worlds we talked to Igor and Marina about moving up to senior," Alex said. "They said we are ready to make the transition and we are excited about the steps we have to take."
"It's a big step but we have nothing to lose," Maia added. "We're very young, but also confident with our skating skills. We love performing and skating with each other and feel we're ready and hope we can make our dreams come true."
It was late May at the time of this interview, but the Shibutanis already had their 2010-11 free dance in pretty good order. They plan to skate to the song, "Smile," a piece by Nat King Cole.
"We just love the music so much," Alex said. "It is fun and music you can listen to any time of the day. It really was a collective effort. We were looking for music and when we came up with this Marina automatically said yes."
"I love it," Zoueva said. "It matches Maia and Alex perfectly. They make me smile. When I first saw them when they were really little, I thought they were an absolutely adorable team. Now they are more mature. They're charming."
The couple isn't quite ready to reveal its original dance but Alex said they are working on several new elements.
"We definitely are training hard," Alex said. "We want to make great first impressions on the senior circuit."
To achieve those goals, the Shibutanis typically are on the ice in the wee hours of the morning. During the school year, they try to get to the rink around 5 a.m. because Maia attends a public high school, Huron High School in Ann Arbor, Mich. She is going to be a junior in the fall. Alex, who just finished his first year at the University of Michigan, takes two classes a semester so he can juggle the demands of skating and school. This summer, he is taking a communications course as well.
The goal for the Shibutanis is to compete in 2014 in Sochi.
"It definitely would be a dream come true," said Maia who started skating when she was 4. "I've gotten to see pictures of our friends who were there and they have lifelong memories. I hope we can do the same."

-- AMY ROSEWATER

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

U.S. Figure Skating (Twitter): Maia Shibutani has grown two inches this summer: "It gives us a more mature presence on the ice," Alex says.

Photos from Ice Network:

(~ Click for full size ~)

2010 Nebelhorn Trophy

2010-08-31T10:48:00.004-04:00

Maia and Alex have been placed on the entry list of the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy competition in Oberstdof, Germany! The competition takes place from September 23-25.
Check here for the entries from the official site.

The schedule for the dance events are as follows:

Thursday, September 23rd
Short Dance

Saturday, September 25th
Free Dance

For more details, the event announcement/invitation is available here.

Blades On Ice Article: Ready For The Future of Dance

2010-08-25T19:13:00.020-04:00

This is an article from the May/June issue of Blades On Ice magazine called "Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani Ready For The Future of Dance". Click the pictures below to read the full-sized article, and Maia and Alex's perspectives on last season and what this new season will bring!

Here is a text version of the article for those who have trouble viewing the photos or need to use a translator to read it: ~ (scroll down)

The brother-sister team, Maia, 15, and Alex Shibutani, 19, have been making headlines in the skating world since they won the Novice ice dancing title at the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash. So it was a special treat for them to return to Spokane last January to win the Junior title in ice dancing.
But winning competitions comes naturally to these talented siblings. Maia started skating at the tender age of four but soon Alex joined her and both participated in the Basic Skills Program from 1998-99. "Alex went along for the ride and saw how much I enjoyed it and decided to skate as well," she said.
Alex commented that as a typical seven year-old, "It was either doing schoolwork or skating, so I thought as long as I was there and she was having fun...," he laughed. "We would kind of commute to three different rinks. It's very different from the situation we have now where we are at one rink. We moved twice for skating."
"We were living in Greenwich, Conn. We were originally single skaters," Maia explained. "This is only our 6th year in ice dancing. During our intermediate years we moved to Colorado Springs, working with Patti Gottwein and Damon Allen. We worked with Christopher Dean and that was a real privilege. He helped us a lot with our compulsories."
Known for their great musicality, the Shibutani's musical talent comes to them naturally as both parents are musicians. Their mom was a competitive pianist who grew up in Miami and their dad was an accomplished flutist and as a youngster Alex played the violin.
After winning the Novice title, the Shibutani's moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., to work with Marina Zoueva and Igor Sphilband at their training center in Canton.
Maia lives with mom in Ann Arbor and will be a junior in high school. Alex lives with Charlie White, Evan Bates and Trevor Young off campus in 2-story home while attending the University of Michigan. He will be a sophomore this fall. Their dad now works for the UBS financial firm in Chicago and visits the family on weekends.They both say their parents have made huge sacrifices for them and that it's been tough.
Nevertheless Alex said the move to Michigan was a positive step. "It's like a master class. We are going on three years now in Ann Arbor working with Igor, Marina, Johnny Johns and Kathy Johnson, a dance coach we've been working with since Colorado, and she's been really supportive and influential in how we move.
"I think we've grown so much as skaters. Being in that high class training environment has given us the opportunity to become the skaters that we are trying to be."
Maia agrees. "it's definitely a great environment, especially in the Olympic year. It's just so exciting to be on the ice with Meryl (Davis) & Charlie (White) and Scott (Moir) and Tessa (Virtue.) They are great role models as people and as athletes."
Last season they claimed the silver medal at the World Junior Championships and were the favorites to win the Junior national title in 2010, which they did with ease, using a Japanese-themed folk Original Dance performed to Itsuka Mata by Tetsuro Naito and Ao-ki Kaze by Ryutaro Kaneko.
"With each program we try to tell a story," Maia explained. "When we pick music we want to pick music that we feel something to. With the Original Dance the music was celebratory and exciting. (Both are taking courses in Japanese. Their mom speaks Japanese some but doesn't like to say she is fluent. English is the only language spoken at home.)
"We really feel the drum music and in the Free Dance (tango) it's the passion we really try to express."
"Whenever you are picking music for the season, you really want it to resonate because it's the music you're going to be hearing every morning for an entire year so you don't want it to get old," added Alex. "I think we've been pretty lucky in our music choices over the past several years. It's ice dancing, so the dancing is very important. When we are out there we are really trying to make it a dance."
Their international season led to wins in both of their Grand Prixes on the Junior circuit (Lake Placid and Croatia), and they were on the team for the Grand Prix Finals in Tokyo.
"It was really exciting to travel with Meryl & Charlie and Tessa & Scott to Japan. I thought we skated really well. It was only the second time we were in Japan. The (audience) was very supportive of all the skaters. Our Japanese OD was a big hit. It was kind of a dream for us just being there," Alex said.
They won the bronze medal at the Junior Final. "After the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo we made a lot of changes choreographically and element wise. We just try to adjust-- in an effort to improve out skating," Alex continued. "The lifts we were doing (including their signature lift where he picks up Maia straight out of footwork into a rotational spin while on one foot) is kind of a fan favorite and we enjoyed doing it, but we could potentially get more points doing a different lift -- also more versatility, more speed across the ice, more flow.
"We got some feedback and we looked at the scores and they were not as high as we would like. We were performing it really well and it's a great life but adding to our repertoire. Some of the international judges after they saw it last year, commented about it."
They faced tough competition at the World Junior Championships, against two strong Russian teams and a relatively unheralded Canadian team. They placed second in the Compulsory Dance, but dropped to fourth in the OD with an error on the sequential twizzles and a Level 2 on the midline step sequence, and were 4th in the Free Dance just missing out of third place.
Alex said, "The sport is heading in a direction that is more athletic right now. Results are more accountable -- lifts more difficult than ever. It's pushing the envelope. Figure skating is a sport and an art so there's lots of room for skaters to express themselves individually. Dance doesn't have the jumps, throws and overhead lifts. Dance is great because it highlights the skating in its purest form. The skills sets that are necessary to be in ice dance successfully -- the demands are much higher. it's great for the sport and more exciting."
"Usually we don't feel too restricted by the new system...it's something you work with -- it's just part of the sport right now," added Maia.
For the upcoming season, dancers the world over must wait to see what new rules may be instituted after the ISU Congress in June. Early indications are that some changes will be significant and the Shibutani's, along with the rest of the top international skaters, will have to evaluate what they need to do to be at the top of the skating scene in the next quadrennial.

Relaxing Off-Ice

2010-08-18T19:57:00.006-04:00

Maia, Alex & Po!

Maia, Alex and coaches :)

At Harvard!

((click the photos for full size))

Thanks for the photos, Maia!

Champs Camp 2010 + 15 Icons

2010-07-26T09:52:00.005-04:00

U.S. Figure Skating Champs Camp takes place this year from August 26 to August 29 this year, and all skaters going to a 2010-11 Grand Prix event are invited to attend as well as their primary coaches.

According to USFSA this year the focus will be on a "simulated competition environment" where skaters will perform their new programs and be evaluated.
You can visit the official page here.

(The penguin caricature is from this blog :) )

(Click for full size)

Happy Birthday, Maia!!

2010-07-20T09:20:00.003-04:00

Happy 16th Birthday, Maia!

Wishing you a joyful day and many happy returns!