Why I love This Sport: Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy's "Pina" freeskate

At last weekend's Skate America in Ontario, California, 3-time World Champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy climbed from fifth place after the short program to first place overall with a magnificently-inventive freeskate. The German team's "Pina" freeskate, the brainchild of their always innovative coach, Ingo Stuer, interprets the work of late German modern dance choreographer Pina Bausch. In an interview, Robin said that fans will either "love or hate it". I am one fan who loves this piece. Sheer choreographic genius!!

Enjoy Aliona and Robin's "Pina":

Highlights from Skate America: Meryl Davis and Charlie White's Latin Short Dance

At last weekend's Skate America competition in Ontario, California, Meryl Davis and Charlie White delivered this high-energy Latin shortdance. With this performance, "Marlie" took a big lead, which they held throughout the event.

Enjoy!

Highlights from Skate America: Kevin van der Perren's "Man in the Iron Mask."

At last weekend's Skate America in Ontario, California, the highlight of the men's freeskate was Kevin van der Perren. Kevin was one of the only man to deliver a technically-sound performance in what turned out to be a mediocre splat-fest of a competition. The 29-year-old jumping genius from Belgium executed a stunning quadruple toe loop at the start of the program and then a brilliant combination of triple salchow-triple toe loop-triple toe loop.

After having some difficult seasons in past years, due to injuries, Kevin is finally skating pain-free, and it shows. In winning the silver medal last weekend, the 2-time European bronze medalist is off to a good start in what he says will be his last season.

Congrats to Kevin on his silver medal at Skate America and best wishes to him on his final amateur season!

Enjoy Kevin's "Man in the Iron Mask" freeskate:

Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" by Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond

Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov, the 1992 Olympic silver medalists, perfectly embody the beautiful, classic style of Russian pairs skating of the days of old. I never saw Elena and Denis compete as amateurs but I grew to love and appreciate their skating on the professional scene. Their careers as pro. skaters coincided with the figure skating boom following the Nancy/Tonya hoopla of 1994.

Elena and Denis blossomed on the professional circuit and won the World Professional title in 1996. They skated with Stars on Ice for seven years. I was fortunate to see them skate during their last year with SOI at a show in the spring of 1999 in Madison Square Garden, NYC.

Here they are skating at the 1994 World Professional Championships to "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" by Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand. The song was an ironic choice, as Elena and Denis, who used to be married, were divorced at the time of this performance. The couple always insisted that their skating actually improved upon dissolving their romantic relationship. The evidence of this assertion is apparent in this terrific artistic program.

Enjoy Elena and Denis' classic pairs skating!

Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov's "The Feeling Begins" from the 1997 European Championships

Two-time Olympic Champions ('94, '98), Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov skated this intricate and exotic number at the 1997 European Championships, earning themselves six perfect scores of 6.0.

Always strong technicians, Oksana and Evgeny pushed the artistic envelope with this story-driven routine to "The Feeling Begins." As the commentator from Eurosport explains, "He fancies her, she says no, and at the end, he throws her in the dungeon."

Oksana and Evgeny's speed, power, and unique choreography makes this program shine.

Enjoy!

Highlights from Skate America: Alissa Czisny's "La Vie En Rose" short program

At last weekend's Skate America in Ontario, California, 2-time National Champion Alissa Czisny delivered this lovely and delicate short program to "La Vie En Rose" (Life in Pink).

On You Tube, one viewer commented: " A delightful confection. The performance reminds me of an ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce, strawberries, and whipped cream."

Another viewer commented: "This program made me cry; a gift to the skating world."

Alissa won the short program, and though she finished second in the freeskate, still won the overall championship by a narrow margin over Italy's Carolina Kostner. This win at Skate America is Alissa's third Grand Prix gold medal of her career. Her gold medal is also the first medal won by an American woman at Skate America in four years. Alissa previously finished second at Skate America in 2005.

I hope you enjoy Alissa's "La Vie En Rose":

Highlights from Skate America: Richard Dornbush's "The Fifth," a variation on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

At last weekend's Skate America in Ontario, California, reigning U.S. silver-medalist, Richard Dornbush of Corona California skated this impressive short program to "The Fifth," a variation of Beeethoven's Fifth Symphony. Richard finished third in the short program, and fourth overall.

Richard is fast becoming one of my favorite skaters on the competitive scene. I was an instant fan after watching his awesome "Sherlock Holmes" freeskate at Nationals last year. After watching this program, I was again reminded of how much I enjoy Richard's athletic, aggressive style that is infused with good performance ability. His skating is exciting! I'm looking forward to watching him compete the rest of the season.