USA ice dance team glides to bronze at championship

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SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR Team USA ice dancers Daniel Eaton and Alexandra Aldridge competed in the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship in Taipei, Taiwan, where they won a bronze medal for their Short Dance and Free Dance programs. Aldridge is the granddaughter of Linda and Jack Mihalcak of East Palestine.

Staff report

TAIPEI, TAIWAN

Senior Ice Dance Team USA, Alexandra Aldridge and Daniel Eaton, racked up a superior close to their senior debut season, 2013-14.

Aldridge is the daughter of Janet (Lancos) and Kirk Aldridge of Birmingham, Mich., and the granddaughter of Linda and Jack Mihalcak of East Palestine and Paul Lancos of Hopewell Township, Pa.

The pair competed in the 2014 Four Continents Figure Skating Championship, where they won a bronze medal for their Short Dance and Free Dance programs.

The Short Dance required compulsory dance Finn step, or quick step, with two other dances, foxtrot and swing. Aldridge and Eaton Free Dance music derived from classical and Bollywood styles. They worked with an Indian classical dance instructor to include the proper hand gestures in the dance.

Unusual lifts and Level 3 step sequences highlighted the team. The team, 2013 world junior bronze medalists, collected a Level 4 for four elements and a Level 3 for three elements and were honored with a personal-best score of 87.3 points. In all, they totaled 144.95, claiming bronze in their senior debut in the Four Continents.

Aldridge and Eaton said they were excited and honored to be on the podium.

They will take time off then return in a few weeks to begin working on the next Short Dance, which will be the paso doble, blended with Latin music. The team and the coaches still haven’t decided on the Free Dance.

The pair trains under Olympic champions Angelika Krylova, Liz Swallow, Natalia Deller and Massimo Scali. Former Olympian Pasquale Camerlengo is their choreographer.