Bourne and Kraatz, edging toward the gold - Canadian ice dance team of Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz - Brief Article

Dance Magazine, Feb, 1998 by Susan Reiter

LAKE PLACID, New York--"Mark these names down," enthused the CBS announcer following the exemplary performance of first-time Olympians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz at Lillehammer in 1994. "We just might see them on the podium in 1998 in Japan."

The Canadian ice dance duo, who finished an impressive tenth at Lillehammer, have made a rapid and well-deserved move into the front ranks of ice dancing over the past four years. It is all but a given that they will occupy one of the coveted podium spots in Nagano this month, and recent results indicate they might reach for the gold. They were bronze medalists at the last two world championships, and their programs--already amazingly sophisticated and unusual in 1994--have displayed deepening technical skill and artistry each season.

Bourne and Kraatz have been a breath of fresh air in the world of ice dancing, challenging the dominance of the Russians and introducing the novel and exciting skill of hydroblading, which helped them make such an impact in Lillehammer. An exceptionally beautiful, ideally proportioned pair, they have made their mark while still quite young (she is 22 and he is 26), and from the start have skated with their own distinctive style. Innately elegant, they skate with great naturalness, eschewing the overly dramatic approach that had veered towards the ludicrous in the early 1990s. As soon as they began competing at the major international competitions, observers and judges took note of the unusual fluidity of their skating, their deep edges, and the creative use of their knees. "Their knees work as shock absorbers, and that's what gives them their incredible smoothness," noted announcer Tracy Wilson (a 1988 Olympic bronze medalist in ice dancing) as Bourne and Kraatz announced their arrival on the scene with an elegant yet playful free-dance program set to Greek folk music.

Hydroblading, which requires great flexibility in the knees, allows them to lean and balance extremely close to the ice. It adds a mesmerizing fluidity as well as a sense of daring and risk. Using it sparingly and artfully within their highly musical programs, Bourne and Kraatz move seamlessly through more changes of level than one usually sees in ice dancing. "It's not just moves or positions; it's a way of skating, a technique," explained Kraatz during a telephone interview from his home in Lake Placid, New York. "You have to gather energy and use it efficiently to go in and out of difficult maneuvers while you appear to be moving effortlessly."

They developed the hydroblading technique with their coach, Uschi Keszler. "Victor and I took the idea seriously and worked with it every day," recalled Bourne, also speaking from Lake Placid. "We used all kinds of different objects--pylons, irons, hockey pucks, Coke cans--as we practiced skating low to the ice. It took the fear out of being on the edge. Hydroblading creates new moves and a new look. It takes away from the upright skating you see in traditional ice dance. You suspend your body and make yourself light. It's somewhat like floating, as though you're making yourself airborne."

Bourne added that, to many spectators, ice dance "seems so safe" compared to singles and pairs skating events, where jumps and lifts add danger and bravura. "Watching us, they could feel an excitement; the hydroblading puts a little risk into the skating."

Bourne, born in Chatham, Ontario, and Kraatz, born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, teamed up in 1991. She had competed in pairs; he had already been the Swiss junior ice dance champion, then moved to Canada and had an earlier partner who injured her knee. He was auditioning new partners and found in Bourne a good physical match and someone who shared his interest in exploring new possibilities in the often tradition-bound sport of ice dance.

For the past few seasons, they have worked with Natalia Dubova, the famed veteran ice dance coach who guided Maia Usova and Alexandr Zhulin to a 1992 Olympic silver medal. The Canadians relocated to Lake Placid, where Dubova is based, after working with Keszler during their formative and emerging years as competitors. Their training schedule there includes working with a Russian ballet teacher six days a week. "It helps us be more aware of our bodies and to have complete control," Bourne observed.

"Her attitude is so great," said Bourne of Dubova. "She's so positive, and there's never a dull moment. We're always learning from her. She's been a great guide, knowing what the programs should look like. She has fun with us, because we're not afraid to try things." Kraatz was equally enthusiastic about Dubova's contribution to their unusually rapid rise to prominence in a skating discipline in which advancement is usually doled out sparingly. "She has developed our skills further and given us new insights into skating."

Bourne and Kraatz are displaying considerable versatility with their competitive programs for this Olympic year. Their short program, choreographed by Igor Kondrachev, whose background is in ballroom dance, is set to Beatles songs. Each year, the short program (known as the Original Dance; it follows the two-part Compulsory phase of the competition) must be choreographed to a designated musical rhythm. This year, the ice dancers were required to select music in the jive/rock and roll style.