"Listen to Your Heart"
By
Lois Elfman and Mark A. Laud
International
Figure Skating magazine,
October/November 1996, pg. 58
The applause seemed almost overwhelming each time Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz, the four-time Canadian Ice Dance champions, took to the ice at the Edmonton Coliseum en route to their bronze medal placement at the 1996 World Championships. During the final moment of the free dance that resulted in their first World medal, the music and the clapping became one joyous sound.
"I love it when the crowd gets excited," says Bourne. "That's usually what we try to do is make them excited. We want to light them up. So when it happens, it helps us. It keeps us going and gives us energy, too. But initially, we want to give them energy. It's amazing when they give back.
"[At Worlds], they gave it before we even stepped on the ice, they were screaming our names. And I find it more calming than anything. Some [skaters] might say they get overly excited, and that's a distraction. But with me, I find that it's more relaxing, because that's why I'm out there, to perform, and that's the first thing you want, for them to be excited."
It was a glorious conclusion to a difficult competitive season for Bourne, 20, and Kraatz, 25, who have been partners for five years. "We finished on a high note," says Kraatz, who admits, "It was a strange year….It wasn't always positive."
The duo spent the season traveling between their longtime choreographer, Uschi Kesler in Philadelphia, Pa., who was serving as their principal coach, and Natalia Dubova in Lake Placid, N.Y. The commuting proved to be wearing, but, says Kraatz, "We had to test it out. We had to know how our bodies would react." The net result is that they decided to make Lake Placid their sole training site this season.
"This year we did decide to stay with Natalia Dubova full-time," says Bourne. "It kind of warps your body and your mind when you're always [traveling] around. We decided we enjoyed Lake Placid…when we were there, and they have great ice. We love Natalia Dubova. She's a wonderful coach…As far as style goes, that's not going to change…We just want to improve the basics of dancing."
For a time this past spring, Bourne and Kraatz were unable to have training foremost on their minds. Kraatz suffered a back injury in April that knocked them off of the Tour of World Figure Skating Champions and both flew home to their families. Kraatz spent a week in bed and three more weeks rehabilitating the injury, which seemed to move from his back to his hips to his shoulders. After he was finally healed, the team spent a preparatory week in Lake Placid and then rejoined the tour for its final month.
Dedication to their partnership and mutual commitment to hard work has yielded extraordinary results. In the world of ice dance, where forward movement is often measured in millimeters, Bourne and Kraatz have defied the odds by progressing from 14th at the World Championships in 1993 to sixth in '94 to fourth in '95 to third in '96. They credit their success to a willingness to be original.
"That's the most important thing-that you don't follow in someone else's footsteps, but you make your own track," explains Bourne. "That's what's looked up to most in ice dancing-the most original. If you're just yourself, you're different. And so many people don't do that."
Kraatz views skating and being an athlete philosophically and says he feels success comes from that. "Sport teaches you. If you do it the right way, it's not just winning, it's learning from the process. You learn how to trust yourself…It's not even the medal. It's the process you go through in learning and understanding more about other people and yourself."
Both partners use the word "clarity" when discussing the future of ice dancing. They are hoping the rules can become more open, but also more clearly defined in terms of what is and is not acceptable. They both dispute the contention that ice dance is not a sport and maintain it is a highly athletic endeavor. "It's just an elegant sport," says Kraatz.
Each enjoys off-ice time, which for Bourne is tied closely to her on-ice career. "I love dancing on the ice, but I also love [dancing] off the ice….And I'd like to learn more about it. I love music. I love listening to music, and I love moving to music," she says,
Her partner's interests diverge from the artistic path. "I am a person that cannot sit still," says Kraatz. "I like to do a variety of sports, in-line skating, biking, mountain biking…climbing."
After the hard work and the challenges, Bourne and Kraatz are savoring their bronze-medal win. Bourne delights in describing the moment: "When I was up on the podium with Victor, I went through in my head everything we had done to that point. It was just overwhelming. There are so many people that skate well, but don't get the medal. I just appreciated it so much. I felt so lucky to be up there and watch the [Canadian] flag go up. Seems like all the hard work paid off."