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Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier: Rocker Skating Interview · The Rocker Skating Podcast

0:05
Welcome to the Rocker Skating podcast.
0:07
It is a starry, starry episode. I had to do that.
0:11
Of course. Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier are
0:14
here with me. And we're what, in the middle
0:18
of, right, Like really smack dab between the Olympics and world
0:22
and so catching you all maybe a week and a half before you
0:26
leave. Actually, no.
0:27
Probably a week before you leave.
0:28
Yeah, yeah. How are you all doing?
0:31
We're we're good. We're good.
0:32
I think we're, we're excited that, you know, we only have a
0:36
week left before the World Championships.
0:37
I think we're we're eager to do it and kind of celebrate one
0:40
more time. And yeah, I think our bodies are
0:43
ready. Yeah, yeah.
0:45
I, I don't think my body is ready quite yet.
0:49
Paul, what, what's been, what have you been up to over the
0:52
past few weeks? But after that, amazing
0:55
Olympics. Well, today I'm doing my taxes,
0:57
so this is a nice little procrastinatory tool which I'm
1:01
really happy about. It's been good.
1:04
Speaking of which, I need I need to do my taxes too.
1:05
Yeah, Well, I mean, the hard thing is we're, you know, we go
1:08
straight from Worlds to Starzonice, Japan and then
1:10
straight to Starzonice, Canada. So kind of now is the last time
1:14
we're home for a good chunk of time.
1:16
So there's just like, and then, you know, we were gone for three
1:18
weeks during the Olympics. So there's like this very short
1:20
window to get a lot of like, administrative things done.
1:24
But yeah, I've just been trying amidst all the training and, you
1:27
know, making sure that we're taking care of ourselves because
1:29
obviously there's a big crash after the Olympics.
1:31
Just slowly trying to see my friends and family and celebrate
1:35
with them. There's lots of people that of
1:37
course weren't there in Milan. So just trying to do as much as
1:41
we can with our people while we're home.
1:43
I know, I think I saw a like a medal party for you the other
1:46
day. Is that was that a thing?
1:48
Some some, some friends threw a little dinner which was really
1:51
nice. And they made a cake with the
1:52
Olympic rings, which was really cute.
1:53
I wasn't expecting it. And then we realized, you know,
1:57
we only have one song for celebrations.
1:59
So they said like they started singing Happy Olympics to you
2:02
because when they brought the cake out, because it just seemed
2:04
weird to just bring a cake out without a song, which is really
2:07
funny. Wow, OK, Happy Olympics to you
2:11
is something that not many people can say.
2:14
They have been sung to them. Piper, what about you?
2:18
How? How are your last couple weeks?
2:20
They've been good. They've been good.
2:22
They've been kind of busy just doing like little media stuff
2:25
here and there. But yeah, I've just been nothing
2:28
too, too crazy other than battling the sickness that I
2:30
feel like a lot of people got out of the Olympic Games.
2:33
So yeah, my voice is finally returning and I don't know, life
2:37
is slowly returning back to normal, which is kind of nice.
2:41
It's been really nice to be home and kind of celebrate with our
2:43
coaches and our teammates and all of that.
2:46
Like Paul said, just catching up people with people we haven't
2:48
seen in a a few months. We've been kind of hibernating.
2:51
So I guess it'll be nice to, especially after worlds and what
2:55
stars are done to, to like fully decompress, have a giant
2:58
celebration with everybody. I think we're really looking
3:00
forward to that. Like, I mean, at least it's not
3:04
the norovirus that apparently was going around at the village.
3:07
Thank goodness. Which seems to be like, yeah.
3:09
Which seems to be like every Olympics is like a norovirus
3:12
breakout 'cause I. Mean there's a lot of people in
3:14
close quarters after traveling. It kind of it kind of makes
3:17
sense in a way. I think we were so even leading
3:20
up to the Olympics, we we didn't get sick all season and I mean
3:24
until after. But I think, you know, there is
3:27
some luck involved with that. But I think it does speak to the
3:29
care we put into babying ourselves before the games.
3:34
Yeah, it's like the the number of people I've seen at the
3:37
competitions leading up to the Olympics where they're sort of
3:41
like staying away from people or even like masking up, you know?
3:46
Yeah, remembrances of the Covic days.
3:50
Yeah. And it's like it, it doesn't
3:52
faze anybody anymore because we did that for a couple of years.
3:55
No, I think we learned our lesson a little bit on like
3:58
trying to avoid the plague in some way, yeah.
4:03
Totally. OK, Well, tell me about the
4:06
decision to worlds because I think a lot of folks, myself
4:11
included, and Paul, you and I had coffee literally after the
4:15
after your free dance. And I was like, are they going
4:18
so worlds, are they not? And I I never did ask you.
4:21
And then it and I realized, oh, you are.
4:23
Yeah, you didn't say and you didn't you didn't, you didn't
4:25
have any hints of it whatsoever. So I just like, I was like, OK,
4:29
but was that always in the plans or did you make the decision
4:34
after the Olympics to do one more competition?
4:38
You know, I think we didn't want to go into the Olympics with a
4:42
specific thought of mine, like this is the last skate of these
4:45
programs for the season. I think that's a lot of pressure
4:47
to put on the programs. There's already a lot of
4:49
pressure at the Olympics. So I think it was something that
4:52
we left quite open-ended going into the season and we just
4:55
said, let's just kind of proceed as if the season is running as
4:58
normal and we'll do worlds. And if we feel differently when
5:00
we get to the other side of the Olympics, then we can, you know,
5:03
have that conversation and reassess.
5:05
But, you know, we felt like the games were such a high pressure
5:09
environment and as much as we ended up performing feeling
5:12
fairly calm, you know, there's still, you know, a lot of weight
5:15
that goes into that event. And I think we wanted another
5:18
opportunity this season to just celebrate our skating a little
5:21
bit more. On the stakes feel.
5:23
It sounds funny to say where the stakes feel a little bit lower,
5:27
even though it's worlds and we'll have both of our coaches
5:31
there with us. So I think it'll be nice to to
5:33
share this event with like having both of them there, which
5:36
is not something we get to do very often.
5:38
Well, I mean, this is your third post Olympic world.
5:41
So so you know that the the sort of dialed dial down and dial
5:45
back up that that needs to happen.
5:48
Was there anything when you were discussing after the your
5:52
Olympics performances and we will talk about your Olympic
5:54
performances when you were discussing that, was there any
5:59
kind of like we really need to do this or was it like a hey,
6:03
let's keep going or was there ever like a thought about not
6:07
going? I mean, I think we, when we got
6:10
back from the Olympics, I think we kind of floated bulk options.
6:13
You know, I think we were both very content with our Olympic
6:16
performance and we were very content to like just leave it
6:19
there. But also like Paul said, the
6:21
Olympics is such a stressful event that you weren't really
6:24
thinking of anything else other than that.
6:27
So I think for us to to continue the season as normal and kind of
6:32
celebrate what we accomplished at the Olympic Games one more
6:35
time, I think ultimately ended up trumping that that decision
6:39
to go and I don't know, not leave it everything on the
6:43
Olympic ice. But we did float it, that's for
6:45
sure. I think it was a kind of a tough
6:47
decision because we really weren't sure like, you know,
6:50
where our bodies rested enough. Do we feel motivated enough to
6:53
do this one more time? Because again, like we know the
6:56
sacrifice that it takes to compete on the world stage.
7:00
So for us, I think ultimately we're like, well, we only have a
7:03
couple more weeks till we go to Japan.
7:05
We're going to have to be skating anyways.
7:07
Why not treat this as like almost a World Team trophy kind
7:10
of event and really just celebrate our skating?
7:13
We usually do skate while at those events because of the but
7:15
not the pressure, but just like we're happy to be there, we're
7:19
enjoying the process. So I think that's kind of what
7:21
led us to kind of make that decision for the World
7:24
Championships. It's like, why not?
7:26
It's funny because I you're not the first ones to tell me like
7:31
especially those who've gone to World Team Trophy that this sort
7:33
of feels a little bit World Team Trophy ish.
7:37
You know, it is a few weeks later.
7:39
It is like something where you had the really, really big
7:42
pressure cooker of that Olympics.
7:45
And I mean, I hopefully we all have a good time there.
7:50
You know, we we know what post Olympics worlds can be like.
7:55
Yeah. So this season you're a lot of
8:00
people got a chance to know you 2 better because you were all
8:06
over Netflix. I I literally I had Co workers,
8:11
friends, people I haven't talked to in years be like, have you
8:15
watched glitter and gold? And do you know Piper and Paul?
8:19
And I'm like no, but yes, I do. I do know them.
8:24
I I actually did did finally just watch it a couple weeks ago
8:27
or not a couple days ago. What was that like having that
8:32
spotlight on you for the Olympics?
8:34
And really, I mean, it wasn't like a normal documentary,
8:37
right? It was like a hey, where you
8:39
were Netflix and we're coming to like craft the story around
8:43
these three teams. What was that like?
8:46
I, I think it was actually quite an interesting experience.
8:49
I don't think we were ever at that point.
8:53
We're like, Oh my God, these guys cannot come today.
8:55
I, I can't stand the film crew, you know, like they were totally
8:59
opposite of what we expected. I think we were a little
9:01
hesitant when they approach this idea because we're like, what is
9:05
this going to look like? You know, in the moment when we
9:08
started filming at the World Championships in Boston, we met
9:11
the team and we're like, OK, like these guys know what
9:13
they're doing. There is like basically a women
9:16
run group. You know, they, they were never
9:19
overbearing. They were like, are you OK with
9:21
this? Like, you know, if there's
9:22
something you said, we won't use it.
9:24
Like they were super respectful. And I think they they really
9:27
wanted to tell our story to the best of the best of their
9:30
abilities and to really have everybody understand who we
9:33
were. I think we felt that.
9:35
And I think for us, yeah, it does come with a little bit of a
9:38
price of having that pressure, especially going into the
9:41
Olympic Games. Like the day we were leaving,
9:43
like they were releasing it. I remember I was, I was more
9:46
anxious for that, for like seeing people like a little bit
9:50
into our our personal lives than competing at the Olympic Games,
9:53
which is so, so bizarre. But I remember like being like,
9:56
do I watch it just so I know, no, I'm not going to watch it.
9:59
I like, like the whole time before we were leaving and then
10:01
people were like, I've watched, it's good, It's good.
10:03
You're great, Paul, and you like come across so well.
10:05
OK, I go to the Olympics. I don't need to watch this.
10:08
I'm going to be fine. But like, how strange is that?
10:10
We compete in front of thousands of people, but like, you know,
10:13
that's millions of people singing in your lives.
10:15
I don't know. It was a very unique, I think,
10:18
experience. And I think what a great
10:19
opportunity for the next generation of athletes to kind
10:22
of be like you're exposed to a broader audience.
10:25
No, I felt the same way. I think the two hardest bits
10:29
with the whole thing was going into the project, especially
10:34
because we started filming at Worlds and that was, you know,
10:37
at such a kind of high stakes event too.
10:39
That was our first time meeting the team.
10:40
And we didn't know what the process would be like or how the
10:42
energy would be or, you know, after worlds when, you know,
10:46
when we went into the Grand Prix season and we kind of knew what
10:48
our process looked like. And at that point, you know, the
10:50
crew is almost like family. They've come so many times to
10:53
the rink to to film us. We felt really comfortable.
10:56
And then as Piper said, with the with the documentary releasing
11:02
the day we were flying out to the game, I just kind of put my
11:04
like social media blinders on and I just said, I'm going to
11:08
I'm going to look as little as possible at things until, until
11:12
I'm done competing, which I'm grateful for.
11:14
And you know, I even had like a social media strategy with my
11:16
support site going into the Olympics on how to deal with one
11:19
with the documentary releasing. But just, you know, generally
11:21
with kind of the added social media attention around the
11:24
Olympics, I think that was like an 1 important part of the kind
11:27
of Olympics recipe. But I think we felt so respected
11:32
by the entire team and they just took such great care with our
11:35
story. And we would just, you know, as
11:38
I said, they really became family over the course of the
11:40
season. Have have either or both of you
11:43
watched it by now? I've not I.
11:47
Yeah. Sorry, Katie.
11:50
Yes, I watched the 1st and 2nd episode, but I only watched Paul
11:55
in our parts just cuz I kind of wanted to see.
11:57
And then I've heard so many people say the episode 3 is the
12:01
best episode. I can't watch it.
12:04
I don't know what it is. I like, I, I, I loved what they
12:08
were doing. I just, I lived it.
12:10
We lived it, you know, and I don't, I don't know if I, I need
12:13
to go back and watch my story or our story be told again.
12:17
But I think we're so grateful that, you know, people had the
12:20
opportunity to kind of see a little bit of like who Paul and
12:23
I are and what we represent as people.
12:25
But no, not maybe one day I'll be like, I'll just watch the
12:28
third episode. But I know a lot of has like the
12:31
Grand Prix Final in it. And I think it just brings up so
12:33
much stuff that I'm like, I lived it, let's move on, like
12:37
keep going forward. So yeah, I don't know.
12:40
The feedback I've gotten from people have been like, they just
12:44
seem like such cool down to earth people and that's been
12:50
resonating across the different populations of people that I
12:53
have talked to. Yay.
12:56
Good. Yeah, but the Olympics, right,
12:59
you all got to again be in the team event and then do the do
13:06
the the your individual event very close together.
13:11
And and that was different than what you had experienced before.
13:14
I think back in, back in Beijing, was there ever, this is
13:20
a a question that a lot of people were curious about, Was
13:24
there ever a thought of of you all being in medal contention at
13:29
the team event for you, the 2 of you to actually do the free
13:32
dance? It was, yeah, it was a long
13:34
discussion. I actually think in terms of
13:36
getting ready for the Olympics, it was one of the hardest parts
13:40
of the preparation because it's not, you know, it wasn't a
13:44
similar schedule to anything we've done before.
13:46
And it's not really anything that you can recreate.
13:48
You're never going to be doing 2 full competitions that even if
13:51
you do 2 events kind of weekends back-to-back, there's still, you
13:54
know, more time in between. And you can, you know, you can
13:57
run as many programs as you want at home.
13:58
It doesn't simulate the experience of competing at the
14:02
Olympics. So we, you know, we had to think
14:07
about it a lot on what we wanted to do.
14:11
And I think there was so many scenarios that were possible and
14:16
you know, we had to make a decision with incomplete
14:17
information because we didn't know how anyone else was going
14:21
to skate necessarily. I think in the end, we felt we
14:27
wanted to prioritize our energy going into the individual event,
14:31
really take care of ourselves. It was really tiring few days
14:34
and we felt actually quite tired after the rhythm dance and the
14:37
team event. So I think we were grateful for
14:39
the day off that we had event, you know, in the end planned for
14:42
ourselves. And I think too, we wanted to
14:46
have margarine Zach have the opportunity to skate in the team
14:48
event because, you know, these these things could go different
14:51
ways where can, you know, Canada was in contention.
14:54
And maybe if we had done the free, it might have made the
14:56
difference to get a medal or not.
14:58
And there's another scenario where everyone skates really
15:01
great and Canada gets a metal and, you know, another team or
15:04
another skater could have the opportunity to also be on that
15:06
team and get a medal. And so, you know, there was no
15:08
there was no perfect decision, no perfect scenario.
15:11
And we had to make the best decision for ourselves, along
15:15
with our coaches in Skip Canada with the information that we
15:18
had, which was incomplete. That was it was a tough
15:21
decision, though. I think the two of us, I was
15:23
like, we, we waited really till the last minute and like the IT
15:27
was funny because like, I think there was like a little bit of
15:29
guilt that like if we had lost, if we didn't do the free and if
15:33
we were in that, you know, like if we were a point away, how
15:37
like kind of a shame that would have been to lose a medal for
15:40
our teammates and and this and that.
15:43
But, you know, we were so we were encouraged again by state
15:46
Canada to do the best decision for us.
15:48
And that was kind of what we had just had to kind of remind
15:51
ourselves. It's like at the end of the day,
15:53
you got to do what's best for you.
15:54
And that's what we did. It was, it was a tough decision.
15:57
It was really, again, more stressful than competing making
16:01
that decision. You know, Paul and I were just
16:02
like, Oh my gosh, what do we do? What do we do?
16:05
But, you know, I think we made the right call for us.
16:07
And yeah, at the end of the day, we're so grateful that Marjorie
16:10
and Zach had the another opportunity to be able to do the
16:12
freelance and just kind of gain experience.
16:14
Yeah, and ultimately you can't, you can't predict the future,
16:16
right. And so you you have to make the
16:17
decision what the information that you have.
16:21
But then the individual event came.
16:24
And for me, two of your best skates maybe ever.
16:29
It's definitely the free dance. It was I, I, I, those who have
16:33
followed me on Twitter will know that I was probably crying
16:36
within a minute and 1/2 into that program.
16:39
I think as soon as the twizzles were coming on, I literally had
16:44
like media journalist, people like come up to me afterwards
16:48
and be like, you were really going through it, weren't you?
16:51
And I'm like, I'm like, yeah. And and it was it was one of
16:55
those things where like, I think the audience felt it.
16:58
Everybody like whether they were in figure skating or not, felt a
17:02
kind of different energy from you and that free dance.
17:06
If you take us back to that program, what was it about that
17:10
program that made it so special for both everybody who's watched
17:14
it, right and for the two of you?
17:16
It's so interesting. It's like with Vincent, he was a
17:19
starving artist, you know, he was just trying to succeed.
17:23
And I think for us, like we, we connected to that and like that
17:28
we, we've been through it over the years.
17:30
Like we, we pushed and pushed and tried to like push the sport
17:33
in a different direction. And maybe they weren't ready for
17:36
it. And I think in that moment, we
17:38
were ready for it. Like we were ready for people to
17:41
accept us for who we were and we felt it.
17:44
And I think like we just kind of let the program come to us and
17:48
we didn't we enforce it like we just went out and did a program
17:52
like we did at home. And that's exactly what we said
17:54
to ourselves backstage. Like let's just run a program
17:57
like we do at home and almost left like the universe accept
18:00
who we were. And I think like just as the
18:03
momentum of the program started, I think people could just almost
18:06
feel the relief of that we're doing it because I feel like
18:09
they wanted it for us. Like that relief just started to
18:12
lift and we just started to state with that and abandonment.
18:15
And by the time we ended that, it was like, I think everybody
18:18
knew like we did, We knew they knew that like we did it.
18:22
And I think, I don't know, those are just one of those moments
18:24
that you're going to remember. And I hope people remember
18:26
because like they felt like they were a part of that, that
18:29
release of, of I guess art and and struggle and believing in
18:35
yourself like that would that it's possible.
18:37
I think that's like, for me, What what stands out for in a
18:40
moment like that? Yeah, you talk about freedom,
18:43
right? And, and I think one of the
18:45
things that I remember so much about that program, and I talked
18:48
about this a bit, is the 2 of you tend to be a.
18:52
There are times when you're a little bit more intellectual, a
18:54
little bit more insular and sort of when you're doing programs,
18:57
you're telling each each other the story and you're letting
19:01
people see you tell each other the story.
19:04
But there was something about that program where it felt like
19:06
you were really telling the story, like talking to the
19:09
audience, right? And, and I don't know if you
19:11
felt that or not while you were on the ice, but you, you fed off
19:16
the energy of that crowd And, and it, it became more and more
19:21
free. I don't think I've ever watched
19:22
a free dance where I'm like, yeah, everything's going to go
19:25
fine. Like I I just, I just believed
19:28
that it was going to be a great program without any sort of like
19:32
I wasn't like on the edge of my seat waiting to to see what
19:36
would happen, right. I was just like enjoying it.
19:38
What what how was that feeling? Was that was that the case for
19:42
you all? Yeah, it was the case, but it
19:44
but it is funny. You know our our coaches always
19:47
say to us when things are going really well, that's the time to
19:50
pay the most attention. It's very easy to get excited
19:55
when things are going well and, and in that excitement just kind
20:01
of lose your focus for a moment and, and that becomes something.
20:06
But I, I think we felt, as I said, I, I felt like things are
20:09
going to go well, but in a calm kind of way, not in a way where
20:12
I was already looking forward to the end when things had already
20:15
gone well. I don't, I don't know how to
20:16
explain it better than that. So I think there was really.
20:20
A powerful kind of a presence to it all.
20:26
But yeah, I, I really felt the actually just the entirety of
20:28
the games that the crowds were really amazing.
20:30
And I think, you know, I think that also allowed us to, as you
20:35
said, to tell them that story a little bit more because I, I
20:37
felt like the audience in Milan was just so receptive to all the
20:40
skaters in accepting what they had to offer and in encouraging
20:45
them and those kinds of things. And I felt during the entirety
20:47
of the games, what I really appreciated about the audience
20:50
was, you know, when people would make mistakes, they would really
20:52
get behind them and, and like, you know, kind of give them
20:56
energy to keep going. And, you know, so I think that
20:59
that definitely fed us as well. This season has been a roller
21:03
coaster in a lot of ways, especially on the front of
21:11
technical panels, calls like those types of things.
21:15
You got a pattern step for at the Olympics, which is which is
21:19
nice. But now that we're here and you
21:25
have the, the privilege of having the like, being able to
21:29
look back on the season, how would you think about the Grand
21:35
Prix and how that all sort of shook out in terms of, you know,
21:41
the, the, the, the some of the weirdness, if you will, that
21:45
happened with, with a lot of the scoring, especially in that like
21:49
first half at the Grand Prix. Well.
21:52
I think it was challenging in a lot of ways.
21:55
You know, we, we knew that trying to get on the Olympic
21:58
podium would be a very difficult task.
22:00
I think, you know, every athlete knows that even when you're
22:03
you're in sort of a contender position like we were.
22:06
So, you know, we definitely didn't take anything for granted
22:09
this season. I think in a lot of ways, you
22:13
know, we as athletes, we have to skate our best and we don't
22:16
necessarily have control over the scoring.
22:19
And when, you know, when we're disappointed with the results,
22:23
we can either, you know, dig ourselves into a hole or we can
22:28
look at it as an opportunity. And we had to keep choosing, you
22:32
know, each kind of looking at each set back as another
22:35
opportunity to get better. I think in a lot of ways, as
22:38
much as, you know, certain parts were hard.
22:40
And definitely we're very disappointed after the Grand
22:42
Prix Final. I think it did really force us
22:45
to be critical of ourselves and critical about what we could
22:49
still do better before we got to the Olympics.
22:51
And I think that really guided our training between the Grand
22:55
Prix Final and nationals, you know, so I think in a way it was
23:00
tough psychologically and emotionally.
23:03
But I think I said it gave us the direction we needed to
23:06
improve ourselves before the Olympics and make sure that
23:09
everything was as good as it needed to be.
23:11
I mean, even, you know, even in the rhythm dance and the team
23:14
event, our levels were not as good as they could have been.
23:17
And, you know, we, we, we agreed with that, you know, definitely
23:20
wasn't our best skate and our best performance.
23:22
And there were a few places where we were tight, especially
23:24
in the steps. And that was a, that was a good
23:26
wake up call. That was, you know, it kind of
23:28
really forced us to, to sharpen ourselves on those few days of
23:30
practice in between the team event and the individual event.
23:35
So, you know, we, we can always improve.
23:37
We can always be better and we always just have to treat
23:40
whatever feedback we get as an opportunity to to do that.
23:44
So you've been skating for a long time now?
23:48
Don't remind us. I know both of you were active
23:54
in the junior events in the mid 2000s, right?
23:57
Like you've really grown up in the Ijs and how how skating has
24:06
changed over the past 20 years. I know this is a big question,
24:10
but like, if you were to look back at the past 20 years of
24:15
things that you've done as ice dancers that that you loved or
24:20
didn't like, like what? What would you bring back?
24:22
What would you change? What would you think about as
24:25
something that you're like, yeah, we're definitely missing
24:28
this stuff in ice dance? I mean, I, I think for me, and I
24:31
think I speak for Paul as well, the importance of compulsory
24:35
dances. I think, you know, as much as
24:38
maybe the audience didn't enjoy it and maybe that's something
24:41
that they can just see as like a qualifying event, but that is
24:45
what really built amazing skaters.
24:48
It built an understanding of tracking.
24:50
It built like the, I guess the importance of leg line and the
24:54
understanding of how tight and close people can skate together.
24:57
I think a lot of the times you see like over the years, ice
25:01
stance has gotten farther and farther away from each other.
25:03
And what I, I think people really recognize that Paul and I
25:06
do so well is how tight we skate.
25:08
And because we skate so tight, it's, it's really hard.
25:11
It's harder than being side by side.
25:14
And I think it's, it's quite fun when we watch some of our
25:16
teammates trying to do the golden.
25:18
But it's, it's things like that, like Paul and I are like, we're
25:21
like, wow. Like I'm so grateful that I
25:25
cried by doing three turns on a circle, doing the European, like
25:29
stuff like that. Like, like I'm so grateful for,
25:33
for everything that Paul and I have learned and gone through
25:36
with compulsory dances to like make the skaters that we are
25:39
today because we have such an understanding of where bodies
25:43
need to be relative to each other.
25:45
And I think that's, that's missing.
25:48
So personally, I think it's like kind of incorporating a little
25:50
bit more of the individual skating between two people.
25:54
And that's that's for me, it's called compulsory dances.
25:57
Literally the the discussion in the next season is going to be
26:02
what do you mean three turns are hard?
26:05
You're so hard, like tucking your butt underneath and you're
26:10
like at a diagonal line in a hall is the most uncomfortable
26:15
thing anybody can imagine. But it looks so good to bring it
26:18
back. I, I think a lot of the same.
26:21
I think the kind of just compulsory dances, skating,
26:24
skating in hold, good tracking, those kinds of things I think
26:27
aren't being rewarded necessarily right now.
26:31
I think the. It's not, it's literally not in
26:33
the system, right? Like you don't, you don't see
26:35
that you you see that maybe in like a feature or a a bullet for
26:39
a GOE or whatever, right. But it's just so hidden in.
26:42
There, I mean, it's it's hard to quantify and I think that's part
26:45
of the challenge. I think generally where the Ijs
26:51
struggles and you know, this is something that we we all as a,
26:54
you know, community have to face all the time is because each
26:59
element and each thing is kind of scored individually.
27:03
Everything needs everything you do needs to be big.
27:06
Everything you do needs to be fast.
27:07
Everything you do needs to be impressed because those are
27:09
important bullets in order to get the jewelry.
27:10
So you know, your twizzling needs to be fast and your lips
27:12
need to be big and fast and cover a lot of ice and like all
27:14
your elements need to do that. And so it asked the skaters to
27:19
skate in one way the entire time, which is really big and
27:22
really fast. And I don't know necessarily
27:27
how, how to kind of, as I said, reward the, the the complexity
27:32
and, and the holds in those kind of more subtle things because
27:37
they're hard, they're tougher to isolate in a way that, you know,
27:40
something like big and impressive looks big and
27:42
impressive. So I think that's a challenge,
27:47
but I, you know, I think it's, you know, we kind of, we grew up
27:51
during that transition where, you know, we kind of started Ijs
27:54
when we were in junior. And so, you know, our, our
27:56
foundation of skating is different and we've seen the
28:01
sport kind of evolve and change over the last, you know, 20
28:05
years or so that we've had Ijs around.
28:07
And, you know, I think a lot of that change has been positive,
28:10
but you know, some of it has picked at some of the things
28:12
that we we see as foundational to our sport.
28:15
And there's there's a balance to strike.
28:17
And I don't necessarily know where it is, but I think that
28:20
that's the thing that we both miss the most.
28:23
I think, I mean, I think it's like an educational thing.
28:26
I think like Paul and I, you know, we, we watch skating like
28:30
way, way back, like YouTube is a huge tool for any, any young
28:35
child wanting to learn what the history of ice dance is.
28:38
You know, I think I'm an athlete.
28:39
It's like we do so much research to try to create something new
28:43
and interesting and whatever. But I also feel like that the,
28:47
the judges and the ISU should also be able to kind of do the
28:50
research of what made skating great and kind of compare where
28:54
ice dance is today. And I don't know if it's
28:56
educating the new generation of judges that are coming in and
28:59
saying this is the type of stuff that should be rewarded.
29:02
This is the type of stuff where we're at.
29:04
How can we combine the two and create both?
29:06
Because both create value. But it I think both sides have
29:10
to do enough education to be able to figure out what's going
29:13
to be the best thing moving forward.
29:15
And I think, yeah, we should all both be accountable athletes.
29:19
And you know ISU and the judges and tech panel, you know what
29:23
should be next. It's it's an evolving thing and
29:25
we never really know where the, the balance really is.
29:29
So I'm sure it'll, you know, there's been a lot of
29:32
conversations over the past four years and I'm sure it'll swing
29:34
again. Yeah.
29:36
That's how it goes. I mean, I think that's the
29:39
challenge is, you know, we're trying to quantify a lot of
29:41
things that are you can't quantify and, you know, and we
29:47
don't want to dictate and define everything because everyone,
29:51
everyone will look the same. But if everything is vague,
29:54
then, you know, you know, we have no goals and we have no
29:57
guidelines. And, you know, it's a tough,
29:58
it's a such a tough balance to strike.
30:00
Yeah, yeah. For sure well, you, there's
30:04
there's plenty for you to do Paul.
30:07
You, you got taxes to finish Piper.
30:10
You you need to get some more rest and and.
30:14
And recover. We're we were talking about
30:17
worlds and thereafter, which is lots of stuff.
30:20
What? What is happening after Worlds
30:22
for you all? Well, I think right right away
30:25
Paul and I are tripping on tour with Stars on Ice Japan.
30:27
So we're heading right from basically the banquet, you know,
30:30
the next morning straight to Japan, starting rehearsals in
30:34
Osaka. I'm surprised they don't have
30:35
just like a charter flight for all of you to just go over there
30:39
because like, there's so many of you heading over there.
30:41
Yeah. And then we we come home and
30:43
then we do the same thing with Stars on Ice Canada.
30:46
And then I don't really know what's next.
30:48
I think for us like a well deserved break just to recover
30:52
the body and the mind. But I think Paul and I are
30:56
excited to see what's next for us.
30:58
Like we're excited to say yes to a lot of different
31:00
opportunities. But you know, we aren't sure
31:02
what the next opportunities are yet.
31:04
But I don't know. We're we're yes kind of people.
31:07
Like we don't usually say no often.
31:09
So throw whatever you have at us.
31:11
We say us to everything, sometimes to a detriment.
31:15
I'm glad. I'm glad you said yes to this
31:16
interview. It's great.
31:18
No. Problem.
31:21
Any any hints as to any new exhibition programs that you're
31:26
working on? We're working on them.
31:28
We're. Working on.
31:30
Them. That's it.
31:32
That's as much of A hint I'm as I'm going to get.
31:34
You know, I think we're just like exploring and what like
31:37
interesting movement that Paul and I are, you know, interested
31:40
in the in the moment. I think that's what kind of has
31:42
fueled us over the years is that whatever inspires us, we're just
31:46
going to go for it and, you know, hope people enjoy, you
31:50
know, the, the movement and the ideas that we're trying to
31:54
portray. Is there a chance we'll see new
31:57
stuff in the exhibition gala at Worlds?
32:00
Are you saving it for Stars on Ice?
32:04
Last year, we debuted the new exhibition at Worlds with not a
32:08
lot of practice. So I, I think we'll, you know,
32:11
you know, everything's kind of coming together, but, you know,
32:13
it's a matter of being comfortable.
32:16
The gal was already quite hard the day after you finished
32:18
competing. And, you know, we won't have a,
32:20
we won't have practiced it for the whole week with the new
32:22
number. So we'll we'll see how it goes.
32:25
Ask us Friday. I will.
32:27
I will ask you again when we're in Prague.
32:31
All right. Well, Piper Gillis, Paul
32:34
Poirier, thank you so much for joining me today.
32:37
I'm excited to see you in a week's time really, and happy
32:43
preparation in the last week before Worlds.