After battling through the predictable/unpredictable trenches of ice dancing for 15 years, and a rash of ups and downs enough to startle a tornado, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier both stepped onto an Olympic podium in Milan last month and jumped up and down with utter, irrepressible joy. “We wanted to stay on the podium […]
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier
Gilles and Poirier: Vincent in their Corner
“Now I understand, What you tried to say to me And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free. They would not listen. They did not know how. Perhaps they’ll listen now.” So Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, skating to these words this Olympic season, are setting forth “some […]
Ice Dance Hocus Pocus
Fifty years after ice dancing was allowed into the Olympic schedule, the discipline has become “a whole schlemozzle,” says a former dance judge and ISU officer. Nobody understands the scores issued by judges and technical panels, especially during the Grand Prix events this season. There seems to be a certain jockeying for position that doesn’t […]
Surfing through the Rhythm Dance
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier surfed their way to a second-place finish in the rhythm dance at the world figure skating championships in Boston on Friday. Music from The Beach Boys and a casual band of 15-year-olds called the Surfaris led Gilles and Poirier to a score of 86.44, which was 1.93 short of their […]
Gilles and Poirier are Back!
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier haven’t missed a beat. They did not compete at the national championships last year because Gilles was dealing with a cancer diagnosis, but on Saturday, it was as if they had never been away. They held the spectators in spellbound mode with their “Wuthering Heights” routine, their latest memorable masterpiece […]
Gilles and Poirier: A Work in Progress
Leave the outside light on. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are still hunting for perfection and believe their efforts at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships will take them closer to it. It’s a stepping stone, for now. The ice dancing duo grabbed the lead after the rhythm dance at their nationals, ringing in with a […]
Don’t Cry for Gilles and Poirier: “Evita”
Finally, after 11 years, it was time to do “Evita.” It just happened. The stars were aligned. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier wanted to do “Evita” 11 years ago when they first teamed up, but the time was never right. It’s so right, they used it to win the Skate Canada International on Saturday with […]
Too Sexy for Their Shirts
It was a new look: Paul Poirier stepping onto the ice with a muscle shirt, no sleeves, showing his deltoids, sparking the spark. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, the 2021 world bronze medalists in ice dancing, do quirky and iconic. Now they’re bringing sexy to the mix. Coach Carol Lane found the music in a […]
Gilles and Poirier Dance to the Olympics
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier aren’t on autopilot yet. That will be their next step on the Olympic journey. The ice dancing duo won their third national title on Saturday, testing out their “Long and Winding Road” free dance for judges and virtuals. (They would have won a fourth, had the event not been cancelled […]
The Long and Winding Road
The long and winding road isn’t quite finished yet for world bronze medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. But this year they are celebrating it. And skating to it. Using the Beatles music to it, they won a gold medal at Skate Canada on Saturday. It’s an important gold medal: it’s their first Grand Prix […]