Meet Meryl DavisShe’s a world champion, an expert at her craft, and she’s swiftly becoming a household name. Even if you think you know her from her accomplishments, the idea she shares won’t be anything what you expect.Born and raised in Michigan, Meryl began skating at age five on her local frozen lake, eventually leading to a highly successful career in ice dancing. Davis and her partner, Charlie White, teamed up in 1997 and are currently the longest lasting dance team in the United States. They are the first American ice dancers to win the World title, as well as the first Americans to win the Olympic ice dancing gold medal. In 2014, Davis won the eighteenth season of Dancing with the Starswith partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am
We’re doing ticket sales a bit differently this year with our new, larger venue. Early purchasers will have access to special, limited-time low price tickets. As we progress towards the event-date, ticket prices will rise, so get your tickets early!
TEDxNaperville 2015 will take place November 6th from 1pm - 6:30pm at the Yellow Box in Naperville with reception to follow. Make sure to also save time for Adventures (mentally stimulating field trips to fascinating local areas that usually take place the morning of the conference).

View, unobstructed wrote:

Booky wrote:

What fun to see this comparison.

Yes, Sharna did a great job with this program.  She incorperated some of their old lifts from previous competitive programs and also added a brand new one.  I love it!
 

A slowed down version of their incredible lift in their new program:

http://maksylmyheart.tumblr.com/post/129087169523/a-slowed-down-version-of-that-incredible-lift-from

Champions On Ice Review:Champions on Ice for the Michael Weiss Foundation, Laurel Maryland, Sept.  13, 2015Great review from Norway anonThis was a small and, as Michael’s sister repeated often, a friends and family run event.  It benefited Michael’s Foundation which provides scholarships to deserving skaters to help alleviate the enormous expense associated with the pursuit of a skating championship and career.  One of these scholarship skaters is Lindsey Wagner, 3-time U.S. Champion, who was one of the performers today.      The atmosphere was very laid back and the crowd knowledgeable. The show was hosted by Brian Boitano and Michael Buckley who were very funny.  I’m not sure what kind of skating experience Mr. Buckley has but he could skate well enough to challenge Boitano, one of the junior skaters, and Charlie White to a spread eagle contest.  Charlie was excellent and punctuated with his maneuver with a squat position used in one of M&C’s performance lifts.  The other skater did a very acceptable spread eagle and then Brian stepped up to perform his signature move.  It was gorgeously executed and he held position from one end of the rink to the other with several changes of direction, at which point everyone yielded to the champion.       The cast of performers ranged from 2 groups of synchronized skaters from local skating clubs to Olympians.  There were very young up and comers, several junior champions and medalists from national competitions.  Michael Weiss, Adam Rippon, Kimmie Weisner, Ashley Wagner and of course, Meryl and Charlie were the headliners.  The emcees engaged most of them in interviews and everyone skated one routine.     Kimmie Weisner performed a beautiful routine to “Latch” which was a bit of a surprise.  She seemed much more at ease and confident than when I saw her skate in Hershey last February and she skated very well.   It did remind me of Jeremy Abbott’s routine and I wondered what Meryl thought the first time she heard and saw Kimmie skate to that piece of music.      The other interesting musical choice was “Say Something.”  Michael Weiss skated a fabulous routine and his wife and daughter sang the duet.  It was very touching, beautifully interpreted and Michael was somehow able to incorporate into it his signature move, the back flip.   Just to date myself, I used to watch him working on that move with his dad at our local ice rink.  His mom sat by the trampoline teaching jumping technique.  My daughter took skating lessons right after Mike’s practice time so we watched him several times a week.  She loved him and to his credit, he always took time to speak with her, ask how her lessons were going and encouraged her to keep working hard.  She was five.     Charlie and Meryl were last to skate and they did their new number, choreographed by Sharna.  It is stunning and beautifully designed.  To be honest I was so intent on the skating that I don’t remember the music at all.  I’ll have to rely on Line to fill in that blank.  It is light hearted and upbeat, quite different from the last Sharna routine.  There were a couple of new lifts and they seemed to be having a great deal of fun.  I think it needs a little polish, but they haven’t had a lot of time to work on it and I’m sure it will be perfected before we see it again.  I really like the piece and they are just so much fun to watch.  Their enjoyment of what they do is evident in every move.   Being on the ice, I got to see them up close and personal which is always special.  Meryl wore a black costume and looked dazzling of course.  Charlie is surprisingly taller than I expected and just adorable.  With short hair you notice how handsome he is.  I always feel like it’s a privilege to see them skate, especially in person. Every performer volunteered to do the show gratis to support Michael‘s foundation.  Some of the skaters traveled across the U.S. and from Canada.   I think that is really amazing given how busy most of them are, especially Meryl.  Again, it demonstrates how generous and kind they are and how supportive of good works.  Although this show does not travel, I encourage you to take the opportunity to see Charlie and Meryl skate if you ever get the chance.  You will not be sorry.