Olympian: Ice Dancing
Ice-Dancing champions Charlie White and Merly Davis took the gold medal at the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January of 2010, in spite of new judging rules for the sport.
Michigan Born and Raised
Known for his blonde mop of hair, Charlie White was born in Dearborn on October 24th , 1987 and grew up in Bloomfield Hills. He is the youngest of five children. He plays ice hockey, through which he broke his ankle in 2005. He’s also had success as a singles skater. He currently attends University of Michigan and eventually wants to study law. He represents the Detroit Figure Skating Club. Detroit is White’s favorite city, and the Red Wings are his favorite sports team.
Coached in Canton
The pair’s success in the sport is in no small part due to their renowned ice dancing coach, Igor Shpilband, who is the director of the sport at Arctic Edge in Canton and has coached the majority of the last 16 ice-dancing champions. Davis and White switched to Shpilband in 2005.
Plans for 2010
Davis and White’s original dance is a traditional Indian folk dance. They were tutored in the traditional dance style by Anuja Rajendra, founder of BollyFit. The music and theme is from Devdas, a classic Bollywood movie in which the heroine lights and dances with a candle in symbol of her love.
Their free dance is set to the Music of the Night from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. The partners have worked with a mime artist to incorporate techniques that will allow them to project emotions without being melodramatic.
More Information:- Profile of Meryl Davis and Charlie White by About.com’s Guide to Figure Skating
- Four ice dancers dominate at nationals by Katie Field / Michigan Daily (1/25/09)
- Profile of Meryl Davis and Charlie Wilson / IceNetwork.com
- Canton ice dancers use non-traditional methods by J. Barry Mittan / IceNetwork.com (8/24/09)
- TeamUSA.org
