When did you start skating and how do you remember
your first time on ice?
Candi:
We started in 1991, I remember our mum taking me and my sister
when we were around four and we had these little pink tracksuits
on and we had these little double runner skates on, I remember
having so much fun because all of the older children were
taking me and my sister around really fast and spinning us
around really fast too! After that day mum could not get rid
of me and Pippa every time she went to the rink we had to
go with her because we wanted to play with the other kids!
James: I started it in 1992, My dad took me along
to the local ice rink because he said that I was a hyperactive
child and it might burn off the extra energy, I went with
him and my stepmother and I instantly loved it.
Phillip: In 1986, and having lots of fun!
How
much influence did your mother have in getting you started
in ice dance?
Candi:
Actually she did not want us to skate at first she used to
try and get me and Pippa to do loads of other sports instead
of skating. We have done nearly everything - Swimming, Horse
Riding, Gymnastics, Dancing and so on. But each time we tried
something new we would do it for a couple of months, then
we would just say ‘When can we go back skating again?’
- so mum knew that she was fighting a losing battle because
no matter what she tried we always went back to skating.
Pippa: Not a lot! She has been through it all herself
but she is great . She supports us so much and gets up early
in the morning with us, six days a week, even though she has
been doing the same thing through her whole life
Phillip,
James, was there any skater in your family, too? Or any skater
whose style inspired you to start skating?
Phillip:
There were no skaters in my family. Torvill & Dean inspired
me when I was five years old to start skating.
James: It was actually my stepmother Caroline! She
was already a recreational skater and it was her idea for my
dad to take me along to the ice rink.
Do
you remember your first competition?
Pippa:
Yes it was a little club one. I was so excited because I
won a medal.
Candi: It was club competition and I was skating
"Hello Dolly" I had this really cute little cerise
pink dress and my mum curled my hair and put flowers in it
I felt like such a grown up. I cant remember where I came,
I just enjoyed myself so much I did not really care where
I came.
James: It was an open dance competition and I also
came third.
Phillip: Yes, it was a competition at Richmond. I
won a bronze medal.
Did
you ever consider skating as singles instead of dance?
Phillip:
I started as a single free skater and won two championships
at novice and primary level. I switched to dance when I was
sixteen, which I preferred.
Pippa: I started off doing singles and pairs but then
decided when I was ten to switch to ice dance. I liked it much
better.
James: No I have always wanted to dance and have a
partner. I get too bored skating on my own.
Candi: I have never really liked skating on my own.
The first few competitions that I did were fun but then I started
to get a bit bored on my own. I wanted some company so I started
skating with one of the guys the same age as me in the rink.
We did actually start as pair skaters but then after a couple
of years my partner said that he did not want to do it anymore
- so we switched over to dance.
Pippa and Phillip
British
Nationals 2004 |
You
are coached by your mother, Diane Towler. Do you take
help from anyone besides your mother, who is creating
and choreographing the programmes?
Candi:
We have help from a ballroom dancer, his name is Michael
Styllianos, he is a former World Champion in Latin American
dancing.
Pippa: Yes, Michael Styllianos, We both work
well with him as he understands ice dancing a lot. He
can put movements from the ballroom on to the ice.
|
Have
you been to training camps with other coaches?
Pippa:
At British squad camps I have worked with Muriel Zazoui and
her assistant Roman, Annie Shelter and Bermard Ford.
Phillip: I have worked also with Mureil Zazoui and
Annie Shelter.
Candi: James and I have both been at the same skating
camps where Annie Shelter has been teaching, she does really
great edge classes and also she works on presentation and
just learning how to feel on the ice.
How
does that differ from working with your mum?
Pippa:
It isn't any different at all. Mum has brought us up to understand
that she is our coach on the ice and our mother off. She has
the same approach as them on the ice.
Many skaters go to the US to train. Are you happy
with the conditions in England? Do you get all the ice time
you need?
Candi: It is always good to see how other people
train because you can get ideas that might help you with your
training. But at the moment we are very happy with our current
conditions! Our ice rink is very old so it is not a great
place. It is often very cold, but we are very lucky when it
comes to ice time, we have lots of time available to us.
Pippa: Yes we are very happy. We have grown up in
this ice rink. The rink is really very old and cold but we
have good ice time, 4-6 hours a day.
James: And I have also learnt how to drive the zamboni
so I can do an ice cut anytime we want one - which really
helps.
About your new programmes.. Who chose the music? How
important is the music for you?
James: We chose the music along with our coach, it
is all a joint effort! We try to get a selection together
and we play it on the ice and see which we like the most and
how many ideas we get to each tune, because if you don’t
get any ideas to the music then you know it is going to be
hard to make anything up to it.The music is the most important
thing because if you don’t feel the rhythm inside then
it is going to be hard to skate too. You need to be inspired
by the music and really feel, because then you know that you
are going to perform it well.
Phillip: Choosing the music is a group decision. We just
keep looking until we find what we like and makes us feel
good.
Which
is your favourite skating programme, and what is your
favourite music to skate to?
James: Our favourite program so far would
be this year’s Original Dance, it was mainly the
quickstep that we loved, we skated to Girls,Girls,Girls,
and just had so much fun skating to it.
Phillip:
We really liked our Original Dance and Free Dance this
season, they where both fun to skate to. But we both
like skating to dramatic music too.
|
Candi and James
Oberstdorf 2004 |
