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Silverstein, Pekarek entertain crowd Thursday, February 10, 2000 By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
CLEVELAND -- Second place for their first appearance in the senior division at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships was nice. But nothing thrilled Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek more yesterday than when they performed their original dance and the crowd laughed.
Seriously.
The prescribed rhythm for original dance this season is Latin combination, which gives the skaters a chance to cut loose a bit and boogie. At one point in their program, Silverstein raises her arms over her head and wiggles her hips as Pekarek squats and stares directly at her hips.
The skaters hadn't heard more than a few stray chuckles in foreign arenas. But the response to the move from the crowd at Gund Arena was, to say the least, quite audible. And appreciative.
"I don't know if the overseas crowds didn't get it or it was just their culture," said Silverstein, a Pittsburgh native.
"Or maybe in the U.S., it's just more taboo," Pekarek chimed in.
"But it means they were entertained," Silverstein added. "And that is what we're doing."
They're doing it well. Silverstein and Pekarek, the 1999 world junior champions, have picked up at the senior level almost exactly where they left off in junior. They are second in the overall ice dance competition behind Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, the defending national champions.
And the crowd loved them.
"We do that little thing at the end of the rink," Pekarek said, referring the few seconds they stand still and shimmy to the beat. "People were going, 'Ooohhh.' And we were just standing there."
Added Silverstein, "The people on the end were just really excited."
Skating to two selections from the upbeat "I Like it Like That" with the slower, more sensuous "Eres Todo En Mi" (You Are My Everything) sandwiched in between, Silverstein and Pekarek received mostly 5.5s, 5.6s and 5.7s for composition and marks of 5.5 to 5.8 for presentation. Two of the nine judges placed them first.
Lang and Tchernyshev got the other first-place marks for their program to maintain their first-place standing after Tuesday's compulsories. In a bit of a surprise for the rigid world of ice dance, Beata Handra and Charles Sinek moved up from fourth place after the compulsories to third place overall after the original dance.
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