Gilles and Poirier 'tap troubles away' in Mississauga

In their ninth national championships together and five silver medals to show for those appearances, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are finally poised to secure their first Canadian title after an animated and energetic performance to selections from Mack and Mabel.

While the team scored 88.86 points, the program was not without its challenges. In the opening steps, Gilles' hair braid tangled around Poirier's shirt button and required his swift manipulation to detach her. The harrowing moments were an interruption to the program, but did not occur during a required element. They persevered to earn level 4 on all five elements and high grades of execution (GOE) for their strong twizzles, midline and pattern step sequences, and animated closing rotational lift.

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What are your thoughts on the Rhythm Dance at Canadian Nationals?

I thought the Rhythm Dance was outstanding. Piper and Paul's little hair glitch caused a bit of added drama, but I thought they recovered quickly and kept their composure to deliver an outstanding short program. I also love Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha and their Westside Story Rhythm Dance is wonderful. In fact Canada is blessed with several upcoming talented young dance teams following in the footsteps of Virtue and Moir. Looking forward to the free dance.

I loved how Tracy Wilson kept trying to play it straight in the recap of the CanaHair Mishap, but wound up breaking out in giggles. And Carol Lane was also hilarious about it. It will be a clip for the ages.