Wednesday, February 25, 1998

Photos by Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Jonathan Ige and Alyssa Takatsuki will compete
at the Junior Olympics next month.

---

A pair of local ice dancers
are the first from Hawaii to qualify
for the Junior Olympics

By Catherine Toth
Special to the Star-Bulletin

WHILE all eyes were on the Olympic hopefuls in Nagano, two local figure skaters were busy choreographing their path to the Junior Olympics, preparing to represent Hawaii as the state's first-ever Central Pacific Regional Champions in ice dancing.

For Jonathan Ige, 16, a junior at Roosevelt High School, and Alyssa Takatsuki, 11, a fifth-grader at Moanalua Elementary, the road to this year's national competition has been a memorable one.

"We were pleased to be first place (in our region) going into the Junior Olympics," Ige said, "but that's where we're looking to do really well in because that is what's really going to matter."

The pair brought home the regional trophy after out-performing a couple from San Francisco last November in Salt Lake City. The duo will compete against 15 other pairs at the Junior Olympics in Plano, Texas, in March.

"It was an enjoyable experience," Ige said. "I mean, that's what it's supposed to be, competing to do your best and having fun as well. And we usually end up having fun."

Despite the age difference, having fun is definitely what the two have in common. At first glance they might seem like an unlikely match, but Ige and Takatsuki admit their friendship on and off the ice makes the whole ice dancing thing worth it.

"He's my friend," Takatsuki said. "He's good at making me laugh."

"Its fun to work with someone you like," Ige added. "A lot of the times we end up talking about totally unrelated subjects."

Their chemistry is evident from the moment they step onto the ice during their practices at the Ice Palace. They immediately greet each other with a smile, chatting and laughing about things only they seem to know about. And as soon as the music starts, their friendship transforms into a synchronized movement characterized by his quickness and her grace, and both their smiles.

"She really enjoys working with Jon," Alyssa's mom, Dawn, said. "They get along really well. She's always smiling like that when she dances with him."

Added Jonathan's mom, Marilyn: "They're good friends, and they have fun on the ice."

It's their obvious compatibility that gives them an edge over other skaters in their age division, Open Juveniles (up to age 16).

"I think that they have a very good partnership feel," said Marilyn Keomalu, a figure skating judge who takes ice dancing lessons at Ice Palace. "Their unison is very good and that's very important in ice dancing. They have a lot of good expressions."

And because the Junior Olympics require each pair to learn the same six dances, all with prescribed steps, the margin for creativity is narrow and the way the two skate together will make all the difference in the judging.

"Everybody has to do the same prescribed dances," said Therese Hayes, their ice dancing coach. "So it's totally a question of how good their technique, presentation and speed are. They're being compared on exactly the same steps, so basically they'll be looking at how much they look like dancers, how fast they are and how neatly they can do the correct steps."

Ige took up figure skating about seven years ago after seeing his cousin, Kristine Nishimura, from Anchorage, Alaska, practice for one of her skating competitions.

"I decided I wanted to be like her," Ige recalled. "I wanted to do all the things she could do, so that's how I got started skating."

"He was not what you would call a gifted child," Marilyn Ige said. "There's some kids who step on the ice and you go, 'Wow, they're good!' Jonathan wasn't one of them. But he enjoyed it and it was the only physical activity that he was interested in. So we supported him and he just stuck with it."

Skate Aloha slated for March 12-14 Star-Bulletin staff Watch possible Olympic figure skaters of the future at the third annual Skate Aloha figure skating competition, sponsored by the Hawaii Figure Skating Club, March 12-14 at the Ice Palace skating arena, 4510 Salt Lake Blvd. About 50 Hawaii skaters will be joined by 15 skaters from Canada and the U.S. mainland. Participants range in experience from beginning through the Senior levels. Skaters must be at the Senior level to qualify for Olympic competition. While Skate Aloha is a nonqualifying competition and does not count in the skaters' attempts to move through regional and sectional competitions to reach the national scene, it gives participants a chance to polish programs and gain experience. Events are tentatively scheduled for 3-6:30 p.m. March 12 and 13, and 7-10:30 a.m. March 14. Admission is free. For more information, call 839-2025. At approximately 5 p.m. March 13, Open Juvenile Dance Regional Champions Alyssa Takatsuki and Jonathan Ige are scheduled to skate one or more of the ice dances they are preparing for the Junior Olympics the following week in Plano, Texas.

In the meantime, Takatsuki followed in her two older sisters' footsteps, taking her first skating lessons when she was about 4. Like her partner, she started in freestyle skating, competing only in local competitions. She never really gave much thought to ice dancing until about two years ago.

Ige needed to work on his technique, mainly to improve his stroking and footwork. His parents talked to his freestyle coach and she recommended he take lessons from Hayes to refine his movements.

"We thought ice dancing would be very good for him, his posture was so awful," Marilyn Ige said.

He immediately took to the sport.

"It's a smoother kind of thing," he said. "You pay attention to different details. You really get an idea of where the shoulders should be and arms should be and where you should be looking. It's the sense of control that I liked."

After he was ice dancing for a while, Hayes went looking for a partner for him.

"Therese thought that Aly would be good," Marilyn Ige said. "She suggested to her and her mom that she should try it out. So she did, and she enjoyed it."

The two have since been inseparable on the ice.

"They never had to make any adjustments," Hayes said. "They just got along really well from the beginning. Surprising, since there's an age difference, but it doesn't seem to affect them."

Their positive attitude about competing seems to work for them.

"Both of them tend to perk up under pressure," Hayes said. "They perform better than their normal everyday practice. And that's what happened at the regionals."