Then the opening strains of “Roxanne” begin to thrum and they’re off, circling each other before drawing together for a dramatic, tango-esque sequence.
asserted
they → begin → sequence
“You could almost tell that they were going to win from her shoulder roll,” said Toronto choreographer Alyssa Martin.
uncertain
Martin → tell → roll
“There was just something about that — something behind the eyes, and in how much volume was included in such a subtle, nuanced movement, which you don’t see often in ice dance.
asserted
you → be → dance
It was really a jawline and a shoulder, and that gave you everything you needed to know.”
asserted
you → give → everything
Like most of Canada, Martin was watching as a fan, with her university roommates.
asserted
Martin → watch → roommates
Now, she’s the choreographer of Virtue’s debut dance work for the stage; a solo piece premiering Oct. 15 at Fall for Dance North festival.
asserted
she → ’ → festival
When Virtue retired from competitive skating in 2019 — with five Olympic medals and three world championships tucked under her bedazzled belt — she made a major career pivot, walking off the ice and into the business world.
asserted
she → retire → world
She earned an MBA and a master’s in applied psychology, and landed at Deloitte as an executive adviser, where she coaches CEOs and leaders on meeting challenges and optimizing performance.
asserted
she → earn → performance
But lately she’s felt the hunger to create, to move, return.
asserted
she → feel → hunger
Dancing on stage for the first time felt just terrifying enough to say yes to.
asserted
Dancing → dance → time
“It’s everything I thought I was excited to leave behind when I retired from sport: Intense pressure, the stress, the nerves.
asserted
I → ’ → sport
The responsibility of performing,” she said, legwarmer-clad after practicing in a windowless, fluoro-lit Toronto rehearsal studio.
asserted
she → perform → studio
“I’m really craving it.
asserted
I → crave → it
I want to feel the tingling in my palms.
asserted
I → want → palms
I want to feel the anxious butterflies, partly so that I can put my skills to the test.”
asserted
I → want → test
The project came to be thanks to a helping hand from National Ballet principal dancer Heather Ogden, a friend of Virtue’s, who passed along the message that Martin and Fall For Dance North’s artistic director Robert Binet wanted to invite her to create an original modern dance.
asserted
director → come → dance
“She called me one day and said, ‘Hey, I have a crazy idea,’” Virtue said.
asserted
Virtue → call → idea
“Immediately there was trust because of the way that Heather spoke about Rob and Alyssa’s choreography.”
asserted
Heather → be → choreography
She met with them in the spring, and clicked immediately.
asserted
She → meet → spring
“I felt so safe, and like I could be set up for success.”
uncertain
I → feel → success
Virtue began intensive rehearsals over the summer, commuting from the country farmhouse north of the city that she shares with her husband, Toronto Maple Leafs veteran Morgan Rielly, and their two-year-old son.
asserted
she → begin → husband
Together, she and Martin built an original piece drawing on Virtue’s own lived experiences and emotions, as opposed to the characters she inhabited for her skate routines.
asserted
she → build → routines
“It’s not quite modern dance, it’s not quite ballet, it’s not quite jazz.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
It just feels like Tessa unleashed,” said Binet.
asserted
Binet → feel → ?
Martin describes it as wistful, melodramatic and “big.”
asserted
Martin → describe → it
Fittingly, the piece is set to a big song by another iconic Canadian — “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by Céline Dion.
asserted
It → set → Dion
“Every time I hear it, it makes me feel something,” says Virtue.
asserted
Virtue → hear → something
“And, I mean … the drama!”
asserted
I → mean → drama
It’s a return to a physical art form for Virtue, but it felt very different from preparing an ice dance routine with its technical requirements and scrutinizing judges.
asserted
it → ’ → judges
“You’re trying to piece together this thing that feels like art, but you’re hoping to also optimize a score,” Virtue explained.
asserted
Virtue → try → score
The nature of the movement felt new, too.
asserted
nature → feel → movement
On the floor, there’s no hiding behind anything,” Virtue said.
asserted
Virtue → ’ → anything
“It’s almost as if I’m yielding to gravity, in a cool way, as opposed to trying to defy it on the ice.”
asserted
I → ’ → ice
She’s had to “rewire.”
asserted
She → have → ?
While dance was Virtue’s first love and practice studios were the setting for some of her earliest childhood memories, she hasn’t exactly been keeping up her training.
asserted
she → keep → training
“I was not at all in shape,” she said.
asserted
she → say → shape
“And actually, if I’m really honest, I had kind of disconnected from my body in this way.
asserted
I → ’m → way
I might work out here and there, but it was not this physical kind of artistry.”
uncertain
it → work → artistry
Working her way back to performance readiness, despite a chronic leg injury that wouldn’t let her go from “0 to 100” as she’s wont to do, felt like a “return to self” and a reminder of how crucial movement is.
asserted
movement → work → self
“I’m energized in every other part of my realm right now because I’m dancing.
asserted
I → ’m → realm
…and 43 more, not listed.
The Aporia
