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::Dangerous
& Difficult::
An interview with British ice dancers Sinead & John Kerr |
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Interviewed
by Mel |
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|
::Dangerous
& Difficult::
An interview with British ice dancers Sinead & John Kerr |
|
Interviewed
by Mel |
|
|
|
It has been 15 years since a British ice
dance couple besides Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean finished
in the top 10 at a European Championships. In Hungary, sister
and brother team, Sinead and John Kerr, put Great Britain back
on the European ice dancing map at their first attempt at a
major championships. After their spectacular debut and 10th
place at the 2004 European Championships in Budapest, Sinead and
John Kerr spoke to our EOI correspondent Mel back home in
Scotland.
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--- Congratulations on your 10th place finish
at your first European Championships! Can we get your thoughts
on the competition as a whole?
Sinead Kerr: I thought it was a faaantastic competition especially because the audience was amazing. We got so much support and that was extremely unexpected and extremely nice. So we really enjoyed competing in such a great atmosphere. John Kerr: Yeah, I felt the same. The audience was great. I think throughout the whole week they supported everybody so well. It was just fantastic! They didn't just support us, they supported everybody, but I think we got an extra special welcome, so that was really cool. And there were so many positive things that happened all week. It was so good to train on the same ice with such talented couples and not to come up short. --- We heard that you lost your funding from Sport Scotland right before you came to Budapest. Did this motivate you even more to do well at Europeans? SK: I think probably it did actually. Yes, I think if we're being honest, it did. I mean, it's always something where you're dying to prove to some people about something they've said about you. That's good motivation for me, anyway.
JK: That is always good motivation, if you've
got somebody who's basically saying "you're not good enough",
maybe it was a case of, "Well, I'll show you!".
 --- Your Free Dance to the "The Matrix" has been a revelation
this season. Can you tell us how the concept evolved? SK: Basically, this year we wanted a piece of music that would enable us to do certain types of things, so we weren't particularly looking for music that was nice to listen to or fun to listen to, but something that we felt would enable us to do difficult and unusual moves. So we used to play "The Matrix", that particular tune, to warm up to in the mornings, and we found ourselves with lots of ideas and moves, just mucking around really!
JK: When we began to choreograph, for us, it
wasn't necessarily a nice piece of music that you would skate
to, but a good piece of music used as a back-drop for some of
our stuff. In the beginning, we weren't necessarily trying to
follow the story of the film, but as it progressed, we found
that interpreting some of those aspects of the film and putting
them into the programme became easier. ---Finally, can you say a few words to all the new fans that you have made this week? SK: It's just unbelievable. For us, we have always, always set out to entertain the crowd. I understand that the audience want to see you sweat out there! They want to see that you're putting in energy, you're putting in effort to give them a good show. You know when you're performing, you're entertaining the audience and you're always going to give 100% of your energy so as the crowd get what they're paying for. JK: I've been really taken aback by the response from the crowd! Not because I don't think we're good, but I think it's just been such a positive reaction. Sinead and I would like to say how much we appreciate all the support people from all over Europe have given us. |
