We'll Be Back Say Dancers Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov

March 26, 2008
Article & Photo © J. Barry Mittan

American skaters Melissa Gregory, 26, and Denis Petukhov, 29, suffered through a tough season in 2007-08. A fall in the free dance at their first competition, Skate Canada, knocked the couple out of the Grand Prix season and U. S. Nationals.

"We are very upset about how the season turned out," Petukhov said. "The accident in Canada really set us back. It was very hard for us to have to miss the season but we are really concentrating on coming back strong with a vengeance next season. We love skating and we love performing and can't wait to get back out there."

The dancers had high hopes for the year after making their first Grand Prix Final in 2006-07, where they finished sixth. They had finished between ninth and 12th at the last four World Championships, 14th at the 2006 Olympic Games, and second at Four Continents in 2005. In addition, the couple had four straight silver medals at U. S. Nationals, preceded by two bronzes.

"We want to like the way we skate and enjoy it for ourselves," Petukhov stated. "We've been too wrapped up in the competitive aspect. We want to skate with more freedom. It's a challenge but not impossible. We want to be unique and create our own signature style and programs."

Illinois native Gregory met Russian Petukhov in 2000 after she had split with James Shuford and he had split with Oksana Potdykova. After conversing first over the internet, the couple started skating together that summer, then fell in love and got married in 2001. Petukhov became a U. S. citizen in February 2005.

Gregory began skating when she was eight as did Petukhov. Although he started immediately in dance, she competed in singles up to novice ladies before concentrating on ice dancing. "I decided to concentrate on dance because there is more to dance than any other discipline," she said.

Priscilla Hill coaches the dancers, who train in Wilmington, Delaware. "We started with Priscilla in June," Gregory said. "We like working with Priscilla. Even at a high level, you have to love what you do, not dread it." They usually train for three to four hours a day, six days a week. "We also have an amazing off ice trainer that gets us do things we didn't know we could do," Gregory added.

Renee Roca and Petukhov choreographed their dances for the season. "We went to California as soon as possible after the Collins Champions on Ice tour ended to work with Renee on the free dance," Gregory said. "Then when we came home, Denis and Priscilla continued to work on the original and free dances."

For their country/folk original dance, the couple is doing an Irish jig to "Lord of the Dance" which was re-choreographed after Skate Canada by Christopher Dean and Denis. "We really enjoyed working with Chris and learned a lot of new things. He is very creative and inspiring," Petukhov noted. "We wanted to do something more exciting for the audience, something very different from the common choice of Russian or Ukrainian Folk that we've been seeing."

"We listened to a lot of music," Gregory said, "but we decided to go with our gut. We had a strong feeling for Celtic/Irish music. We watched the 'Lord of the Dance' video and worked with a professional to get the feeling and rhythm. It's very exciting and strong but challenging to transfer to the ice."

"We're not using any props this year. For shows it's fine and very cool," Gregory says. "Some props look authentic, some don't. It depends on the rhythm but you won't see any props from us this year."

Their free dance is to "Proud Nation" by Yoav Goren and Jeff Fayman. "It's actually a combination of things done by the same people that did Johnny (Weir)'s program," Petukhov said. "It has very big orchestral sounds. It won the 2006 Emmy Award for sports television. They gave it to us to use when we went to their studio to search for music for the season."

Their show number is "Orchard of Mines". "We did it at Evening of Champions," Gregory said. "It's very modern, a fusion of orchestral mixed with rock and vocals, kind of cinematic rock."

Gregory and Petukhov had an unusual show number for the Marshall's event that also was on tour for all of last summer, a trio with Johnny Weir to "Sarabande Suite". "It was Denis's initial idea," Gregory said. "We were all on the plane back from Worlds when he had the inspiration for it. We knew we had to do something new for the show and we all wanted to do something that was fun and different. We already have ideas for the next trio."

"I'm doing a lot of choreography now," Petukhov said. "Johnny asked me to do his long program. Love is War is the name of it. I'm doing all of Priscilla's students. Usually it takes me about four days for the basic idea, then months to perfect. I'm constantly altering to keep up with the new system and counting points."

"They're still changing the rules for the Code of Points," Petukhov continued. "After the next Olympics, we'll have to see how it progresses. It still needs a few more years for people to get comfortable with it. We hope the system will take skating to another level."

"We're coaching in the summer now," Gregory said. "We don't plan to be main coaches, but just to help out and do choreography. Right now we're focusing on the next two years until after Vancouver and then we'll decide what we want to do after that. I'd like to go to school, but I'd also like to start a family after 2010."

Off ice, Gregory and Petukhov spend a lot of time with Weir. "We have a cool and close friendship with him," Gregory said. "We have a lot of fun together. Last summer, we all went to Cozumel, Mexico and went jet skiing. Which is a surprise because Johnny's afraid of sharks. One day we went to Quarryville, PA and got to ride in an Amish buggy (which was a very big honor to be able to do). Johnny is from around there and his relatives still live in the area." Weir also designed their free dance costumes and inspired their original dance costumes.

"We also like to go to the movies, go out to dinner with friends, take our dog to the doggy park, go into the city and just walk around quietly together," Gregory stated. She also likes cooking, dancing, fashion and skiing, while he enjoys soccer, cars, music, and fishing . They like to watch any new movies, especially action, comedies and love stories. And they collect hats from wherever they travel.

The couple have a website done by a company in the Czech republic at www.gregoryandpetukhov.com