Dancing to a Different Tune Pays Off

SPOKANE, Wash., Jan. 27 -- It was no small risk to scrap an ice dancing program that was receiving mediocre reviews and create a new one with markedly different choreography, music and theme less than one month before the U.S Figure Skating Championships.

But that's what Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto did, tossing their free dance to the overture from "That's Entertainment" in favor of one set to music from the movie "Amelie."

And it was a testament to their dominance in their discipline that they trounced a promising field to clinch their fourth consecutive U.S. ice dancing title despite the fact that, by their own assessment, they only reached about 45 percent of their new program's potential in its debut before a riveted crowd at the Spokane Arena on Friday night.

Belbin, 22, and Agosto, 25, won the gold with a final score of 202.88. For the fourth consecutive year, Melissa Gregory, 25, and partner-husband Denis Petukhov, 28, finished second (187.64).

The bronze went to the U.S. junior champions, Meryl Davis, 20, and Charlie White, 19, who thrilled the audience with an inventive, technically rigorous program. Judges weren't as convinced, and they finished with a score of 184.11.

All three couples earned a spot on the U.S. team that will compete at the world championships in March. By then, Belbin said, the "Amelie" program should be fully realized and capable of positioning the couple for a shot at their first world title. They finished third at worlds in 2006 and second in 2005.

"Our goal tonight was to really to try to show the program -- not to worry ourselves too much about the elements, but to show the potential that the program has and to really try to get into character," Agosto said.

Added Belbin, "We've barely tapped into what it has to offer us."

It was a disappointing competition for Ashburn-based Morgan Matthews, 19, and Max Zavozin, 21. The two-time U.S. junior champions (2003, 2004) have struggled to fulfill their promise since moving up to senior competition. They finished a distant fifth (80.29) on Friday after a free dance in which the Russian-born Zavozin flubbed his footwork several times.

Matthews summed up the free dance as "good and bad."

"There were some places that were better than usual; some places we messed up with some dirty steps," she said.

Zavozkin conceded their program had areas that needed improvement before their next competitions. Asked when those would be, he said: "We have no idea."