36. Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier CAN
2016 Skate Canada free dance
Never ones to conform, Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier took a genre of music that, depending on the season, is quite overused and made something original out of it. It all starts with music choice - and tangos in figure skating always seem to come from Astor Piazzolla for some reason - Gilles/Poirier picked a piece for their Argentine Tango that I've never heard in figure skating.
This was a complex and incredibly well-rounded free dance that had loads of potential, and skated to its potential here at Skate Canada, where they broke the 110 mark in the free dance for the first time in their careers.
And though the rest of their season didn't materialize the way they wanted, they will always have this program to look fondly back upon to draw on inspiration for the Olympic season.