Maia and Alex Shibutani - National Ice Dance Champions:
Maia and Alex Shibutani won the 2007 U.S. National Novice and the 2006 U.S. National Intermediate Ice Dance titles. In 2008, they were the pewter medalists in the U.S. National Junior Dance event. In 2009, they won the silver medal in Junior Dance.Birthdays:
Maia Shibutani was born on July 20, 1994 and Alex Shibutani was born on April 25, 1991.Place of Birth:
Maia Shibutani was born in New York City and Alex Shibutani was born in Boston.Hometown and Training Town:
Maia and Alex Shibutani live in Canton, Michigan. They consider Greenwich, Connecticut their hometown.Skating Club:
Alex Shibutani represents the Arctic Skating Club. Maia Shibutani represents the Skating Club of New York.Coaches:
Maia and Alex had several coaches at the 2007 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships. Their coaches included Patti Gottwein, Richard Griffin, Damon Allen, and Erik Schulz. Their choreographers were Tom Dickson and Catarina Lindgren. Their current coaches are Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva.Education:
Maia attends middle school and Alex attends high school.How They Began Ice Dancing:
After seeing the World Figure Skating Championships in 2003, the Shibutani family was very impressed with the high quality of the skating of the ice dancers. Their parents wanted the children to participate in a team sport and ice dancing seemed ideal since the siblings could work together as a team. Maia and Alex began ice dancing together shortly after that.Competition HIghlights:
Maia and Alex won the 2007 Midwestern Sectional in Novice Dance and went on to win the 2007 U.S. Novice Ice Dance title. They won both the U.S. Intermediate and Southwestern Intermediate ice dance titles in 2006. In 2005, they placed second in Juvenile Dance at the U.S. Junior National Championships.2007 Nationals - A Surprise Win:
Maia and Alex Shibutani did not expect to win at the 2007 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, but hoped to place and make a good showing. They ended up placing second on both of the compulsory dances. Their European Waltz and Paso Doble were done with great speed and with very good technique. Their free dance was very difficult. They did slip, but that slip did not affect their score and the team pulled to first place and won the 2007 U.S. National Novice Ice Dancing title.After the win in 2007, Maia was too young to compete in some international events. Many who watched the brother-sister dance team perform thought they were younger than they really were since both Maia and Alex were quite small in size.
