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Anastasia Olson and Jordan CowanBeauty and The Geek
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 USA's Anastasia Olson and Jordan Cowan perform a a Moldavian folk dance at the 2009 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships. |
For Jordan Cowan, the one television show he would like to be on is "Beauty and the Geek". However, he's already starring in his own version of reality by ice dancing with lovely California girl Anastasia Olson.
Cowan spends hours on his MacBook, lists Apple's Steve Jobs as the person he'd most like to meet, and plans to study computer science and engineering in college.
"I was almost ten when I started skating," Cowan admitted. "I wasn't sports-oriented as a kid. I was more of a bookworm. I read my first big book, The Lost World, when I was in third grade. I still like to read science fiction and technical computer articles."
That's the recipe for the classic geek.
"I did a lot of musical theatre until I was 15," he continued. "I did acting, singing, dancing, all of the above. I played a lot of principal roles like Billy in 42nd Street and Joseph in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. I love theatre and I intend to get back into it. You can do theatre for a much longer time than skating."
"I did freestyle until I was 12 and was getting into the double jumps," Cowan recalled. "But I had tendonitis in my knees for two years in a row, so that's when I started ice dancing. My coaches said I'd like dancing and that I had a good figure for dance."
"I competed with Kaylyn Patitucci in 2005 and Michaela Cook in 2006-07," Cowan said, "but Michaela and I knew it wasn't a long term partnership because of our age difference. We didn't expect to make Nationals from Sectionals after only 2 months of training together, but we did, and finished 10th."
Olson is the beauty in this story.
"I used to live in California and I loved the cold of the ice rink," Olson recalled. "I started on public sessions when I was about three."
"I did quite a few other things too," she said. "I played tennis, did gymnastics for two years, went horseback riding, did ballet and swam on a team for a year, but I liked skating the most."
"I competed up to intermediate girls," Olson continued. "Then I switched to dance. I liked dance better and thought it would be better for me. The coaches gave me a partner, Greg Zuerlein, when I was nine."
The duo won the bronze medal in intermediate dance at U. S. Junior Nationals in 2005.
"After we split up, I skated with Patrick Mays," she noted. "We were second at Sectionals and 11th at Nationals in 2007 in novice."
"Both Anastasia and I came to train in Ann Arbor and when we split with our partners, we joined together in April 2007," Cowan said.
"We have a lot in common in terms of goals," he explained. "Our personalities don't conflict at all."
"Jordan is the most loyal partner I've ever had," Olson said. "We have the same work ethic and we work really well together. Our lines and our bodies match up well."
The dancers finished fourth in novice dance in 2008 and second last season.
Yaroslava Nechaeva and Yuri Chesnichenko are both their coaches and their choreographers. In the summer they train for about 4 hours a day on ice, six days a week.
"We spend quite a bit of time on the footwork and presentation for the compulsory dances," Olson said. "Now we have just two instead of three compulsory dances like in novice. Since they were both new for us, we had to learn them in the spring and train them all summer."
"We're also trying to improve the on ice chemistry between ourselves and between us and the audience," Cowan added.
For the 2009-10 season, Olson and Cowan are skating a Moldavian folk dance for their original dance. "We had a folk free dance in novice two seasons ago," Cowan said. "It suited us well and Yuri said we could use it again," Olson added.
"Our free dance is a tango," she continued. "We did a Latin free dance last season and our coaches thought that a Spanish program would be good for us." "It's a challenge to do the right character for the tango," added Cowan.
For their original dance, the skaters will use Lautary and Nane Tsokha by Valentina Ponomareva. For the free dance, the music will be a tango medley by Tangros Dupere including Tanguera and Querer.
Off ice, Olson said, "I listen to a lot of pop, hip hop and rap, and alternative rock," while Cowan listens to "literally everything... but country".
"I played the piano for five years," Olson added. "It helped me to understand the music and rhythm." "I took piano lessons for a school year, but didn't keep up with it," Cowan relayed.
Olson, a senior at Novi High School, is taking some of her classes online. She plans to study psychology in college. Cowan is a sophomore at Washtenaw Community College, where he is taking the basic courses. He plans a career in computers and software engineering. "I used to build computers," he said. "I still spend a lot of time online, reading about the latest tech."
"I just like to relax at home," Olson said. "Sometimes I hang out with my friends."
Cowan left home in Los Angeles at age sixteen to train in Ann Arbor. He learned early on how to take care of himself. "I have my hands full. There's always something to take care of around the house," he said. He also enjoys making short films and videos.
This season, the dancers competed at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, where they finished second in their group in the original dance, third in the free dance, and fourth overall in compulsories.
Olson and Cowan were scheduled to make their Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut this fall in Poland, but were forced to withdraw due to an injury to Cowan's hand.
"Our goal for this season is to make it to Junior Worlds," Olson said. "We want to compete for as long as we can, and eventually become a competitive senior couple."
