Belbin & Agosto Return to Pro Skating!

[dorispulaski]

Tanith tweeted this today:

https://twitter.com/TanithJLB/status/339795865189363713

Just confirmed a return to the ice with @Ben_Agosto:Shizuka's "Friends on Ice"! Time to see if these creaky joints can still do their thing.

They haven't performed since perhaps 2011. I'm so glad to see them coming back!

 

[demarinis5]

I am doing my happy dance! :yay: Great news and thanks for the info Doris.
I believe the FOI's ice show will be at the end of of August. Can't wait!

 

[dorispulaski]

I wonder where they will train, in preparation for the show(s)? Will Ben be coming to Detroit? Will Tanith go to Washington state?

 

[vera01]

I'm happy to see them back!:yay:

 

[tulosai]

Wonderful!! I really do largely credit them with pushing ice dancing in North America toward the point it has reached today.

 

[Kitt]

So happy -- I love them! Wish I could go to that show!

 

[ladybug]

Is Tanith and Charlie still a couple? I am glad Ben and Tanith are coming back. They were great ice dancers and great entertainers. Wish them much luck.

 

[iluvtodd]

Great news!

 

[Antilles]

I wonder if she will also be back on Battle of the Blades, since CBC confirmed it will be back this fall after a one-year hiatus.

 

[Olympia]

Wonderful news! And I do hope that Tanith is on Battle of the Blades again, because we'll get to see her on YouTube.

It is really a bit sad that one of our best ice dancing couples ever has to go to Japan to get the attention they deserve as pro skaters. But at least it's on this planet, and we'll get to see them perform one way or another. Hooray for Shizuka, and her contributions to ice skating.

 

[Skater Boy]

Nice for them but realistically a bit of a sad state of skating. You always try to be positive but the entertainment market is drying up and let's face it the skaters give so much of themselves you are kind of forced to find work for the most part wherever adn whenever you can. It is never spoken. If V and M and D and W retire next year B and A maybe but a fading memory or worse a smurf or Disney character.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I wonder what Ben has been up to. Tanith has been doing a little commentary...hanging out with Charlie of course--I know Ben had a serious girlfriend is he married now?

 

[blue_idealist]

Awesome!! Great news!!

 

[skateluvr]

They deserved Oly Gold, a very talented, very well teamed couple...what does Ben do now?

 

[iluvtodd]

I *think* he's been doing some choreography.

 

[ice coverage]

I wonder what Ben has been up to. ... I know Ben had a serious girlfriend is he married now?

If I'm not mistaken, Agosto is both a coach and a choreographer.

As discussed on GS in 2012, Agosto had a leadership role on the local organizing committee for Skate America in Kent, Washington. Agosto was featured in articles, photos, etc. Re his personal life: Pandora was one of the sponsors, and Agosto appeared in a promotional video selecting Pandora charms for a bracelet for his girlfriend. (I'm 99% sure that at the time, she was referred to as his GF, as opposed to wife or fiancee. Possible, of course, that since then they have married -- I have no idea either way.)

It is really a bit sad that one of our best ice dancing couples ever has to go to Japan to get the attention they deserve as pro skaters.

Belbin herself said a while back that she was making an active choice to take an extended break from performing (because her plate was full with other stuff).
B/A were SOI regulars up until then, I believe.
Apparently Belbin is ending her self-imposed hiatus (at least temporarily?).