The Peals: Ready to Take on the Junior Grand Prix

U.S. ice dancers Elliana and Ethan Peal are set to achieve a longtime dream this week at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Courchevel, France.
 
"Getting a Junior Grand Prix is something that we've been laser-focused on for the last four years," Ethan revealed. "To finally get the opportunity to represent our country on that stage is really exciting."
 
Elliana and Ethan Peal are just 15 and 18 years old, respectively, but are already skating veterans. Both ventured onto the ice around their first birthday.
 
"We've been skating since we could walk," Elliana said. 
 
From the start, their skating was a family project. Their father, Rob Peal, is a former U.S. junior ice dance champion and has been their coach since childhood. Elliana and Ethan initially skated singles, then teamed up in 2015 to pursue ice dance. Their younger brother also skated for some time.
 
Their mother, Karline Peal, is part of the team too, assisting with off-ice aspects of their skating, including costuming.
 
"She's like our manager," Ethan explained.
 
When it comes to their dad, Rob Peal is involved in all aspects of their skating, from the elements to their choreography. The Peals say there are advantages to having a parent as a coach.
 
"My dad has been teaching us our whole lives, so he knows how we skate and the things that we can do, and he knows how to choreograph to our ability," Elliana said. "It makes creating and performing the programs a lot easier."
 
But the siblings admitted that so much time together can sometimes lead to arguments.
 
"It's like the Bermuda Triangle," Ethan joked about himself, his sister and their dad. "It's bound to happen, especially when you're training so long on the ice in high-intensity environments. But we have the same goals. We're all family; we're in it together. It makes the big moments, and the really hard moments, both easier and more memorable."
 
The Peals won the U.S. intermediate title in 2018 and took the bronze medal in the junior event at this year's U.S. Championships. Now, they're poised to try their luck on the Junior Grand Prix circuit and have been preparing all spring and summer. The first step was choreographing new programs.
 
The Peals' rhythm dance opens with a tango piece, to which they perform this year's required junior compulsory, the Argentine tango. The second half of the dance features flamenco music ("Bamboleo" by the Gipsy Kings).
 
"It's really fun music to skate to. I have this big shout [during] the footwork, toward the end, that a lot of our competitors have gotten into," Ethan said with a smile.
 
"The last competition, a couple of people yelled out along with him!" Elliana agreed. "The music gets the crowd hyped. Not a lot of people are doing flamenco, as far as I know. We're trying to be different."
 
The Peals also admitted that being a brother-sister duo has its advantages for the dance as well.
 
"We have a different take [on Latin rhythms] because we're brother and sister," Ethan noted. "We're going for another sort of tension and playfulness. Toward the end, it's really a party feel."
 
Their free dance offers a totally different mood and is based on the science fiction video game and TV series Halo. Elliana plays the character of Cortana, whom she describes as "an artificial intelligence super-being." Ethan portrays Master Chief, a super soldier trying to save the universe.
 
The Peals enjoy doing character-driven free dances with a storyline and specific personas to portray. They feel these programs work well for them as a sibling team.
 
"The story is that she is robotic in nature, but by the end, she is the most human part of me [Master Chief], because she is breaking me free from my soldier robotic programming," Ethan explained.
 
The duo debuted their programs in July at the Dallas Classic and Lake Placid Ice Dance International. Since then, they've been busy incorporating feedback.
 
"Every year, the progression of our programs is very editorial, in the sense that when we get feedback, we strip apart the things that didn't work and reassemble it," Ethan noted. "Going into JGP France, we've been honing in on things that held us back at previous competitions. We have a countdown list of everything we fix every day. We want to be the most prepared team out there."
 
The Peals are focusing especially on their Argentine tango pattern. Historically, the duo admitted, compulsories have tended to be one of their weaker elements.
 
"Performing and telling a story is more our strong suit," Elliana said. "We [often] don't score super-high in the pattern dances, and we'll pull up in the free dance."
 
This summer, the plan is to attack the compulsory challenge head-on.
 
"We're trying to elevate the pattern dance, add more flair to it and make it our own," Ethan said. "Most of the time, we're focused on getting the calls and the edges right. But lately, we're trying to let go and put the performance factor into it, and the edges will come."
 
The Peals look to other U.S. sibling ice dance teams for inspiration, particularly Maia and Alex Shibutani, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 2018. Other role models include Oona and Gage Brown, the reigning Junior World champions.
 
"Gage and Oona are really great friends of ours, so we talk to them all the time," Ethan said. "[When we last saw them], Gage gave me some advice for France. We have a connection with the other brother-and-sister teams."
 
The Peals also have some big plans this fall outside of skating. In a few weeks, Ethan will begin college at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he plans to study aeronautical engineering.
 
"My dream is to eventually work in the rocket industry, at somewhere like SpaceX or Blue Origin or Lockheed Martin," Ethan revealed.
 
The campus is about 90 minutes from their home in Nashville, Tennessee. Ethan knows it won't be easy to combine college with skating, but feels he has a good plan in place.
 
"I've been fortunate to structure my schedule to accommodate skating. Almost all of my classes are on one to two days a week. The [other] five days, I can be here training. I'm excited," Ethan said.
 
Elliana, meanwhile, pursues competitive dance in addition to skating and online high school. She trains at DC Dance Factory, a leading dance studio in Tennessee.
 
"After we're done with practice, she goes to four hours of dance training every day," Ethan said of his sister.
 
Elliana specializes in hip-hop, working with Nick Bass, a noted dancer and choreographer who teaches at DC Dance Factory.
 
"I adore hip-hop, and Nick has taught me a lot about it," Elliana said. "I enjoy contemporary [dance] as well, because I get to express my emotion."
 
But right now, the Peals' focus is all on their Junior Grand Prix debut.
 
"We're just really grateful for the opportunity," Ethan said. "We're excited to show the world what we can do."
 
Catch the Peals at the ISU Junior Grand Prix France, which takes place August 25-27. The competition will be livestreamed on the ISU Junior Grand Prix YouTube page. Visit U.S. Figure Skating's Junior Grand Prix competition central for more information.