Bratti and Somervillle: Rising Through the Ranks

Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville have only been skating together for 18 months, but have already encountered both success and hardship in their short career.
 
The couple made a name for themselves in senior ice dance last season with a surprise fifth-place finish at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
 
Then, an unexpected accident this summer threatened to derail their fall season. But the duo came back strong, scoring a win at the IceChallenge in November.
 
What's carried them through an eventful year is their close friendship and on-ice synchronicity.
 
Bratti, 20, and Somerville, 22, both hail from the Washington, D.C., area. Somerville began skating at age four.
 
"I started just for fun," Somerville said. "Then I got into ice dance when I was nine, with the Wheaton Ice Skating Academy. I was with that academy for the next 10 years."
 
Somerville competed internationally in junior ice dance with Elliana Gropman and Katarina Del Camp.
 
Bratti began skating at five and gravitated to solo dance. Competing as a solo dancer, Bratti performed rhythm and free dances, using many of the same rhythms and steps as partnered ice dance.
 
"I really loved solo dance," Bratti said of her early career. "It helped with skating skills, knowing the dances, and being able to pull my own weight [as a dancer]."
 
Bratti switched to ice dance around age 14, but struggled to find a partner who felt the same dedication to the sport.
 
"I've always been someone who just repeats things, and loves to practice," Bratti said. "When I was doing solo, I could practice as much as I wanted."
 
In 2018, Bratti joined the Wheaton Academy and partnered with Mathieu Couyras. She and Couyras competed for France at the junior level in 2019, but ended their partnership in 2020, due partly to interpersonal differences.
 
Bratti and Somerville, by contrast, quickly became good friends after she joined Wheaton. When Somerville's partnership with Del Camp ended, he reached out to Bratti.
 
"I asked Emily if she wanted to practice together for fun," Somerville said. "Because that's what we like to do, as ice dancers: to skate and practice."
 
Bratti and Somerville found they enjoyed skating together and had similar skills.
 
"Emily skates with a lot of power and speed, and has long legs, and I just have to keep up with that," Somerville said. "In order to match, we have to skate really fast."
 
There was only one problem: their lack of height difference. Bratti is 5'6", and Somerville was about the same height when they first started practicing together.
 
"I didn't grow until I was 18. I was a late bloomer. I've reached 5'8" now, which is a big deal. And I'm still growing," Somerville said.
 
Some of their coaches at the time felt a partnership wasn't advisable due to the lack of height difference. However, Bratti and Somerville decided to partner up anyway. Their personal rapport was the deciding factor.
 
"Emily and I are such good friends," Somerville said. "To work with someone that you have a good relationship with is so important. It's something that many overlook. A lot of ice dancers, people just [look at], is it the right body type, the perfect match? But at the end of the day, you need to be able to work together and stay mentally sane together. And have the same drive and  determination. That's what we've learned. It's really important for younger skaters to think about, too, because they don't have a lot of control. It's a lot of the parents' and coaches' decisions."
 
Bratti and Somerville made their partnership official in July 2021. One of the Wheaton coaches, Dmitri Ilin, suggested they train with Greg Zuerlein, who had previously coached at Wheaton, but moved to Michigan. In fall 2021, Bratti and Somerville decided to follow Zuerlein. It was their first time living away from home.
 
"I think it was good for us, especially me," Somerville reflected. "It was helpful to be [more] independent. I had to think about what I'm eating, when I'm sleeping, taking care of emails, and responsibilities that I didn't used to think about. It helped me to stay on track and focus."
 
Zuerlein soon joined forces with Tanith and Charlie White to start the Michigan Ice Dance Academy in Canton, Michigan, a move that Bratti and Somerville welcomed.
 
"It was unbelievable," Somerville said. "Charlie [White] talked with us for hours every day, sharing information, while he was doing choreography with us. It made us feel really special, and gave us a lot of confidence."
 
That confidence was reflected in Bratti and Somerville's results last season. In fall 2021, the duo won a U.S. Championship Series event and performed well at two Challenger Series competitions. At the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Bratti and Somerville notched an impressive fifth-place finish. They were named alternates to the 2022 Olympic team, a stunning accomplishment for such a new team.
 
"It felt like a dream," Bratti said of their debut season. "It was zero to literally 100. We always thought that we could be successful, because everything felt so natural. Physically, we have similar knee rhythm and edges. But we didn't think it would be immediate," Bratti said.
 
The couple ended the season with a fifth-place finish at the ISU Four Continents Championships 2022.
 
Everything looked set for Bratti and Somerville to continue their upward progress. But then the duo experienced a major setback.
 
On a Monday morning in June, Bratti and Somerville were practicing a lift when something went awry.
 
"It was a rotational lift where I had my legs wrapped around his neck. We both fell, and I went straight onto my face," Bratti recalled. "I heard a crunch, and I knew it wouldn't be good. I was lying in a puddle of blood, and the ambulance had to come."
 
Somerville was distraught to see his partner in pain.
 
"Charlie had to pull me away, so I wasn't crying in front of Emily and making it worse," Somerville said soberly. "It was traumatizing."
 
Tense hours followed, as Bratti was taken to the hospital. 
 
"Tanith [White] was with me the whole time," Bratti said. "But they wouldn't let another person in. So Ian was just sitting in the car, waiting."
 
A medical assessment and CT scan revealed that Bratti did not have any internal bleeding. However, a bone in her face had fractured, her teeth cut through her lip, and the impact  damaged the roots of her teeth. Bratti had three root canals following the accident, with more dental work to come. Her face and lip gradually healed, but overcoming the psychological effect of the accident took longer. It was a week before Somerville could even step on the ice.
 
"I felt really bad. It shook me up a lot," Somerville said. "Starting to do lifts again was mentally difficult. I didn't want to get any speed into a lift. It took a very long time to feel comfortable and confident."
 
"Doing lifts after that was scary," Bratti admitted. "We didn't do any lifts for over a month. But now I've gotten over it."
 
Bratti and Somerville lost training time and didn't feel fully prepared for the fall season. However, they still placed just off the podium at their first two events. Then they hit their stride at Skate Canada International in October.
 
"Skate Canada was our favorite competition this year. It was the first time we performed our programs without holding back," Bratti noted.
 
Next came their victory at the IceChallenge.
 
"That was a huge milestone," Somerville said. "We'd never gone into a competition knowing we had a chance of being on the podium or winning. It was a different type of mentality–having to maintain an expectation and keep our nerves together. It was different, but rewarding."
 
Bratti and Somerville then turned their focus to training for the 2023 Toyota U.S. Championships in San Jose, California.
 
"We've made improvements to both programs and worked on details," Bratti said. "Our rhythm dance [to 'Hip Hip Chin Chin'] has come a long way. I was pretty shy about presenting [it] at first. I feel like it has pulled me out of my comfort zone. Our free dance to La La Land is very  'us.' It's a natural style that matches our personalities off the ice."
 
Bratti and Somerville have both short- and long-term goals in San Jose.
 
"We want to inspire the audience and the judges, and connect with everyone who's watching. We want to make everyone feel included in our performance, and not just be in our own bubble," Somerville said. "We want to continue expanding our country's enthusiasm for ice dance. And we want to show our potential to be one of the best teams in the country and the world."
 
Follow live when Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville take the ice in San Jose by checking out the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships Competition Central.