How it all began…

Melanie and Fred’s partnership began with an unusual first meeting.

In 1993, Melanie and Fred competed at the US Eastern Sectional Championships in Junior Pairs… against each other. Melanie and her partner placed third, ahead of Fred and his partner who placed fourth.

Later that year at the US National Championships, their placements reversed. Fred and his partner placed 10th, ahead of Melanie and her partner, who finished 11th.

Early in 1994, they both ended their previous unsuccessful partnerships.

By the end of the summer that year, both of their respective coaches decided they should have a “try-out” together. Everything clicked that first day skating together: all the tricks and moves came with ease, and they got along extremely well. Their training the rest of that year went as planned, making a lot of progress with each passing week. And, something else had also happened during those weeks of training… they fell in love.

In the their first event competing as a team, the US Eastern Sectionals (the qualifying event for the US National Championships), Melanie and Fred blew away their competition and were the Champions of that event. I guess you could say, it was happily ever after…

Here is a list of Melanie and Fred’s competitive career:

1995US Eastern Sectional Championships, Junior Pairs, 1st place

1995US National Championships, Junior Pairs, 4th place

1995US Olympic Festival, 4th place

1996US Eastern Sectional Championships, Senior Pairs, 1st place

1996US National Championships, Senior Pairs, 9th place

1997US Eastern Championships, Senior Pairs, 2nd place

1997US National Championships, Senior Pairs, 11th place

By early 1999, Melanie and Fred had not skated together for nearly two years. Melanie had been busy beginning her professional skating career. In 1997, she performed in a small Christmas ice show productions in the US, and carried on performing in England throughout much of 1998. (Fred had traveled several times to visit her in the UK – not cheap for a university student!)

In December of 1998, Fred had graduated from Boston College University. By early 1999, he had passed his teaching certification exams, and was contemplating his career as a Secondary Schools Mathematics teacher.

Having never lost their love for each other, or skating together, they began to skate together again in between their coaching duties at some of the local rinks in Boston. By absolute and complete luck, a renowned skating choreographer from California saw them skating together one day. This choreographer called a producer who was looking for a pair team for one of their park shows in Los Angeles.

After a few phone calls (and much contemplation on Melanie and Fred’s part), Melanie and Fred packed their car and moved to LA for the summer. Little did they know, that moment would be the beginning of a long and successful career as a professional skating team…

Here is a list of some of the shows Melanie and Fred have performed in as Featured Skaters, Principle Performers, or Guest Stars:

1999“Snoopy’s America on Ice”

(Knotts’ Berry Farm Theme Park, Los Angeles, California, USA)

1999A Christmas Celebration

(Santa Rosa, California, USA)

2000Ice Jammin’

(Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Voyager of the Seas)

2001Footloose on Ice

(Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA)

2001The Sun Valley Ice Show

(Sun Valley, Idaho, USA)

2001-02 An Evening with Champions

(Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA)

2001-03 Holiday on Ice, “In Concert”

(toured Germany, Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands, and the UK)

2002-04 “Snoopy Rocks on Ice”

(Cedar Point Amusement Park, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)

2003Ice Dancin’

(Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Navigator of the Seas)

2004Disney on Ice’s Mickey and Minnie’s Magical Journey

(toured the Midwest and the East Coast of the US)

2004“Holiday On Ice” TV special from Lake Las Vegas

(Nevada, USA)

2004“Nutcracker on Ice”

(Ocean Park Adventures Theme Park, Hong Kong)

2005Holiday on Ice, “Hollywood”

(toured Southeast Asia)

2005-06 “Snoopy’s Summer Vacation”

(Cedar Point Amusement Park, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)

2006Holiday on Ice, “Diamonds”

(toured Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic and Greece)

2006Phantasialand Theme Park

(Bruhl, Germany)

2006-07Torvill & Dean’s Dancing on Ice (UK)

2006-07 “It’s Christmas Snoopy, On Ice!”

(Arlington Theater, Santa Barbara, California, USA)

2007  "The Cutting Edge 3"

(film produced by MGM, coming soon to TV and DVD)

  2007-08Torvill & Dean’s Dancing on Ice, The Live Tour (UK)

  2007-09 An Evening with Champions

(Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA)