Photos by Danielle Earl

For the next entry in our New Team Series, we meet Charlie Anderson & Cayden Dawson, junior ice dancers who represent Canada and competed internationally during the 2025-26 season. 

Tell us about your individual skating journeys, including any early special memories.

Charlie: The majority of my family skates, so skating was brought to me at a fairly young age. I first started with hockey when I was 4 years old, but a year later I decided to switch to figure skates because I saw a pair of them at a store and I liked the colour (they were pink). Funny enough I didn’t love skating at first because I didn’t like falling, and I couldn’t skate fast right away. I only kept going because the camp I was learning to skate at to us swimming after, so I endured the falls, with swimming as a reward. But I did start to enjoy skating when we were nearing the end of the skating camp because I could finally stand on my feet for longer than 10 seconds. From there, skating just became a part of my life. When I was about 7, I became a huge fan of Yuna Kim, Yuzuru Hanyu, and Virtue/Moir. I was drawn to those skaters because to me it looked like they could fly.

That helped kickstart my journey into becoming a free skater up until I was 15 years old. I was always a hard worker, but I was so shy and scared of being judged when I tried to perform, because it never came naturally to me. Which meant my free skate programs were never performed to their full potential because I was too embarrassed to try, so I thought if I could make up for it by having perfect jumps then it’ll be okay. I became hyper-focused on wanting to land my jumps perfectly that my relationship with skating turned toxic. I still kept pushing myself because even though I knew I didn’t really have a future in free skating, at least I could skate fast, I’ll always let myself enjoy that feeling.

When I turned 15, I decided to switch skating clubs because I wanted to start fresh, even if I wasn’t going to skate for much longer. That was when I met the Moir’s. After a short while of skating at my new (and current) club, Ilderton Skating Club, I was introduced to synchro and ice dance. I wasn’t sure about ice dance at first, because it was such a drastic change for me. But for synchro, I decided to give it a shot. I ended up making the Junior synchro team, Ice Ignite Junior, and from there my entire life changed. I was introduced to a whole new world, and I instantly fell in love with it. My synchro coaches Sheri and Cara Moir helped me realize something special about myself. I had a new passion burning inside of me that I didn’t know ever existed, and all it took was the coaches who chose to believe in me.

I continued with synchro for all of my junior eligible years and began ice dance. I realized how much the perfectionist in me took over my life in skating, that once I learned how to let go of it, I felt so free. I learned how to perform without the pressure of being perfect all the time. I now try to put my heart, soul, and emotions into every program, because I realized words can’t express how much passion and love I have for the sport, so I try show it through my skating.

Cayden: My skating journey started when I was 5 years old, in hockey, just like most other Canadian boys. My hockey career was short lived as I couldn’t quite figure out the stick and puck part of it, which turned out to be quite important. I did however, discover that I loved to skate. Pursuing that, I then signed up for CanSkate (Learn to Skate) lessons when I was 7 years old. I took my first steps in figure skates at Forest Hill Skating Club in Toronto, where I was lucky enough to be taught through CanSkate by Don Jackson!

My family then moved to Oakville, Ontario in 2014, where I continued skating and began training singles with a new coach, Michael Hopfes. Michael ended up being one of the most influential people in my skating career. He taught me so much but most importantly taught me how to love what I do, and I wouldn’t be the athlete or person I am today without him. After competing and learning singles for around 2 years. I found I loved the performance part of skating, but had a love hate (mostly hate) relationship with jumps and spins. Which led to getting the opportunity to try out ice dance, and because of how performance central it was, I thought it was a great fit! I kept going with singles and ice dance simultaneously for another 4 years or so.

With the start of the pandemic and where I was in my life it came time to decide between one or the other. The choice was clear that ice dance was the path for me, so my dance coach at the time suggested that I head to Scarboro if I wanted to start taking Ice Dance seriously. I had a lot to learn as my previous highest level of dance experience was only in Pre-Novice, so I spent a season just training and learning from the coaches and athletes in Scarboro, as well as building a new partnership. The following two seasons we competed in Junior representing Brazil, which led to lots of great opportunities, JGPs, international competitions and Junior Worlds!

When that partnership came to an end, I had just graduated high school and was looking to attend university in London, Ontario. So, I made the tough decision to leave my Scarboro skating family, and move to the Ice Academy of Montreal – Ontario, so I could attend university full time and continue my training. Quickly, Charlie and I teamed up to compete in Junior for Canada. We spent one season developing and competing only domestically, while we waited for my release. Which leads us into this past season, our first international season together, and our first medal at nationals!

What drew you to ice dance?

Charlie: When I moved to the Ilderton Skating Club, my coach Carol Moir, as well as Sheri, Cara, and Scott, all encouraged me to try ice dance and synchronized skating at a junior level. They saw potential in me that I hadn’t recognized in myself yet. I honestly questioned why they believed in me, because I felt there were a lot of technical skills I was lacking, and I was even thinking about stepping away from skating altogether. But the Moirs gave me a new opportunity to grow and express myself in ways I hadn’t really imagined before.

I still remember Scott pulling my mom aside on my very first day training as an ice dancer. As bad as I thought I was, he told her that he believed I could become a world-class athlete. Those words completely reignited my motivation and shifted my mindset. Since then, I’ve grown so much as an athlete, and I’ve found an incredible partner to share these experiences with — which has been really special.

Cayden: Other than the fact I didn’t have to stress about jumping anymore, I really just loved how ice dance was an avenue for performance. Of all the disciplines it places the most emphasis on entertainment, which for me is something super special. The ability to make someone smile from your skating is a feeling like no other, which I think is and has been the source of a lot of my passion for this sport. When I first began ice dance up until today, just over a decade later!

Cayden, can you talk about your first partnership and representing Brazil?

Totally! It was the first partnership I had where I wasn’t just a kid skating recreationally, so I had lots of work to do as a skater and as a partner. We kind of dove into the JGP series head-first, which was great to get the experience and the exposure to that stage so early in our development. Ultimately that season we ended up coming short of our goal of qualifying for Junior Worlds, which taught me how to deal with failure, which has paid off in life as well as in skating time and time again. The following season we ended up achieving that goal, and we became the first Brazilian ice dance team to qualify for an ISU Championship!

What I’m most grateful for though, was getting to go to Brazil twice, where we did shows and taught a seminar. Seeing the passion that was in the rink in São Paulo and in the skating community as a whole in Brazil, was so inspiring and unexpected for a country that primarily focuses on summer sports and has so few ice rinks. My favourite part was when the Zamboni came out to resurface the ice, the kids were absolutely devastated that they had to get off and take a break. Which was such a refreshing contrast from the culture in Canada where ice is so accessible that you end up taking it for granted and start looking forward to those Zamboni breaks. Overall, I’m so grateful for those years of my life for all that I learnt, experienced and achieved!

Tell us how your partnership started. Describe the tryout.

Charlie: Initially, I reached out to Cayden for the tryout. As soon as we stepped on the ice together, I almost immediately knew I wanted to be partners with him. I was so nervous going into the tryout because I knew I wasn’t as experienced of an ice dancer in elements like lifts or spins, so my hopes and confidence weren’t very high. But everything felt natural. The communication, working through things together, and performing together felt like second nature to me. I’ve learned a lot from Cayden’s kindness and positive energy, and I’m so grateful and lucky to have found such a great partner.

Cayden: Charlie reached out to me for a tryout at first, which worked out perfectly as I was already planning a move to London, where Charlie was training. The tryout was interesting because I was not only seeing if I was a good fit with Charlie, but also seeing if the school would be a good fit for me. Both of which turned out to be a resounding yes! The tryout went so well that Charlie ended up being the only skater I tried out with! We had so much chemistry and camaraderie that our coach Scott said “He had to resist not making us a team after the first 5 minutes”.

What’s something that surprised you about your partner when you first started training together?

Charlie: Coming from a skater who had only ever skated to instrumental/graceful pieces of music before I met Cayden, I was really surprised when he told me he had only really skated to upbeat/rock music for his programs before he met me. Our first season together was both our first times skating to a completely different genre to what we’re used to!

Cayden: There was a lot about Charlie that surprised me, on the surface she’s a relatively shy, “keeps to herself” kind of person so as we got closer and spent more time together she just kept surprising me. But I think I was most amazed and still am consistently amazed by how great of a skater she is. She does some things on the ice that I honestly don’t think anyone can do, and the way she does it is so captivating to an outside viewer. Leaving me with the impossible task of trying to match her lol!

What experiences do each of you bring to the partnership? (International competitions, training, etc.)

Charlie: Before Cayden and I were partners, I didn’t have any international experience as an ice dancer, but I did as a synchro skater! I skated on Ilderton Skating Clubs junior synchro team, Ice Ignite Junior, for 3 years.

Synchro really helped retrain my body to be so much stronger in my turns & twizzles, confidence to perform, how to skate close to my teammates etc. All of my synchro training has translated to my ice dance, and I’m so glad that I had the chance to do that.

Cayden: I think Charlie and I both brought unique experiences to the partnership. I had the previous experience of international events in ice dance, and had been doing ice dance for a long time. And Charlie had competed in Senior with her previous partner and had competed in synchro, valuable experiences that I hadn’t and still haven’t had yet. We worked hard to share our prior knowledge with eachother so we could be prepared for almost anything.

What has been the biggest adjustment for each of you so far in the partnership?

Charlie: I think a big adjustment I had to work through was to let myself lean on Cayden not just as a partner, but also as a friend. With life comes challenges, and I found myself trying to work through some of those challenges on my own, worried that l’d be a burden. But being a team is more than just being teammates who train together, it’s also about relying on each other emotionally and building that unbreakable support between each other! 🙂

Cayden: A big adjustment for me in the partnership was understanding how different approaches can still lead to the same(or even better) results. As much as Charlie and I get along super well, we are still different people, with different personalities. Which changes how each of us are inclined to approach training, and especially how we approach competition. I think finding room to fully understand eachothers methods, and discovering our approach as a team took a while, and is something that of course we are still working on.

What is it that you already like most about dancing with your new partner?

Charlie: I like the easy-going and positive attitude that Cayden shows up with everyday for practice. He’s goofy and funny but is always so eager to learn and work hard. Training with someone like that makes going into practice something I look forward to everyday.

What l like the most about skating with Cayden is that it feels free. I trust him entirely, which lets me skate and perform freely with him.

Cayden: Skating with Charlie opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at ice dance. I always thought it was cheesy when people talked about a program as ‘telling a story’, or ‘art’. Because for me it was always just sport and entertainment. Since skating with Charlie, I have explored new types of music and the concept of storytelling rather than just performing because it’s fun. This has allowed me to really put my heart into our programs and make a product that we like to consider our artform.

Where are you currently training, and what does a typical training day look like for you?

We train in London, Ontario at the Ice Academy of Montreal – Ontario Campus. A typical training day for us is 4 hours on the ice, working both with coaches and alone. Followed by normally an hour and a half of off-ice training, either Strength and Conditioning, Ballet, Dance, or Yoga. We really love training here, from coaches, to training mates, to facilities and off-ice integration, it really is a great situation for us!

Tell us about your coaches and choreographers.

We have such a great coaching team here in London; Scott Moir, Cara Moir, Sheri Moir, Adrian Diaz, Madison Hubbell, Justin Trojek, and Alma Moir. We really like having the big team of coaches because it helps to get different opinions and perspectives, to create the best and most versatile versions of ourselves. It is also really nice how accomplished and experienced our coaches are, almost any situation we find ourselves in, odds are one of our coaches has lived that same situation in their career and can help guide us through it. As for choreographers, the team consists of most of our coaches as well as Sam Chouinard and Sarah Steben, who always help bring our programs to life. Same as with coaching, it really helps to get everyone’s input and ideas for choreo to end up with the best programs possible. All of our choreographers contribute to both programs but this past season Cara was the main choreographer for the Free Dance, and Sheri for the Rhythm.

Tell us about your programs this season. Who/what inspired your music choices and overall themes?

This year for the 90’s themed Rhythm Dance we really wanted listening to the program to feel like you were listening to a DJ in the 90’s – which inspired the music cuts and structure of the program. With the choreography we aimed to design the program to be very high energy to the point where it was ironic and a little comical, which we found very challenging, but, Sheri really helped make sure we had the aspects of irony we were looking for without falling off the deep end. The Vanilla Ice piece was one that we all loved as we wanted a hip hop flavour that would blend nicely into other songs, and the song by Right Said Fred we picked because of how ridiculous and fun it is, which fit our theme perfectly. Finally, the song by The Offspring was one that honestly we weren’t too crazy about, but Scott insisted we use it, and we’re glad we took his advice because we really grew to like that piece and the energy it added to the program!

For the Free Dance, we all felt very connected to the Free Dance we did in our first season together to “Another Love” by Tom Odell. So, we wanted to stay in that same contemporary/lyrical genre while making it a little more mature and centered around our connection to one another. Cara suggested “Leave a Light On” and we knew that was the one! The story continued to develop as we worked on the program but in the end we landed on Charlie playing the role of someone fighting personal battles and being reluctant to accept help, so as to not spread the burden. Which turns into a fight between the two of us, eventually leading to acceptance and unity at the end of the program. Although Cara would tell you it’s our program and our art, she was really the brains behind this freedance and we feel she did such a great job bringing our collective vision to life! We are really going to miss this program!

What have been some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned from competing internationally?

A big lesson we learnt from competing internationally this season was the importance of managing pressure and maintaining confidence. When you’re at an international event representing a country like Canada, you feel like there is a certain standard you have to uphold, which is a good thing, but it can also add an additional sense of pressure, on top of the regular competition nerves. One of the ways we found to manage it was maintaining confidence, to understand we earned the opportunities and we were going to do our best to make ourselves and everyone who had a part in getting us there proud!

Is there a competition performance that stands out as a breakthrough moment for you as a team (so far)?

Charlie: I think our RD and FD programs from last season helped spread our name positively, especially after competing at our JGP’s. I felt like we were able to showcase two completely different programs that were still able to compliment both of our skating styles.

Cayden: I think for me the Free Dance at our JGP in Ankara was a very important moment for us as a team. Following the RD, we were in a position that neither Charlie or I had ever been in before, and honestly didn’t fully expect to be in before the event. Knowing we had the chance at a medal at our first JGP together, made me just about the most nervous I had ever been. We ended up skating a Free Dance that was not perfect, but still felt so rewarding and fulfilling to perform. Like we had just taken the first big step towards accomplishing our goals!

What is each of you looking forward to most next season? What will be your biggest challenge(s)?

We are really excited to have one final year in junior and we’re looking forward to creating and performing new programs, telling new stories, and showcasing different movement styles. I think a big challenge for us is going to be trusting the process. We are so proud of the season we had last year, which has led to us setting some pretty high goals for ourselves for this coming season. But respecting the process and being ok with imperfection as things develop are things our coaches continue to remind us of. It’s hard when things don’t work 100% right away but trusting they will get there with work and repetition is going to be really important for us, as it is for most dance teams, especially in this “creative” phase of the season.

How do you feel about Westminster Waltz for next season?

We feel better about it than we felt about the Rhumba and Quickstep, lol! But seriously, we think it will be cool, fans, athletes and coaches have been asking for a waltz for a long time so it’s really nice that they heard that. It’s a very long and structured dance, so it will require some creativity to make it blend with the rest of a Rhythm Dance nicely, which will be interesting to see! We really struggled to achieve the Key Point levels we were aiming for last season, so we’ve been working on this dance a lot to try turn that weakness into a strength.

If you could have a lesson with any ice dancer past/present, who would it be? Why?

Charlie: A dream lesson for me would be Tessa Virtue. She has always been an ice dancer I look up to and watch frequently!

Cayden: I think for me Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have to be on top of that list. As a British-Canadian growing up in my English family, they were always and deservedly so, the symbol of Ice Dance. The innovation they brought to the sport was incredible, and learning from them would be super cool!

What’s one word that best describes your partnership?

Our coach Madi often says we have a “chaotic charm”, which we think is perfect! Although, we are working on turning it into more of a controlled chaos.

Please share anything you would like our readers to know about you as a team.
We can’t wait to show our new programs for this year! We are working on new styles of dance and movement to show some differences from last year and try showcase the range and depth of our skating, we can’t wait to share!