Sandhu flips upside down during his audition solo.

Canadian Champion Figure Skater Emanuel Sandhu Takes Centre Stage

Updated Tue. Sep. 16 2008 9:22 AM ET

Lindsay Zier-Vogel, CTV.ca with notes from H. Riches

At the end of a long day of auditions in Vancouver, a lanky and confident dancer stepped up to the "Busta Move" booth to put some of his own steps on videotape.

Those working the booth had seen hundreds of dancers shake, shimmy and jive all day -- but this guy had something different to show them: A triple spin, high up in the air, and then perfectly landed.

It was his first dance audition, ever, but this guy had a competitive streak and an intensity that had to be explained.

Yes, contestant 459 has quite the interesting history: he's Emanuel Sandhu, a three-time Canadian men's figure skating champion. Trying out for So You Think You Can Dance Canada is just one of the many things he's working on in his post-skating career.

Sandhu, now 27, actually began with ballet studies at the age of three and took up figure skating five years later.

Even with intense national and international competitions on his schedule, he studied dance through his teen years and graduated from Canada's National Ballet School.

"I was a dancer before I was a skater," he said. "It's my diary...I dance when I'm happy, I dance when I'm sad, I dance when I'm angry."

Skating and Dancing, Dancing and Skating

Sandhu's dance background was put to good use by long-time skating coach Joanne McLeod. She is not only an Olympic coach, but also trained extensively as a dancer at Grant MacEwan College, while taking classes with the Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham Companies in New York City.

McLeod used hip hop and ballroom influences in Sandhu's skating routines, though her favourite genre for Sandhu is contemporary. "His style is striking, on-edge, with brilliant technique."

It was McLeod who told Sandhu about the So You Think You Can Dance Canada auditions. "She called me just ecstatic...and you could just hear the heavenly choir open up in the background as she spoke."

A born performer, Sandhu has dazzled his audiences with his over the top performances. But can his presence on the rink extend to the stage? McLeod thinks so: "Skating and dance are the same [for Emanuel]...they just have different studio training temperatures."

"Emanuel is a strong candidate for the show because he is a breathtaking performer and very few dancers have his 'every style' ability," McLeod says. And if he can stay grounded, McLeod believes he can win.

Toronto-bound

Despite his formidable performance career as a skater, Sandhu does not expect to coast through this competition. "I'm here as Emanuel Sandhu the dancer, hoping to work my way to becoming Canada's best dancer," he said.

"My mother always reminds me to be humble, grateful and thankful. That is a message that's instilled deep in my heart whether it's skating, dancing or acting."

As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, Sandhu wanted to push himself further but said he was happy with his Vancouver audition.

"I'm most excited about bringing someone else's choreography to life," he said of his impending trip to Toronto. "I'm looking forward to bringing the 'Manny' touch."

"I came into it wanting to do my best but I was a bit nervous. I thought...I am who I am, I do what I do. If you live by how society judges you, then you will always be disappointed. You can only be happy with what you do yourself."

 

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