ALUMNI PROFILE:
Golden Dreams: Emily Bratti ’16 When Emily Bratti ’16 put on her first pair of skates as a 5-year-old at a friend’s birthday party, little did she know the experience would ignite a passion for ice skating that would take her to the elite international ranks of ice dancing. Now age 20 and ready to begin her third season of international competition, Emily and her ice dance partner, Ian Somerville, are well on their way to fulfilling their Olympic dreams. Although she began as a freestyle (individual) skater in her early years, Emily soon discovered that she preferred the footwork and more technical aspects of ice dancing. She began dancing with a partner and, by age 15, she was participating in novice-level competitions. “Skating with a partner was a challenge for me at first because I was always so focused on doing my own thing,” she says, noting that she had several partners before connecting with her current partner, Ian, in 2021. “But I came to realize the huge benefit of training with someone who shares your dedication and has the same goals you do.”
“The confidence, independence, and time management skills I learned at Langley are key skills that I use every day as a competitive skater.” She believes the key to success in the sport is finding the right partner. And joining with Ian – whom she considers her best friend – seems to be the crucial ingredient to her rapid rise. The pair moved to Michigan in the summer of 2021 to train with coach Greg Zuerlein and legendary ice dance Olympic medalists Charlie White and Tanith Belbin White. Emily and Ian achieved almost instant success, winning their very first competition together during the 2021-2022 season and qualifying for international competitions as part of Team USA. Competing against Olympian teams, they scored well at competitions in Austria and Croatia before placing fifth at the U.S. Nationals in January 2022 – a result that earned them the second alternate spot for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. “We thought it would
18 WINTER 2023
Emily in action with her ice dance partner, Ian. Photo by Al Simpson.
take a few years for us to become competitive, but our results last season made us feel we could be taken seriously as part of Team USA,” says Emily, who is also a part-time student at the University of Michigan where she’s studying physics and astrophysics. During the 2022-2023 season – which ran from August to January – the pair celebrated their first international win in Austria, placed fourth in Italy, and were selected to compete at their first higher-level Grand Prix competition, Skate Canada, in October where they finished sixth and recorded a personal-best score. “Canada was the first place where we experienced a huge crowd watching us skate,” says Emily, adding that she loved the energy of the fans. “I think that’s the achievement I’m most proud of so far because we skated our best despite the stress we felt going in.” They wrapped up their second season in January with a fifth-place finish at the U.S. Nationals out of 15 teams that qualified. These impressive accomplishments don’t come without a cost, however. Emily and Ian train eight hours a day, five days a week at the Michigan Ice Dance Academy yearround. Depending on their competition schedule, they can spend more than four hours per day on the ice, supplemented with several hours of strength training in the gym and ballet. And with this much training comes the likelihood of injuries. Emily has suffered several concussions, tendonitis in her knee, multiple injuries requiring stitches, and a facial bone fracture and significant damage to her teeth after a bad fall. “Probably the mental side is the most challenging part of the sport and everyone, including me, gets very nervous before a competition,” she notes. Despite the physical and mental challenges, Emily says there’s nothing like the feeling