Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio burst onto the Worlds dance scene in 1996 with a 10th place finish in their first Worlds together. Although Fusar-Poli had competed at Worlds twice before with Alberto Reani, it was a first for Margaglio, a three-time Italian junior champion with Claudia Frigoli. "It was a big surprise for me. Two years ago I was watching Barbara on television. The first year we were tenth. The experience was incredible," he says. This year the couple moved up to ninth.
The dancers are three-time Italian champions and had good international results in 1996, winning at Challenge Lysianne Lauret and the Autumn Trophy in Mezzaluna and finishing third at Skate Canada and fifth at the NHK Trophy. "Last year we skated even better at Morzine after Worlds, than we did at Worlds," noted Maurizio. They finished seventh at Europeans and are looking forward to the 1998 Europeans in their hometown of Milan.
Fusar-Poli asked Margaglio to skate with her only two years ago, when Reani retired. "Maurizio was a good skater with a style the same as mine, soft yet strong enough to be really good," she says. The pair meshed well, but not always perfectly. "Sometimes we fight," she laughs, "but not very much anymore."
Both dancers prefer strong music and interpretation - tangos and pasos. "We are Italians! We want to be passionate and emotional," Maurizio exclaims. For the Argentine tango, the couple studied on the floor with Vivian Grisvard, a world champion in the tango with Marlon Giuri, before crafting their original dance. "After we told her our concept of the dance, she told us it was completely opposite," Barbara says. So Grisvard worked with the pair to mold a true tango within ISU rules. "We try to feel the passion of the dance and show it to the audience, " she says.
In their free dance to Italian folk music, Fusar-Poli and Margaglio really get the crowd into their dance. "At the Italian Cup, the crowd was singing along at the end of our dance. Many people told us that we had created an emotion for them," Maurizio says. "We always try to relate our feelings and our emotions in the dance," echoes Barbara.
Unlike many dancers, the Italians love compulsories. "The compulsory dance is the best part of the competition for technique. It's a true comparison with the others," says Barbara. "The free dance is fantasy. Free is free. It's hard to compare dances," says Maurizio. "It's good to have a new dance like the Golden waltz. It's difficult for everyone," Barbara explains. "I never really liked the Westminster. It has not enough emotion."
In their choreography, the couple works with their coaches and choreographers to prepare an emotional program which shows their interaction as a couple. "We want to show emotion -- feeling -- interaction," Barbara says. "Once we have the music, they work with Paola Mezzadri and Roberto Pelizzola to lay down steps, then work with Ludmilla Vlasova and Giovanni Franzosi to add moves. "We look for good steps first, " says Maurizio, " We like to skate not lift. Lifts are not our specialty." Maurizio prefers the style of Susanna Rahkomo and Petri Kokko " because of the feeling that they give as a couple." Barbara prefers Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov.
Both dancers have skated since age 10. Barbara saw a friend skate in an exhibition and in her typically direct manner asked her mother for lessons. Maurizio used to play soccer and swim before trying skating at a school outing. "I was so stupid at it that I wanted to learn hot to skate well," he says. Maurizio also took karate lessons for a few years, earning a green belt, but decided to concentrate on skating. Off ice, Barbara swims and both skaters take classical ballet, ballroom dance, and conditioning classes. Weight training is limited to early in the summer and times when they need to strengthen specific muscles.
To relax, Barbara just likes to stay home with her boyfriend. and occasionally do some sewing: "Not our costumes. We have Sagester do our suits." Maurizio likes to go disco dancing with his brother, a disc jockey. Italy is still Barbara's favorite place. "It's the best for food," she says. Maurizio is partial to Sweden " because of the women", he admits. Both would like to travel and see more places, but don't have much free time because they attend university. Barbara is studying to be a physical education teacher, while Maurizio is getting a degree in economic engineering. "I want to organize a World Championship, not be a coach or judge," he says, "That is my dream."
Other goals are to improve on their Worlds finish this year and reach the Olympics in 1998 and 2002. "we are hungry; we want to do better," Maurizio says. "We are still growing. We can do more if we work hard," Barbara echoes.
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