A historic moment on the ice of Milan
Anyone who has been following me at Miss Salsa for a while knows that my heart doesn't just beat faster for a tight salsa-on-two or a passionate bachata. Dance is everywhere, and right now something is happening on the ice in Italy that truly gives me goosebumps as a Dutch dance enthusiast. We are currently watching the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, and for the first time in history, the Netherlands is represented in the discipline of pair skating. The duo achieving this milestone? Michel Tsiba and Daria Danilova.
In my thirty years in the dance world, I have seen many talents pass by, but the path Michel Tsiba has traveled is of a rare category. While we often talk about 'flow' and 'connection' in the dance studio, these figure skaters add an element of pure physical daredevilry to that. Pair skating is perhaps the most technical and risky form of dance that exists. The fact that we finally have a Dutch couple at this level is actually a small miracle.
From Zandvoort ice hockey dream to figure skating
The story of Michel Tsiba doesn't begin in a prestigious Russian ballet school, but simply in Zandvoort. The son of a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother stepped onto the ice for the first time at the age of seven. Funny enough, his original goal wasn't to become a figure skater at all; he wanted to play ice hockey. But as often happens with great talents, his first coach saw something in his movements that better suited the grace of figure skating.
The path to the top was not always easy for Michel. In the nineties and the beginning of this century, it was quite a challenge for a boy in the Netherlands to choose figure skating. He faced bullying at school, sometimes even homophobic in nature, simply because he practiced a sport that was seen by many as 'not tough'. In my own experience in the dance world, I have unfortunately seen this more often with talented male dancers. It requires enormous mental strength to keep following your own path at that age. Michel did just that, won the Dutch senior title as a solo skater in 2018, and then decided that his future lay in pair skating.
The match with Daria Danilova
Pair skating is a discipline we hardly know in the Netherlands. We are good at speed skating, but the technical finesses of lifts and throws on the ice? We had to look far for that. Because no partner could be found in his own country, Michel had to look across the border. He found his match in the Russian Daria Danilova in Berlin.
Daria, who started at age three in Moscow, was a 'middle-of-the-pack' solo skater in the cutthroat Russian circuit. But her height and light weight made her the ideal partner for pair skating. Since 2018, the duo has been training together, a journey that led them through Berlin, Moscow, Sochi, and eventually Heerenveen. What I find beautiful about their story is Daria's integration. She has lived in Zandvoort since 2020 and officially received Dutch nationality in 2024. Whereas they first communicated only in Russian, they now simply speak Dutch with each other in their shared home in Heerenveen.
A tribute to Sjoukje and Joan
Tsiba and Danilova's performance at these Winter Olympics is more than just a sporting achievement; it is an emotional tribute. In a recent interview with De Telegraaf, they stated that their routine is an ode to the recently deceased figure skating icons Sjoukje Dijkstra and Joan Haanappel.
For the younger generation: Sjoukje and Joan were the women who put figure skating on the map in the Netherlands in the '50s and '60s. That Michel and Daria are now, so many decades later, taking over the torch in pair skating feels like the circle is complete. They are not only skating for themselves, but for the entire history of the sport in our country. According to the NRC, this Dutch duo gives the sport exactly the impulse it needs.
The technical challenge in the Mediolanum Forum
When we look at the competition in the Mediolanum Forum in Assago (near Milan), we have to be honest: a medal is a very distant dream for the Dutch pair. The top favorites are the Japanese Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi, who have won almost everything there is to win in recent years. The Italians Sara Conti and Niccolò Macci also have the home advantage and a rock-solid technique.
But in dance and figure skating, it's not always about the gold. It's about the execution of the elements. With Michel and Daria, pay special attention to the synchronization. In pair skating, the skaters must make exactly the same movements, often with their backs to each other, without being able to see each other. That requires a blind trust that you only build by training together for thousands of hours. The lifts, where Michel lifts Daria with one hand above his head while balancing on one blade, are technically comparable to the most difficult acrobatic lifts in salsa, but on a slippery surface at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour.
What we as dancers can learn from this
From my 30 years of experience, I see an important lesson in Michel Tsiba's story. It's about resilience. Whether you are on the dance floor or on the ice: you have to deal with criticism, with people who think you can't do it, or with physical setbacks. Michel could have stopped at any moment when he was being bullied, or when he couldn't find a partner in the Netherlands. Instead, he pushed his boundaries and looked for the solution off the beaten path.
Additionally, Daria's transition is an example of dedication. She changed country, language, and discipline to chase her dream. That is the passion we also need in the dance world. Figure skating is once again one of the most-watched sports during these Games in Milan, and rightly so. It is the ultimate combination of athletic ability and artist expression.
Michel and Daria show that the Netherlands, despite our focus on speed skating, also deserves a place in the world of artistic pair skating. Whether they finish tenth or twentieth, they have paved the way for a new generation of Dutch figure skaters who dare to dream of pair skating. And that, if you ask me, is the greatest victory of these Winter Games.