Virtue, Moir ready to stretch creative muscles

VIRTUE AND MOIR EAGER FOR CANADIAN ‘THANK-YOU’ TOUR

It’s a chance to thank Canadian fans who were virtual passengers on their Pyeongchang journey, and an opportunity to fill a competitive void left after their Olympic finale.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are headliners and co-producers of the “Thank You Canada Tour” that opens Oct. 5 in Abbotsford, B.C., and makes 26 stops across Canada.

“It’s a nice outlet for us creatively to sort of explore different avenues artistically and with our skating movements, and styles and things,” Virtue said. “But it’s also nice to have this project because it allows us to focus that energy and fill that void that competition may leave, just so we can channel that into something that we’re really passionate about.”

The 29-year-old Virtue and Moir, 30, captivated Canada when they captured their second Olympic ice dance title in what was likely their final competitive performance.

The most decorated figure skaters in history have barely stopped since. Two show tours of Japan, a tour of Korea, and Stars on Ice Canada kept them busy. They were guests on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” Virtue posed for the cover of “Strong” magazine, and is the new face of Nivea Canada.

They finally set their feet down at home Monday to prepare for their cross-Canada thank-you project, which will likely double as a farewell tour.

The partners of 21 years haven’t officially announced their retirement, but mostly because they haven’t had time to.

“What we learned after Sochi (2014 Olympics) is that we need time to reflect, kind of those quiet moments,” Moir said. “If someone said to us in March of 2014 that we were going to be in Pyeongchang, we would have laughed them out of the room, that was the most ridiculous idea.

“We know we need time. It sure feels like a great ending. We don’t know what’s going to happen, and we haven’t found something to fill that competitive void yet. This Thank You Canada tour, and having that artistic licence is going to make a big difference.”

Virtue and Moir have longed to stretch their creative muscles on such a tour for years. They’ve spent two decades conforming to judges requirements. They’ve had little creative control on the pro tours they’ve headlined.

“We’ve talked about it for years and years, and I think we both have long lists of dream show ideas, and things we’ve eventually like to implement and we just sort of looked at each other and thought what better time than now,” Virtue said.