ice dancers must maintain a stoic smile even as their bodies and brains are undergoing olympiclevel stress creditchang w leethe new york timesfeb 17 2014sochi russia hockey players gnash their teeth ski jumpers can hide their fear behind goggles speedskaters huff and puff as they round the bend such is not the fate of olympic ice dancers who must maintain a stoic smile before an audience and a panel of judges even if a boot fills with blood a partner sinks a score or a spectator sneers it is one of the more peculiarly theatrical pursuits of the winter games part of ice dancers success lies in their ability to plaster on calm relaxed expressions even as their bodies and brains are undergoing olympiclevel stressactually its funny the canadian ice dancer mitchell islam said talking to some of the olympians weve met here i brag thats the hard thing about our sport were just as tired as any other endurance athlete gets doing their sport but we have to look pretty when were doing it its a little tougheradded his skating partner alexandra paul the speedskaters not a lot for islam and paul who performed their free skate monday that meant hours analyzing their performance faces in studio mirrors and in video in addition to on the ice during grueling workouts you dont want to think about how your face looks during the program paul said you want it to just be how you feel it has made for a curious perhaps even mildly creepy sight at the practice rink here ice dancers in the daylight some in track jackets and leotards void of their costumes and stage makeup smiling at each other in ecstasy as they circle the rink no audience other than their coaches no sound other than the crunch of their blades thats what you got to do in practice said nicholas buckland a british ice dancer who partners with penny coomes then it comes on the ice you have to even be better in practice so under the nerves and stress it can be a real good performance an acting coach helped the americans madison chock and evan bates perfect their expressions in their free skate isabella tobias and deividas stagniunas of lithuania enlisted the help of a mime for their performance for two years danielle obrien and gregory merriman of australia have taken on clown faces as they perform a free skate to a medley of circusinspired music its almost our pain reflex now is to turn that frown upside down really merriman said sweaty but still clad in his electric green shirt suspenders and an oversize blue and pink polkadot tie undone but perhaps maintaining a smile on the ice was most difficult for the american siblings alex and maia shibutani during the man in the mirror segment of their michael jackson program monday night maia shibutanis skirt got caught on her brothers shoulder during a lift tearing it and calling for some hasty