Ontario third Richard Hart gave it a 9 out of 10.
But however you score the artistic performance, the fact that Ontario skip Glenn Howard was dancing again on Friday afternoon should be cause for concern for all his opponents.
Karen Cumberland and Ontario lead Craig Savill are set to tie the knot -- but first there's the small matter of her fiancé playing Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons in today's Brier semifinal.
You may recall that the last time Howard broke out his dance -- which, more accurately, is a jump, dance and shuffle -- was in the ninth end of the 2007 Brier final, Howard had just made a very difficult takeout to score three and clinch his third Canadian men's title over Newfoundland. The moment was captured, with Howard perfectly framed in mid-air, by Toronto Star photographer David Cooper.
Earlier this week, Cooper's photo was nominated for a National Newspaper Award, a rarity for a curling photo of any kind.
And so it was perhaps only fitting then that Howard would reprise the dance this week, picking the eighth end of the 3 vs. 4 game against B.C.'s Bob Ursel Friday afternoon.
Howard had just negotiated the narrowest of ports to pluck a B.C. stone off the four-foot to break open a tight game and give Ontario what proved to be a decisive three-ender en route to a 9-7 win that advanced them to this afternoon's semifinal.
Howard leapt in the air, did a nifty side step onto the carpet between the sheets and then pumped his fist in a routine that is sure to be replayed in the days to come.
"I don't know what gets into me when I do that," Howard said. "I have no idea what to do. I just sort of jump around; I'm in the moment, and then I see the replay, and it's, 'Oh my God, what are you doing out there?' It's emotion, you're pumped, you want to win, and you realize after making that shot you have a good chance of winning the game."
Hart was asked to grade his skip's latest performance. "That's a 9 out of 10. He got a 10 out of 10 last year in the Brier in the ninth end, but that was a 9 out of 10. I'd like to see it a few more times, actually. That would be good."
Ontario's going to need a few more shuffles and dances from their skip if they're going to repeat as Canadian men's champions this weekend. No team in Brier history has ever gone on to win the Brier after playing in the 3 vs. 4 game -- and these fellows know what they're up against.
"It's an uphill battle, we're well aware of that," Hart said. "The good thing is that we think we're a pretty good team and we think we match up pretty well with the other guys, so we'll give it a try. We'll try to beat history here; I mean, that's what we have to do. It's not easy."
The good news, says Hart is that his team is finally playing nearer their enormous capabilities. "We won a big one here and more importantly we played better. We've sort of been a little flat most of the week and we finally got a little bit of the excitement back in our game that helps us to win."
But excitement isn't going to beat Saskatchewan and Alberta, the two teams Ontario must still beat this weekend to defend their title.
"We've still got to pick it up a notch," Howard agreed. "I'd like to see us pick it up one more notch. We're pretty good, but we've got to go one better."
paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca
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