Canadian duo Gilles, Poirier soar into ice dance lead at Skate Canada

Stepping out of the ballroom proved successful for the Canadian ice dancing team of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

The pair thrilled a hometown crowd and impressed the judges for the top score in the rhythm program during the opening day of the dance competition at the Skate Canada International figure skating event Friday.

"For this we really wanted to make sure our program was a little bit more on the urban side," said Gilles, who was born in the U.S., but has a Canadian mother and grandmother. "We felt we were doing a little bit more of the ballroom style. We really needed to change that up."

The fast-paced performance to Elton John music earned a season-best 85.65 points.

"It's been a scramble of a few weeks really trying to nail everything down and get it as smooth as possible," said Poirier, of Ottawa. "We knew this was going to be our first performance in front of a live crowd in almost two years.

"What we really tried to do was manage our energy with the energy of the crowd behind us. I think we accomplished that really well. We were able to stay focused and deliver a really strong performance."

WATCH | Gilles, Poirier top ice dance rhythm dance:

Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri were second with 78.82 points while Spain's Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz were third with 76.97.

Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha placed sixth with 71.87 points while Haley Sales and Nikolas Warmsteeker were eighth with 60.75.

Earlier, Keegan Messing shook off some nerves to post the best Canadian result in the men's short program, finishing third.

"It's a joy to be back on the Grand Prix circuit but boy did I forget about the pressure that comes with it," said Messing, who was born in Anchorage, Alaska, but whose mother is from Edmonton. "Just to go out there to put down a clean skate. I was very thankful of that.

"I'm ready to push for the long [program] tomorrow."

WATCH | Messing 3rd after short program:

Organizers say about 600 tickets were sold for Friday's competition at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at the University of British Columbia.