I'd like for Mao Asada and Jeffrey Buttle to team up. They can do either dance or pairs. Heck, do both!
they are the perfect dream team
Which Female single skaters could switch to pairs or ice dance?
- Thread starter naplesskater
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they are the perfect dream team
And now she will be a lovely dance skater but never good enough. I think it is too late to change. Others at her age are competing internationally and she is still beginner to dance. I don't think one can catch up 10 years of ice dance training the other Russian dancers of her age have. At the time she was wasting her time learning jumps, the dancers were spending the same amount of time learning turns and edges properly (not the 'free skaters way', but really deep ones). She will soon age out of juniors and she is nowhere near the level of a senior ice dancer.Russian senior Ice dancers usually have some wins on junior Grand Prix and often junior worlds title, she won't even have that. I think it will end up the same way as when Biriukova switched to pairs.
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- Mar 31, 2015
Has Kira performed with a male partner, considering also galas and other off contest exhibitions?
Pairs would be better maybe? As she would have some jumps for the SBS at least, and dance is pretty much "relearn everything"
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So much YES to Proklova as a pairs skater - she's the first one that came to mind for me. She's got the personality, jumps and size to be a total rock star (she already kind of is, but the Russian ladies field is so so so deep). Plus she's young enough to wait out some of the current senior teams.
I think for the smaller singles girls, pairs would be a great alternative, and it's getting technically more and more challenging every season. I feel like dance is a bit of a lost cause to switch to - skills not nearly as transferable.
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And what, pray tell, is the better option for her? Stay the 11th ranked lady?
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- Feb 24, 2012
Well she has good skating skills but not the type for ice dancing or enough. She is still a tier behind say Yuna or Buttle or Chan - edging is not deep or as smooth as them. But at this point she is too mature in age really to learn the skills to be a top level ice dancer not to mention develop chemistry with a partner. As a dancer or pair you have to learn how to skate as one and while some do fairly well it does usually take time and Korpi could not rely she was a singles skater and thus should have bigger and more difficult jumps - ice dance doesn't have those elements. She would have to learn how to do things in synch, dance spins and lifts - who knows how strong her abs are etc for lifts and the list goes on. Most pairs skaters who were singles often were doing both ie Duhamel.
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Having just seen Patrick in person this weekend - he's definitely strong enough and he definitely had great dance moves (a surprise) but at SOI he was paired with Katia Gordeev who was the shortest woman in the cast - even shorter than Meryl Davis. He could do it but it would have to be a very, very short partner. He's only about 5'6" - probably like Rockne Brubaker.
Maria just really loves to skate. So she's giving it a try, to leave no stone unturned. This way, even if it doesn't work out in the end, she won't have any regrets that she didn't at least try every option to prolong her career.
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- Apr 18, 2014
I'm sure anyone can write a thesis on why Stavitskaya won't succeed in dance, but the fact is that she doesn't have much of a future in singles either. She's not getting a GP assignment for sure and it is doubtful she'll get a B assignment. So why not take the risk. It wasn't exactly a disastrous choice for Shibnev himself who just 3 years ago was a less than mediocre male skater who couldn't even make it to nationals. The switch to dance got him into nationals and a handful of B internationals, which is a hell of a lot more than what he did as a singles skater
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- Jul 31, 2014
I am going to throw out a weird one. Mirai Nagasu. I wonder if mentally do better in pairs with a dominant partner. She seems to do well letting others take the lead. I think having a partner that she can let make a lot of the decisions and takes more of a go with the flow attitude might work well for her. I think she might be happier having someone like that to face skating with. She could still do what she loves, but just have someone to share the stress with.
Kanako Murakami, for me, would be a good ice dancer. Her step sequences are always delightful; she has such good knee bend and flow across the ice. That and I think her flawed toe jumps and frequent pops are what detract from her overall skating. I'm not sure how she'd do with a partner but her personality seems like the type that can handle a partnership pretty well.
Sigh.
Sigh.
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- Feb 27, 2012
Sorry, Stitch, but gotta disagree with some of your comments here re Mirai.
The overall notion of her switching to pairs is not unthinkable to me.
But I strongly believe that she would stand for nothing but an equal partnership. She strikes me as quite feisty, and IMO, she would refuse to have a "dominant" partner who would make most of the decisions.
The one part of your post with which I agree is that someone with whom to share the stress could be a benefit of pairs for her.
As for: "She seems to do well letting others take the lead" --
What would be the basis for your opinion??
That said, I would note that taking the lead could mean different things.
One of Virtue/Moir's coaches (might have been Shpilband) once said that Scott takes the lead on the ice, whereas Tessa takes the lead off the ice.
That said, I would note that taking the lead could mean different things.
One of Virtue/Moir's coaches (might have been Shpilband) once said that Scott takes the lead on the ice, whereas Tessa takes the lead off the ice.
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I think a person can be feisty and still be able to let other people deal with everyday minutia - some feisty people really don't care about minutia. I could see Mirai not really caring if the 2A or the 3Z comes first in the program, still being feisty, but letting someone else decide stuff like that. Sometimes when you really don't care between two options being forced to pick can really suck. I could see that in Mirai, if she is happy with two options, she may not really want to pick between the two, so letting a partner make the final decision between the two could work well and take away stress. If neither option elicit a feisty response, sometimes it is easier to let someone else make the call. That is not to say I think she is a push over, I am sure she says no plenty and still would with a partner. But for stuff she does not really care about as much, I could see her liking having a partner that likes making those decisions. By dominant I somewhat mean just someone who likes making decisions. I guess by take control maybe I just mean, dealing with stuff that Mirai is not really keen on dealing with. Maybe by dominate I really just mean someone willing to act as skating partner and personal assistant - i.e. does more work. I could see Meagan Duhamel as an example being dominant in this type of way but still, but still a part of an equal partnership in many ways. Meagan seems the type that would do her partners laundry if it made things easier and not give it a second thought beyond that it works and they are happy.
As for others taking the lead. Well she does seem to be improving under Tom Z and seems happy with her new position. Tom is kinda intense. She has commented on him having a binder with her life planned out through 2018. She said she does not want to see the binder, but she is still sticking with the coach that uses it. She strikes me as happy to go along for the journey, but does not really want to be a part of planning out the itinerary years in advance. I think if she could find a partner that was similar to Tom Z it could be a good match.
I don't say any of this as an insult to her, frankly I can see the appeal. Some people can take comfort in structure and Mirai may be one of them.
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I will file our conversation under: "words mean different things to different people."I would say that handling minutiae is not a characteristic of dominance, IMO.
Many powerful/dominant people prefer for underlings to handle the minutiae ... but when something important is at stake, then the power brokers speak up and expect to have the last word.
(Sort of the opposite of crying wolf -- as in someone unwisely needing to have her/his way in every piddly little decision along the way. When a big decision with major consequences is at hand, everyone is tired of letting the person have/her his way
. Then someone with true power steps in and rules the day.)And as someone who likes both Eric and Meaghan, I would say:
LOL, even if Eric were running out of clean clothes, my opinion is that Meaghan would never dream of doing his laundry -- unless he routinely were washing her car, shopping for her (vegan
) groceries, etc., as part of ongoing teamwork on chores.Also giggling over the idea of a skating partner as a personal assistant. I suppose it could be true in some cases.
So I guess any of us non-athletes who could use a personal assistant just need to take up pairs skating (or ice dance)
.Love you, Stitch.
Just offering some different points of view.
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- Jul 31, 2014
I struggled with the right wording because dominant is weird in this context. You are right that some dominant people absolutely do like the underlings to handle stuff (though some may argue they are just delegating so still in charge and dealing with it, just in a different manner) but alot of them also don't mind just dealing with crap to get it down. Some get to be the dominate one by not being afraid to get their hands dirty so to speak. Maybe take charge personality would be better? I have the type of person in my mind, but not sure how to label them. Maybe someone who is comfortable with the dominate role but who does not need to be dominate would be a good way to put it. I probably am associating decision maker with dominant.
And I was not saying Meaghan should do his laundry, but I do think she is they type that would if for some bizarre reason it just worked better. She seems the type to just do what works rather than thinking about why it is weird, or should not be that way. She seems more interested in what works, than what is right. If doing a partner's laundry means they stop forgetting things, or otherwise eliminates conflict, some may find it easier to just do the damn laundry rather than babysit the other person. And no i don't think Eric needs help with laundry.
As for personal assistant roles, well I bet if you asked pairs and ice dancers a lot of couples would be able to point to one party that fulfills that administrate side. I suspect if you asked them "who is the personal assistant?" they would often have an answer and lead to very amusing conversations. Think about a marriage. Do couples usually do things right down the middle, or does one often handle more of the administrative side of things - I'd expect partnerships to be very similar. We should suggest Michael Buck ask the partners this. I bet a lot of them would have very cute answers about the division of labor and authority and decision making.
And I was not saying Meaghan should do his laundry, but I do think she is they type that would if for some bizarre reason it just worked better. She seems the type to just do what works rather than thinking about why it is weird, or should not be that way. She seems more interested in what works, than what is right. If doing a partner's laundry means they stop forgetting things, or otherwise eliminates conflict, some may find it easier to just do the damn laundry rather than babysit the other person. And no i don't think Eric needs help with laundry.
As for personal assistant roles, well I bet if you asked pairs and ice dancers a lot of couples would be able to point to one party that fulfills that administrate side. I suspect if you asked them "who is the personal assistant?" they would often have an answer and lead to very amusing conversations. Think about a marriage. Do couples usually do things right down the middle, or does one often handle more of the administrative side of things - I'd expect partnerships to be very similar. We should suggest Michael Buck ask the partners this. I bet a lot of them would have very cute answers about the division of labor and authority and decision making.
Canada's # 4 lady this year would have a better shot at making it out of Canada if she switched to pairs. She is a lovely skater but will not get any international assignments since she doesn't have the tech content. Of course with the number of good pairs in Canada she wouldn't make it to worlds but she might have a better chance to get some international assignments.
