- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
Of course, if we're playing politics, you're comparing the Canadian number 2s with the French number 1s. Just sayin'
I think Sandra Bezic said it best after the Duschenay's incredible masterpiece at 1990 Worlds. Klimova/Ponomarenko may have out-skated The Duschenays, but they did not out-perform them. I think the Duschenay's problem was that after 1990, they sort of plateaued creatively and didn't know how to top Missing. Although their 1991 Euros FD was conceptually interesting and different, the audience simply did not get into it as much. Also, a lot of their choreography became repetitive with Paul (the superior skater) using Isabelle as a prop for most of the dance.
To be honest, in Albertville, I think a strong case could be made to put the Duschenays in fourth. Granted, I think my view of the Duschenays is clouded by IJS or modern ice dance (late 1990s to now), but I don't understand how the Duschenays were ever close to Klimova/Ponomarenko in the scoring. To me, K/P were just on another world of near perfection in terms of skating skills, unison, and technical difficulty. But then I also think Klimova/Ponomarenko should have beaten Bestemianova/Bukin a few times as well. At least, we got to see K/P branch out with their brilliant free dance in 1992.
K&P were one of those teams that I enjoyed more on TV than in real life, with the exception of their great 1987 OSP (the one that spawned the Golden Waltz.
Furthermore, despite nice technique, they didn't manage a lot of emotional range or project beyond the boards, even when doing their 1992 program (which I saw at Worlds that year live.) You have no idea how much the audience did not get into the 1992 Worlds ice dance in Oakland. R&K were one of the few high spots (the Duchesnays did not compete). People left saying they deserved to win, but man was that boring, something I never would have expected, having been thrilled by their Olympic performance on TV.
I can completely see why the Duchesnays beat them. I saw Missing I live at Halifax in 1990, and they were on another planet from K&P performance-wise, K&P were skating to My Fair Lady, AFAIR, which at the time just felt dated, rather than retro.
Definitely true about G&P.
And it's true that K&P's edges were much better than the D's.
But it is also true that especially in the 1988-1991 timeframe, they suffered from boring material
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They were probably the best waltz team ever, IMO. OTOH, there 1992 polka, at least as performed at Worlds, was not convincing as a polka. It was sort of like V&M's waltz polka they did this year, but with the polka rhythm music throughout. I'm not explaining this well.
I think that what this discussion proves is that sometimes even the best skaters can't always outskate a pair (or an individual) who brings something brilliant to the ice that night, or that season. The person (or couple) with the highest score isn't always the one you remember with admiration. For me, a good example is the 1994 Olympic ice dance finals. People can give me sheets of statistics proving that Grishchuk and Platov were the best skaters that night, but I love Usova/Zhulin and of course Torvill/Dean. And while I adore Klimova/Ponomarenko, what stands out to me as I watch "Missing" on video is the raw immediacy of Paul and Isabelle, skating in graceful street clothes, with Marina and Sergei waiting their turn dressed in some satiny ballet getup. Don't ask me what music K/P skated to, because it's completely gone from my mind. Their skating was probably superior, but on that night, so what?