What will the 2010/2011 bring us in ICE DANCE?

Olympia said:

. Russian skating will return to its former excellence, I'm sure. When I was watching those videos from "Ice Age," I was struck anew with the depth and quality of Russian skating. The combination of innovative technique and artistic profundity, especially in pairs and ice dance, is a part of the Russian character.

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Thank you, Olympia! By the way, the choreographer who helped Alexander Zhulin to stage his dances for 'Ice Age' is also working with his ice-dance pairs. Not sure what will be the outcome, we'll see that on GP stages.

Fedor/Andreev. A whoopsie, I think

A lot of times, the team that comes into seniors with a bang has a lot to do with luck of the draw in the GP. So for amusement's sake, let's look at the GP lineups:

The season starts with NHK:
1 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 1
2 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG CHN 2
3 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 3
4 Zoe BLANC / Pierre-Loup BOUQUET FRA 4
5 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 5
6 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 6
7 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 7
8 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 8
9 Emily SAMUELSON / Evan BATES USA 8
10 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 8

D&W look to have little competition here for first place. And you'd think S&B, W&P, and C&L would be fighting it out for the 2nd and 3rd places, but it is possible that I&K or the Shibutanis (Maia has grown two inches!) might get 3rd or 4th place. If they do, that would be an outstanding senior debut. (V&M started at 3rd, D&W at 4th). This particular lineup will be a hard place for a new team to get higher than 4th.

Skate Canada is next:
1 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 1
2 Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM CAN 1
3 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 1
4 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 2
5 Stefanie FROHBERG / Tim GIESEN GER 3
6 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR 4
7 Lorenza ALESSANDRINI / Simone VATURI ITA 5
8 Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitali BUTIKOV RUS 6
9 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 7
10 Rachel TIBBETTS / Collin BRUBAKER USA 7

V&M have this locked up, but the P/I vs. C/P showdown will be interesting. If Skate Canada has indeed annointed P/I, you'll see it here. Kerrs should have the silver, but the bronze is wide open, as is fourth. Some young team will medal here, for sure.

Cup of China:
1 Kharis RALPH / Asher HILL CAN 1
2 Xueting GUAN / Meng WANG CHN 2
3 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 2
4 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG CHN 2
5 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 3
6 Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN HUN 4
7 Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI ITA 5
8 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 6
9 Isabella CANNUSCIO / Ian LORELLO USA 7
10 Madison HUBBELL / Keiffer HUBBELL USA 7

I'm really looking forward to this event. F&S vs. P&B should be outstanding. And again the bronze will go to a team that hasn't had any/many GP medals before. I'm hoping H&Z will get it!

Skate America looks to be a free for all among the younger teams:

1 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 1
2 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 1
3 Stefanie FROHBERG / Tim GIESEN GER 2
4 Lorenza ALESSANDRINI / Simone VATURI ITA 3
5 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 3
6 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 4
7 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO RUS 5
8 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 6
9 Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT USA 6
10 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 6

After D&W, there are no clear favorites for medals. C/L, C/P and W/P will likely take them. However, I'm hoping for a strong senior debut for the Shibs and K/g-s who looked really good at LPIDC.

Cup of Russia comes next

1 Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM CAN 1
2 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 2
3 Zoe BLANC / Pierre-Loup BOUQUET FRA 3
4 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR 4
5 Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN HUN 5
6 Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI ITA 6
7 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 7
8 Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitali BUTIKOV RUS 7
9 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 7
10 Madison HUBBELL / Keiffer HUBBELL USA 8

F&S should win. Kerrs should take second. And we will find out who's the leading team among the young Russians: I&K, B&S, and one should not forget Gorshkova & Butikov. I wouldn't be surprised to see H&Z take the bronze. If I/P want to make a splash, even finishing 4th will be difficult here.

The final GP event of the season is TEB:

1 Kharis RALPH / Asher HILL CAN 1
2 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 1
3 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 2
4 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 3
5 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 3
6 1 TBA / 1 TBA FRA 3
7 Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR HUN 4
8 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO RUS 5
9 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 6
10 Emily SAMUELSON / Evan BATES USA 6

V&M win, obviously. P&B second. Third place looks wide open, and 4th place even more so. & S&B will get the bronze. When discussing the Russians, Riazanova should not be ignored either. If R&H want to make a senior splash, this is where they will have to do it.

Re Russia. One factor that will be interesting this year is that Alla Shekhovtseva now on the IDTC, is not a power player on the committee. She is low man on totem pole so to speak, and became less powerful. According to the rules, Tech Committee members can only Referee one event a year and be a Tech Controller one event a year and can no long act as judge. So she has less chance of influencing the panel of judges like she did last year when she judged so many events. I am happy that Gordon-Poltorak is now head of the IDTC. She won by seven votes over Bob Horan.

KKonas said:

Re Russia. One factor that will be interesting this year is that Alla Shekhovtseva now on the IDTC, is not a power player on the committee.

So she has less chance of influencing the panel of judges like she did last year when she judged so many events.

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Please advise what is the source for such information about Alla Shekhovtseva?

Don't you know if a Russian team or skater wins an event its all because of backroom deals? They never win legitimately. LOL LOL LOL

Ellen said:

Please advise what is the source for such information about Alla Shekhovtseva?

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Any number of international dance judges with whom I am in routinely in contact.

gmyers said:

Don't you know if a Russian team or skater wins an event its all because of backroom deals? They never win legitimately. LOL LOL LOL

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se

That is of course a gross exaggeration. But it is easy to influence younger inexperienced judges by insidiously trashing certain teams in judges' meetings, especially if you have a strong record. Why do you think Alla judged so many competitions last season? Is she the only Russian dance judge? Of course not, but she is the most influential one.

http://www.ice-dance.com/articles/824-isu-congress-news
( a report from back in June)

And in politics…
Earlier this month, Alexander Gorshkov, 1976 Olympic ice dance champion and chair of the ISU ice dance technical committee (IDTC), was unanimously elected the new President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, replacing Valentin Piseyev who had held the post since 1989. Russia decided changes were in order after results at the 2010 Winter Olympics failed to meet the country's expectations. Gorshkov's new post required him to step down from his ISU position, leaving not only a post open, but also the chair position vacant.

Immediately after Gorshkov's RFSF election, speculation abounded that Alla Shekhovtseva, an ISU judge -- and wife of Valentin Piseev -- would run for the vacancy. This week she was elected.

Halina Gordon-Poltorak of Poland will serve as the new chair of the ice dance technical committee which includes Shekhovtseva, Robert Horen of the United States (who is in his second term on the committee), and Gilles Vandenbroeck of France, who was also elected at the Congress. The committee also has an athlete representative (Sylvia Nowak-Trebacka, Poland) and coach representative (Krisztina Regöczy, Hungary).

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So Alla is indeed on the IDTC, and Gordon-Polterak is the new chair. She was previously a judge.

And according to ISU Communication 1635, she is still listed as an International Judge, a Technical Controller, and a Technical Referree.

I don't know whether there are restrictions on how many times per year she can serve as a judge, vs. what restrictions there were on her serving before she was an IDTC member.

:Of course Russian teams/ pairs have won legitimately...often. But that doesn't mean there haven't been some pretty dubious results , too. And sometimes it's not about who's placing where internationally, but where skaters are ranked within Russia..( how often have we heard of Russian skaters complaining that they didn't have the support of the powers that be ? That they were moved to a different coach, or convinced to change partners ? How often have we seen a team / pair suddenly and inexplicably fall or rise at the national level ?)..Every federation may play politics / strive for influence to a degree..but with more or less authority and to greater or lesser effect. Are we to assume such dabbling ends at the border ? That would be pretty silly of us.

1. I'm not sure if P/I are annointed. Like colleen, I'd question rushing their development too fast. Additionally, if V/M do remain for the entire quad, it wouldn't surprise me if they remained on top.

2. I don't think the Kerrs are entirely locked into silver at SC. C/P actually beat them on TES at Worlds in the OD and FD, and given how consistently the Kerrs struggle to get the higher level elements, hometown PCS scoring for C/P.... I could see Canada going 1-2

3. There are two H/Z's in Cup of China (Hoffman and Zavosin, Huang and Zheng). Which one are you rooting for. I'm going for the hometown team for bronze myself, but I think it's Bobrova/Soloviev's to lose.

I'm afraid I was the one that threw 'anointed' out there..but I was saying that Lane and Razgulajevs have emerged as the anointed coaches in the last 2-3 years. Seems almost no other coaches get much mention or praise.. then trains mentioned that SkateCanada was looking to P/I to be the next V/M. Gr-r-r-r.. I hate it whenever they start the "next one" nonsense. I always feel they're just asking to get smacked down.Oh ,I know, when you first see Alexandra Paul you can't help but be struck by how like Tessa she is.But that's putting a heavy burden on her and I wish they'd resist.
All things being equal, if anyone can threaten C/P's second team status, I would think it would be W/P. As I said, unless R/H have undergone massive development in the off-season, I don't think they can overtake W/P this year. But R/H could be overtaken by P/I, not to mention possibly some of the other senior teams , depending, of course on off season improvement..e.g. are Harvey /Gagnon still together ? How have they progressed ? They weren't all that terribly far behind R/H last year..

C&P had great success at Worlds and they are still very young, especially Paul Poirier, so there's lots of room for improvement in that team yet. When Paul finishes maturing physically (and emotionally moves from boy to man) look out! Vanessa seems to be improving her posture/positions too. They will be a very powerful, athletic team.

I don't think anyone is "anointing" P&I ahead of C&P, but P&I show a lot of potential, and if they keep developing well, they might duke it out with C&P in the future.

I think that W&P will be bypassed, same with R&H. But time will tell.

colleen o'neill said:

some of the other senior teams , depending, of course on off season improvement..e.g. are Harvey /Gagnon still together ? How have they progressed ? They weren't all that terribly far behind R/H last year..

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They're at Lake Placid competition last month, they looked great! They also are going to Nebelhorn in the next few weeks.

Well, since I'm still just making a mess of things trying to quote... I'm just copying and pasting..so there !
As per Doris' list, here's NHK;

The season starts with NHK:
1 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 1
2 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG CHN 2
3 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 3
4 Zoe BLANC / Pierre-Loup BOUQUET FRA 4
5 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 5
6 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 6
7 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 7
8 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 8
9 Emily SAMUELSON / Evan BATES USA 8
10 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 8

All I can say is , I expect to be a basket case all season. I have a fondness for so many teams , I don't know what to hope for..I want W/P to do well . They sort of fell by the wayside in the past, but after last year's 4CC, I think they'll be given a serious look ...C/L have always been particular favourites of mine, and I haven't always thought they were given as much credit as they deserve... Can't wait to see the Shibs after her growth spurt..The Reeds have been coming along steadily and surely, at NHK, they'll be given as much credit as they can reasonably be given..I've never been that thrilled with their programs, though last year's OD was charming. Many teams have interesting music choices..But I expect American in Paris to be utterly perfect for S/B..they could just come charging out of the gate..B/B haven't really impressed me all that much , to date..I can't get a clear picture in my mind of M/N , though ...and I blush to confess that I can't keep the Chinese teams straight..is this their second or third team.? I'll have to check..but I don't think they're in the thick of it here...I/K..??!?!..curiosity consumes me.

Of course, I expect D/W to be at the top of the field.

I have a great fondness for M/N! They skated to to Ieva's Polka in the OD last year (Loitumaa) She had these ridiculously huge painted on freckles for it. AFAIR, they did Blues for Klook in the long (not a particularly memorable rendition).

B&B are lousy technical skaters, but they have very interesting programs. NHK will be a way cool event IMO.

I want to see how D&W incorporate the twizzles and steps into a waltz, and still make it look like a waltz. They are doing an all waltz OD to the Amelie MST.

Aha ! Thanks Doris.. Now I get the picture. M/N yeah , I quite liked their OD except for her freckles and the uneven pigtails,which kind of wrecked it for me..kind of crossed the line between cute and condescending.Humour is so hard to do in competition , there's always the danger that the actual skating won't be taken seriously.Their blues was.. I'd like to see them with some really good programs, though.

colleen o'neill said:

...and I blush to confess that I can't keep the Chinese teams straight..is this their second or third team.? I'll have to check..but I don't think they're in the thick of it here...

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Yu/Wang are generally considered the 2nd best Chinese team. Think CATS and you'll probably remember them. Huang/Zheng (Zorba the Greek!) #1 although Yu/Wang have beaten them before, I believe. Other Chinese are younger, probably Guan/Wang currently the best of them.

gmyers said:

Don't you know if a Russian team or skater wins an event its all because of backroom deals? They never win legitimately. LOL LOL LOL

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Of course! All Olympic Gold Medals won by Russian pairs, men and dance pairs for last 40 years were won only because of the backroom deals.

Thanks,bigsis ..I'm going to repeat that to myself a hundred times,,beyond Huang/Zheng, I was lost. Now I can picture Y/W ..and if Guan /Wang are the 3rd pair that were at 4CC ,I think they're really promising, their OD was very enjoyable.