Skate America's dance competition should ultimately be won by Meryl Davis and Charlie White, but it will be interesting to see how close Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirer come to them for second place. The competition starts with the short dance. Meryl and Charlie come into this season the least prepared they have been since 2006/2007, when Charlie was injured for most of the month of August. "Not prepared" for Davis and White is still a lot better prepared than many other teams, but it does mean that they did not get their programs out for public comment prior to the Grand Prix, nor for private comment before Champs Camp.
At Champs Camp, they were advised not to use the "Amelie" soundtrack as the music for their Short Dance, so they came to NHK with a very new program to them, set to waltzes from "La Traviata and "La Boheme." Pechalat and Bourzat have also changed their short dance music from "Amelie" to a more traditional waltz from Dr. Zhivago. Music choices are one of the uncertainties in this new discipline, the short dance.
Additionally, the new rules for the short dance are just being understood, both by them, their coaches, and the rest of the skating world. At NHK, they were severely penalized by the technical committee in the second Golden Waltz segment, and given only a Level 1 there. Many other couples have also be so penalized at their first Short Dance outing, including Pechalat and Bourzat at Nebelhorn. There have apparently been some clarifications to the Short Dance requirements to attain the levels in the second Golden Waltz Segment, although there does not appear to be an official communication, as yet. This probably occurred as a result of the Ice Dance Judges' Seminar in October. Here's a link to the Q&A on the Golden Waltz and new Twizzle Rules:
http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-203579-220802-169393-0-file,00.pdf
In any case, I expect to see Davis and White to have made improvements to their Golden Waltz technique, based on both their scores at NHK, and this clarification. However, they may skate their Golden Waltz segments more deliberately in consequence. Levels may rise, but Grade of Execution may drop.
Crone and Poirier virtually tied with the Kerrs at Skate Canada in the short dance, with their program to "Fallin'"; however, their score was still four points lower than Davis and White's NHK score, despite their higher levels in the Golden Waltz. For me, some of the problems with Crone and Poirier's short dance is that "Fallin'" is in no way a Viennese Waltz and it has some of the same problems, musically, for the short dance that the "Amelie" soundtrack does. However, I do not expect them to have changed it, first because Skate America is only two weeks since Skate Canada, but second, Skate America features an exciting preview of what Canadian Nationals will look like. It includes a head to head matchup with Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, who finished just behind Crone and Poirier last year at Canadian Nationals.
Weaver and Poje have a lovely and very mature adult short dance program set to "At Last" by Etta James, and "Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin. The dance is in sharp contrast to Crone and Poirier's very youthful looking presentation. Weaver and Poje have had a week longer than Crone and Poirier to fix any short dance problems, and I hoping to see that it will be close and exciting for the second spot. Neither Canadian team can feel comfortable that they will be on the podium. There are two other very competitive teams here at Skate America.
Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko finished in second place in the short dance at Nebelhorn, and third overall there. This ia a relatively new pairing. Both members of the team have competed at high international levels in juniors with other partners, Riazanova with Jonathan Guerreiro and Tkachenko with Maria Monko. This is their first outing since Nebelhorn. They are one of several couples vying for the wide open Russian Nationals championship this year.
Finally, Maia and Alex Shibutani will be competing here. Their strength has been the free dance this season, as they have had falls in both the short dances they competed this season. Their problem at NHK was due to Alex tripping over Maia's skirt. They have lovely basics, especially now that Maia is three inches taller than she was last year, so that they present a more senior appearnance on the ice. I hope that third time is the charm here, and that they will skate their short dance perfectly.
Anna Capellini and Luca Lanotte have chosen not to compete at Skate America, as they have changed coaches, and returned to Italy to redo their free dance, which has not been well received by the judges this year.
Another team that have a very entertaining short dance this year are Chris and Cathy Reed, who will be skating to selections from the "Addams Family" soundtrack. While they are not expected to medal, they are well worth your notice.
Other teams competing are Coomes and Buckland GBR,who appeared at NHK, Frohberg and Giesen GER, who appeared at SC, and Kriengkrairut and Giuletti-Schmitt USA, who will be making their sole Grand Prix appearance this season.
Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giuletti-Schmitt USA (ISU World Ranking 82nd)
Coach: Yaroslava Netchaeva, Juri Tchesnitchenko
Choreographer: Yaroslava Netchaeva, Juri Tchesnitchenko
SD: Waltz: The Trouble With Love Is by Kelly Clarkson
8th at the most recent US Championships
6th at Nebelhorn
5th in the SD at Nebelhorn (52.71)
8th in the FD at Nebelhorn (74.23)
Stefanie Frohberg and Tim Giesen GER ( ISU World Ranking 41st)
Coach: Rene Lohse
Choreographer: Jutta Deutschland (SD); Denkova and Staviski (FD)
Their SD Waltz: Tanz der Hofdamen by Rumpelstil
7th at Finlandia in the FD, 65.59
Skate Canada SD 43.00
FD Skate Canada 62.10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odcgFhV22XI
Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachencko RUS (ISU World Ranking 34th)
Coach: Alexei Gorshkov
Choreographer: Sergei Petukhov
SD: Waltz: The Snowstorm by Georgi Sviridov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cicoTXaF2I&feature=related
FD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HemRDeaml4I&feature=related
Last year was their first as a team.
4th at the most recent Senior Russian Nationals
3rd at Nebelhorn this fall
2nd in the SD 58.31
Level 4 in GW Segment 1
Level 2 in GW Segment 2
Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland GBR (ISU World Ranking: 28th)
Coach: Evgeni Platov, Philip Askew
Choreographer: Philip Askew
Their SD: Their program: Waltz: La Valse d'Amelie by Yann Tiersen; Tango: Tango de los Exilados by Vanessa Mae and Walter Taieb
Current British Senior Silver Medallists
16th at European Championships last year
This fall, third at Coupe de Nice, fourth at Nepela Trophy
NHK SD 43.52
NHK FD 66.28
Cathy Reed and Chris Reed JPN (ISU World Ranking: 27th)
Coach: Nikolai Morozov, Walter Rizzo
Choreographer: Nikolai Morozov, Patti Wilcox
Their SD: A Party For Me? (from Addams Family soundtrack) by Marc Shaiman; The Tango (from Addams Family soundtrack) by Marc Shaiman
For three years straight, National Senior champions in Japan
15th at last year's World Championships
SD NHK 44.90
FD NHK 69.62
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCtjTlUYsbw
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani USA (ISU World Ranking: 14th)
Coach: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva, J.Johns, A. Lenda
Choreographer: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva
Their SD: Waltz: The Carousel Waltz by Richard Rodgers
Current US Junior champions
4th at last year's Junior Worlds, 2nd at the previous Junior Worlds
5th at Nebelhorn this fall, due to a fall in the SD.(46.90) They were second in the FD at Nebelhorn, ahead of Capellini/Lanotte.
NHK SD 53.68, including a fall in GW segment 1
FD 83.25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvkeizcT_ps&feature=related
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje CAN (ISU World Ranking: 10th)
Coach: S. Bourne, P. Camerlengo, A. Krylova
Choreographer: Shae-Lynn Bourne, Pasquale Camerlengo
Their SD: Waltz: At Last by Etta James; Cheek to Cheek by Irving Berlin
1st place at 4CC's in 2010
3rd at Canadian Senior Nationals
NHK SD Score: 58.69
NHK FD 82.88
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS6VbQtdFHM
Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier CAN (ISU World Ranking: 6th)
Coach: Carol Lane, Juris Razguliaevs, Jon Lane
Choreographer: Christopher Dean, Carol Lane, Juris Razguliaevs
SD Waltz: Fallin' by Alicia Keys, but not performed by Alicia Keys
SD from Skate Canada 62.95
FD from Skate Canada 91.47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EACGNJTCnmU
Meryl Davis and Charlie White USA (ISU World Ranking: 1st)
Coach: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva
Choreographer: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva
Their SD: Waltz: La Boheme by G. Puccini; Waltz: La Traviata by G. Verdi
Two time US Champions, 2nd at Olympics, 2nd at Worlds, 1st at GPF.
NHK SD: 66.97
FD NHK 98.24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpJAdCpVzhA
At Champs Camp, they were advised not to use the "Amelie" soundtrack as the music for their Short Dance, so they came to NHK with a very new program to them, set to waltzes from "La Traviata and "La Boheme." Pechalat and Bourzat have also changed their short dance music from "Amelie" to a more traditional waltz from Dr. Zhivago. Music choices are one of the uncertainties in this new discipline, the short dance.
Additionally, the new rules for the short dance are just being understood, both by them, their coaches, and the rest of the skating world. At NHK, they were severely penalized by the technical committee in the second Golden Waltz segment, and given only a Level 1 there. Many other couples have also be so penalized at their first Short Dance outing, including Pechalat and Bourzat at Nebelhorn. There have apparently been some clarifications to the Short Dance requirements to attain the levels in the second Golden Waltz Segment, although there does not appear to be an official communication, as yet. This probably occurred as a result of the Ice Dance Judges' Seminar in October. Here's a link to the Q&A on the Golden Waltz and new Twizzle Rules:
http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-203579-220802-169393-0-file,00.pdf
In any case, I expect to see Davis and White to have made improvements to their Golden Waltz technique, based on both their scores at NHK, and this clarification. However, they may skate their Golden Waltz segments more deliberately in consequence. Levels may rise, but Grade of Execution may drop.
Crone and Poirier virtually tied with the Kerrs at Skate Canada in the short dance, with their program to "Fallin'"; however, their score was still four points lower than Davis and White's NHK score, despite their higher levels in the Golden Waltz. For me, some of the problems with Crone and Poirier's short dance is that "Fallin'" is in no way a Viennese Waltz and it has some of the same problems, musically, for the short dance that the "Amelie" soundtrack does. However, I do not expect them to have changed it, first because Skate America is only two weeks since Skate Canada, but second, Skate America features an exciting preview of what Canadian Nationals will look like. It includes a head to head matchup with Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, who finished just behind Crone and Poirier last year at Canadian Nationals.
Weaver and Poje have a lovely and very mature adult short dance program set to "At Last" by Etta James, and "Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin. The dance is in sharp contrast to Crone and Poirier's very youthful looking presentation. Weaver and Poje have had a week longer than Crone and Poirier to fix any short dance problems, and I hoping to see that it will be close and exciting for the second spot. Neither Canadian team can feel comfortable that they will be on the podium. There are two other very competitive teams here at Skate America.
Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko finished in second place in the short dance at Nebelhorn, and third overall there. This ia a relatively new pairing. Both members of the team have competed at high international levels in juniors with other partners, Riazanova with Jonathan Guerreiro and Tkachenko with Maria Monko. This is their first outing since Nebelhorn. They are one of several couples vying for the wide open Russian Nationals championship this year.
Finally, Maia and Alex Shibutani will be competing here. Their strength has been the free dance this season, as they have had falls in both the short dances they competed this season. Their problem at NHK was due to Alex tripping over Maia's skirt. They have lovely basics, especially now that Maia is three inches taller than she was last year, so that they present a more senior appearnance on the ice. I hope that third time is the charm here, and that they will skate their short dance perfectly.
Anna Capellini and Luca Lanotte have chosen not to compete at Skate America, as they have changed coaches, and returned to Italy to redo their free dance, which has not been well received by the judges this year.
Another team that have a very entertaining short dance this year are Chris and Cathy Reed, who will be skating to selections from the "Addams Family" soundtrack. While they are not expected to medal, they are well worth your notice.
Other teams competing are Coomes and Buckland GBR,who appeared at NHK, Frohberg and Giesen GER, who appeared at SC, and Kriengkrairut and Giuletti-Schmitt USA, who will be making their sole Grand Prix appearance this season.
Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giuletti-Schmitt USA (ISU World Ranking 82nd)
Coach: Yaroslava Netchaeva, Juri Tchesnitchenko
Choreographer: Yaroslava Netchaeva, Juri Tchesnitchenko
SD: Waltz: The Trouble With Love Is by Kelly Clarkson
8th at the most recent US Championships
6th at Nebelhorn
5th in the SD at Nebelhorn (52.71)
8th in the FD at Nebelhorn (74.23)
Straight Line Lift (Lev 4 at Nebelhorn)
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at Nebelhorn)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 2 at Nebelhorn)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 4 at Nebelhorn)
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 2 at Nebelhorn)
Transitional Lift
Base: 27.00
Stefanie Frohberg and Tim Giesen GER ( ISU World Ranking 41st)
Coach: Rene Lohse
Choreographer: Jutta Deutschland (SD); Denkova and Staviski (FD)
Their SD Waltz: Tanz der Hofdamen by Rumpelstil
7th at Finlandia in the FD, 65.59
Skate Canada SD 43.00
FD Skate Canada 62.10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odcgFhV22XI
Rotational Lift (Lev 4 at SC)
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at SC)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 4 at SC)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 1 at SC)
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 2 at SC)
Transitional Lift
Base: 24.50
Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachencko RUS (ISU World Ranking 34th)
Coach: Alexei Gorshkov
Choreographer: Sergei Petukhov
SD: Waltz: The Snowstorm by Georgi Sviridov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cicoTXaF2I&feature=related
FD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HemRDeaml4I&feature=related
Last year was their first as a team.
4th at the most recent Senior Russian Nationals
3rd at Nebelhorn this fall
2nd in the SD 58.31
Level 4 in GW Segment 1
Level 2 in GW Segment 2
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 3 at Nebelhorn)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 4 at Nebelhorn)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 2 at Nebelhorn)
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at Nebelhorn)
Rotational Lift (Lev 4 at Nebelhorn)
Base: 28.50
Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland GBR (ISU World Ranking: 28th)
Coach: Evgeni Platov, Philip Askew
Choreographer: Philip Askew
Their SD: Their program: Waltz: La Valse d'Amelie by Yann Tiersen; Tango: Tango de los Exilados by Vanessa Mae and Walter Taieb
Current British Senior Silver Medallists
16th at European Championships last year
This fall, third at Coupe de Nice, fourth at Nepela Trophy
NHK SD 43.52
NHK FD 66.28
Rotational Lift (Lev 4 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 1 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 2 at NHK)
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at NHK) (Significant problems in the twizzles at NHK)
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 2 at NHK)
Transitional Lift
Base: 22.50
Cathy Reed and Chris Reed JPN (ISU World Ranking: 27th)
Coach: Nikolai Morozov, Walter Rizzo
Choreographer: Nikolai Morozov, Patti Wilcox
Their SD: A Party For Me? (from Addams Family soundtrack) by Marc Shaiman; The Tango (from Addams Family soundtrack) by Marc Shaiman
For three years straight, National Senior champions in Japan
15th at last year's World Championships
SD NHK 44.90
FD NHK 69.62
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCtjTlUYsbw
Straight Line Lift (Lev 4 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 3 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 1 at NHK)
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 3 at NHK) (They had a significant problem in the twizzles)
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 2 at NHK)
Transitional Lift
Base: 22.50
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani USA (ISU World Ranking: 14th)
Coach: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva, J.Johns, A. Lenda
Choreographer: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva
Their SD: Waltz: The Carousel Waltz by Richard Rodgers
Current US Junior champions
4th at last year's Junior Worlds, 2nd at the previous Junior Worlds
5th at Nebelhorn this fall, due to a fall in the SD.(46.90) They were second in the FD at Nebelhorn, ahead of Capellini/Lanotte.
NHK SD 53.68, including a fall in GW segment 1
FD 83.25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvkeizcT_ps&feature=related
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at NHK)
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 3 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 3 at NHK) (but it included a fall when he stepped on her dress)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 2 at NHK)
Curve Lift (Lev 4 at NHK)
Transitional Lift
Base: 27.50
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje CAN (ISU World Ranking: 10th)
Coach: S. Bourne, P. Camerlengo, A. Krylova
Choreographer: Shae-Lynn Bourne, Pasquale Camerlengo
Their SD: Waltz: At Last by Etta James; Cheek to Cheek by Irving Berlin
1st place at 4CC's in 2010
3rd at Canadian Senior Nationals
NHK SD Score: 58.69
NHK FD 82.88
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS6VbQtdFHM
Straight Line Lift (Lev 4 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 3 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 3 at NHK)
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at NHK)
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 3 at NHK)
Base: 28.50
Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier CAN (ISU World Ranking: 6th)
Coach: Carol Lane, Juris Razguliaevs, Jon Lane
Choreographer: Christopher Dean, Carol Lane, Juris Razguliaevs
SD Waltz: Fallin' by Alicia Keys, but not performed by Alicia Keys
SD from Skate Canada 62.95
FD from Skate Canada 91.47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EACGNJTCnmU
Rotational Lift (Lev 4 at SC)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 4 at SC)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 3 at SC
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 3 at SC)
Transitional Lift
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at SC)
Base: 29.50
Meryl Davis and Charlie White USA (ISU World Ranking: 1st)
Coach: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva
Choreographer: Igor Shpilband, Marina Zueva
Their SD: Waltz: La Boheme by G. Puccini; Waltz: La Traviata by G. Verdi
Two time US Champions, 2nd at Olympics, 2nd at Worlds, 1st at GPF.
NHK SD: 66.97
FD NHK 98.24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpJAdCpVzhA
Sequential Twizzles (Lev 4 at NHK)
Midline Step Not Touching (Lev 4 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 1 (Lev 3 at NHK)
Golden Waltz Segment 2 (Lev 1 at NHK)
Rotational Lift (Lev 4 at NHK)
Transitional LIft
Base: 26.50
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