All Things Canadian Ice Dance

colleen o'neill · Oct 26, 2011

Oh well , I can't resist..We don't know if , or how severely couples will be penalized for not being sufficiently uplifting. D/W decided not to risk it ..
OTOH, if you think about, it there's not much more degenerate than a guy dancing with his wife's corpse...

... after all her internal organs have been removed and stored in little jars.. her brain removed in an icky way, and disposed of ( Hmmmm... was it natural causes ? I hesitate to use that other N-word ... ).. good for Halloween , though.

dorispulaski · Oct 26, 2011

Apparently, we're looking at a case of completely different taste. I have heard several people tell me it was uplifting for the pharaoh to pray for one last dance with his wife, and then receive it, and she dies again. Unfortunately, I see it as you do.

Clearly we are supposed to be dwelling on resurrection (what is more uplifting than that?) and not on canopic jars, and wondering how she can think, since her brain has been removed through her nose with a little hook. Unfortunately for my concept of this program, I attended the King Tut exhibition when it toured the US when I was a kid. Afterwards I read everything I could find on ancient Egypt for some years. It colors my view of this program.

jettasian · Oct 26, 2011

I'm still very surprised about the Crone/Poirier split. I mean, they were #2 team in Canada, neck in neck with W/J. Now, W/J are the clear #2 team. C/P, with different partner, will have to start from scratch again. I know they are youge, but it's not that easy to break through once W/J are cemented as #2 in Canada. I didn't read through the news, any reason why they split?

dorispulaski · Oct 26, 2011

Not really, just sort of "irreconciliable differences" at least publicly.

Vanessa has not yet found a new partner, as far as I know. Paul is skating with Piper Gilles for Canada. Considering that Gilles was 9th at World Juniors with the fabulous Zach Donahue, and that Madison Hubbell nearly medalled with him at Skate America, and won Nebelhorn with him, after being together for about 6 months, it does make me wonder how well the Poirier / Gilles team will do in Canada, given that the Canadian program is as, or nearly as, deep in talent as the US program.

colleen o'neill · Oct 27, 2011

Just been watching the practices from skate canada..I'm in heaven with the costumes for the Canadian teams.. Tessa and Scott ..yum. Kaitlyn and Andrew..combustible.Tarrah and Keith .. reborn in black. they look like a different couple than we saw at Nebelhorn

dorispulaski · Oct 27, 2011

I can't wait to see W&P's new programs!!! (I've seen Tessa & Scott's and Tarrah & Keith's, and of course, I expect them to be better here, but there is nothing like the first time you see a program...except the first time you see it live)

blue dog · Oct 27, 2011

dorispulaski said:
I can't wait to see W&P's new programs!!! (I've seen Tessa & Scott's and Tarrah & Keith's, and of course, I expect them to be better here, but there is nothing like the first time you see a program...except the first time you see it live)

Me too!

herios · Oct 27, 2011

dorispulaski said:
I can't wait to see W&P's new programs!!! (I've seen Tessa & Scott's and Tarrah & Keith's, and of course, I expect them to be better here, but there is nothing like the first time you see a program...except the first time you see it live)

Tarrah / Keith better be good!They already had two subpar Nebelhorn's back to back, they better take advantage of such great assignment. It gets annoying they skate well only at Nationals.

About Weaver / Poje I have a good feeling. They are on a very sharp improvement path (thanks to their move to Detroit), and just looking to their twizzles I had enough, it was faster than ever I have seen them doing it and in complete synch. Have you observed that their Rhumba l'amour is exactly the same arrangement like Daisuke's? And also his mambo.

colleen o'neill · Oct 28, 2011

I did notice that about W/P's music..it's a very well known arrangement :biggrin:

Was T/D's OSP the same as well ? I'm not really counting....it's not like it's heard over and over ,year in year out like some pieces . And it looks like they have a zowie interpretation. I'm so looking forward to seeing this tomorrow.

And to see how V/M's SD is coming along.. I thought I noticed some differences just in the bits they were practicing.

Harvey and Gagnon looked good in practice, I thought. I still don't like that "Straight to #1" thing . Maybe it's harder for me as a non skater , but I find it difficult to feel the rhumba within the music..but they seemed to have good speed and seemed neater than before. I'm also eager to see them in competition. I'm so, so thrilled with their costume change..I just can't say it often enough. ( I think I screamed THANK YOU ! at my computer screen ). So all in all, I don't know exactly ( yet ) what all accounts for what I see as a dramatic improvement.

Honestly, between these 3 couples, it was like the Good Costume Fairy came and granted me 3 wishes !

herios · Oct 28, 2011

colleen o'neill said:
I did notice that about W/P's music..it's a very well known arrangement Was T/D's OSP the same as well ? I'm not really counting....it's not like it's heard over and over ,year in year out like some pieces .

No, T&D's version of rhumba l'amour didn't have the "Uhh's" :biggrin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19CYCcmA2Y0

By the way, this dance is my all time favorite from T&D, like it more than"Bolero"

Olympia · Oct 28, 2011

Oh, I'm with you, Herios! I just went and watched that rhumba. It was one of the high moments of that Olympics for me. I'm so sorry the free dance (or whatever they called it that year) had such strict music requirements that we ended up with innocuous ditties as the final tunes, and T & D were put at a huge disadvantage. (I strongly disliked Grishchuk and Platov's frenzied "Rock Around the Clock.")

Torvill and Dean ruined me for rhumbas ever after. I love watching Dancing with the Stars, but the rhumba as it's done in the ballroom seems stationary and graceless to me after that torrid, sinuous creation of Dean's. He was and is one of skating's great geniuses.

colleen o'neill · Oct 28, 2011

That's right, no Uuh!'s. I'm with you guys..I adore that dance.

herios · Oct 28, 2011

Olympia said:
Oh, I'm with you, Herios! I just went and watched that rhumba. It was one of the high moments of that Olympics for me. I'm so sorry the free dance (or whatever they called it that year) had such strict music requirements that we ended up with innocuous ditties as the final tunes, and T & D were put at a huge disadvantage. (I strongly disliked Grishchuk and Platov's frenzied "Rock Around the Clock.")

Torvill and Dean ruined me for rhumbas ever after. I love watching Dancing with the Stars, but the rhumba as it's done in the ballroom seems stationary and graceless to me after that torrid, sinuous creation of Dean's. He was and is one of skating's great geniuses.

Olympia

I wouldn't compare T&D's rhumba , which is a masterpiece IMO , definitely the best rhumba "on ice" we have ever seen, with the DWTS's rhumbas. These are not at the same level, mainly because of the choreo has to be simplified down to the amateur's abilities, and his/her performance or interpretation, as well as technique won't come anywhere close to a pro's level.
You better pick the best ballroom dancers out there, to judge a good rhumba on the floor.
While indeed is a static dance as you say, there is nothing more "goosebumpy" :biggrin:

than how a rhumba expresses the steamy connection between a man and a woman "in love",
Let me show you one, done by Karina Smirnoff, you should know her very well from DWTS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb7NJYa3P48

I hope you'll like it

colleen o'neill · Nov 8, 2011

Wow..As NHK approaches , I'm so happy that the dance competition happens at a civilized time in my time zone , because I would simply have to try to sit up all night if it didn't :biggrin:

..Besides looking like it could be an excellent competition , I think it will be particularly interesting from the perspective of Canadian Ice Dance.

W/P have, I think, two programs that work well for them. I don't know if I would have chosen Je Suis Malade..but combined with the simple but beautifully cut costumes ( and that red with a bit of blue in it is rich ..), it gives them a sort of mid-Atlantic flavour , angsty , but not over-costumed... and the SD is one of the better ones we've seen so far. Will be interesting to see how the FD is recieved away from home, and how they stack up against the Shibs this year.

Even more interesting will be the next step for P/I.. has she fully recovered ? will they be able to skate closer to their potential than at SA ? How much of a gap will we see between them and W/P ? How will they look next to their WJ podium mates, I/K.. and the other competitors from the same WJ year, the Shibs and A/V ? will they be able to close some of the distance between themselves and Z/G at SA ( remembering that Z/G were practically tied with R/H ), if so, how much ? Will they have made any costume alterations, particularly FD ? :rolleye:

The same weekend, I believe G/P skate at sectionals, so their progress will be worth noting..

Olympia · Nov 8, 2011

herios said:
Olympia

I wouldn't compare T&D's rhumba , which is a masterpiece IMO , definitely the best rhumba "on ice" we have ever seen, with the DWTS's rhumbas. These are not at the same level, mainly because of the choreo has to be simplified down to the amateur's abilities, and his/her performance or interpretation, as well as technique won't come anywhere close to a pro's level.
You better pick the best ballroom dancers out there, to judge a good rhumba on the floor.
While indeed is a static dance as you say, there is nothing more "goosebumpy"
than how a rhumba expresses the steamy connection between a man and a woman "in love",
Let me show you one, done by Karina Smirnoff, you should know her very well from DWTS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb7NJYa3P48

I hope you'll like it

Thanks so much! I love it and am very impressed with Karina. Obviously I don't know anything near enough about dancing.

colleen o'neill · Nov 8, 2011

OMG ! Friday is going to be even more exciting with the return of Sandhu in the afternoon and the NHK free dance in the evening! :laugh:

NorthernDancers · Nov 8, 2011

colleen o'neill said:
OMG ! Friday is going to be even more exciting with the return of Sandhu in the afternoon and the NHK free dance in the evening!

Wow. Hopefully we will see this on SkateBuzz? I think the Sectionals will both be streamed. And we will at least get the NHK videos on YouTube.

I really like Weaver/Poje FD, and have to think it will help them stand on the top of the podium here. Their SD is very steamy, but I just find her costume distracting. It all looks a little much. Like they are trying too hard. They don't need to try too hard. They are plenty steamy all by themselves.

I am hopeful, but also doubtful, about Paul/Islam. I fear they may find themselves in the dust here again. They have such lovely lines, and real magic, but are missing some power and strength. And they are really stuggling with consistency after being off the ice due to injury. It's really unfortunate.

It's only been a week for the Shibs, so I think their best hope is to just improve levels. That should get them on the podium, but I really don't think their material and execution is strong enough to top Weaver/Poje.

Not sure what to think about the Russians. Let's see their programs before developing any pre-conceived impressions.

And about Sandu, WOW! Maybe with time, maturity, doing something else for awhile, he has the right frame of mind to achieve his "unfinished business" with skating? I always thought he should have been an ice dancer.

colleen o'neill · Nov 8, 2011

'Dancers , I don't want to derail the very thread I started, but when I was discussing the Sandhu news with my sis this morning , we speculated that if this didn't work out for him , maybe he could switch to Ice Dance and entice Emily Samuelson into a partnership.( My God ! Imagine the lines..) :laugh:

I didn't think much of the early vids of I/K's programs, but they've had lots of time since then....and I've voiced my disappointment over P/I's recovery situation and their programs. I'm hoping to see them looking stronger. I dearly wish there'd be some changes to their costumes (bring them out of the dark)and ideally, a change to their end pose ( it makes me think of a sad version of the Mahler ending )... But if CBC just stops repeating that program explanation..I'll consider it a big plus.

leil · Nov 8, 2011

why does it seem that without v/m or d/w that the ice dance field gets seriously depleted? i'm looking at the entries for nhk and i'm thinking... that's it?

NorthernDancers · Nov 8, 2011

colleen o'neill said:
'Dancers , I don't want to derail the very thread I started, but when I was discussing the Sandhu news with my sis this morning , we speculated that if this didn't work out for him , maybe he could switch to Ice Dance and entice Emily Samuelson into a partnership.( My God ! Imagine the lines..).

Colleen, that is a fabulous idea! They would look gorgeous! And have some serious basic skills to start. Spend some time with a good technician coach that isn't overloaded with a ton of students, then get some awesome choreography from someone like Carmelengo, they'd rock the house next season, no matter what country they represent.

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