Who did the music piece justice?

[Olympia]

Oh, boy, skating pig-out! I plan to watch them one after the other. But I couldn't wait and watched Grishuk and Platov dancing Libertango, a favorite piece of mine. Thanks so much, Andante; I finally "get" G and P. What a masterful tango. Their skating equivalent of the flick movement is amazingly done, and their unison is remarkable.

[DianaSelene]

Pink Panther- Navka/Kostomarov
Michael Jackson- Bourne/Kraatz

[andante1139]

Grishuk & Platov (RUS) - 1995/1996 Gran Prix Finals, Ice Dancing, Original Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFBHad8kNU

Anissina & Peizerat (FRA) - 1997 World Figure Skating Championships, Original Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpL9K4WyoTM

Anissina & Peizerat Worlds Ex Kazatchuk 1997
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQd01...5DDC552134AB55

[Olympia]

I just watched Anissina and Piezerat skating their Romeo and Juliet for the 1998 Olympics. They really fly across the ice. This program has grown on me even more through the years. At the time, I think I resented them a bit because they edged out Bourne and Kraatz for a medal at those Olympics, but in short order I began to realize that they were extraordinary and more than deserving of the bronze. In many ways I prefer that program to their winning 2002 program, largely because Prokofiev's music has more subtlety and power than the rather more derivative piece they used in 2002. Here, their emotional connection to the music is far more convincing, and there's a lightness as well as an emotional intensity. And the lifts! The second time she lifts him, it doesn't even look like a strength move. It's almost as if he stopped weighing anything for a few seconds, and she just holds him steady while he floats in the air. He's one of the great male partners in ice dancing history, and she completely keeps up with him.

I also watched Lambiel's Flamenco program. Sigh, that guy is a gift to skating.

[seniorita]

2. Stephane Lambiel - Golden Skate Awards 2008 - Tango (HQ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idO7S8f2Ic8

I was there I was thereI think it was right before or after he retired first time? Or that was J. Buttle who was at the show as well?

[andante1139]

I just watched Anissina and Piezerat skating their Romeo and Juliet for the 1998 Olympics. They really fly across the ice. This program has grown on me even more through the years. At the time, I think I resented them a bit because they edged out Bourne and Kraatz for a medal at those Olympics, but in short order I began to realize that they were extraordinary and more than deserving of the bronze. In many ways I prefer that program to their winning 2002 program, largely because Prokofiev's music has more subtlety and power than the rather more derivative piece they used in 2002. Here, their emotional connection to the music is far more convincing, and there's a lightness as well as an emotional intensity. And the lifts! The second time she lifts him, it doesn't even look like a strength move. It's almost as if he stopped weighing anything for a few seconds, and she just holds him steady while he floats in the air. He's one of the great male partners in ice dancing history, and she completely keeps up with him.

I also watched Lambiel's Flamenco program. Sigh, that guy is a gift to skating.

Unlike B&K, Anissina and Piezerat performed with depth, not just skated. Piezerat and Dean's leg lines are the best, Platov's in second.
Gwendal has an air about him.

[andante1139]

Anissina & Peizerat - 1995 EuroTour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trJJQuvK7qg

Anissina & Peizerat (FRA) - 1996 World Figure Skating Championships, Original Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_RWkuULmgQ

Anissina & Peizarat 1999 Worlds FD- The Man in the Iron Mask
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKnHW...eature=related

Anissina & Peizerat (FRA) - 2000 Worlds FD Carmina Burana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsvq-...feature=fvwrel

Anissina & Peizerat 2001 Worlds CD1 (Rhumba)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2TSH...CEC12777B59343

Anissina & Peizerat 2002 Olympics CD Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et-qYQg16d0

Anissina & Peizerat 1998 Olympics CD Golden Waltz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXxEqrR6C_A

2007 All Stars Anissina Peizerat 2000 W Encore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceE5doVaGsg

2001 E Anissina Peizerat EX B Eurosport
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RzOqpO03Hs

[dorispulaski]

While A&P were great in many ways, they were not great "owners" of the CD's compared to the greats of the past.

T&D, G&P, K&P, and U&Z, particularly U&Z in that category were all superior to A&P.

[andante1139]

While A&P were great in many ways, they were not great "owners" of the CD's compared to the greats of the past.

T&D, G&P, K&P, and U&Z, particularly U&Z in that category were all superior to A&P.

I know very little about ice dancing. I just enjoy their expressions.

[Olympia]

While A&P were great in many ways, they were not great "owners" of the CD's compared to the greats of the past.

T&D, G&P, K&P, and U&Z, particularly U&Z in that category were all superior to A&P.

Thanks, Doris. I was going to ask about A/P's technical strong and weak points.

I did love Usova and Zhulin as well. Both as amateurs and as pro skaters, they were splendid.

[dorispulaski]

Well, that Golden Waltz was particularly weak compared to the inventors of the Golden Waltz, Klimova & Ponomarenko.

They didn't even do the steps entirely correctly. There was hardly a layback, and they lost steam in the second iteration. And for my taste, they jounced up and down too much. But they did have nice presentation, although not enough lilt to suit me.

Here's what the dance is supposed to look like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFvEJevXBkQ

(I wish it were a better video, but it's all there is; the OSP's were not widely broadcast in the 1980's in non Olympic years.)

That K&P OSP became a CD; the first time it was performed in competition as a CD was in the 1995/1996 season. It was then one of the CD's for 1996/1997, and 1997/1998, when it was used at the Olympics, which is where the linked A&P video you posted comes from.

A better couple with that dance from that era was Grishuk & Platov (1997):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKsYZ...eature=related

and from a more recent era, Denkova & Staviyski from Europeans in 2009, I think?, as the Youtuber doesn't say, the couple on the left in this video (the couple on the right are not good at all):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq6tBGo26Tk

[ImaginaryPogue]

I don't think so. DenStav retired after Worlds 2007. Aso, the video was uploaded December 6, 2007. Probably 2007

[dorispulaski]

You're right, I'm sure. But it's a of a clip.

[Rachmaninoff]

I remember I quite liked A&P. I wasn't a huge ice dance fan when they were competing, plus I'm Canadian so I was hearing all the time about how great Bourne & Kraatz were and how they were always robbed, but they still won me over.

[Olympia]

Yeah, I was predisposed to disliking A/P because I'm North American, and I thought judges were prejudiced against Americans and Canadians in favor of Europeans in general and Russians (namely Anissina) in particular. But when I really watched A/P's Romeo and Juliet, there's no way I could continue to believe that in this particular case. Marina and Gwendal were clearly innovative, proficient, musical, and powerful. They became favorites of mine on the spot.