All Things Ice Dance: Canadian | Page 22 | Golden Skate

All Things Ice Dance: Canadian

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
( sigh) I vowed I wouldn't get shunted into yet another discussion about Paul and whichever partner... when I'd love to talk about some of the others , sometime..yet, here I am...:laugh:

In my humble , but carefully considered opinion , Paul is very talented , and a very good skater..I just balk at your inclusion of the word partner , Dragonlady.. because to me , a partner is more than someone who can stay in time with his counterpart, can match leg lines , can lift her..and so forth. Of course that's all part of being an excellent partner , but for me there has to be a real connection between the two ( no, I don't mean romance , necessarily ) . His attention should be centred on her and vice versa , expression should seem to come from the inside out , not the outside in , and it's more than what you're doing with your face . I need to feel their movement , individually and together , stems from some common impetus , and in all skaters, always, I like to see some fluidity in the way they use their bodies. I feel these are areas where Paul still has room for a lot of improvement , whoever he's partnered with.

I did see the beginnings of an attempt to address these issues last year , but it was still very " outside in ".. with a heavy focus on facial experession.. IMO. While I found them entertaining ( their FD , at least ), the choroegraphy was obviously designed to obscure these shortcomings, so it was difficult to judge what the couple's true prospects are.

This can change , and I'm waiting to see what this year will bring from them.

There are many fine young male ice dancers right now in the world , many of which do not have a problem in the areas I mention. Though maybe not all of them have Paul's technical skill , there must be a fair number in the same ballpark. Champions or would-be champions , I'm sure they all hate to lose.

I find it hard to get too excited over Paul's status as a former Champion , since it came in the absence of V/M , and was extremely narrowly awarded over W/P who continued on to a higher placement at worlds. Oh ,it is a fact. It's in the record books.. but it's not an achievement to be trumpeted in the same way as some Championships won under other circumstances might be ... and he now has a different partner.

I've had so many interruptions while trying to type this , I hope it bears some relation to the current discussion..:rolleye:..and I've lost track of the other topics I was going to go on to...( typical of my life );)
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
Yes, that post did wind up being a backtrack..That's what happens when you have to pause to have half hour conversations with people between one sentence and the next...:biggrin: ( sorry..)

But I'm wondering if anyone knows of other Canadian pairs doing Lake Placid ?..Or other competitions.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Here's a list of Canadian ice dance teams who have signed up for the LPIDC (that doesn't necessarily mean they will actually compete). Skaters shown as (*) are from another country and it is not clear which country they will represent.

Senior
DUPONT / LALIBERTE
KIRKLAND / *KLEFFMAN (USA)
ORFORD / WILLIAMS
PARADIS / OUELLETTE
PAUL / ISLAM
VAN AS / SHINDLE
SMYL JOLY / JESIONEK

Junior
BAAY / TOTH
BRUSER / LUM
CROTEAU-VILLENEUVE / BARTHE
DALMER / FIRUS
DESVEAUX / RAZGULAJEVS
EDWARDS / PANG
GADOSY / SMYTH
HASEGAWA / HASEGAWA
JIANG / WAMSTEEKER
KUZMICH / HOCKLEY
SOUCISSE / TANGUAY
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
doris.. are you going to be able to attend ? ( I ask for your sake and ours ..):biggrin:

chuckm..Thanks ! My inquiring mind was going nuts.

ETA: Aren't Baay /Toth our juniors with Zueva ? And is Rachel Kirkland and her new partner with L&R ?

I'm extremely curious to see how O/W's choreography stacks up , what's happened in the growth dept. for Bruser and Lum...and on and on...:laugh:
 
Last edited:

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I don't know, but I suspect not. I am doing remedial physics tutoring for my niece this summer, to get her through 2 summer physics courses at U Hartford. First semester was successful; LPIDC is in 2nd semester.

However, if you'd like to go, tickets are very cheap, and Ice-dance.com is looking for volunteers!
 

slipslidin

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
My unspoken (until now) opinion has been that three teams will be vying for fourth place at this year's Canadians. They were very closely marked last year, in a pretty unreliable result. It looked to me as if none of these teams was basking in the love of their federation, and I thought their only hope was to be able to go into battle, flying the flag of a famous coach or choreographer.
Now it seems that I disregarded some of the variables, Paul/Islam made the move for coaching and choreography, but it seems they won't have much opportunity for international competition. The other teams have not made the move, and while I think their choreography could be just fine, on the international scene, they will not be noticed on account of their choreographer's names. Ralph and Hill will be competing at Skate Canada, and Canadian teams generally do pretty well there. Orford and Williams will have two pretty tough GPs but no famous name behind them.
I'm very curious to know how P/I and O/W will do at Lake Placid, because they are inlikely to meet again before Canadians. In handicapping horses, it is considered very unwise to ignore a fast improving horse, especially one that was only beaten a nose, last time out.
 
Last edited:

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
:laugh:Tickets may be cheap..but crossing the continent is not ( for me, anyway )..I'll have to sit here and wait to be spoonfed by others.;)

I'm assuming P/I will be doing some Senior B's in the quest for points. And I assume all of these teams might be a little nervous until they know how tough it will be to meet the new standards...
 

Sylvia

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
ETA: Aren't Baay /Toth our juniors with Zueva ? And is Rachel Kirkland and her new partner with L&R ?
Baay/Toth are a new Jr. team listed as being coached by Marina Zueva. Kirkland/M. Kleffman are being coached in Detroit by Camerlengo & Krylova et al.

Other Canadian Junior teams registered for Lake Placid IDC:
Marina Barova (UKR) / Allan Stoll - listed as being coached by Igor Shpilband
Mackenzie Bent / Garrett Mackeen
Lauren Collins / Danny Seymour
Melinda Meng / Andrew Meng
Haili Moyer / Aaron Chapplain

Jessica Jiang recently listed herself on icepartnersearch.com so Jiang/Wamsteeker may have split.

ETA: I've started a Lake Placid IDC thread in the Summer Competitions forum: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...ake-Placid-Ice-Dance-Championships-July-25-28
 
Last edited:

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
:):) Thanks, Sylvia !

I'm happy for Rachel. I think she's very promising ,but didn't think her partnership last year was a very good match.I hope this works out well for her whoever they compete for.

I recall now ,seeing Alan Stoll would be there with his partner on one of the Shpilband threads. And I'm interested to see Bent and Mackeen as well since they form part of the Great Canadian Junior Ice Dance Log Jam.

Should be good competition , and we'll get early reports on so many Canadian teams.

ETA; ..Or at least scores to pore over.
 
Last edited:

heyhey

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
I think it will be very interesting to see whether Paul/Islam, Asher/Hill or Gilles/Poirier do either Finlandia or Nebelhorn. Paul/Islam need to enter as many competitions as they can prior to Nationals and built momentum and confidence. Gilles/Poirier need a competition prior to Skate Canada to get constructive feedback and Asher/Hill need to increase their international exposure....this off season is killing me, LOL! I still think that 3rd place at Nationals is up in the air...
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
heyhey..you left out Kharis/Ralph...:laugh::laugh: ( Couldn't resist..I've done that ,too )

I hope 3rd place is up in the air ..it surely ought to be .

LPIDC is always a matter of curiosity , but this year, with all the changes to take into account..I'm finding the wait excruciating.
 
Last edited:

heyhey

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
heyhey..you left out Kharis/Ralph...:laugh::laugh: ( Couldn't resist..I've done that ,too )

I hope 3rd place is up in the air ..it surely ought to be .

LPIDC is always a matter of curiosity , but this year, with all the changes to take into account..I'm finding the wait excruciating.


:laugh::laugh: My apologies to Kharis Ralph - see they need more exposure...:biggrin:
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Good luck to R/H. Now that G/P can compete internationally, R/H may go back to being the #2 team in Carol Lane's stable.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
PiperGilles ‏@PiperGilles
"Hey guys save the date of July 31st and come watch the Scarboro Ice Dance Elite perform there [sic] new programs. Its at Toronhill [sic] Ice arena at 7"
2:50 PM - 6 Jul 12

[My apologies if this information already has been posted in this thread or another ...]

ETA:
Piper just sent another tweet to correct the name of the venue. She intended to say "Thornhill" in her original tweet, for those of you who were wondering ;).
 
Last edited:

cleoc

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 27, 2008
Hope someone will go and will give report about new programs and maybe will post some videos!
 

Dragonlady

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
Thornhill is the worst venue in the world to try to take videos. The sight lines are awful, unless you are a judge, and there's this big ugly mesh to catch hockey pucks. Last but certainly not least, the coaches don't want videos posted at this point.

But I'd be happy to go and give reports.
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
It seems to me at least some good stills came out of the show last year..( if, if , I don't have it confused with something else )

Show aside , " Thornhill , the competition " should be very interesting , if everyone goes who has said they will.
 
Last edited:

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I'm guessing that Ralph and Hill will be doing Thornhill again.

I have started a Thornhill Summer Skate thread in the Summer Competitions forum, including a link to the interim entry list.

Senior Free Dance entries so far are:
  • Mélissande Dumas/David Mackay Perry
  • Alissandra Aronow/Collin Brubacker [isn't the correct spelling Brubaker?]
  • Gilles/Poirier

Senior SD entries so far are the three couples above + Ralph/Hill, who do not appear under FD.

(And I posted a tweet from Hill about their SD in the Programs thread.)
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
golden411.. I was particularly hoping for R/H's FD..ah well..

I notice the list only covers entries received up until Jul 4 , and the final deadline is Jul 18 , so we will see some changes , I'm sure. I know P/I said elsewhere that they intended to be there.

Same dates ( Aug/16-19 ) for BC/ YT again ( Quebec, too ? ), but I couldn't find a list of competitors for BC. I would assume all of W&L 's skaters, plus...???
 
Top