Ice Dance - Free Dance

[heyhey]

Previously on message boards, people have indicated that they would like to see Tessa and Charlie partner up. I actually think that Scott and Meryl would be an interesting combination. I think that Scott is underappreciated in terms of how he dances with Tessa. Although off the ice he has an outgoing personality and likes to ham it up - on the ice - he does an excellent job of partnering. And I also think that Meryl is underappreciated in terms of connection to the music. Out of the 4 dancers, I actually think that Charlie might have been better suited for singles.

ETA: I think that Charlie is a great skater!

[jcoates]

Charlie was the most successful of the four in singles, competing in several JGPs and Junior Nationals. I think that he could have been a success in pairs as well with the right sized partner.

As to Charlie's facial expressions, they have improved significantly ever since the success of the Bollywood program. He has greater range than he used to and establishes far more eye contact with both Meryl and the judges and audience than he is give credit for. He actually varies between bubbly and cheerful and confidently showy in sections of D/F. The old critique about his expression and eye contact has become a bit of a reliable fall back and somewhat cliched when distinguishing between the two teams. The same easy, predictability can be found in the critiques of V/M which almost always default to praising their connection, lines, musicality, etc. Even when they are off, the same canned lines of praise find their way into various posts. I feel it would be better to attempt to take a look at each team with fresh eyes each time they take the ice rather than relying on years of established perceptions. For example, I had no issue with V/M winning 4CC. they were clearly better in the end. I am not convinced of their clear superiority in Nice. Still it seems that there was a shift in perception that carried over between competitions and which established a new judging paradigm.

Taking another team into account, I felt the W/P could make a very strong case for performance of the night in the FD. I certainly thought they were noticeably better than P/B and were finally knocking on the door of the top two. There was a sureness to everything they did that has been slowly developing over the last two years. It was nice to see it come together as it reminded me somewhat of the breakthroughs V/M (2008) and D/W (2009) each had that forced the establishment to take notice of them.

[romanoff81]

Weaver and Poje have an excellent chance of overtaking the top two in the olympic year if they win a medal at worlds next year a strong possibility with worlds in Canada, i felt they had much stronger programs than V&M this year they also have better coreographers they just need to up the difficulty in their steps and lifts and they will be there they need a new wow lift.

[ImaginaryPogue]

Charlie was the most successful of the four in singles, competing in several JGPs and Junior Nationals. I think that he could have been a success in pairs as well with the right sized partner.

As to Charlie's facial expressions, they have improved significantly ever since the success of the Bollywood program. He has greater range than he used to and establishes far more eye contact with both Meryl and the judges and audience than he is give credit for. He actually varies between bubbly and cheerful and confidently showy in sections of D/F. The old critique about his expression and eye contact has become a bit of a reliable fall back and somewhat cliched when distinguishing between the two teams. The same easy, predictability can be found in the critiques of V/M which almost always default to praising their connection, lines, musicality, etc. Even when they are off, the same canned lines of praise find their way into various posts. I feel it would be better to attempt to take a look at each team with fresh eyes each time they take the ice rather than relying on years of established perceptions. For example, I had no issue with V/M winning 4CC. they were clearly better in the end. I am not convinced of their clear superiority in Nice. Still it seems that there was a shift in perception that carried over between competitions and which established a new judging paradigm.

Taking another team into account, I felt the W/P could make a very strong case for performance of the night in the FD. I certainly thought they were noticeably better than P/B and were finally knocking on the door of the top two. There was a sureness to everything they did that has been slowly developing over the last two years. It was nice to see it come together as it reminded me somewhat of the breakthroughs V/M (2008) and D/W (2009) each had that forced the establishment to take notice of them.

Yeah, I know, it's cliched to refer to D/W with anything other than enthusiasm for their improvement. And there was definitely noticeable improvement in the SD in terms of expressivity. However, as cliched as it might be, my response is an honest one to their worlds skate to Fliedermaus. I remember Meryl's face quite vividly but he could've been wearing a Phantom mask for all I know. If you've got a pair of fresh eyes you can lend me, I'll try them on for size (after, you know, cleaning out the rose-tints).

[jcoates]

IP, I was not referring to you specifically. Of almost all of V/M's most ardent fans here on GS, you are far more fair and open minded toward D/W than most. I hope you did not mistake my meaning in my previous post. I was not singling you out.

[Spun Silver]

I'm excited about W/P too after Worlds, but Je Suis Malade is going to be hard to beat. I wonder what Camerlengo has in store for next season. At least two of his programs this season should be engraved on his tombstone and I know I'm forgetting some others. He was everywhere!

[heyhey]

Weaver and Poje have an excellent chance of overtaking the top two in the olympic year if they win a medal at worlds next year a strong possibility with worlds in Canada, i felt they had much stronger programs than V&M this year they also have better coreographers they just need to up the difficulty in their steps and lifts and they will be there they need a new wow lift.

I think the greatest improvement with W/P this year has been their consistency. Their skating skills have improved but they are still not in the same league as V/M or D/W in terms of edge quality, step sequences, transitions or twizzles as D/W or V/M. Thus that's a tall order to overcome in 2 years. Then you have to ask yourself - have either D/W or V/M really peaked. Another factor - next year the SD - the Yankee Polka can be tricky and can be a game changer next year for several teams....lastly K/C have done a great job in terms of choreography for both W/P and Hubbell/Donohue - but do they have new tricks up their sleeves? Thus I agree that this year Weaver and Poje have established themselves - I still think that they have quite a bit of work to do in overcoming both D/W and V/M. And to not be naive...will Gilles/Poirier throw a monkey wrench down the line....

[colleen o'neill]

Re : G/P and the proverbial monkey wrench...I would bet not..Not unless SC wants to be seen as a complete laughingstock.

I'll be very interested to see what the international judges do with them on the GP next season. If there's any justice we'll see a much greater differential in marks between them and W/P than we saw at our ludicrous championships . I expect G/p to improve , but I don't expect W/P to let up on their dedication to hard work , either ,or to suddenly decide there's nothing left to improve. It's P/I , R/H and even O/W who need to be working harder than ever this summer.