One of My Favorite Free Dance Programs of All Time

[dorispulaski]

K&P were one of those teams that I enjoyed more on TV than in real life, with the exception of their great 1987 OSP (the one that spawned the Golden Waltz.

Furthermore, despite nice technique, they didn't manage a lot of emotional range or project beyond the boards, even when doing their 1992 program (which I saw at Worlds that year live.) You have no idea how much the audience did not get into the 1992 Worlds ice dance in Oakland. R&K were one of the few high spots (the Duchesnays did not compete). People left saying they deserved to win, but man was that boring, something I never would have expected, having been thrilled by their Olympic performance on TV.

I can completely see why the Duchesnays beat them. I saw Missing I live at Halifax in 1990, and they were on another planet from K&P performance-wise, K&P were skating to My Fair Lady, AFAIR, which at the time just felt dated, rather than retro.

[ImaginaryPogue]

I think Sandra Bezic said it best after the Duschenay's incredible masterpiece at 1990 Worlds. Klimova/Ponomarenko may have out-skated The Duschenays, but they did not out-perform them. I think the Duschenay's problem was that after 1990, they sort of plateaued creatively and didn't know how to top Missing. Although their 1991 Euros FD was conceptually interesting and different, the audience simply did not get into it as much. Also, a lot of their choreography became repetitive with Paul (the superior skater) using Isabelle as a prop for most of the dance.

To be honest, in Albertville, I think a strong case could be made to put the Duschenays in fourth. Granted, I think my view of the Duschenays is clouded by IJS or modern ice dance (late 1990s to now), but I don't understand how the Duschenays were ever close to Klimova/Ponomarenko in the scoring. To me, K/P were just on another world of near perfection in terms of skating skills, unison, and technical difficulty. But then I also think Klimova/Ponomarenko should have beaten Bestemianova/Bukin a few times as well. At least, we got to see K/P branch out with their brilliant free dance in 1992.

Agreed. Usova/Zhulin were robbed

[VIETgrlTerifa]

K&P were one of those teams that I enjoyed more on TV than in real life, with the exception of their great 1987 OSP (the one that spawned the Golden Waltz.

Furthermore, despite nice technique, they didn't manage a lot of emotional range or project beyond the boards, even when doing their 1992 program (which I saw at Worlds that year live.) You have no idea how much the audience did not get into the 1992 Worlds ice dance in Oakland. R&K were one of the few high spots (the Duchesnays did not compete). People left saying they deserved to win, but man was that boring, something I never would have expected, having been thrilled by their Olympic performance on TV.

I can completely see why the Duchesnays beat them. I saw Missing I live at Halifax in 1990, and they were on another planet from K&P performance-wise, K&P were skating to My Fair Lady, AFAIR, which at the time just felt dated, rather than retro.

I think K/P are one of those dancers that are an acquired taste. Especially, that 1992 FD. At first, I thought it was boring too. For some reason, it takes multiple viewings for one to fully appreciate that one. I actually love the majority of their programs (their 1987 and 1988 FDs, their OSPs, etc.), but I do wonder how they would have looked live.

The problem I have with the Duschenays winning or scoring close to K/P is because they really were technically deficient compared to K/P. It's like the time Stephanie Rosenthal blew the house down with her Nationals skate in 2006. She probably had THE performance of that competition, but did she deserve to beat Sasha?

[KKonas]

I was lucky enough to see dozens of major international competitions live from 1988 OWG to 2002. I think the Duchenays were great entertainers and eventually became pretty good ice dancers but did not have the quality of edge of a Klimova/Ponomarenko or Usova/Zhulin. It was Gritshuk/Platov that took multiple viewings to appreciate. They were incredibly fast and had good basics, but were IMO an acquired taste to fully appreciate. It was their speed that continues to influence ice dancing today.

[dorispulaski]

Definitely true about G&P.

And it's true that K&P's edges were much better than the D's.

But it is also true that especially in the 1988-1991 timeframe, they suffered from boring material
.
They were probably the best waltz team ever, IMO. OTOH, there 1992 polka, at least as performed at Worlds, was not convincing as a polka. It was sort of like V&M's waltz polka they did this year, but with the polka rhythm music throughout. I'm not explaining this well.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Definitely true about G&P.

And it's true that K&P's edges were much better than the D's.

But it is also true that especially in the 1988-1991 timeframe, they suffered from boring material
.
They were probably the best waltz team ever, IMO. OTOH, there 1992 polka, at least as performed at Worlds, was not convincing as a polka. It was sort of like V&M's waltz polka they did this year, but with the polka rhythm music throughout. I'm not explaining this well.

I agree that their FDs were dated in 1989 and 1990 but I loved their OSPs during those two seasons. Their Charleston is one of the best Charlestons I've seen and their Samba was probably the best of the top teams (even with the annoying 1980s keyboard version of the Cock Roach song).

I really liked their 1991 material and the Europeans version of Lawrence of Arabia blew me away in terms of difficult content and near-perfect unison.

I agree with you about their Polka though. It was sort of boring but luckily most of the polkas were sort of uninspired.

[Ladskater]

Because in those days with the old judging system it took a long time for skaters to work their way up. With so many great ice dance teams being developed in Canada they just felt they could rise to the top faster representing France. It was a shame because of their unique talent. I wonder if they might have decided differently now under the new judging system?

[Olympia]

I think that what this discussion proves is that sometimes even the best skaters can't always outskate a pair (or an individual) who brings something brilliant to the ice that night, or that season. The person (or couple) with the highest score isn't always the one you remember with admiration. For me, a good example is the 1994 Olympic ice dance finals. People can give me sheets of statistics proving that Grishchuk and Platov were the best skaters that night, but I love Usova/Zhulin and of course Torvill/Dean. And while I adore Klimova/Ponomarenko, what stands out to me as I watch "Missing" on video is the raw immediacy of Paul and Isabelle, skating in graceful street clothes, with Marina and Sergei waiting their turn dressed in some satiny ballet getup. Don't ask me what music K/P skated to, because it's completely gone from my mind. Their skating was probably superior, but on that night, so what?

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I think that what this discussion proves is that sometimes even the best skaters can't always outskate a pair (or an individual) who brings something brilliant to the ice that night, or that season. The person (or couple) with the highest score isn't always the one you remember with admiration. For me, a good example is the 1994 Olympic ice dance finals. People can give me sheets of statistics proving that Grishchuk and Platov were the best skaters that night, but I love Usova/Zhulin and of course Torvill/Dean. And while I adore Klimova/Ponomarenko, what stands out to me as I watch "Missing" on video is the raw immediacy of Paul and Isabelle, skating in graceful street clothes, with Marina and Sergei waiting their turn dressed in some satiny ballet getup. Don't ask me what music K/P skated to, because it's completely gone from my mind. Their skating was probably superior, but on that night, so what?

Way to diminish what K/P brought to Ice Dancing.

[KKonas]

Well I was in Albertville, Lillehamer, and Nagano. In Albertville the two CDs were the Paso and the Blues and K/P were 1st, U/Z 2nd and D/D 3rd. The OD was the Polka. Duchesnays skated to the Lonely Goatherd from The Sound of Music. It was awful. I wrote at the time that “this sweet, traditional piece stretched the bounds of credibility when performed by the Duchesnays. They might have sleep walked thru the whole thing.”
Usova /Zhulin skated their OD to a Strauss, Jr. piece and I said that they made the mistake “and tried to be cute, rather than warm and spontaneous,” and that Klimova/Ponomarenko’s version “ was more of a parody than a real polka.” Rahkamo/Kokko changed their “hoedown polka” (thankfully) to “a real honest-to-goodness polka” to Sakkinarven Polka.” So I didn’t much like most of the other polkas.
(Note) At this competition, Camerlengo with his partner Stephania Galegari were 5th overall.) K/P won with their Bach FD, which I said “was the most technically difficult of all the FDs. Watching Klimova wind herself around Ponomarenko’s body in various sinuous positions was pretty enthralling.” They won gold.
The Duchesnays skated to the (by that time) well-worn West Side Story. I said, “they skated almost without expression, a rare thing indeed. Isabelle left the rink in tears, although they won the silver medal. By abandoning their revolutionary approach, they lost the very thing that made them unique.”
U/Z were third with their beautiful performance to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I said, “The performance had great difficulty, wonderful unison and beautiful line.”

[plushyfan]

A great moment this was and here is another clip featuring their parents in the crowd. What a moment for Mr. & Mrs. Duschenay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgo5-w7smSM


I am also proud of the warmth of the crowd...my hometown, Halifax. These were quite the Worlds!

Thank you! I remember!!! Fantastic! And I love the old programs! Those were so interesting, entertaining and different!!! No twizzly, and no other mandatory stuff!