Free Dance: 2013 NHK Trophy
- Thread starter Finnstep
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:agree:
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
Piper/Paul's FD is well choreographed and well skated. I only wish that Piper can improve her posture. The lack of arch and rounded back really take away from their otherwise nice skating. Piper does improved a lot and I like her pointed toes and extension of legs, well matched. Hope they keep improving and get to the elite level soon.
Figure skating is a sport, while it's a dance, technical difficulties and execution abilities should weigh more than innovation or whatever. D/W's seamless and flawless performance doesn't look like robot to me at all. Actually I start to appreciate ice dance because of them.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
Thanks Mathman. I knew it has to have an algorithm attached to it, otherwise it makes no sense. By the way, is your nickname including "Math" because of Mathematics?
Mathman is a Math Professor, so yes it is because of Mathematics
I have the same concerns regarding I/K. I sense that Lena is in a very fragile and sensitive state. The extremely high expectations around them created a toxic maybe even harsh environment. Nikita may be able to take it on the chin but I think Lena has internalized a lot of it, hence the tears and the questionable choices that she has made in her personal life. I think Nikita has come to understand that and hence the tenderness he often exhibits toward her, rather than the anger most expect him to feel. What alarms me the most is that their FED has not stepped in to rectify things and protect her from the toxic environment she is in. Then to see Zhulin stir the pot around them so often, it saddens me to say the least. It just strikes me as so cruel. I do hope they can find a more healthy coaching environment after Sochi and that they stay together. My dream is that they send them to Krylova. I sense that she will be both tough and tender, attributes they both need. They are just too gifted a pair to wish ill.
D/W and V/M are in a class above the rest of the ice dancers. That is clear.
I am a D/W fan but I respect V/M for their great talent and achievements and for the fact that if there were no V/M, D/W wouldn't be the great dancers they are today.
Just watched G/P fs. What a fascinating program. Lots of innovative spins and lifts. I especially liked the first lift where he is spinning on one foot. It is a good argument to why it is good to have different/new voices in ice dance choreography (although I wouldn't be surprised if Dean had input... he worked quite a bit with Paul in the past). The story was remarkably clear for a difficult concept... even without recognizing the music at first I got that it was a Hitchcock and a blonde muse through costume and the opening section expression. Piper makes an excellent Hitchcock blonde. The funny thing is this program story kind of reflects G/P current dynamic in that Paul handpicked Piper and is moulding her into the partner he wants. Obviously a lot of work to be done (speed, clean up their footwork, extension, bodylines etc) but a good start for a newish team.
I/K has some nice highlights to their program. The way she arches her back was really nice in their first lift. Not sure if they were designed the way they were performed but a few of the lifts and spins near the end of the program were quite ugly and clunky. I/K come across as an emotional DRAMA team so I think the dramatic aspects of swan lake really works well for them. Lots of work to be done before they compete again next week at TEB (or cup of russia?)... it feels as if they need more complete run-throughs and to clean up some sloppiness.
S/S lots of improvement in the program as whole since SA. Liked the small costume alterations... they kind of remind me of brother-sister superheroes I think for the program to really reach its potential they will need more crispness, speed and to increase the attitude even more.
I/K has some nice highlights to their program. The way she arches her back was really nice in their first lift. Not sure if they were designed the way they were performed but a few of the lifts and spins near the end of the program were quite ugly and clunky. I/K come across as an emotional DRAMA team so I think the dramatic aspects of swan lake really works well for them. Lots of work to be done before they compete again next week at TEB (or cup of russia?)... it feels as if they need more complete run-throughs and to clean up some sloppiness.
S/S lots of improvement in the program as whole since SA. Liked the small costume alterations... they kind of remind me of brother-sister superheroes
I think for the program to really reach its potential they will need more crispness, speed and to increase the attitude even more.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2013
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Exactly. I, too, prefer D/W, but I can't knock V/M.
Sometimes I get the sense that "Dance Wars" will erupt any minute, and we won't be able to have an intelligent conversation without it degenerating into something silly like the Yuna/Mao bash threads.
I was pleasantly surprised by G/P at this event. I still think technically, there's still quite a bit of work to do, but they showed a lot of promise. The FD was great and I loved some of the unique and innovative moves. I love Piper's mad scientist look.
And thank you for your statement on the Shibs. I do feel they have and continue to receive an inordinate amount of criticism. I do feel people underestimate their very good technical basics: they have strong control of their blades, good extension and matching lines (if you pause their MJ FD a numerous times do their step sequences and you can see their leg line matches 90 percent of the time).
I do agree with the British Eurosport commentators that their FD needs a lot more power, which is a tall order for them considering that they are a more demure (Maia, in particular), subtle team. However, I think they know that too. I remember them talking in an interview about how they went through a Michael Jackson dance bootcamp with their choreographers and that it took a lot of tries before they were even close to getting the moves correctly.
I think their strategy right now is very clear: Get the levels. That was their downfall the last two seasons. They know they don't have the PCS cushion of other teams to screw up in the levels, so they are focusing on getting the key points in Finnstep and getting the necessary features. They were second in TES in both segments of the competition, so mission accomplished.
Now it's time to polish. They are not going to GPF, so they have two months to really work on the programs. Given the clear improvement we saw from them in just three weeks, I think we'll see something great by U.S. Nationals (which I will get to see in person!!
)- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
Lucky you! Dance at US Nationals is going to be amazing. Who would have ever thought that ice dance would be the main event at US Nationals
Lucky you! Dance at US Nationals is going to be amazing. Who would have ever thought that ice dance would be the main event at US Nationals
Still don't get why NBC didn't show the Shibutanis' bronze medal performance (either time), but showed Mirai's 8th place finish?! (Though it was nice seeing Mirai on TV, honestly)
I'm really excited! Oddly enough, Mr. P, who is amusing me by going to Boston with me, likes Ice Dance the most out of the disciplines.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2013
Bramweld, can you elaborate on the above?? What are the questionable choices Lena has made? Why would people expect Nikita to feel anger towards her? and how is Zhulin stirring the pot? I have been a little checked out of ice dancing the last few years and don't know the back story. I really liked this team in this competition, and I couldn't understand why she was crying at the end.
The federation has put a lot of expectations on Elena since she was a child due to her promise and raw talent. When Nikita and Elena spilt up for a period a few seasons ago (in 2008, I think), the Russian fed sent her to Canton, something that was quite unique as they did not do so for other Russian ice dancers. When Nikita and Elena got back together and then basically dominated the 2009-2010 season in juniors, there was the expectation that they would be Russia No. 1 in the next quad. Obviously that didn't happen.
Zhulin coached them for sometime until the end of their first senior season. Zhulin has accused them of lacking work ethic and have basically blasted them every chance he gets, talking about their work ethic and such. And it's no wonder, now that Bobrova and Soloviev are bronze medal contenders, it's in his interest to undermine his former pupils as much as possible in the months leading up the Olympics.
It has been documented that Elena is dating (or was dating?) Mozorov, their coach. She had dated Nikita as well. I feel hesitant to mention it because while Russian posters stated there is documented proof, I don't feel super comfortable mentioning this publicly because quite frankly this has nothing to do with their ability to compete (though I guess others would argue otherwise). Alas, that is what people refer to when they talk about questionable choices. The expectation is since Nikita is the "ex" that he would be angry with her for her choices, but, to his credit, he has responded by being there for his partner.
The federation has done them no favors in the sense that they keep getting hyped as the next big think in Ice Dance for Russia, yet is not doing anything to remedy the technical issue (or practice habits) to get them to the next level.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2013
Thank you so much for this, Mrs. P. Wow, Morozov really gets around, doesn't he? Hasn't he dated Miki Ando, Tessa Virtue, and others?
I don't think he was ever with Virtue but he was married to Shae-Lynn Bourne
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- Oct 31, 2006
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YES, YES, YES, A MILLION TIMES YES! I am totally in agreement with you! These 2 have way too much talent and potential to possibly fade out and I LOVE your idea of having them join Anjelika Krylova's team. She is hands down one of my top 2 favorite female ice dancers in figure skating history along with Marina Klimova.
I'd love to see what magic Anjelika could create with Elena and Nikita! It would be best if Katsalpov left the team if Elena is too busy with morozov on a personal level to train her sport. But zhulin along with tarasova and staviski does always attack them both equally. So if he's a problem too then maybe if they don't really care about developing their talent they should retire already.
Tarasova sees herself as basically coach of all Russian skaters and unlike zhulin has no real interest in attacking I/k but she does too non stop.
Tarasova sees herself as basically coach of all Russian skaters and unlike zhulin has no real interest in attacking I/k but she does too non stop.
