Which Dance Teams Will Rise This Season?

dorispulaski · Aug 15, 2014

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014/08/11/87432920/who-will-be-ice-dances-breakout-stars-in-2014-15

Team split-ups and retirements have created unprecedented chaos in ice dance before the season has even begun. The near tie of the top four teams at Worlds 2014 has left no clear successors to D&W and V&M on the World stage.

The rankings of teams in some of the strongest dance countries are not at all clear.

In the US, the questions are who will grab the top spot, and who will grab the third spot on the US team?

In Russia, with the split of I&K, everything is in chaos.

With P&B and C&J retiring, France's team is much weaker.

In Canada, W&P's top spot seems secure, but who will grab the other two berths to Worlds?

Icenetwork polled both US and international correspondents.

What are your guesses for the 2014-2015 season?

cruzceleste · Aug 15, 2014

Amazing, nobody even mention the Shibutanis.

I think their shenanigans made people think their are no serious as another teams. They do made them a little popular with the fans.

Skategmt · Aug 15, 2014

For the US, I think the Shibs will claim gold at natiomals Iif the have "more elegant" music than last season,( in my eyes the Michael Jackson medley wasnt the best choice because it wasnt as "classy" as Scheherazade (D&W), Le Mis (C&B), Black Swan(I&K) ect. Otherwise Chock amd Bates will win gold and the Shobs will win second. Also, I think the USFSA is more biased tpwords the Shibs because of the followers on social media. Hawayek amd Backer will take third.

Gillies and Poirier will definetly take the silver at Canadian Nationals behind Weaver and Poje.

dorispulaski · Aug 15, 2014

I think that Marina having acquired both S&K and C&L once again leaves the Shibutanis in third place in their own rink, so people tend to discount them. However, people should remember that until 2009-2010, D&W were in third place in that same rink, and like the Shibs, had been in that position for 3 or 4 years.

It's not like that position is necessarily a career death sentence.

Plus the Shibs have been in Japan, so no one has seen their new programs lately.

What I find most impressive is the near unanimity that C&B will be US champions. Lynn Rutherford's reasons are most compelling.

emdee · Aug 15, 2014

In Canada I think that it will once again be a close fight between Gilles and Poirier and Paul and Islam this year.
Poirier is injury free so it may play a part.

ice coverage · Aug 15, 2014

cruzceleste said:
Amazing, nobody even mention the Shibutanis.

I think their shenanigans made people think their are no serious as another teams. They do made them a little popular with the fans.

Does your word choice of "shenanigans" refer to the ShibsSibs videos and social media presence??
If so, they make Shibutanis popular not only with fans -- but also with U.S. Figure Skating and the ISU, which both have shown support for the ShibSibs videos. (And if so, I wish you had chosen a different word.)
For the benefit of their own social media platforms, both governing bodies repeatedly have reposted content from the Shibutanis.

That said, I agree that the absence of the Shibutanis from the IN piece is unfortunate.

dorispulaski said:
I think that Marina having acquired both S&K and C&L once again leaves the Shibutanis in third place in their own rink, so people tend to discount them. However, people should remember that until 2009-2010, D&W were in third place in that same rink, and like the Shibs, had been in that position for 3 or 4 years.

It's not like that position is necessarily a career death sentence.

Plus the Shibs have been in Japan, so no one has seen their new programs lately. ...

Have any videos of and/or reports on the new programs of Chock/Bates or Hubbell/Donohue been widely available?

I know that C/B and H/D have appeared in one or more summer shows/exhibitions, but did they perform their new programs? :think:

dorispulaski · Aug 15, 2014

From this quote by Lynn Rutherford from the IN article, it sounds to me as though she has seen C&B's programs.

Plus I don't think we should underestimate the weight placed on C&B's choice to skip summer shows. That strategy shows real dedication.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates' programs and lifts look fantastic. They turned down show offers to finish their choreography and drill their elements, and should come out strong this fall and qualify for the Grand Prix Final. As Igor Shpilband's top senior team, I'm betting they make a strong run at the world podium. I'm also looking for big things from Russians Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina. After just a few months together, they were training a world-class short dance in Canton in July, and executing Oleg Epstein's challenging footwork drills with speed and unison.

cruzceleste · Aug 15, 2014

Does your word choice of "shenanigans" refer to the ShibsSibs videos and social media presence??
If so, they make Shibutanis popular not only with fans -- but also with U.S. Figure Skating and the ISU, which both have shown support for the ShibSibs videos. (And if so, I wish you had chosen a different word.)
For the benefit of their own social media platforms, both governing bodies repeatedly have reposted content from the Shibutanis.

That said, I agree that the absence of the Shibutanis from the IN piece is unfortunate.

Yes I do refer to their social media, they are popular in the likeable way, but at this moment, not even the fans consider them as contenders. Even Jrs. teams seem to be more preferred to get to the first place in US.

ice coverage · Aug 15, 2014

dorispulaski said:
From this quote by Lynn Rutherford from the IN article, it sounds to me as though she has seen C&B's programs.

Plus I don't think we should underestimate the weight placed on C&B's choice to skip summer shows. That strategy shows real dedication.

Thx, Doris. I agree that Lynn is the one person who likely has seen C/B's programs. We know that when she was in Michigan for Skate Detroit that she took the opportunity to pay a visit to Arctic Edge (unfortunately missing the Shibs, who were in Japan) -- so yes, it would make sense that she made a point of going to Novi as well.

But wouldn't surprise me if the other pundits have seen neither C/B's nor S/S's new programs. :no:

Good point that C/B apparently opted out of SOI ... whereas the Shibs have toured Japan both with SOI and The Ice this year.

Maybe we will have to send Mathman on an investigative trip to one of Novi's summer exhibitions.

C/B have performed in at least one, according to the arena's FB page. I guess no news came out of their Evening on Ice appearance?

fleeting · Aug 15, 2014

cruzceleste said:
Yes I do refer to their social media, they are popular in the likeable way, but at this moment, not even the fans consider them as contenders. Even Jrs. teams seem to be more preferred to get to the first place in US.

I think if they have more elegant programs, similar to the exhibition they performed on The Ice this year, they're definitely contenders. The MJ program wasn't a good fit for them. Hawayek/Baker seem to be the only junior team people are talking about, and even then it's unanimous that C/B and the Shibs will, barring major disaster, invariably place above them.

If there's a team people really aren't considering contenders, it's Hubble/Donohue.

humbaba · Aug 15, 2014

fleeting said:
If there's a team people really aren't considering contenders, it's Hubble/Donohue.

I wouldn't discount H/D's chances. I think they might surprise people. Or perhaps that's wishful thinking on my part because I really like them.

Alba · Aug 15, 2014

Elena and Ruslan. :yay:

For USA C&B.

Coltrocks12 · Aug 15, 2014

I really hope that the Shibs or Hubble/Donohoe take it because Chock and Bates leave me cold. I love the music of Les Mis and it was just background music. They didn't bring it forward, didn't transport me anywhere. At least the Michael Jackson number made me get up and dance. Chock and Bates are good technically but put a wall up between themselves and the audience and skate lacking emotion and passion. The Shib sibs are limited with what parts they can play since nobody wants to see a sibling team do romantic characters. I agree with Weaver/Poje secure to first in Canada if Scott/Tessa go ahead and take whole year off (confirmed only the fall off that I have read). Paul/Islam were third last year but didn't show very well at Olys or Worlds. I don't know much about Gilles/Poirer but they seem popular with Canadians that I know. Cappallini and Lanotte have a good shot at worlds next year. France and Russia will be interesting for development.

cruzceleste · Aug 15, 2014

Speacking of Bates, what happened to Emily Samuelson?, I think she was a better partner for him. Never got why they split.

fleeting · Aug 15, 2014

Papadakis/Cizeron, Hurtado/Diaz, and Ilinykh/Zhiganshin are all teams I'm personally looking forward to watching. P/C and H/D train together now, so it'll be interesting to see how they've upped their levels since last season. And after listening to I/Z's FD music approximately twenty times today, I can't contain my excitement to see that program (and their Carmen)!

cruzceleste said:
Speacking of Bates, what happened to Emily Samuelson?, I think she was a better partner for him. Never got why they split.

She's not listed on icepartnersearch, so one could assume that she's not looking to continue after she had that short partnership with Todd Gilles.
I remember they left their coach after Vancouver, and then she accidentally sliced his achilles tendon with her skate. That probably had a part to do with them splitting.

I personally prefer Madison as a skater, but Emily did match Evan better.

ice coverage · Aug 15, 2014

cruzceleste said:
Speacking of Bates, what happened to Emily Samuelson?, I think she was a better partner for him. Never got why they split.

Ask Bates why he split from Samuelson. From the little that both said at the time, it was clear that the split was his idea, not hers. (This topic is a sore subject with me.)
Samuelson took the high road and did not gripe in public.

fleeting said:
...

She's not listed on icepartnersearch, so one could assume that she's not looking to continue after she had that short partnership with Todd Gilles.
I remember they left their coach after Vancouver, and then she accidentally sliced his achilles tendon with her skate. That probably had a part to do with them splitting.

I personally prefer Madison as a skater, but Emily did match Evan better.

As Bates recovered and Samuelson waited for him, she trained on her own for essentially a full season.
Mere weeks after Bates returned to the ice and to the partnership, the split was announced.

After her brief partnership with Gilles ended, Samuelson happily continued to perform in shows now and then. Over a year ago, she said openly that her skating career was over -- in terms of both competition and show skating. IIRC, she expected the 2013 edition of Skate for Hope to be her last public performance -- but the good news is that she returned again to this year's Skate for Hope (and I think she might have done a little bit of other show skating elsewhere as well).

https://www.facebook.com/skateforho...161287.246528927691/10152405347087692/?type=1 (2014 SFH cast photo)

Also good news is that Samuelson's life off the ice seems successful and happy.
Lynn Kriengkrairut and she sat together at their graduation ceremony from the University of Michigan last year. (Sorry, don't have the photo link at my fingertips.)
Emily now is in grad school, and as of spring 2014, she was engaged to be married.

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014/03/24/70033486/the-inside-edge-dauntless-on-the-red-carpet

cruzceleste · Aug 15, 2014

golden411 said:
Also good news is that Samuelson's life off the ice seems successful and happy.
Lynn Kriengkrairut and she sat together at their graduation ceremony from the University of Michigan last year. (Sorry, don't have the photo link at my fingertips.)
Emily now is in grad school, and as of spring 2014, she was engaged to be married.

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014/03/24/70033486/the-inside-edge-dauntless-on-the-red-carpet

I get what you said about Bates behavior. Anyway, glad she is happy of the ice, and hope to see new videos of her soon. Lovely girl.

skatingfan04 · Aug 15, 2014

Coltrocks12 said:
Paul/Islam were third last year but didn't show very well at Olys or Worlds.

They came 10th at Worlds. It was their first time there, so I'd say that's pretty impressive.

blancanieves · Aug 15, 2014

fleeting said:
If there's a team people really aren't considering contenders, it's Hubble/Donohue.

"People" as in some posters, I guess, the reporter in the Icenetwork article did mention them

Since they're coming back from injury, I can understand the hesitation to forecast what kind of season they'll have. "People" have yet to see their current level of competence.

I know that C/B and H/D have appeared in one or more summer shows/exhibitions, but did they perform their new programs?

H/D haven't shown their competitive programs yet. They performed two exhibition numbers at the Lake Placid Saturday Night Show on July 19, but I haven't seen video. They look good in the pictures though

Alba · Aug 15, 2014

skatingfan04 said:
They came 10th at Worlds. It was their first time there, so I'd say that's pretty impressive.

I actually liked their FD and she is so cute. https://vimeo.com/102107513

Which Dance Teams Will Rise This Season?

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl

cruzceleste

Skategmt

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl

emdee

ice coverage

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dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl

cruzceleste

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fleeting

Queen Anissina

humbaba

Alba

Coltrocks12

cruzceleste

fleeting

Queen Anissina

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cruzceleste

skatingfan04

blancanieves

Alba

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