Big Guy, Little Lady

This thread brings to mind Zagorska/Siudek of Poland...the commentators always seem to bring up the fact that she is 5'1 and he is 6", though I think the they do look æsthetically pleasing, especially in all the gorgeous lifts they do

As for Borzenkova/Chuvilaev, I saw a clip of them skating at Cup of Russia...and he is a monster!! At the end of their LP, they finished w/ her doing a arabesque while resting on his shoulder. I remember thinking God, I'd hate to see failed attempts at that one!

Matt said:

As for Borzenkova/Chuvilaev, I saw a clip of them skating at Cup of Russia...and he is a monster!! At the end of their LP, they finished w/ her doing a arabesque while resting on his shoulder. I remember thinking God, I'd hate to see failed attempts at that one!

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According to an interview with Moskvina, a lot of people have been telling Victoria to dump Andrei because he is so tall. She said that this caused a lot of friction between the two, and she contributes a difficult season they've had to this. She, however, thinks they are good together and should stay.

I admit to liking when the man is larger than the woman. I think it looks better when he is at least 3-4 inches taller and definitely heavier. To me, a female pairs skater needs to have a certain body type, or else it just looks awkward. This was my main concern with Steve and Danielle Hartsell. While no means a large girl, she was not the right body type for him. I always thought he was too small for her and I wondered where he had the strength to lift her. (again, I am not saying she was a heavy girl) Pairs skating, to me, should look light and effortless, not labored. Unfortunately, this is the problem I have with Steve's new matchup, Kristen Roth. He just looks too small for him. Isn't he a pretty small guy for pairs - like 5'8 or something?

When I see all the greats of pairs skating, they are all very suited body type-wise.

I'd say that the "shorter/taller" thing depends on the couple more than the height difference. I've seen height disparity where it mattered not at all, and I've seen plenty of evenly matched pairs they were no better than mediocre.

Tai and Randy were the exception because of their exsquisite lines. Martini and Underhill were great because of the genuine connection and what I consider good choreography that allowed them to "mask" some of the more obvious differences in their height (entrances/exits that showcased their strengths; the "leap of faith jump" that showed their athleticism and timing, etc)

Now it seems to be the same old thing. Seems to me that Anton and Elayna are fairly far apart in height, and I love them. Petrova and Tikinov (sp?) are painful to watch. Even though both have solid technique, he often looks as if he is "stooping" to match her and makes their the "sum of their skating less than the total of its parts"

Size

Both Steve Hartsel and Randy Gardner suffered groin injuries at critical times in their careers. Even a very strong man is going to have difficulty with pairs moves if the lift is from a height closer to their own height. There's just a certain torque that a skater gets from a certain distance below their own shoulders.

As far as the look of it, I loved the look of the Hartsels. They were both very similar in their way of moving - of course! They were genetic brother and sister (as opposed to Peter and Kitty Caruthers who were brother and sister but not the same genetically).

But I didn't like the look of Tai and Randy. Randy's slender siloutte make Tai look heavy even when she was most svelte. It was a trick of the relative proportions.

Much has to do with the way that the man lifts and throws the lady, and the lady's ability to absorb it. If the lady looks like a bean bag, then it is unattractive. Z&S are named as a couple nearer it height... really? She looks quite a bit smaller than him to me. Yet he seems to handle her with utmost care... and still provide these incredible high and long throws. Perhaps it's just her iron strength that makes it all look so effortless.

Linny

I agree with all you posters who prefer the closesness of heights in Pairs rather than the Mutt and Jeff look. When I was a kid the Adagio Teams in dance,were always lopsided in height. It was definitely vaudeville or burlesque.

Joe

Linny said:

As far as the look of it, I loved the look of the Hartsels. They were both very similar in their way of moving - of course! They were genetic brother and sister (as opposed to Peter and Kitty Caruthers who were brother and sister but not the same genetically).

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I thought the Hartsells were a strong pairs team, and they were definitely evenly matched in height and weight. However, I thought that Danielle was, perhaps, a bit too heavy for her partner. Please, guys, I'm not saying Danielle was overweight - but I do think she was a bit oversized for her brother Steve, who wasn't exactly a "big guy". I wondered at times how he managed to lift her. No bashing meant by those comments.

On the other hand, I really liked Kitty and Peter Carruthers. She was petite, and he was probably a foot taller, but they were a very well trained and unified team.