2016 Four Continents Free Dance

[lauravvv]

We are about to see the end of an era of North American Dominance in Ice Dance.

I am really not so sure. At the moment there is no another European team on Papadakis/Cizeron's level. It remains to be seen if any of the Russians will rise to that level. On the other hand, North America, especially USA, has many really promising juniors who will go into seniors soon. Of course, just out of junior teams have not had that much success in seniors recently with one major exception (P/C, of course, but even for them it was in their second senior season), but someone has to rise in the next several years from such a deep pool of talent. Yes, there are some promising Russian junior teams too, even though those are not the current leaders, but the younger teams. In any case, I think it is too early to predict the end of North American dominance.

 

[LadyB]

Can't wait to watch it. I'm stuck in the office, the Taiwanese channnel doesn't work here today :curse:
Anyway: Shibs They just nailed it with that programme!
Sorry, WeaPos:sad46:
After reading your comments, I wanna watch the G/P number!

 

[apons575]

We are about to see the end of an era of North American Dominance in Ice Dance.

Oh honey, please take a seat. US and Canada have an enormous arsenal of talent, including emerging stars in the junior ranks. French, Italian and Russian team have always been in the medal mix, and will continue to do so.

 

[solani]

Oh honey, please take a seat. US and Canada have an enormous arsenal of talent, including emerging stars in the junior ranks. French, Italian and Russian team have always been in the medal mix, and will continue to do so.

I'm sure the era is over ... I mean, NA teams won Worlds and Olympics from 2010 - 2014. That was the era of dominance.
There can surely be a new era of dominance, but this one is over.

 

[GF2445]

Oh honey, please take a seat. US and Canada have an enormous arsenal of talent, including emerging stars in the junior ranks. French, Italian and Russian team have always been in the medal mix, and will continue to do so.

But it seems that there is only one medal for north america at the moment.
I'm all for North American Ice Dance and NA Ice Dance dominance.

 

[QuadThrow]

it is going to become a hard weekend for canadian skating. Let us have a look how chan will skate.

 

[Kinga]

But it seems that there is only one medal for north america at the moment..

I think there is two medals. Who from Europe (except PC) would take one? C/L? It is not impossible,but I doubt that. Especialy with WC inBoston.

 

[invisiblespiral]

I just woke up. Yay Shibs! Sad for W/P, though....

 

[NoNameFace]

Can't wait to watch it. I'm stuck in the office, the Taiwanese channnel doesn't work here today :curse:
Anyway: Shibs They just nailed it with that programme!
Sorry, WeaPos:sad46:
After reading your comments, I wanna watch the G/P number!

this will the first thing to watch after work today - this FD is AMAZING, originality, quirkiness, very 'unsettled' feeling, edgy interpretation. One of my top 3 this season for sure!!!

 

[Mrs. P]

The irony of irony that the levels that the Shibs have struggled with for years is what got them the win here...and could help secure them a good placement at Worlds.

 

[nocturnalis]

Every time Weaver & Poje underperform, I'm convinced that Virtue & Moir get closer to coming back. I feel that they must know it to because they seemed superior to the Shibutanis at Nationals less than a month ago.

 

[KKonas]

Judging Panel 4CC FD/SD
Williamson-Leadley – NZL
Lenkola – FIN
Zhang – CHN
Ozkan – TUR
Sugar – HUN
Keen – CAN
Storton – AUS
Takino – JPN
Rogers - USA

 

[nocturnalis]

Is Kana Muramoto wearing Tessa Virtue's dress from 2008 4CC's

 

[Heleng]

The problem with C/B's Rach is that they interpret it like almost every other FD they've ever done and Igor's choreography with the usual Madi touching Evan's face a thousand times and arm raising and Evan disappearing to the background can't be hidden as well as it did with more jumpy music like American in Paris.

I'm probably a minority on this, but to me, it appears that Madi uses sensuality, overly dramatic expressions and theatricality to disguise her comparatively weak skating skills. As a result, her performances w Evan don't flow naturally for me (in contrast to the Shibs and H/D) but come across as somewhat fake and forced.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I'm probably a minority on this, but to me, it appears that Madi uses sensuality, overly dramatic expressions and theatricality to disguise her comparatively weak skating skills. As a result, her performances w Evan don't flow naturally for me (in contrast to the Shibs and H/D) but come across as somewhat fake and forced.

I agree with this. I do think there are times where she's underrated, but Chock/Bates is a team to me that seems really impressive when you first really watch them due to her performance ability and projection and how athletic a lot of the moves are. But after repeated watching a or following their performances over seasons, you notice the substantive issues behind the style and notice how very similarly she performs her dances. It's sort of like her and Greg's Cabaret. I really really enjoyed it when I first saw it, but upon repeated viewings, I couldn't help but notice their technical issues.

 

[tvuckic16]

I'm sure the era is over ... I mean, NA teams won Worlds and Olympics from 2010 - 2014. That was the era of dominance.
There can surely be a new era of dominance, but this one is over.

All eras of dominance end eventually. The North American will end/has ended, just like the Russian dominance did. Now it may be time for French dominance with PC, but CL, I am not sure. CL's technical issues will I think still be their limiting factor. The Russian teams (BS, SK and IZ) are all better technically than CL.

I also think CB and WP won't be able to hold on to the top. I think the most promising North American teams are the Shibs (what????) if they continue improving like this, and then in the future some of the younger teams, like HB, but for HB to reach their potential, if they reach it, it will take some time.

So, I think the Russian teams have some room to get back into the mix. BS are of course BS, very experienced. SK and IZ have potential, they have different styles and different strengths so they could be very competitive, but I also think SK and IZ won't be able to hold on to the top for very long, if they ever get there. Maybe it will be up to SK and IZ to lay the groundwork for a team like YM. We'll see...

SK's and IZ's limiting factors could simply be Nikita and Elena...ironic...LOL LOL... who have continued their streaks of error prone performances even with new partners... heartbreaking, honestly... as I like IZ and SK impressed me with their improvement from the disaster last year...

 

[NAOTMAA]

The irony of irony that the levels that the Shibs have struggled with for years is what got them the win here...and could help secure them a good placement at Worlds.

With worlds being in the US the USFSA has to choose a team to get behind. If they don't get behind one team now it can bite them in the *** and worlds may end up a disappointment. In the last two competitions the Shibs have proven to be much stronger overall then C/B. They have to be stupid not to be behind the Shibs at least for this worlds. US #1 doesn't have to be set in stone. They can start with a clean sheet next season but right now they have to pick.

 

[cruzceleste]

First, bravo Shibs, you worked hard no matter what and are getting your reward.:clapper:

I´m really happy for Chris Reed, he keep going after his sister retired and has found a good partner. Liked both performancen and deservedly had earned then PB (I think). Keep the good work guys!

Chock/ Bates, maybe they stopped looking at her faces and started looking at the all performance.

 

[Layback11]

JAIXODJWSJOASLEMEKSIDJEJEJJEJEJEJEDJDJPSJDOSEJSPPQWPSKDKNDKDO!!! :dance2: :yes2:

Symptoms of Shibmania include: muscle spasms, random bouts of high-pitched squealing, rewatching past performances to excess, euphoria, and posting nonsensical posts of hundreds of random uppercase letters and emoticons on Golden Skate. Symptoms can be exacerbated by the Shibs winning a major ISU championship or medaling at worlds, in which case you should duck and watch for flying stuffed animals.

 

[andyjo24]

I'm probably a minority on this, but to me, it appears that Madi uses sensuality, overly dramatic expressions and theatricality to disguise her comparatively weak skating skills. As a result, her performances w Evan don't flow naturally for me (in contrast to the Shibs and H/D) but come across as somewhat fake and forced.

LOL. Madi is the Ashley Wagner of ice dance.