2016 Cup of China Free Dance

[WeakAnkles]

...I'm never going to live that down, am I?

Are you kidding? I crack up everytime I reread it.

Thank you for the mucho laughs.

 

[ancientpeas]

Gosh.. real hiphop in the stadium that someone could skate the hiphop section to.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Nope. I think you should change your tag under your name.

She already has a turkey cock under her name.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Very possible. They seem to peak later in season, as it should be

They just need more experience and polish (so to speak, lol). They're a relatively new couple but I think they have so much potential.

 

[SarahSynchro]

I so much prefer the dance and pairs threads. No one gets really uptight in here.

Buckle up homie, we're about to enter the ladies FS thread. The Kaetlyn Osmond angst, hate and supposed inflation symphony will be starting soon, and we have front row seats.

 

[mrrice]

She already has a turkey cock under her name.

Violet!!:eeking: Get it, girl!

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

The Australian judge, who gave NO team any PCS in the 9.0s in the SD, gave the Shibs three 10.00s in PCS for this FD. Congrats to the Shibs on their fourth GP title and their first Cup of China win. They now have three different GP titles.

They seemed really nervous in the beginning and I felt their serpentine step sequence was more hesitant in places than it was in SA, but then they really calmed down as they went through the program and once the twizzles were over, they really let it go. Bravo!

 

[ancientpeas]

Buckle up homie, we're about to enter the ladies FS thread. The Kaetlyn Osmond angst, hate and supposed inflation symphony will be starting soon, and we have front row seats.

Maybe it will be alright..*clings to a large stuffed penguin*

 

[auser]

Awww. Thank you for this.

I don't really have much to add to your excellent post. Subtlety is usually a hard sell in ice skating as a whole, let alone dance. It's considered "boring." Same with minimalist music. It doesn't WOW you the way a big rock song like "Fix You" does. But there is just something about this FD that has really stuck with me longer and deeper than any other FD I've seen so far. And the previous dance it reminds me of the most is the Shibs' Memoirs of a Geisha, which was similarly derides as "boring."

Well you know, de gustibus and all that jazz. And I loves me the big and brassy and ballsy a heap. But there is something equally beautiful and entertaining in just how precise and exact that kind of small canvas can be. The hardest poems to write, after all, aren't the big epics. It's the small lyric. Because each word, each line break, each pause, each sound has so much more weight to carry.

Someone once said to me, that if you really want to be heard in a nosy crowd--and given how tight the competition has become in ID this year, it is its own kind of noisy crowd--you should whisper UNDER the noise rather than try to scream ABOVE it. I've been thinking about that a lot when I've rewatched the SA performance.

But you know, YMMV and all that. And this is just my two coppers.

One of my favorite things about the S/S free dance this season is how quietly beautiful it is :agree:.

 

[Mrs. P]

The Australian judge, who gave NO team any PCS in the 9.0s in the SD, gave the Shibs three 10.00s in PCS for this FD. Congrats to the Shibs on their fourth GP title and their first Cup of China win. They now have three different GP titles.

They seemed really nervous in the beginning and I felt their serpentine step sequence was more hesitant in places than it was in SA, but then they really calmed down as they went through the program and once the twizzles were over, they really let it go. Bravo!

Their PCS here is a new personal best: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_pb_00011168.htm

 

[ruffledgrouse]

She already has a turkey cock under her name.

Turkey!? Excuse you, I am the nobel Ruffed Grouse! I do not gobble- I beat wood

 

[ancientpeas]

Turkey!? Excuse you, I am the nobel Ruffed Grouse! I do not gobble- I beat wood

That was the best 26 seconds of my life to date.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Turkey!? Excuse you, I am the nobel Ruffed Grouse! I do not gobble- I beat wood

A blue blooded relative of turkey? Hope you enjoy the wood.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Turkey!? Excuse you, I am the nobel Ruffed Grouse! I do not gobble- I beat wood

I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole!

 

[MIM]

W/P got higher GOE on lifts except the penalty on the SlLi.
Shibs got higher GOE on Steps, Twizzle, Spins.

W/P got lv2 on DiSt vs Shibs' got lv3.
Shibs got lv 2 on SeSt vs. W/P got lv3 on CiSt.

No GPF for WP. but I hope they use the time from now to National wisely and improve what is lacking. I wish the best luck for them. They were gorgeous and moved me the most. :agree:

Shibs were sublime. no question on their win and skating quality. Congratulation for two consecutive wins this season

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Their PCS here is a new personal best: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_pb_00011168.htm

Would you and WeakAnkles argue that the Shibs are creating a new style with this FD? This one is so blatantly abstract and minimalist compared to anything I've seen in ice dance before. I know people think they're copying P/C with this FD but I don't see it. It's a totally different way of moving and has a much more deliberate minimalist approach. Even the music is mostly three piano keys for the first two-thirds until the last third. There really hasn't been a program like this before. I'd argue that the Shibs are introducing minimalism to ice dance.

 

[Mrs. P]

Would you and WeakAnkles argue that the Shibs are creating a new style with this FD. This one is so blatantly abstract and minimalist compared to anything I've seen in ice dance before. I know people think they're copying P/C with this FD but I don't see it. It's a totally different and has much more deliberate minimalist approach going on here. Even the music is mostly three piano keys for the first two-thirds until the last third. There really hasn't been a program like this before. I'd argue that the Shibs are introducing minimalism to ice dance.

I think Papadakis/Cizeorn's music for their FD has some similarities to the Shibs -- but yeah, that's about the only thing. The key difference is what they do with the music.

P/C has very sharp, pointed movements -- much more modern dance-style. There's a sense of abandon in their dancing that is not present in the Shibs dance. Their dance is very much passion-driven, and about creating a moment.

I think the Shibutanis approach is thoughtful and cerebral. Their dance is about purity of technique. Just watch their FD and only look at Maia's arms. There isn't anything out of place and each position has a purpose. There is not a lot of extra stuff to up the difficulty. In fact, it looks easy that people probably don't realize how difficult the dance is. So yeah, perhaps I agree they're going for a minimalistic approach.

I actually like both dances for different reasons. I've surprised myself at how much I've watched P/C's FD this season. In hindsight, I probably will end up liking this one better than either of their two previously World champion FDs.

GPF I think will be very exciting.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Would you and WeakAnkles argue that the Shibs are creating a new style with this FD? This one is so blatantly abstract and minimalist compared to anything I've seen in ice dance before. I know people think they're copying P/C with this FD but I don't see it. It's a totally different way of moving and has a much more deliberate minimalist approach. Even the music is mostly three piano keys for the first two-thirds until the last third. There really hasn't been a program like this before. I'd argue that the Shibs are introducing minimalism to ice dance.

You know Charlie White said a few years ago that people should really look at the music of Philip Glass for programs. And Mr Glass is probably the most well-known minimalist composer of all. But there are TONS of pieces that have real potential as skating fodder. Not the early, really academic stuff (lord, early Philip Glass is a chore to sit through). But I love a really quirky new age group called Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and they have some pieces which would really work for program music. John Adams' Chairman Mao Dances. WePo used Steve Reich last year (in a very interesting mashup). There's certainly possibilities to explore.

But abstract is a hard sell with ice dance. Look at Piper and Paul's FD last year. That was even more abstract than the Shibs. And it killed them at Worlds.

Then again, I always remember the beeyutchy "tres moderne" choreographer in The Turning Point, a movie I really love, simpering and seething to the young prima ballerina in training, "You're not playing some uptight village virgin like Giselle. You're just a body. Moving to music." And that can be just as exciting to watch as any traditional ballet. It's just that it doesn't rely on an obvious storyline. And people like clear narratives, even if that narrative is "puffy fluffy fun."

And why not? Why shouldn't Ice Dance include as many forms of dance as it can?

 

[Blades of Passion]

I enjoyed the Shibutani's a lot more this time. Don't remember the dance being this good at Skate America, good job.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I enjoyed the Shibutani's a lot more this time. Don't remember the dance being this good at Skate America, good job.

Just asking this because he's your avatar, but what do you think of the exhibition that Stephane did for the Shibs this season?