2017-2018 State of Russian Ice Dance

[bramweld]

I like Stepanova/Bukin. More than Bobrova/Soloviev. Bobrova/Soloviev may be better dancers, but Stepaniva/Bukin’s skating is making me feel something, whereas I can’t say that about Bobrova/Soloviev’s skating.

With this, I agree.

 

[Skater Boy]

Russia's ice dance is in a lull. They do not have a real diva with great skating skills. All the teams miss levels constantly and they don't have anything really distinctive at this time. I and K was the Great Russian Hope and kaboom - they blew up. They were vulnerable to errors but oh wow, they had a certain beauty, magic and you were dranw in to watch them. Now all the teams are rather blah. Nothing new, Nothing innovative. And they don't have the passion and fire of Usova, klimova, Bestimianova, Navka, krylova , Domina, Gritschuk or even Elena I in her prime et al they are left with vanilla pudding - pleasant enough but forgettable.

 

[gmyers]

I actually like Popova / Mozgov partnership, they have spunk and chemsitry, but they suffer the same issues with other russian ice dancers they lose levels especially in step sequences.

Why won’t they move to North America and be coxched by dubreil? Or krylova? Why stay in Russia. There are a few exceptions but almost all non Russian euro teams train in North America.

I honestly think part of the problem lies with the skaters themselves. Quite frankly with few exceptions they don't really have the depth of talent right now and quite honestly, I don't think they have a clue as to the time and effort it takes to become the best. I suggest they take some lessons from the Shibs on this. You ask me why I say this? If their school created K/P, U/Z, G/P there must be some talented coaches or specialists. Either there isn't enough work, talent or both.

They moved to North America or stayed in Russia and hate ijs. The problem of hating ijs is real. The sources of the hatred are bashed but look how the ice dance program has completely collapsed. The skaters just not having the talent now is a perfectly reasonable theory but why do almost all talented skaters train in North America or Italy but Russians stay in Russia? It’s baffling and incomprehensible! If you have potential why don’t you go to the best training centers. If all the Russian coaches were given lessons by dubreil maybe moving wouldn’t be necessary but skaters can’t be good if they don’t train with the best.

Russia's ice dance is in a lull. They do not have a real diva with great skating skills. All the teams miss levels constantly and they don't have anything really distinctive at this time. I and K was the Great Russian Hope and kaboom - they blew up. They were vulnerable to errors but oh wow, they had a certain beauty, magic and you were dranw in to watch them. Now all the teams are rather blah. Nothing new, Nothing innovative. And they don't have the passion and fire of Usova, klimova, Bestimianova, Navka, krylova , Domina, Gritschuk or even Elena I in her prime et al they are left with vanilla pudding - pleasant enough but forgettable.

You are right but there are solutions. Send all teams with potential to dubreil or krylova or Fusar poli. Maybe they can do something. Almost all other teams train in novi or canton. This is not by accident. Go to a list of any ice dance teams and isu Page is novi canton novi canton other random USA city or Canada and then more and more Milan.

 

[Abraxis12345]

Dubreuil costs money. The Russian fed needs to pay Tutberidze a salary. They need to pay all the Russian single skaters a salary. There isn’t any money to let be in North America.

If you are so obsessed with dancers training with Dubreuil, why don’t you post your bank account number right here and the right people can forward it to Bukin. I’m sure that will be enough to pay for their training.

 

[madison]

I honestly think part of the problem lies with the skaters themselves. Quite frankly with few exceptions they don't really have the depth of talent right now and quite honestly, I don't think they have a clue as to the time and effort it takes to become the best. I suggest they take some lessons from the Shibs on this. You ask me why I say this? If their school created K/P, U/Z, G/P there must be some talented coaches or specialists. Either there isn't enough work, talent or both.

I have to disagree, I think they have many talents, the problem is not this. Take the example of the Russian juniors, the field is really deep. But maybe the ice dancers and their coaches lost motivation to work hard and be almost perfect, cause right now or in recent past, ice dance wasn't a priority for Russian Fed, but the ladies and the pairs.

 

[madison]

I read that Step/Bukin had two options for their free programme, one very modern and this one. The same as Stolbova/Klimov who worked a very modern programme according to Ksenia with Marie France.
I wonder why both teams chose the more traditional path at the end....

 

[bramweld]

I read that Step/Bukin had two options for their free programme, one very modern and this one. The same as Stolbova/Klimov who worked a very modern programme according to Ksenia with Marie France.
I wonder why both teams chose the more traditional path at the end....

For Stol/Klim it works but somehow they forget that between Stepanova and Bukin only one right now has the great skating skills, but I applaud their efforts to fix that. But to only score two more points than the new team of P/M at the start of their Olympic campaign IS a cause for concern. One could only imagine how impactful they would have been if they took a more modern route.They really have the packaging and attitude to make that work. The lifts look so unpolished and clumsy and sometimes even too simple. Maybe Bukin or Stepanova were injured over the summer, or it could just be growing pains. Stepanova IS in great shape, just hear me a out a bit, but she has put on some muscle over these few seasons but I don't think Ivan has much and he was huffing and puffing after their FD for dear life. So is it that there was an injury or that he needs to beef up. Examples, Ponamarenko, Cizeron, Scott Moir, Andrew Poje. These guys just get on with it like its just their job. The Russian boys seem rather frail, with few exceptions. Just an observation.

 

[madison]

For Stol/Klim it works but somehow they forget that between Stepanova and Bukin only one right now has the great skating skills, but I applaud their efforts to fix that. But to only score two more points than the new team of P/M at the start of their Olympic campaign IS a cause for concern. One could only imagine how impactful they would have been if they took a more modern route.They really have the packaging and attitude to make that work. The lifts look so unpolished and clumsy and sometimes even too simple. Maybe Bukin or Stepanova were injured over the summer, or it could just be growing pains. Stepanova IS in great shape, just hear me a out a bit, but she has put on some muscle over these few seasons but I don't think Ivan has much and he was huffing and puffing after their FD for dear life. So is it that there was an injury or that he needs to beef up. Examples, Ponamarenko, Cizeron, Scott Moir, Andrew Poje. These guys just get on with it like its just their job. The Russian boys seem rather frail, with few exceptions. Just an observation.

I don't know... I don't see many improvements when it comes to her skating

 

[coldblueeyes]

It seems like P/M were put on the roster for Rostelecom, in place of E/B - so that's a nod from the Fed at their improvement.

 

[Snow63]

I don't know... I don't see many improvements when it comes to her skating

Stepanova will start to improve when she'll start bending her knees. Don't want to sound rude, but she looks like a Barbie doll which has unbendable knee joints. It's what bother me the most. She has decent edgework, though. Sinitsina had the same problem, she seems MUCH better in that aspect now.

 

[madison]

Stepanova will start to improve when she'll start bending her knees. Don't want to sound rude, but she looks like a Barbie doll which has unbendable knee joints. It's what bother me the most. She has decent edgework, though. Sinitsina had the same problem, she seems MUCH better in that aspect now.

And why doesn't she bend her knees??:cool14:

 

[Snow63]

And why doesn't she bend her knees??:cool14:

Bad basics. She was teached this way, or didn't like to work on that aspect. Such things are very hard to fix in such age (e.g. Nikita's twizzles, Bobrova's posture, Fedor Klimov's weak twist throws etc.). It's possible but needs tons of dedicated hard work, literally day and night work. And when the skater lose focus or gets too nervous it comes on the surface again.

 

[madison]

Bad basics. She was teached this way, or didn't like to work on that aspect. Such things are very hard to fix in such age (e.g. Nikita's twizzles, Bobrova's posture, Fedor Klimov's weak twist throws etc.). It's possible but needs tons of dedicated hard work, literally day and night work. And when the skater lose focus or gets too nervous it comes on the surface again.

Yeah, I know, but her team doesn't seem to consider her bad knee bend a priority to fix .

 

[Marta25]

I have to disagree, I think they have many talents, the problem is not this. Take the example of the Russian juniors, the field is really deep. But maybe the ice dancers and their coaches lost motivation to work hard and be almost perfect, cause right now or in recent past, ice dance wasn't a priority for Russian Fed, but the ladies and the pairs.

It`s true that Russia has a lot of talent in ice dance, the issue in the past was that these teams seldom stayed together. And regardless how talented one part of the team is, when you start a new partnership, you always take a step back compared to your competitors who have skated together for many, many years.

Hopefully, the junior teams have learned from this and stay together even when the move up to seniors is getting tough.

 

[Snow63]

Yeah, I know, but her team doesn't seem to consider her bad knee bend a priority to fix .

That's true. I don't see any progress from last season either. I would forgive her coaches if they would have given them decent dances. But it doesn't look like a high priority too :noshake:
They're talented team, Ivan has lots of charisma, but they need to move somewhere. They've stagnated. What a shame

 

[Marta25]

That's true. I don't see any progress from last season either. I would forgive her coaches if they would have given them decent dances. But it doesn't look like a high priority too :noshake:
They're talented team, Ivan has lots of charisma, but they need to move somewhere. They've stagnated. What a shame

They have the advantage that they are #1 at their rink, although that could change in the coming years with Shpilevaya/Smirnov moving up to Seniors. The only top Russian ice dance coach who would be free is Mozorov, I don`t know if that would be a good fit. :think:

 

[madison]

They have the advantage that they are #1 at their rink, although that could change in the coming years with Shpilevaya/Smirnov moving up to Seniors. The only top Russian ice dance coach who would be free is Mozorov, I don`t know if that would be a good fit. :think:

Is there any news about S/S?:luv17: I haven't read a single official comment about them, about why they skipped the second JGP event...
Morozov a good fit for S/S, you mean? Hope not..... if they wanna change the coaching team, maybe they can try Krylova?

 

[Snow63]

Is there any news about S/S?:luv17: I haven't read a single official comment about them, about why they skipped the second JGP event...
Morozov a good fit for S/S, you mean? Hope not..... if they wanna change the coaching team, maybe they can try Krylova?

I think Marta meant Stepanova/Bukin. I would really like to see them under Morozov, I like what he does for Weaver/Poje, and I think such programs will fit Alexandra and Ivan

 

[Barb]

Is there any news about S/S?:luv17: I haven't read a single official comment about them, about why they skipped the second JGP event...
Morozov a good fit for S/S, you mean? Hope not..... if they wanna change the coaching team, maybe they can try Krylova?

Krylova? Does not she have H/B?, they are practically agonizing. Although I do not know if it's Krylova's fault.

 

[hanca]

Bad basics. She was teached this way, or didn't like to work on that aspect. Such things are very hard to fix in such age (e.g. Nikita's twizzles, Bobrova's posture, Fedor Klimov's weak twist throws etc.). It's possible but needs tons of dedicated hard work, literally day and night work. And when the skater lose focus or gets too nervous it comes on the surface again.

So many armchair experts on this forum...