- Joined
- Aug 9, 2006
Part Two of OD Random Impressions.
Lower down the rankings, I thought the Austrians Barbora SILNA / Dmitri MATSJUK were so badly robbed of a higher place than 18th for the OD, in what was probably one of the best Tangos of the day for Interpretation and Choreography. They also skated very well throughout, with attack and panache, with difficult moves, so I was tres disappointed with their average scores, it was uncalled for. :'( I also enjoyed this couple's Waltz CD, they are new to me, and probably the best Austrian Dancers I've seen since the Becks [bro and sis], who were top 5 in the 1980s, so it's a pleasure to have them in the mix, and hopefully they'll be sent to Worlds, and skate well in the FD tomorrow.
Compare them to the 3rd Russians Ekaterina RUBLEVA / Ivan SHEFER who skated before them. It was quite amusing, as they could've been contemporaries of their Coach Alexander Svinin skating at Euros circa 1983 [where he won the Silver medal] instead of the 2007 event! Yes, lovely typically Russian style icedancing, nice edges and lines, but no Tango choreo or character at all, and bizarre bright flourescent costume. It was quite oldfashioned, and his other couple the 4th ranked in the OD Russians, Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI ...well? All in the same vein - an entertaining showdance but excuse me isn't it supposed to be a Tango? ??? It was quite bizarre that their PCS scores for Choreo and Interp were so high, for what was clearly not a Tango but a Showdance highlighting her flexibility as a Gymnast and former Pairs skater, with Pairs skater lifts with her legs hooked round his neck rotating fast.....? So other people take the time and trouble to research the style, have Tango Ballroom lessons and create authentic choreo, and a couple comes out having done none of this but just accentuates what they're good at, and gets marked 4th? As I said earlier, if the Kerr's hadn't have had such glaring technical errors, their Interpretation would've won the day, I believe, judging by the PCS scores [the Kerr's were 4th best but 10th on TES]. But it's nice the crowd in Warsaw appreciated them, and cheered loudly, it would go down great in the Gala, but how much longer K&N can ignore the requirements of rhythm and get away with not doing it we'll see next season. Also their music couldn't been one of Svinnin's albums from the 1970s - lift muzak.
Moving on to Faiella-Scali, undoubtedly hugely better than their awful Waltz. They had superb Tango character throughout, very impressive presentation, and on the whole skated well, a few tentative moments, and I find this couple's technical difficulty sometimes lacking, but it was a good performance worthy of 4th on the day IMO. They were 5th behind K&N based on the TES, and queried their levels afterwards in an interview, in the same way that the Bulgarians did. I hope it is resolved, as it's a shame for them if they feel aggrieved. I don't think it was an entirely clean skate though.
Kamila HAJKOVA / David VINCOUR skated really well, cutting a pleasing figure on the ice, with effective costumes and choreo, nice Tango character, but need a bit more difficulty to climb the rankings. Good skaters though.
There were alot of average North Americans lower down, skating for Greece etc. due to parentage. The Canadian/Greeks said they were going to Worlds aswell, and representing Greece gave them the opportunity to go straight into international events now. It's not a loophole, it's in the rules, but one wonders if they were good enough to represent Canada would they have made the switch?
With the difficult requirements now in the OD, the lower ranked couples really struggled with the technicalities, and many of the routines were dull, Ice Dance is becoming like Figure Skating in that respect - no longer can we still see a *performance* regardless.
Finally the 2nd ranked Brits Phillipa TOWLER-GREEN / Phillip POOLE actually skated well, much better than the CD, with a pleasing routine, but had a 3.00 deduction dropping like a stone from 18th to 24th. It was very worrying that they looked baffled in the K&C as to the reasons why, as there was no fall or obvious stumble, so the deds must have been for infringements of the rules, which is not good, to get to Euros and not have those ironed out already at this late stage of the season - their biggest comp. With TS Marika H in the UK, you'd have thought they'd have taken the opportunity to get an assessment of their programme re the elements, so it's a huge pity. Hopefully they can come back in the FD, though even without the deds they'd have still dropped after the OD behind the Czechs.
Roll on the Freedance!
Lower down the rankings, I thought the Austrians Barbora SILNA / Dmitri MATSJUK were so badly robbed of a higher place than 18th for the OD, in what was probably one of the best Tangos of the day for Interpretation and Choreography. They also skated very well throughout, with attack and panache, with difficult moves, so I was tres disappointed with their average scores, it was uncalled for. :'( I also enjoyed this couple's Waltz CD, they are new to me, and probably the best Austrian Dancers I've seen since the Becks [bro and sis], who were top 5 in the 1980s, so it's a pleasure to have them in the mix, and hopefully they'll be sent to Worlds, and skate well in the FD tomorrow.
Compare them to the 3rd Russians Ekaterina RUBLEVA / Ivan SHEFER who skated before them. It was quite amusing, as they could've been contemporaries of their Coach Alexander Svinin skating at Euros circa 1983 [where he won the Silver medal] instead of the 2007 event! Yes, lovely typically Russian style icedancing, nice edges and lines, but no Tango choreo or character at all, and bizarre bright flourescent costume. It was quite oldfashioned, and his other couple the 4th ranked in the OD Russians, Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI ...well? All in the same vein - an entertaining showdance but excuse me isn't it supposed to be a Tango? ??? It was quite bizarre that their PCS scores for Choreo and Interp were so high, for what was clearly not a Tango but a Showdance highlighting her flexibility as a Gymnast and former Pairs skater, with Pairs skater lifts with her legs hooked round his neck rotating fast.....? So other people take the time and trouble to research the style, have Tango Ballroom lessons and create authentic choreo, and a couple comes out having done none of this but just accentuates what they're good at, and gets marked 4th? As I said earlier, if the Kerr's hadn't have had such glaring technical errors, their Interpretation would've won the day, I believe, judging by the PCS scores [the Kerr's were 4th best but 10th on TES]. But it's nice the crowd in Warsaw appreciated them, and cheered loudly, it would go down great in the Gala, but how much longer K&N can ignore the requirements of rhythm and get away with not doing it we'll see next season. Also their music couldn't been one of Svinnin's albums from the 1970s - lift muzak.
Moving on to Faiella-Scali, undoubtedly hugely better than their awful Waltz. They had superb Tango character throughout, very impressive presentation, and on the whole skated well, a few tentative moments, and I find this couple's technical difficulty sometimes lacking, but it was a good performance worthy of 4th on the day IMO. They were 5th behind K&N based on the TES, and queried their levels afterwards in an interview, in the same way that the Bulgarians did. I hope it is resolved, as it's a shame for them if they feel aggrieved. I don't think it was an entirely clean skate though.
Kamila HAJKOVA / David VINCOUR skated really well, cutting a pleasing figure on the ice, with effective costumes and choreo, nice Tango character, but need a bit more difficulty to climb the rankings. Good skaters though.
There were alot of average North Americans lower down, skating for Greece etc. due to parentage. The Canadian/Greeks said they were going to Worlds aswell, and representing Greece gave them the opportunity to go straight into international events now. It's not a loophole, it's in the rules, but one wonders if they were good enough to represent Canada would they have made the switch?
With the difficult requirements now in the OD, the lower ranked couples really struggled with the technicalities, and many of the routines were dull, Ice Dance is becoming like Figure Skating in that respect - no longer can we still see a *performance* regardless.
Finally the 2nd ranked Brits Phillipa TOWLER-GREEN / Phillip POOLE actually skated well, much better than the CD, with a pleasing routine, but had a 3.00 deduction dropping like a stone from 18th to 24th. It was very worrying that they looked baffled in the K&C as to the reasons why, as there was no fall or obvious stumble, so the deds must have been for infringements of the rules, which is not good, to get to Euros and not have those ironed out already at this late stage of the season - their biggest comp. With TS Marika H in the UK, you'd have thought they'd have taken the opportunity to get an assessment of their programme re the elements, so it's a huge pity. Hopefully they can come back in the FD, though even without the deds they'd have still dropped after the OD behind the Czechs.
Roll on the Freedance!
I am!! 
