How Will Davis & White compare to Belbin & Agosto this season?

[dutchherder]

By a couple, do you mean a "couple"? Why do you and I disagree on everything having to do with sex? To me, Belbin and Agosto give off more brother and sister vibes. Even when they are trying hard, like their tango last year, to me it was a lot like two kids playing grown-up. (But Green Acres rocked!)

Actually, I like that about them. They are not the same old, same old, staring smolderingly into each others' eyes. Oh, goodness no! Just ask my granddaughter (age 6). Charlie White is the MAN! His hair alone....

(However, what he really needs, according to the young expert, is Alissa Czisny for a girl friend.)

Mathman,

I think your granddaughter and I would get along famously!

 

[waxel]

I'm not sure D/W can overtake B/A this year ... but I don't think the day is too far off. Perhaps last season wasn't so much a wake-up call for B/A as it was a showcase of their limitations? Don't really intend to slam them at all, I've just never been that big a fan. Although they are proven champions, I don't get excited by them. I'm much more interested in D/W.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I just love Davis and White and can't wait to see how the season goes for them..I think they've really grown into a great dance team! here's a sneak peek at their new FD Eleanor Rigby/Because http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rmrvQH55QE

wow, i really love this. I love the drama. i think that the lights help, but i can't wait to see it in competiton.

 

[all that]

With the exception of the lifts, I think D&W have a style of skating that is very similar to B&A. Perhaps D&W can do "dramatic" better than B&A, but when it comes down to actual skating skills, B&A and D&W have similar problems with body line, toe point, unison, posture, etc. For these reasons, I think that for D&W to beat B&A, they'd have to essentially beat them at their own game, which is tough to do, because B&A have more experience.

I team like V&M however, has better basic skating skills than B&A. V&M aren't finished growing and maturing yet, so they aren't a threat at the moment, but they certainly will be in the near future. B&A will need to improve their own skills (which I'm hoping they are doing with the Chopin number) to keep ahead teams like V&M.

 

[Dyan]

I don't think that Chopin is as much a departure from the norm for B&A as much as it is a return to the style Tanith and Ben began their careers together with.

I recall their earlier programs were to classical music (Four Seasons and Alexandros). Also if we look back to B&A's earlier programs they did show more line and extension than they have in the past few years; IMO B&A spent so much time perfecting the speed and technical difficulty of their programs that they forgot the basics.

B&A have spoken about the need to improve their overall skating skills and one thing I've always given them credit for was being able to acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses and correct those weaknesses. I'm looking forward to seeing B&A's programs and I think they can regain some of the ground they lost last season.

People also tend to forget that a large part of the problem for B&A last season was that they got a very late start to their season both in practice time and when their competitive programs were completed. I really wish that the Amelie program had been chosen from the very beginning; I thought it was a good choice for B&A but it never was able to develop the way it should have.

As for D&W, I really like them but by the end of last season while I felt they were technically equal or at least very close to B&A in terms of the technical difficulty they could handle I agreed with those who said they needed to work on the expression and on looking more mature. I will say that they were getting their by the end of the season; their exhibition to "Beyond the Sea" at the spring exhibition on ABC was beautiful. I think Meryl and Charlie are headed in the right direction but it may be another year or two before they are ready to challenge Tanith and Ben for the national title.

 

[slutskayafan21]

Next year will be an exciting season in dance. The rivalry between Davis/White and Belbin/Agosto in the U.S, the rivalry in Europe between Delobel/ Schoenfeldner and Domnina/Shabalin. The rivalry for the top young NA team between Moir/Virtue and Davis/White. Then all of that culminating with the 5 teams vyeing for only 3 medals at Worlds.

 

[all that]

I don't think that Chopin is as much a departure from the norm for B&A as much as it is a return to the style Tanith and Ben began their careers together with.

I recall their earlier programs were to classical music (Four Seasons and Alexandros). Also if we look back to B&A's earlier programs they did show more line and extension than they have in the past few years; IMO B&A spent so much time perfecting the speed and technical difficulty of their programs that they forgot the basics.

B&A have spoken about the need to improve their overall skating skills and one thing I've always given them credit for was being able to acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses and correct those weaknesses. I'm looking forward to seeing B&A's programs and I think they can regain some of the ground they lost last season.

People also tend to forget that a large part of the problem for B&A last season was that they got a very late start to their season both in practice time and when their competitive programs were completed. I really wish that the Amelie program had been chosen from the very beginning; I thought it was a good choice for B&A but it never was able to develop the way it should have.

As for D&W, I really like them but by the end of last season while I felt they were technically equal or at least very close to B&A in terms of the technical difficulty they could handle I agreed with those who said they needed to work on the expression and on looking more mature. I will say that they were getting their by the end of the season; their exhibition to "Beyond the Sea" at the spring exhibition on ABC was beautiful. I think Meryl and Charlie are headed in the right direction but it may be another year or two before they are ready to challenge Tanith and Ben for the national title.

I'm just so excited about this upcoming season! You're right that B&A are great at recognizing their own weaknesses and correcting them -- which is why I'm so looking forward to seeing their Chopin free dance. D&W also acknowledged at the end of last season that they need to work on their expression -- so I'm sure they spent the summer working on that. Can't wait for the season to start!

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

My problem with Chopin, I will keep thinking of Fokine's Les Sylphides (a remarkable plotless ballet, btw) and look for all those touching pieces in the score. I hope B&A have that light touch for this. Dreamy music. No sturm und drang.

Joe

 

[Fredegunda]

Does anyone know the cuts of B&A's Chopin FD? I'm wondering, because people are saying they hope that B&A will be able to pull off light and airy, but not all Chopin's music is soft and light. His polonaises, nocturnes, etudes and preludes have parts that are IMO very sturm und drang. If you get a pianist like Pollini or Rubinstein playing the etudes and polonaises, it's hard - for me at least - not to think of the word "bravura." I would love to see someone skate to Rubinstein's recording of the f-sharp minor polonaise.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Does anyone know the cuts of B&A's Chopin FD? I'm wondering, because people are saying they hope that B&A will be able to pull off light and airy, but not all Chopin's music is soft and light. His polonaises, nocturnes, etudes and preludes have parts that are IMO very sturm und drang. If you get a pianist like Pollini or Rubinstein playing the etudes and polonaises, it's hard - for me at least - not to think of the word "bravura." I would love to see someone skate to Rubinstein's recording of the f-sharp minor polonaise.

Fredegunda - I would love to see the cuts of B&A's Chopin. I'm not saying the compositions are light and airy at all. They are very fine pieces of music which require delicate fingers to play. True. His polonaises are bravura intent and should be played that way. It's a very exacting and stately dance from Poland showing elegance and determination. the Etudes are studies so they too should be played in the bravura manner to show the public great technique. The nocturnes on the other hand, for me, are dreamy and could be romantic or nostalgic depending on the interpreter.

The cuts are important. I doubt B&A will run the gamut of the complete Chopin. When you think of it, few skaters or teams have used Chopin.

We will both be watching B&A intently.

Joe

 

[cassieandcheetah]

Fredegunda - I would love to see the cuts of B&A's Chopin. I'm not saying the compositions are light and airy at all. They are very fine pieces of music which require delicate fingers to play. True. His polonaises are bravura intent and should be played that way. It's a very exacting and stately dance from Poland showing elegance and determination. the Etudes are studies so they too should be played in the bravura manner to show the public great technique. The nocturnes on the other hand, for me, are dreamy and could be romantic or nostalgic depending on the interpreter.

The cuts are important. I doubt B&A will run the gamut of the complete Chopin. When you think of it, few skaters or teams have used Chopin.

We will both be watching B&A intently.

Joe

I'm sorry, but does anyone know which chopin pieces are used for their FD?

 

[all that]

I'm sorry, but does anyone know which chopin pieces are used for their FD?

I don't think that has been announced anywhere yet.

Thanks for information on the music of these two teams.

Chopin's music is very delicate. The waltzes are light and airy almost for one couple to dance in the moonlight - not like Lehar's more grand ballroom type. Likewise, the mazurkas, polonaise, and preludes are not for peasants to dance but for the Polish aristocrats of that era. All of this should be light an elegant.
Will B&A get that? After all their hyper dancing, it will be a stretch. Good luck to them.

Have you seen any of B&A's early programs? Like their exhibition to "Un Vie D'Amour"? I think they are definitely able to do light and airy.

 

[Fredegunda]

The cuts are important. I doubt B&A will run the gamut of the complete Chopin. When you think of it, few skaters or teams have used Chopin.

We will both be watching B&A intently.

Joe

Yes, the only team I can remember using Chopin is G&G with their Classical Medley from 1988 although surely there have been others...

For me the nocturnes combine lightness with sturm and drang. I have played several with stormy middle sections, so maybe that's why I have this impression. As far as I know (from my piano teacher) the waltzes that Chopin wrote were not actually meant to be danced to, so it will be interesting if they use his waltzes.

I'm sorry, but does anyone know which chopin pieces are used for their FD?

I think all of us are on tenterhooks waiting for this announcement!

As for B&A's ability to dance "lightly" and "airily" - does experience with compulsory dances help generally speaking, or have B&A been considered to not capture the qualities of e.g. the waltz particularly well?

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

As for B&A's ability to dance "lightly" and "airily" - does experience with compulsory dances help generally speaking, or have B&A been considered to not capture the qualities of e.g. the waltz particularly well?

The waltzes are used in Fokine's Les Sylphides so they are danced.

Compulaory dances when practiced well should give the skaters good basics and skills (edging, timing, posture, rythym, flow, etc.) I noticed in the Rhumba last year that some dancers had problems with the choctaw. (more skills needed)

I think, whatever selections B&A use, it will be their interpretation and feeling for the selection. Let's hope it works.

Joe

 

[rain]

I do not think Davis and White are ready yet to make a serious challenge to Belbin and Agosto for the American title, but it will be, I think, the closest any team has been to B/A in the U.S. for quite some time, and I think that will be a great thing for them. It's almost always better for the quality of skating when there are at least two teams to push each other.

I hope the Chopin will be a departure for B/A. I've been disappointed in their programs the last few years, it seemed as if they had stalled in both the technical and artistic progress they were making as a young couple.

I like Davis and White and see great potential, but agree with the earlier poster who said that as of last season they were still a bit generic. (Some of that, of course, is always the material). One thing B and A have never had to work at was that indefinable sparkle, that star quality that just makes people sit up and take notice.

 

[all that]

I like Davis and White and see great potential, but agree with the earlier poster who said that as of last season they were still a bit generic. (Some of that, of course, is always the material). One thing B and A have never had to work at was that indefinable sparkle, that star quality that just makes people sit up and take notice.

Do you think D&W lack star quality? Many people sat up and noticed them last year.

 

[kemisha]

nevermind

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Do you think D&W lack star quality? Many people sat up and noticed them last year.

In my opinion, I think D&W's potential was brimming out loud during last year's competitions. They used an old warhorse with the Polyvistian Dances and they did it well, but ho hum on those tunes. Every team does them well.

It's the orchestral version of Eleanor Rigby that has my interest. I'm visualizing a lot of speed and sharp turns but I must wait and see.

Joe