2024-25 U.S. Pairs Figure Skating

[BlissfulSynergy]

^^ I don't think we are completely disagreeing. Just approaching how we view these clips a bit differently. Practice clips are not the same as full competitive performances. But yes, I agree that Shin/ Nagy's timing and tech proficiency of their sbs jumps are looking very good.

Full performances in competition will tell us more. I'm eager to see their artistic side, as Audrey is an elegant skater who feels the music. Plus I love Balasz's movement style. I'm also interested in seeing their uninterrupted flow over the ice, and discovering the music they have chosen for both programs in their first season.

The thing about James/ Radford is what they accomplished in only one season together. They valiantly believed in their partnership (in themselves, in each other, and in their coaches). Coming together so quickly was more complicated than either of them realized, as they each freely admitted. They are a great example of perseverance, dedication, and redemption (with COVID thrown in the mix too).

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Program announcements for Fredette/Siianytsia from Trudy Oltmanns

Now I remember Meghan Fredette. She used to compete with William St-Louis in juniors for Canada. Here's a performance from them on the JGP three years ago:

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I enjoyed watching them back then. William St-Louis was particularly striking as a tall, elegant partner. Many junior teams do not stay together for any number of reasons. I suppose St-Louis moved on to other pursuits.

Fredette being so petite works well for Danylo since he's not a tall pairs guy. This should be an interesting partnership. They already have programs, too, so they must have been together for awhile. Fredette does not appear to be a strong jumper from the JGP video. But that was three years ago, so hopefully she's improved her jump skills. She seems well-rounded in other aspects, with nice flow over the ice, sensitivity to the music, good lifts (though she could improve her positions -- maybe she has done so with increased maturity).

ETA:
Both music choices are romantic ballads. Evancho has such an incredible voice. I wonder why they did not vary the music choices, though.

 

[moonvine]

2024 Grand Prix assignments for U.S. Pairs:

Skate America
Alisa Efimova/ Misha Mitrofanov; Ellie Kam/ Danny O’Shea; TBD

Skate Canada International
Emily Chan/ Spencer Akira Howe

Grand Prix de France
No U.S. team

NHK Trophy
Ellie Kam/ Danny O’Shea; Valentina Plazas/ Maximiliano Fernandez

Finlandia Trophy
Emily Chan/ Spencer Akira Howe; Naomi Williams/ Lachlan Lewer

Cup of China
Valentina Plazas/Maximiliano Fernandez

It is too bad that Danill Parkman has not been released yet by Georgian fed. I hope something favorable happens toward Danill gaining his release before the start of the season so that he and Katie McBeath can at least be assigned to one or two Challenger events!


New teams that are announced:

Audrey Shin/ Balasz Nagy; perhaps they might receive the SA tbd if they come together well over the summer and are felt to be ready for a major competition rollout

Addyson *McDanold/Aaron Felberbaum; senior (*sp is accurate)

Gracie Gottschalk/Sam Herbert; junior

Elizabeth Yun/Blake McGee; senior


As well, Gabriella Izzo has apparently come back from her brief retirement to partner with Luc Maierhofer for Austria. They were recently pictured at a training camp in Germany.

Are Ellie and Timmy finally age eligible? I will take them at SA please and thank you.

And Nica and Mark in the ISP!

Happy day!!!

 

[saine]

Are Ellie and Timmy finally age eligible? I will take them at SA please and thank you.

And Nica and Mark in the ISP!

Happy day!!!

No, the proposal that would have lowered the age limit for Senior Pairs for women was withdrawn by USFS at Congress after the new Junior age limits passed. They needed the limit lowered to be eligible.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Are Ellie and Timmy finally age eligible? I will take them at SA please and thank you.

And Nica and Mark in the ISP!

Happy day!!!

Sadly, Ellie and Timmy have to wait another year for international competition.

 

[moonvine]

Sadly, Ellie and Timmy have to wait another year for international competition.

another year. My heart cannot take it.
How can they be in the ISP?

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I don't know about them being listed in the ISP. That's likely because USfigsk was initially hoping their proposal to lower senior eligible age for pairs women to 16, might be approved.

 

[moonvine]

I don't know about them being listed in the ISP. That's likely because USfigsk was initially hoping their proposal to lower senior eligible age for pairs women to 16, might be approved.

I’m a sad sad Moonvine. Another stinking YEAR.

 

[saine]

Interview with Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman.

I like them as a team, here's hoping he gets his release soon

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Audrey Shin & Balazs Nagy program announcements:

SP: Lacrimosa /
choreo: Drew Meekins

FS: River Flows in You /
choreo: Julie Marcotte

Source:
Audrey Shin's IG

(Posted in program announcements thread; I will add to Shin/ Nagy fanfest if they have one as yet)

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Interview with Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman.

I like them as a team, here's hoping he gets his release soon

Thanks for sharing. I saw this referenced on Claire's IG, but I forget to mention it here.

I knew that Parkman lived in the U.S. for a period when he was young. It is not mentioned why his parents moved here and then moved back to Russia. Perhaps it is job-related. It's probably nice for Danill that he has an ease with the English language. Citizenship was not discussed in the article, so I imagine he must apply since he was not born in the U.S., despite living here shortly as a child. I wonder whether his father has U.K. roots with the surname, Parkman, which does not sound Russian.

I enjoyed learning about the difficult aspects of adjusting to a new partner that Katie and Danill describe.

 

[saine]

Audrey Shin & Balazs Nagy program announcements:

SP: Lacrimosa /
choreo: Drew Meekins

FS: A River Flows in You /
choreo: Julie Marcotte

Source:
Audrey Shin's IG

(Posted in program announcements thread; I will add to Shin/ Nagy fanfest if they have one as yet)

Did they specify which choreographer was doing which program? I missed that last night.

I don't mind Julie Marcotte as a choreographer, it depends on who she's working with. Her Sound of Silence for Elladj Balde is the only Disturbed version program that I like, and she's had good programs with Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

As you can see, I updated my post with the specifics.

 

[saine]

I saw, but i thought based on the caption that it was Marcotte for the SP and Merlin's for the FS. I'm wondering if I missed a different announcement

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Did they specify which choreographer was doing which program? I missed that last night.

I don't mind Julie Marcotte as a choreographer, it depends on who she's working with. Her Sound of Silence for Elladj Balde is the only Disturbed version program that I like, and she's had good programs with Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps.

I do not like anything that Marcotte has done for Miura/ Kihara. Her work for James/Radford was so-so. I like a few of the programs she did for Kirsten & Michael, especially their Un Ange Passe fp which they used for two seasons. Mark Pillay did choreography for them on three occasions (at beginning and tail end of their career).

Julie Marcotte choreographed all of Deanna/ Max's programs! And that's partly my point. As the sister of Bruno, it appears that Julie has to choreograph for all of his teams, which can be spreading oneself thin, as you run out of fresh ideas and things begin to seem somewhat stale and rote. Why can't Bruno's teams work with someone else on more than a few occasions! Julie has a monopoly that can get a little monotonous. M/K need to work with a different choreo expert already.

I admire the work Marcotte did early in her career for Takahashi/ Tran and Duhamel/ Radford. She developed creative moves that have been widely copied. She also made some interesting programs for Castelli/ Shnapir and Castelli/ Tran. I agree with you that how good Marcotte's programs are depends on how inspired she is by particular skaters, ergo, she must not be all that inspired by M/K. On the other hand, she seems much more inspired by Deanna/ Max. We'll see what happens with Shin/ Nagy. Who could not be inspired by Balazs, though! He's got an edgy, smooth, cool style.

I don't recall the Sound of Silence by Disturbed program for Elladj. I will have to look it up for viewing.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Although all of Deanna/ Max's programs are listed on Wiki as choreographed by Julie Marcotte, I am confused because I know that Deanna/ Max worked at Oakton Edge Academy in Illinois, with Timothy LeDuc on at least one of their programs for last season. Was it more about working on fitness and ideas with LeDuc that they took back to Julie Marcotte?

Deanna/ Max are back in Illinois this summer to work with LeDuc and the Knierims, as per Deanna's IG.

 

[saine]

M/K need to work with a different choreo expert already.

I think they're working with Shae-Lynne Bourne and Marie-France Dubreuil for their programs, so your wish has been granted

I agree with you that how good Marcotte's programs are depends on how inspired she is by particular skaters, ergo, she must not be all that inspired by M/K. On the other hand, she seems much more inspired by Deanna/ Max. We'll see what happens with Shin/ Nagy. Who could not be inspired by Balazs, though! He's got an edgy, smooth, cool style.

I think it also has to do with how inspired the skaters are too. I think Deanna said in an interview that their music for the next few seasons has been picked out already, so they're pretty inspired. Hopefully it's mutual inspiration and they have great programs

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I saw, but i thought based on the caption that it was Marcotte for the SP and Merlin's for the FS. I'm wondering if I missed a different announcement

I looked at the caption, again, on Shin's IG post. You are right that the order in which the choreographers' names are listed makes it seem as if Marcotte is doing the sp and Drew Meekins (not 'Merlin') the fp. The reason why I thought otherwise is because @bobmcm said in the Pairs Worldwide thread that Drew had worked with Shin/ Nagy on their sp before they left Colorado for Montreal. Here's a link to where @bobmcm said this:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/pairs-fs-worldwide-the-divine-discipline.87889/page-33 post #655

Could bobmcm possibly be wrong and it was the fp Meekins worked on?

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I think they're working with Shae-Lynne Bourne and Marie-France Dubreuil for their programs, so your wish has been granted

Ah ha! Money is no object for Japanese fed. It will be interesting to see what Shae can do for Miura/Kihara. M-F Dubreuil's work can be very good or not-so-good. But this conversation is for programs thread or Japanese pairs thread.

Meanwhile, Shin/ Nagy have picked a 1700s choral piece by Mozart (sp) and a moving 2001 piano composition (fp) by South Korean/ British artist, Yiruma. They won't have any issues with music rights for their sp. Their fp music is just 23 years old, so not in the public domain. Even though over 300 years apart, both programs are in the lyrical, emotional, instrumental mode. Of course, Mozart's Lacrimosa is the 7th movement of Requiem, a choral work with religious overtones. While River Flows in You is a moving, meditative composition for piano.

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[BlissfulSynergy]

I see on Danill Parkman's IG a clip of him and Katie McBeath practicing one of their programs. The music playing on Danill's IG is Josh Groban's Per Te, but there's no indication of whether that is one of their music choices.