colleen, some comments on your comments
I'm taking the explanation at face value ..There will be many of us who know ,first hand, that when you're recovering from an injury or surgery, it's so , so easy to put too much strain on, or injure some other muscle, tendon ,etc. Other parts of your body automatically try to take up the slack , and when you feel this you must stop ,or risk a further separate injury. So I'm going to look forward to World's and hope that's enough time for Tessa to progress beyond that stage. The 30 seconds or so that we saw of their FD was spot on ballroom Latin ( brilliantly brought on to the ice) and I long to see the whole thing. ( Can they move, or what ?)
I want to take the explanation at face value, I really do. But I remember how much they hid Virtue's problems during the Olympic season. I love how natural they seem doing this, though. Even if Virtue doesn't quite nail the gyrating sexuality of the piece she really is awesome and Scott of course is the best male dancer in the world.
I'm still not getting a real tango feeling from Meryl and Charlie, and I want to , so I'll just trust them to keep polishing.( I thought I noticed a couple of teensy bobbles , too ..but it was 4;30 AM ,and there were some less than great camera angles ).
I think in the end it's the difference between drama and passion. Drama is action and events - and this dance is jampacked with action. Those devilishly complicated lifts. The linking steps. That spin. But passion is feeling/emotions. They've never been the most emotive or communicative skaters. They wow and impress with their athletic expression (and indeed, it's astonishing just how much power they generate and how good they really are) but in terms of generating those wells of feeling... they really do come up short. It's a more noticeable here than in "Phantom of the Opera" or "Samson and Delilah" because tango requires it to really have oomph. Additionally, because the program is so difficult it's so clearly effort-full, which leaves even less room for natural emotion. In the end, I'm still awestruck but what they do, but yeah, they miss that tango feeling.
The Shibs ! I just knew they could do what they did ( come up right behind D/W ) by just doing what they do..
( if you take my meaning ) It was , once again , delightful. Airy above, crisp below and smooth all over.
I look forward to their progress. They have such joy in their dance. I do think they could get more power, but this dance might just disguise that.
W/P ?..Andrew has to get a grip, and not be vulnerable to the unexpected, if they hope to establish themselves at World's. They finally had the the kind of cushion they deserve after their SD ( this hasn't always been the case , IMO ), only to see a medal slip away by another narrow margin , and this time it was truly in their power to avoid.( Please do it, guys! )
C/P didn't skate particularly well , but well enough. They,too, had a couple of bobbles.. (bumping together, having to reach..that kind of thing ).They were obviously not happy with their marks, but who knows whether that was just due to knowing mistakes they'd made , or if they thought they were undermarked. Anyway, they can't have been pleased to be passed by the Shibs.
Ah, the Canadian number 2s. So this will be the fourth head-to-head competition this season between C/P and W/P, and C/P have won every time. I think that the last time C/P lost to W/P was when C/P were still competing as juniors. Honestly, I really don't know what to think.
I admire C/P's SD more than most. I like how quickly they go into their first element (so little set-up time, a gorgeous position and great strength move) in how late in the program their last element is (again, right before the ending) but the consequence to that is that their middle minutes are a little sparse and due to the repetitive nature of the music.. well, despite my appreciation it clearly doesn't work. And while I adore their FD, they haven't gotten to the levle of cleanliness to really make it work. I expect them to work massively hard, but maybe a coaching switch is in order? Particularly if the Shibs have truly passed them (one event doesn't make a new world order)
As for W/P.... I really enjoy watching Poje; he has wonderful presentation skills even if he tends to cede the spotlight. But it does seem he's the one who makes the most errors/bobbles/stumbles.
I really do hope one or the other really steps it up at worlds. My money's on C/P.
I'm really appreciating C/Z's program more and more. They may have skated it better at US Nat.s ( can't remember clearly )..but I find it more appealing every time I see it.
I'll have to come back.
More and more I'm convinced this is a great program. Huge leap in what they did before. Cannot wait for them at worlds.
and 
if the opposite emotion of the song is portrayed in the dance.
