Does it ever occur to anyone that Zoueva holds the power in her hands to determine this Olympic Gold Medalists in dance? One of her two top dance teams are a shooin for the gold.....which does she prefer? She has certainly maintained her cool this past quadrant, but I've always maintained a "hunch" that she has her favorites. If not, she should be awarded a halo for non-partiality? What a "tight-rope" she has had to walk (or dance) these past years.
2013 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic: Sep 11-15 [Salt Lake City, Utah]
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Does it ever occur to anyone that Zoueva holds the power in her hands to determine this Olympic Gold Medalists in dance? One of her two top dance teams are a shooin for the gold.....which does she prefer? She has certainly maintained her cool this past quadrant, but I've always maintained a "hunch" that she has her favorites. If not, she should be awarded a halo for non-partiality? What a "tight-rope" she has had to walk (or dance) these past years.
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D/W have always been good at subtlety. Meryl did the "eye twinkling" thing for the Indian dance. Until I read an article that explained the nuances of their dance, I thought she just had dry eyes.
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The problem with V&M's SD is the same that D&W had with their Rumba/Latin Club SD, and for that matter, V&M's own Waltz/Polka SD where the Polka was totally deemphasized, especially during the GP season. D&W's Rumba didn't feel like what a rumba should be according to the pattern dance description for it. Likewise V&M's Polka wasn't very polka-ish.
The version of Muskrat Ramble V&M are using for the Finnstep sequences feels like a Charleston. Marina calls this "jazzy" but frankly, ballroom quickstep with the rigid upright posture asked for by the Finnstep description is the reverse of jazzy. Now it is so far before the season that many things about both SDs (and FDs for that matter) could well change. Their SD is a nice, interesting dance, but it is not necessarily a good finnstep SD.
OTOH, I'm not sold on the I'm Getting Married in The Morning & With a Little Bit of Luck combo D&W are using for the Finnstep, but if the vision of Alfie Doolittle doesn't enter your head, at least the music itself is a recognizable ballroom quickstep.
The version of Muskrat Ramble V&M are using for the Finnstep sequences feels like a Charleston. Marina calls this "jazzy" but frankly, ballroom quickstep with the rigid upright posture asked for by the Finnstep description is the reverse of jazzy. Now it is so far before the season that many things about both SDs (and FDs for that matter) could well change. Their SD is a nice, interesting dance, but it is not necessarily a good finnstep SD.
OTOH, I'm not sold on the I'm Getting Married in The Morning & With a Little Bit of Luck combo D&W are using for the Finnstep, but if the vision of Alfie Doolittle doesn't enter your head, at least the music itself is a recognizable ballroom quickstep.
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While it may be a good thing ,and refreshing ,that D/W stayed away from the standard Scherezade arms , I don't see a whole lot of Persian styling in their FD..one or two movements by Meryl, that so far , are only semi-successful for me .
I'm far from a real expert ( wouldn't presume to teach the form in depth ) but I have done some Persian dancing in the long ago.. it's marked by fluid arms accented by lots of wrist rotations and wave-like motions. After watching ,I was frankly surprised to hear that Persian movements were being mentioned.
Maybe this is what causes some people's first peek reservations - there's not a strong reference to the ballet ( for Charlie neither Golden Slave nor Sultan) but the cuts they've chosen don't come close to any Persian rhythms . There's one section of the ballet that does, but I don't think it's one they've used ( need to rewatch)
I'm not sure I can wholly get on board with this take ,yet .. ( but ,early in the season ).. but there's no denying the wow factor of some of those lifts , and of course their standard technical excellence...
Here's a couple of Persian dances..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vi5fa2ZLwo&list=TLdEKU6DV1b6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DziURrv68FY&list=TLdEKU6DV1b6Q
ETA; Oops! didn't notice those trailed off into a whole play list ..it's just the first on each
I'm far from a real expert ( wouldn't presume to teach the form in depth ) but I have done some Persian dancing in the long ago.. it's marked by fluid arms accented by lots of wrist rotations and wave-like motions. After watching ,I was frankly surprised to hear that Persian movements were being mentioned.
Maybe this is what causes some people's first peek reservations - there's not a strong reference to the ballet ( for Charlie neither Golden Slave nor Sultan) but the cuts they've chosen don't come close to any Persian rhythms . There's one section of the ballet that does, but I don't think it's one they've used ( need to rewatch)
I'm not sure I can wholly get on board with this take ,yet .. ( but ,early in the season ).. but there's no denying the wow factor of some of those lifts , and of course their standard technical excellence...
Here's a couple of Persian dances..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vi5fa2ZLwo&list=TLdEKU6DV1b6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DziURrv68FY&list=TLdEKU6DV1b6Q
ETA; Oops! didn't notice those trailed off into a whole play list ..it's just the first on each
Yep, you're absolutely right. In fact, why should either team even make the trip to Sochi? Just hold the ceremony right now and give V/M their well earned and deserved gold. Because, I distinctly remember all the fuss at the start of last season about how unbeatable Carmen was for V/M. Tell me, how did that work out for them exactly?
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Seriously! Zoueva may have her favorites, but she deserves a gold medal herself for giving every one of her teams her full attention and her very best work season after season.
Our expert has spoken, and of course D/W win the SD becasue of the music. No surprise there.
Thanks so much! Wow, this is wonderful.
The music is cut in a good way for building the momentum of the program, I think, though if you know the original work, this is made up of bits drawn from all over the place, and it ends on a crescendo instead of a diminuendo as Rimsky-Korsakov intended. I think this shaping of the music was very audacious on Zoueva's part, and it's a good way to separate this program from every other skating program that ever used Scheherazade.
Look at how well executed the program is already, this early in the season. Some of those lifts are stupendous. I hope they only get better through the season!
Would you care to explain what make you completely change your mind in a few days?
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why pick fights on a thread about a "preseason" competition? is it really that boring a weekend? :disapp:
I don't see fights, I see a few posters making sure that they bash D/W enough in order to make V/M look good.
What they fail to realize is it only makes them look bad, not D/W.
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I don't think V&M are doomed to 2nd place, just as I said before, but I don't think they are a lock for 1st place either based on the SD. I think the 2 SDs (choreographically) are at about the same level. Some flaws in the conception of what to do the Finnstep pattern dance to. It will come down to how the teams skate on the day, and particularly how well they hit their pattern dance levels (another poster said that, and I agree)
One day you said V/M's music is good for Finnstep, and a few days later, D/W's SD is out, then V/M's music suddenly has flaws and the judges should not like it. Surely anyone with eyes can see what's going on here.
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Yeah, it's called realization.
Realizing someone's SD not good enough to win without the judges' help, more likely
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V/M's? Doubt it. Both teams have very strong SDs. Rather, they will, with the usual changes that come with the progression of the season. V/M need to make more changes than D/W, IMO, but it will happen as it usually does. This is not a two-bit team we're talking about here. No need to worry your pretty little head about either of 'em.
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- Jan 15, 2010
Were Virtue and Moir at this competition?
One could very well be fooled into thinking so.
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Seriously though, can we talk about Courtney Hicks for a sec?
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Courtney+Hicks/International+Figure+Skating+Classic/z7uonUAc4ye
Beautiful dress, good makeup, neat hair.
Indecisive tights. :disapp:
Either stuff them in your boots or put 'em all the way over!
I know everyone wants to stand out, but this is not in a good way.
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Courtney+Hicks/International+Figure+Skating+Classic/z7uonUAc4ye
Beautiful dress, good makeup, neat hair.
Indecisive tights. :disapp:
Either stuff them in your boots or put 'em all the way over!
I know everyone wants to stand out, but this is not in a good way.
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