2014 Canadian Nationals Senior Dance FD | Page 3 | Golden Skate

2014 Canadian Nationals Senior Dance FD

wasabi

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
I have been a huge fan of piper and Paul since they started together, and I think they skated great here. Their program was truly unique but at this competition I was really blown away with the beautiful fluid movements of Alex and Mitch. They also appeared to have more speed and flow as well. Weaver/Poje should have won in my opinion, just fabulous. Virtue and moors program was just same old stuff again.

I was disappointed with Voirs program, seems like a repeat of 2010 and many others, storyline aside. Carmen would have been an incredible vehicle this year.
 

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
Actually, he grew up speaking primarily English. He and his brothers were sent to French school to have a more comprehensive exposure to French. I think Paul was the only one that went to French high school and he started learning Spanish at the end of school and continued with studies in University.

Not taking away, just saying there are quite a few athletes that are trilingual, and many that speak two languages fluently.

Paul and his brothers grew up speaking both languages in the house from childhood - his parents alternated between the two languages. Paul told this to me and a friend last year. His Father is a Francophone and his Mother speaks French too, but it's not her first language (English & Spanish are). I think you are right though that Paul was the only brother that took French all the way through high school as well - his brothers went to an English high school whereas he went to French high school (with Patrick Chan).

Paul identifies as a Francophone and as a Franco-Ontarian and he wrote an interesting piece in both languages on G&P's website last year. He has signed up to be on the Official Languages Committee of the 2015 Pan-Am Games that will be held in Toronto next year where he wants to promote the French language so that Francophones are well-represented:

http://www.skatetoday.com/gilles-po...ncophone-on-being-canadian-and-a-francophone/
 

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
Was a great event. Overall I am pleased with the three chosen for Olympics. But once again I must bring up the elephant in the room that nobody wants to discuss. That is Kharis and Asher,
from the time I saw the starting order I knew they were screwed. Why did they skate 5th in the short when they should have been among the top teams? Their short dance was excellent but as usual they never get a break in the marks. Their long program was very good yet again never got the marks. It is as if the powers that be at Skate Canada don,t want them on the national team. I wonder why? Spoke with Ashers mom and I know a few people have brought up the race card to her in whispers? I have been watching them for a while and they get no respect. Even after placing 13th at worlds in 2012 when Gilles and Poirier place 18th the next year. They
consistently get better marks abroad than at home. There is no way that Orford and Williams should have placed ahead of them at nationals. That is why sometimes I do not like this sport.
Comments welcomed.

I'll keep any eye on the ranking between Ralph & Hill and Orford & Williams in the future. I think Ralph & Hill did beat Orford & Williams in the Free Dance, and while it didn't change the rankings, it might mean the judges are considering placing them ahead overall down the road.

I agree that the SD start order seemed somewhat unfair. I was there in person and I noticed it the moment I showed up. Ralph & Hill had to skate at the start of the 2nd-last flight which means that they were separated from the other top 5 dance teams. They are improving in their skating since they are the training mates of Gilles & Poirier, and with the expected retirement of Virtue & Moir (and maybe Weaver & Poje at some point) at least they will be able to get into the final flight next year.

G&P, R&H and O&W are all scheduled to be at 4 Continents next week so we will see how they all rank in relation to one another. Interestingly enough, the Dance competition at 4CC may be between G&P and the American team of Hubbell & Donohue (Piper's former partner!) ;)
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
I think I'm correct in saying that the start order for the SD is seeded based on the current point standings of the competitors. Unfortunately for R/H, that's where they stood .. but it wasn't unfair. All the competitors are subject to the same rules. O/W benefited from having had more opportunity to earn points during the GP ( based on their finish at the previous nationals ). I felt bad for P/I and R/H both for their situations re: the GP this season ,but glad P/I at least were able to earn that host spot.

If V/M retire, R/H should be bumped up to 5th, and be eligible for GP assignments in the fall. The bad news is, that since the ISU has cut back on the number of competitors at each GP ,O/W and R/H might have to settle for only one assignment . ( Then on top of that, there are the rules as to which groups of skaters a host country must select from first, based again , on points.. )

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong .. I fear I'm right (ish), but would love to find out otherwise..
 

wasabi

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
I'll keep any eye on the ranking between Ralph & Hill and Orford & Williams in the future. I think Ralph & Hill did beat Orford & Williams in the Free Dance, and while it didn't change the rankings, it might mean the judges are considering placing them ahead overall down the road.

O/W were ahead of R/H in the SD by 1 point and .4 in the FD.
 

wasabi

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
If V/M retire, R/H should be bumped up to 5th, and be eligible for GP assignments in the fall. The bad news is, that since the ISU has cut back on the number of competitors at each GP ,O/W and R/H might have to settle for only .

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong .. I fear I'm right , but would love to find out otherwise..

Has the ISU cut back the number of competitors again?
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
Has the ISU cut back the number of competitors again?

Horrors! Not as far as I know ..it was bad enough this year. I was referring to the current change. I still don't like it , and can't see how it can possibly help the sport. It's certainly not good for the athletes.

ETA: I just checked and the 4CC dance line-up will be G/P , O/W and R/H. Very pleased for Kharis and Asher. If any of the medalists had opted for it , they would have been out of luck.
 

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
Paul does speak French, but I think Patrick speaks it better, more fluently. I had no idea Meagan and Eric spoke French too. When I have seen them interviewed on French Canadian tv, it was always in English, with the inverviewer translating afterwards.

Patrick is very good in French as I said above, but I don't think he's better than a native French speaker like Paul. Patrick has a slight Anglophone accent when he speaks, whereas Paul sounds more like a Francophone since he hears French from his Dad and his father's relatives and is doing a degree in Linguistics and knows the language better.

Having said that, I suppose it's a matter of opinion so I won't debate who is better since there's plenty of debate here as to which dance team skated better! ;)

Btw, I haven't heard Meagan or Eric speak French either.

Have you had a chance to see this long interview in French with Paul from 2011? Looks very handsome in black - kind of foreshadows the colour for this year's FD. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYWp9JqOd2Y
 

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
O/W were ahead of R/H in the SD by 1 point and .4 in the FD.

When I saw the competition on TSN after I went home from the Canadian Tire Center on Saturday night, I thought I saw O&W drop a spot in the FD standings and heard Rod & Tracy say that they finished below R&H in the FD, but 5th overall? Didn't the number '2nd' come up for O&W at that point? Maybe I'm wrong and I'll have to check the tape again.
 

blue eyed birds

Spectator
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
I think I'm correct in saying that the start order for the SD is seeded based on the current point standings of the competitors. Unfortunately for R/H, that's where they stood .. but it wasn't unfair. All the competitors are subject to the same rules. O/W benefited from having had more opportunity to earn points during the GP ( based on their finish at the previous nationals ). I felt bad for P/I and R/H both for their situations re: the GP this season ,but glad P/I at least were able to earn that host spot.

If V/M retire, R/H should be bumped up to 5th, and be eligible for GP assignments in the fall. The bad news is, that since the ISU has cut back on the number of competitors at each GP ,O/W and R/H might have to settle for only one assignment . ( Then on top of that, there are the rules as to which groups of skaters a host country must select from first, based again , on points.. )

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong .. I fear I'm right (ish), but would love to find out otherwise..

The start order at Nationals for the final group in the SD was based on finish at last year's event (why Weaver/Poje skated first in the group), and included only those teams who had byes from Grand Prix assignments. The order for the first two groups was decided by random draw.

For next season, to receive Grand Prix assignments on their own, both O/W and R/H will need to be in top 24 of world standings or have a top 24 season's best score. R/H will have a chance to earn a season's best at 4CC (Senior B scores don't count, except for Nebelhorn this year), and O/W will have another chance to improve on their Grand Prix score there. But if neither does so, the only option will be a host pick from Skate Canada -- that's what it came down to between P/I and R/H for this fall's GP based on how the 2012-13 season transpired (R/H didn't have a great SB and P/I didn't have a chance to earn one).
 

wallylutz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
And yes, Paul is doing a degree in Linguistics. He grew up speaking 3 languages - English, French & Spanish (from his mother's side - she teaches Spanish in Toronto). WallyLutz didn't know Poirier was a Francophone so I included a French interview for those who want to see him speak French. :) It's a very extensive interview from 2011 with Giselle Quenneville of French TVO - she is used to interviewing the politicians in Ontario so she asks challenging questions and she interviewed Poirier because she does a program on Franco-Ontarians. Poirier has written about his Francophone background on his website, and both he and Patrick Chan have received awards from Etienne-Brulé school for promoting the French language in Canadian sports. Here is an article on Poirier & Chan from 2011:

http://www.csviamonde.ca/csviamonde/index.php?q=node/1819

One of the reasons people sometimes don't see Paul speaking French is because both his partners (Crone & Gilles) as well as his coach (Carol Lane) have all been Anglophones and so he speaks with them in English since they don't speak French.

To clarify, I am fluent in French. Poirier is of course a French surname except I don't assume when I meet someone. There a lot of people with Francophone heritage, namely in Ontario and Alberta who don't speak French. Similarly, when I lived in the States, there were also quite a number of Americans with French surname but the only French words they know is oui and non. In 2010 Nationals, Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier were relaxing in the official hotel at the hot tub, I happened to be there with them. Paul is a nice and curious kid, I believe he was only like 19 back then, very young. They were speaking English like most Ontarians do - it didn't occur to me Paul speaks French.
 

colleen o'neill

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
:laugh::laugh: Thanks blue eyed birds... I seem to have had a total jumble of national and GP rules and practices floating in my brain..and yet , it seems so simple when you explain it.. ;) ( I just remember felling gutted for both those teams going into the season.. and Skate Canada holding off and holding off before announcing their final host pick..
 

blue eyed birds

Spectator
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
:laugh::laugh: Thanks blue eyed birds... I seem to have had a total jumble of national and GP rules and practices floating in my brain..and yet , it seems so simple when you explain it.. ;) ( I just remember felling gutted for both those teams going into the season.. and Skate Canada holding off and holding off before announcing their final host pick..

I thought Paul/Islam were actually assigned in the initial June 3 announcement? Skate Canada did hold off in at least one category, though, I seem to remember (men's? pairs?).
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
To clarify, I am fluent in French. Poirier is of course a French surname except I don't assume when I meet someone. There a lot of people with Francophone heritage, namely in Ontario and Alberta who don't speak French. Similarly, when I lived in the States, there were also quite a number of Americans with French surname but the only French words they know is oui and non. In 2010 Nationals, Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier were relaxing in the official hotel at the hot tub, I happened to be there with them. Paul is a nice and curious kid, I believe he was only like 19 back then, very young. They were speaking English like most Ontarians do - it didn't occur to me Paul speaks French.

That's true about French names - often French names outside Quebec (and particularly in America) will just be a name with no connection to the French language at that point. (Which causes political debates here in Canada about the loss of language of course!)

And you're right that Paul would be speaking English with Vanessa (as he does with Piper) because she is an Anglophone who doesn't speak French, just like I don't think his coach Carol Lane speaks French, or any of the other skaters or coaches he works with. He would have been 18 at 2010 Nationals and still at French high school, so he was speaking French at school and at home at the time, but when most of the Canadian Figure Skating team is Anglophone, you don't get as many opportunities to speak French as you do at school or home.

I can sometimes see why the politicians in Quebec have a point about the way language works in Canada, because it does often mean that Francophones spend a lot of time speaking English because their friends and colleagues don't speak French. Ideally it would be good if Paul's skating partners and coaches spoke French so they could switch back and forth. It was like that with Jamie Salé & David Pelletier, too. Salé, despite having a French name, was an Anglophone who didn't speak French and so basically the entire time she was with David Pelletier, he and coach Richard Gauthier spoke with her in English because although French is the first language for both of them, she only knew English.
 

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
Horrors! Not as far as I know ..it was bad enough this year. I was referring to the current change. I still don't like it , and can't see how it can possibly help the sport. It's certainly not good for the athletes.

ETA: I just checked and the 4CC dance line-up will be G/P , O/W and R/H. Very pleased for Kharis and Asher. If any of the medalists had opted for it , they would have been out of luck.

It's not surprising that V&M and W&P aren't going to 4CC since they are medal hopefuls for the Olympics and need to spend every day getting ready for that.

Sometimes a lower-ranked dance team like P&I might go to 4CC to get more experience since they don't have much international experience, but I can understand one reason why they might not want to - they wouldn't necessarily beat G&P. G&P got a slightly higher score at their GP event in Japan this year than P&I did at their GP at Skate Canada, and so the panel at 4CC might not necessarily prefer P&I's program the way the panel at Canadians did. Each team has a different style and it's hard to know who will come out on top in that situation.

G&P did well at 4CC's last year (it was their highest score up to that point) and they finished 5th in a field that included V&M, D&W, etc. With the top Canadian and American teams absent from this year's 4CC's, it will be nice to see G&P have the chance to move onto the podium (although it won't be the same as going to the Olympics of course!)
 

blue eyed birds

Spectator
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
IIRC, it was essentially Skate Canada's policy in 2010 not to send Olympians to 4CC, because of the short turnaround between Nationals, that event, and the Olympics. The Olympics are one week earlier this year and include a team event; with both Skate Canada and USFSA avoiding overlaps in their Olympic and 4CC teams, my hunch would be that Olympian status means a bye from having to travel to and from Taipei before traveling to Russia.

With P/I holding Canada's third-best international SD and FD scores this season in addition to the results they just obtained nationally, I shouldn't think the primary concern in this case would be another face-off, especially as it may well come at Worlds anyway, though I'm also sure neither they nor G/P will be taking anything for granted going forward.
 

Ryan O

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
True. There appears to be even less turnaround time this year. And the skaters just getting home from Nationals who are going to 4CC's are going to have to get ready pretty fast. They only have a few days of rest and then they are off again. I kind of wish 4CC's was in North America this year so that it wasn't as far to travel to for the Canadian skaters who are just getting home from Nationals, but obviously they have to hold the event in Asia in certain years.

I also hope there is some t.v. coverage of the event here in North America. I think NBC is doing a little bit in early February, but not sure what the Canadian stations are doing. There's not as much coverage when the event is held so far away.
 

darializa

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Finally got to see V/M's FD... Their costumes are much improved! While it's been interesting to see the evolution of this program throughout the season, it's been hard to see them struggling to find that final outcome that they want--from costumes, choreography, lifts, music, etc.. I really like the opening music and movements, and their first lift is beyond gorgeous (even though it looked a bit shaky this time). On that lift, I love how they kick up their legs in unison to the pizzicato of the music! I'm afraid I don't really like the second half of the program much, and much of it has to do with the music sounding too "manufactured." I was disappointed to hear the added percussion towards the end--the drum rolls and cymbal crashes don't quite hit the right timbre. Still, they are my favorite dance team and I hope that they win OGM. I hope that they finally hit that right combination of ingredients when it counts!
 
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