On Site Reports: Share experiences SC 2015 | Page 3 | Golden Skate

On Site Reports: Share experiences SC 2015

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Max Settlage, I believe.

Yes, definitely Max Settlage, who has given us terrific illustrations of Adam, of many other skaters, and of other subjects unrelated to skating.

I have really enjoyed the "Inktober" daily series of short videos from Max S, who has been showing the real-time creation of his artwork.
 
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Laurelise

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
I'm here in Lethbridge (eating breakfast in my hotel room at the moment). The short programs yesterday were interesting. Which is to say, dance was fantastic, pairs was good and the ladies and men were... strange. The crowd is supportive of all the skaters. One woman had, I believe, a flag for the country of every single skater who performed, or at least most of them. Naturally the Canadians have the most vocal supporters, but there's a large contingent of Japanese fans and they enthusiastically root for all the skaters. It does lend the arena some extra energy when Japanese skaters are performing, though, and that makes it extra fun. The Japanese skaters also have by far the most flowers, toys, etc. thrown onto the ice--at least so far. I ended up paying weird amounts of attention to this because I am sitting near the family of one of the flower girls.

As far as attendance goes, it's good; as others have noted, most of the lower tier was full for the short programs. I expect it to be completely full for at least the men's and pairs long, because I was unable to buy a lower tier all-event ticket in mid September when I decided to make the trip. My seat is in the first row of the second tier so I have a good view (better than I was afraid I would have, especially since a lot of skaters place jumps at the end of the rink, near where I'm sitting), but I'd have preferred to be lower.

Miscellaneous thoughts:
  • The Shibs' twizzles are amazing! So fast! So synchronized! And they did them right in front of my section! I think they got the biggest reaction of any single element in the short dance. We started applauding halfway through the first set and didn't stop until after the third set.
  • Patrick Chan's ice coverage really is that good. Even with the mistakes, he's just incredible to watch because of how he flies down the ice.
  • I appreciated Osmond a lot more live than via streaming. She projects amazingly well and just sort of sparkles when she performs. I'm sure it helped that she was skating not just in her home country but in her home province in front an incredibly supportive crowd, but she didn't let the mistakes get in the way of the performance.
  • On a similar note, the confusion in the arena was palpable after Osmond's fall on the spin. It was very odd; she landed the lutz, we applauded and then there was a sort of collective "Huh?" when she went down on the spin.
  • One of the things I've enjoyed most about attending a live event is interacting with other fans. I am here by myself, and everyone's been very welcoming and willing to chat with a stranger.
  • I hadn't realized quite how TV can distort color. At least from my vantage point, Duhamel and Radford's costumes were a lovely dark fuchsia or magenta, but on the jumbotron they looked bright red.
  • The jumbotron is a second or two behind the actual skaters. I've been mostly ignoring it during the performances (because why watch video when the skater is skating right there?) but if I do glance at it, I find it very disorienting. Is this normal or is it an Enmax Centre issue?
  • Tursynbaeva is on the front page of the local paper this morning. Couldn't they have picked someone else? The poor girl had an unfortunate skate and is in last place, there's no need to memorialize it in print. :confused: I didn't read the article, so maybe it was a pre-written puff piece or something. And she is adorable with great spins (the picture was a spin I think--not a jump).

Anyway, it's time to leave for the free skates. I hope the singles at least are better than the short programs, or I will begin to think that I am a curse to all disciplines but ice dance. :drama:
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Country
United-States
Ashley, wow, what a wonderful performance, it's a miracle to me why she isn't more popular, especially in her home country. Lovely jumps and great performance, I really liked all her emotes and the sexiness. As far I can tell, she seemed to have a very good execution of her elements, very clean.

I'm American, and I'm as perplexed as you are about that. It may be that the negative voices are louder and/or more persistent than the lovers of Ashley. She does speak her mind, and some people don't like that.

I can say that I only discovered how much I like her when I saw her in person. It's her presence I hadn't caught onto before.

And I'm very much with you on all of your observations. She skates with her heart and for the audience. I love that, and her playfulness, everything. I'm one hundred percent in her corner. Since I "discovered" Ashley, I've found many more like myself who love her.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
I'm American, and I'm as perplexed as you are about that. It may be that the negative voices are louder and/or more persistent than the lovers of Ashley. She does speak her mind, and some people don't like that.

I can say that I only discovered how much I like her when I saw her in person. It's her presence I hadn't caught onto before.

And I'm very much with you on all of your observations. She skates with her heart and for the audience. I love that, and her playfulness, everything. I'm one hundred percent in her corner. Since I "discovered" Ashley, I've found many more like myself who love her.

There is a lovely fan fest here for her that has been getting some love in the past few days so it's not that no one likes her, but I also feel very perplexed at what her 'relative popularity' seems to be. I think some people just want skaters to look and act a very specific way and that hurts her somewhat, but I don't care- I think she's awesome.
 

Alex D

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 23, 2013
Skate Canada Column

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction
2.0 When Stars are falling
2.1 Kaetlyn (I am only human)
2.2 Liza´s world (I am not a pessimist)
2.3 Ashley Wagner (I can not do this)
3.0 Dancing with the Stars
3.1 Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (midnight sessions)
3.2 Bobrova & Soloviev (good to have you back!)
3.3 Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin (Ice Dance how I love it)
3.4 Not forgotten (so many ....)
3.4.1 Maia & Alex (ever judged fair?)
3.4.2 Charlene Guignard / Marco Fabbri (a historical document)
4.0 The Chan show (from Patrick's toe´s into your heart)
5.0 Pairs (a bloody nose, a single toe and a quad)
5.1 Evengia & Vladimir (originality is key)
5.2 Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radfird (I just felt, like doing a quad)
6.0 There is more ....
6.1 Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro
6.2 Veronik Mallet (quiet, sexy, cute)
6.3 Isabelle Olsson (my favorite short)
6.4 Arigatou Gozaimasu (???)
7.0 Final Words (yes, I have the last word here...)


1. Introduction

Skate Canada international, is the second of six GP Qualification Events, held in Lethbridge, AB Canada. It was originally found in 1973 and is therefore the oldest of all six GP Events. The Canadians once witnessed history in the making, when Katharina Witt won at Halifax in 1983, followed by her second European, first Olympic and Worlds gold medal, an achievement that is still untouched by a European skater since then and was repeated four years later at Calgary, making it a unique achievement, as Heine, Schuba & Co. only did it once.

Besides serving as a big springboard for future champions, Canada is known for a very supportive and friendly crowd, which loves standing ovations and everything that´s "awesome", while they kind of, break with tradition and just don't throw a lot of stuff on the ice.
So ya, while you can hardly escape the garden full of flowers at Asian tournaments, you only have to dodge a flying moose once in a while at Canada.

The event in 2015, was full in the hands of North American skaters, winning a total of six medals, three golden ones for the home nation and one for the US, followed by the Japanese and Russian skaters who managed to split the other six in half. Besides medals, we once again witnessed beautiful skating performances, a quad throw, some blood and tears and a little bit of Drama here and there.
But don´t you worry, it might have been Halloween and people in the crowd dressed to scare, yet Figure Skating was beautiful and everywhere.

2.0 When Stars are falling

I agree, a bit of a dramatic headline for the opening section, but at no point meant to be rude or disrespectful.
So, what makes a real star, a real competitor you might ask? The smiles, the technique, the skating skills, outfits, having the right coach what is it? In my opinion, the ability to just never, ever give up. If you fall, you stand up again and if you fall a hundred times, but come clean afterwards, then it could be your gold medal at the Olympics, ask Adelina about that.
Therefore, the following three ladies symbolize the attitude to never give up and we are starting with a young lady from Marystown, Newfoundland, who went through so much already in her young skating career and yet keeps her head up high and the smiles going.

2.1 Kaetlyn (I am only human)

With just 19 years of age, Kaetlyn´s career saw a lot of light, winner of the Olympic Silver medal with the team, Skate Canada champion in 2012, two times Nebelhorn and National Champion. Said results, were accomplished for a reason, a reason that so many of her fans love. She puts a lot into her skates, worked hard on her jumps over the years and has the appearance of an at times funny, but not less charming and determined skater.
At the same time, there was also some darkness, especially when she had to sit out the whole last season, because of a leg injury that she picked up during one of her practice sessions.

Now back at Skate Canada after three years, she wanted to give her very patient fans, something back, as, so she says,

they are not only supportive, but also have a very good understanding of what happens down there on the ice.

Therefore, Osmond wanted to give them a beautiful time at Skate Canada with "their" Kaety and she wanted it so much, that she kind of forgot that there are at times, limits on what you can do, after all she is only human, as she so lovely portrait in her gala program and the fans reacted as expected, with huge cheers, understanding the special moment that Kaetlyn had just created for her and the audience, after already going through so much at the previous days.

So let´s take a look back, at what happened to the young lady from Canada.

The 19 years old, started brilliantly well in her short, nailing a triple flip-triple toe combination and a triple Lutz, a first time for her. Afterwards, however, we saw one of those typical moments, when you thought all goes well for the Canadian and all of a sudden, she is half sitting, half lying on the ice, leaving everyone in shock, especially herself, after what happened.

Kaetlyn, who hated watching the fall in the replay as she noted, kind of slipped on her entry to the spin and hurt herself, quite a bit.

The fall in the SP gave me some pain in my groin and hip. But again it was worked on and it is feeling better every day.

Her feeling, however, for the Axel right after was gone, as she had to fault the element, while still struggling to get her body back.

Besides that, her program was clean, leaving her in close distance to the podium while being, the best Canadian Lady, after the short and already able to joke around at the kiss and cry, while chatting with coach Ravi Walia, putting on, a huge smile in the process.

I tried to not lose anything else and hey, I am OK with that, I had two falls ...

Two falls, yet 4th and all of this with a tweaked ankle, that she picked up during practice, when she popped a Lutz, seems really strong to me and shows that there is almost nothing, that can stop the young Canadian.

Almost, as I said, as unfortunately, something came up that she called "one of my toughest programs of all time", when just nothing seemed to work in her Free and Kaetlyn seemed in great despair while coming off the ice...

I don´t even want to spend too much time with the Free, we all saw it and I think we all just want to let her know, that there is always a shoulder to cry on, if it ever happens again.
Still, there was one question that I had to ask her, a question where I kind of knew the answer already, but still – I had to ask.

So, did any of that, the tweaked ankle, the hip and groin pain, did it influence you in the free?

While she admitted the pain and the physical treatment, she at no point, mentioned anything, in regards of being influenced or even blaming it, for the outcome of the free program.

Yeah, she is a class of her own, so to speak and while she doesn´t want to admit it, I kind of thought, it played some role, maybe just in her subconscious, but yes... it can take some of your confidence, when some of your body parts might not feel as they usually do.

Still and this is what I try to get across here, she always want´s to be there for her fans, she want´s to represent the sport and even if it hurts, she will just always go for it, never giving up and I guess the term "I quit" does not exist in the dictionary of the 19 years old who by the way, will soon be a 20 years old, so get your present´s ready to bombard her with, on the 5th next month – but please, be careful, we know about her little problem right "hint, she is clumsy", so only give her stuff, that she cannot hurt herself with, OK? :con3:

Anyways, say what you want, yes, she came 11th in total, but it was a gutsy performance on both days and with all that drama, of injury, falls, expectations ... she never lost her smile. She is a human and just like Julia Lipnitskaia a week before, it was an impressive exhibition program, that said more than a million words could ever do.

Skate Canada and this I hope, will therefore always be remembered by Kaetlyn as the event, where she faced the light and dark, yet didn´t bow down and skated through all the clouds and once again into peoples hearts.

2.2 Liza´s world (I am not a pessimist)

Clouds, she had to dodge as well and for a World Champion, she seems to be very calm and quiet and you got to love the attitude she presents on the ice. It always seems like everyone could do it and while I for sure could never rock the dresses as she does and god beware, manage to land on my feet after a jump or spin with any of my legs higher than the knee, she does it all with ease, like it´s the most normal thing to do.

It almost seems like decades ago, when she had to face a very difficult time in her life. A time that every female athlete seems to hate, puberty. In the year of the Olympics, she only came 10th at nationals, unable to medal and therefore without a ticket to Sochi. While Adelina and Julia won the medals for her country and became superstars at home, Liza was out and lonely, unsure what her future skating life might look like and to all of that, she also picked up an ankle injury, leaving her out until summer.

When many already wrote her off, complaining about weight and other stupid things, she returned, returned with a bang at Nebelhorn 2014, winning the competition in front of Gracie and Alena, followed by seven more wins, including Worlds, Europeans and the GP final. What impressed not only fans, but other skaters was her triple Axel, an element that she landed together with a triple toe-triple toe combination and a triple Lutz, becoming the first woman ever, to do four triples in a SP.

It was very difficult ... but it is very important for us to reinvent ourselves and constantly make breakthroughs

Of course I am aware of the risks. There is a 50 percent chance I would fall. But still I think we need to take as many risks as the male athletes do so that in the future we can achieve more elements.

she noted after her SP at Worlds last season

In the current season, the record breaking Russian traded her gorgeous Boléro from last year, for Carmina Burana, choreographed by Benoît Richaud and what worked OK at Nice, where she however, only came second in the short, did not quite work that well at Skate Canada and for Liza, it was quite a little disaster, not landing any of her triple jumps, while coming 7th only, with a huge gap to the leader Wagner.

Everyone can make mistakes, look at the Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, there is nothing bad or terrible about that.

And there isn´t, especially if you have the capabilities of Liza, to come back with such a huge performance in the Free, skating to music from the dramatic poem of Peer Gynt, which definitely had the right touch for Halloween, very spooky and mysterious, with the Russian shining in the darkness.

Stephane suggested music of Peer Gynt and I wanted something with a symphonic orchestra and when I heard it for the first time, I knew that this is going to be my music.

In said program, Liza landed seven triples, including a shaky Axel, but gorgeous triple Toe combination, ending up with 68.83, the highest technical score of all ladies.

Yesterday, wasn´t a good day for me, but this is something you need to forget about and go back fighting on the ice, I am not a negative thinking person, you know and what is done is done anyways. I am happy that I could pull myself together and show all my jumps that I can do.

Liza´s performance, however, was not all about jumps. Her Free Skate was choreographed by Stephane Lambiel and received high PCs, especially in interpretation averaging a 8.32. Remarkable was how such a quiet skater, can still create such an incredible atmosphere by her emotes and movements, something that all, except one judge were able to see.

Yesterday I was not so confident, it is harder than last year, but I am pleased that I was able to skate an almost clean performance and could leave yesterday behind me.

2.3 Ashley Wagner (I can not do this)

Last but not least, let´s have a quick chat about our gold medalist, Ashley Wagner, who dominated in the short and came second in the Free, with a not less impressive skate!
The young American who won her fourth title at the GP series, convinced with sexy-appeal, joy and fire in the short, skating to Hip Hip Chin Chin, a typical Ballroom dance performance, that put her in the lead, by 7.38 to Yuka Nagai, the 16 years old teenager from Japan, that came second.

I think that, for me, because I am one of the older girls, I need to use my maturity as one of my strengths, and so I felt a sexier piece was going to help me get there, and it's fun.

Besides being sexy, she was strong and beautiful, landing all her jump elements with confidence and posture, securing her the highest technical score of the evening.

To note is, that while her score was highest, the original base value, was not, as Ashley went for the triple flip – triple toe combination, while Yuka opened with the Lutz – toe combination, a slightly more difficult element.

Yet, it proves again that if you can land your elements clean, then you will still be competitive compared to someone, who might just somehow put it on the ice. Especially now, when everyone seems to go for the toughest elements, a small hint, of what could be possible with a clean performance and superb execution on the elements.

Possible by the way, was said performance only because of a minor coincidence at Stars on Ice a while ago, when Ashley all of a sudden, found her music...

I was at Stars on ice and was supposed to learn a number with other skaters, but instead, I raced to the boards and grabbed my phone - texting Shae, telling her that I had found our music.

Shae-Lynn Bourne, former six time Skate Canada and world champion in 2003, also choreographed the long program to Moulin Rouge!. Said program Ashley performed just as flawless as her short, coming second behind Liza, trailing by just 1.83.

It was practice for me and another opportunity to train the program under pressure for nationals and worlds. So, I just had to go out and deliver that performance. For me, it's just going to be about keeping my head on straight.

Said program, was granted with the highest PC´s of all competitors, while Ashley landed five triples and her levels being all up in the threes.

Now you might probably wonder, if Ashley did so well, why bring her up under this part of the column. Well, it´s quite simple, because this beautiful skater tends to just have serious issues with believing in herself at times, making her skating life like a roller-coaster.
Right before her LP, she was still in doubt, if she could continue what she started last evening, based on an Ice-network report, continuously telling herself "I cannot do this", before stepping on the ice. That she still delivered, had a simple reason as she noted.

For me, I just have to get myself to a point where I can believe in my training.

Said training, has a name, Rafael Arutunian, who already coached Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan.
The 58 years old, supplied Ashley with a few exercises to work on while she is touring over summer, to get her mentally and physically in good shape, as for her, confidence does come from being prepared and that´s where Raf as she calls him, comes to play.
When I sat down and looked at what I wanted to do this season and what I knew I needed to stay competitive, Raf and I…looked at every single jump separately to figure out individually where it could be improved upon.

Besides giving her simple exercises, Raf seems to really push Ashley very hard in practice, as she continued

He, literally put me on top of a mountain and made me train run-through after run-through. So I came here with altitude on my side and I was just ready to go.

Personally, and this does not only apply to Ashley, my hopes are that those skaters who are holding back, will sooner or later break the ice and swim to the surface, as there is nothing more relieving and beautiful, than, to just perform what you do every day in practice.

3.0 Dancing with the Stars

How you like that headline, not spooky or scary is it? It however is the part that gave me the most trouble writing about. It did so, because I tend to review 2-3 skates and maybe mention another for every discipline, always trying to talk about underdogs, just like stars, while not forgetting about my own favorites.

The problem with the ice dance competition is, that there were only stars and only skates that were my favorites! I honestly cannot exclude anyone here, I was completely in love with each Free Skate that I saw. They all were different, they all had a beautiful story and it is just incredible hard to nail down so much perfection into a page of my column.

Therefore, I will just start by saying, that the quality of all ice dancers, was huge and that all of them, brought the idea of "boy & girl" skating together, to life. Ice Dance can be like a book with seven seals, as soon you cracked the first one, another one is there and you just wonder how much better it can get as you continue reading or in our case, watching.

I got to admit, what Virtue / Moir did over the years, is still untouched for me, even after Sochi and only silver. They put so much thought into their programs and always came up with those romantic, but also dramatic skates, it just was unbelievable great and they also managed to make the for me "less interesting" short dance shine.

After their departure, a lot of people, myself included did wonder if there would be someone, who could take that spot. While, I am not there yet with my praise, I really think we are on a very good way, to fill the gap, that not only Tessa & Scott left, but also Meryl and Charlie.

3.1 Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (reworked programs)

Last week I already spoke about Madison & Evan and their huge SD and if you remember what I wrote there, then you will know that I mentioned Kaitlyn and Andrew as one of their biggest threats and reason why they "updated" their short. If the "new program" by the Canadians, however, was a reaction to the Americans, I don´t know, but they jumped from Elvis, to Strauss as Kaitlyn explained.

Our foxtrot ('Heartbreak Hotel') didn't best suit the traditional sense of a foxtrot. It was a big problem, because the short dance is all about paying tribute to these traditional rhythms. And when we went back to the drawing board, our team decided that we better pay tribute to the waltz and the polka with a new program.

This process required a lot of attention, so much that their necessary changes to the free, had to be put on hold, as Kaitlyn continued.
For the first week, we had no time to focus on our free, it was all about the short and it was needed. Yet our Free Dance is in a constant state of development, since the day we started.

In said program, the Canadians achieved 105.79 by showing great footwork and impressive lifts, especially the straight line, with him going backwards on his right foot with her up high, is one of the toughest things to do in ice dance and received a level four, just like three further elements, Twizzles, combination spin and the spectacular curve lift at the end of their program.

Besides having the technical aspects, both tried to express what they call "a very personal" program, reflecting the mood of the music in their faces, often a bit depressive and sad while towards the end, the "positive" outweigh´s the negative and you see a more optimistic expression as Kaitlyn explained.

Despite how sometimes things can get you down and sometimes you just can not find your luck, in the end it´s not so bitter after all and it is a Mantra we use in our life's.

Honestly, I would love to see how they try to improve their free skate, especially as I saw a couple of things myself, mostly about GOE and maybe the final pose and it would be very interesting to see, how real experts review their programs and how a typical "midnight session" as Kaitlyn called them, looks like. A small review, however, Kaitlyn already gave, during the press conference...

We couldn´t be more pleased with how the competition unfolded, we were able to come together and were able to perform the best we could for right now.

Personally, I think the music, choreography, lift elements and costumes fit really well and their current FD, would definitely land in my top three, it´s dark and it has a real subject, that I believe plays a role in everyone's life, as Weaver rightfully said, even if things don´t go as they should, it might indeed be not as bitter as it seems, especially if as both skaters mentioned, winning everything except the final competition at worlds where they "only" won a bronze, can leave its mark and I would assume that this program, also reflects this "experience", in the life of these two brilliant skaters.
Yes, I like their Free more than I liked the one last season and I really wish them all the best, for their future skates.

3.2 Bobrova & Soloviev (15 years of dance)

Future skates is a good opener for these two..., oh boy did I worry that I would never see any future skates of my Ekaterina and Dmitri, my absolute favorites from Russia!
Over the past few years, this couple has really grown on me. I love how unique and special all their programs can be, how kind, friendly and honest their appearances are and of course, that they do some really impressive ice dancing. Did you know, that Ekaterina sold her car that she got after Sochi, to help children? Damn, what a classy woman and a wonderful sense of humor she has.

Both by the way, skate together for 15 years already, a huge achievement that Ekaterina sees with pride.

We skate together since we were children, the stars came together so to speak and we went through a lot already, so what is one missed year if you have 15? I am proud of my partner and I am happy that we can skate together.

For me, Dmitri and her, rock Russian Ice Dance! They, just always come up with the unexpected, like for instance, their "man with a harmonica & Tosca" program or the "clowns" during the exhibition now. Not much to laugh, however, these two had in the past season, as Soloviev was out for several months with a really nasty knee injury that required surgery.
Six months without skating is a lot, we missed it and are just glad to be back. It is a very emotional moment, I see it in Katya´s eyes, it really means a lot for us.

I just want to say, that I am so pleased to see them skate again, it is wonderful to have them both back and I guess they also missed us a little bit, as Dmitri and Ekaterina mentioned.

We are very happy just to be here and skate for the audience. Today it was difficult with our nerves, but we are happy to be back with you.

Bobrova continued,

It was a personal victory for us, to overcome the difficulties and show that we are still capable of skating together.

As for their programs, I felt they had some really good transitions, you know transitions that don´t just end up in a simple hold or the open, but are more complex to do. Especially the Anna Karenina program which received 96.73, was portrayed pretty well and I liked how they used the music for their elements, as example the piano that was playing during their comb spin, followed by a more expressive, almost uplifting part for their diagonal step sequence, where they were almost flying over the ice.

Ekaterina mentioned the importance of actually not just skating to Anna Karenina, but to actually reflect the story, visually.

Anna Karenina is a historic drama, it just isn´t enough to smile or show sad faces. We have to feel what we skate, we need to be these people like when Dima kissed my hand. Of course, we were a bit overwhelmed today, having lot´s of Adrenaline in us, so it might wasn´t perfect, but we are trying.

While I am not an expert, them just "trying" looked pretty well and they were indeed lovely in character at times and did wonderful elements and sure, you can argue that they were away for a long time, so not all was perfect like the edges, but this should not matter right now, what however matters is that one of the best and most impressive ice dance couples is finally back, I just love these two and hope they can continue and deliver many more of these awesome programs and do not stop after 15 years.

3.3 Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin (Ice Dance how I love it)

For 15 years by the way, do these two Russians compete together as well and if I would have to name a favorite program, which is, as I sad so hard to do, then their FD would be it. What these two dancers did in combination with the music of "torn" and "eternal", was fantastic.

They had incredible speed and interpretation, as for example right at the start when they nailed a curve and rotational lift, both receiving a level four, perfectly in sync with the theme of the music, or the Twizzle sequence which was perfectly aligned and when the music got a bit more uplifting, they started with the last sequence, coming out spot on, it was a real joy to see and this is Ice Dance in perfection, if you ask me.

Perfect it also seems that obviously kids in Russia, are able to learn figure skating in kindergarten as Kirill noted a while ago. He just did it as it was there and once the coaches saw his talent, they supported him. Seems like a fun way to introduce kids to such a great sport, someone tell this our German Government, as our kids learn pretty much no sports at that age.

As for Ksenia, she started at the age of four, actually just casually because of her sister and with five she moved over to ice dancing with different partners, as there were no jumps involved, which she liked a lot.
If you like both skaters and want to know a bit more about them, then I can highly recommend an article at Goldenskate, by Tatjana Flade, where she introduces both of them, beautifully to you.

In regards of their performances at Skate Canada, both could have come much higher in the scoreboard as Kirill explained.

Overall, we are quite happy, especially after the problem in the short, so for our next GP at Moscow, we definitely need to clean our Waltz up and ya, I would had liked that we get higher PC´s, but I guess it shouldn´t be this time.

Their 3rd starting position with just 57.44 after the short, definitely handicapped them big time, as it sadly influences the scores a lot, as judges tend to go a tad higher with every couple on the ice. In combined total, the couple received 147.57 and traded their 6th position with Alex and Mitch, who received 86.37 for their free, 3.76 less than the Russians.

Said Russians, were actually quite busy in pre season already, asking people for feedback, to adjust their programs accordingly and I can only say that it is mind blowing what they came up with and the national silver medalists and former world Jr. Champions are hopefully getting the attention they deserve, as they have a wonderful way of skating, if you ask me.
We tried to skate with more feeling and expression, but also without too much weight

Ksenia added,
In Canada we were able to fight and I hope we will do the same at Moscow.

Moscow stands for the Rostelcoom cup, which will be held in Russia from the 20–22 November, with the likes of Elena Ilinykh / Ruslan Zhiganshin, Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte but also the Skate Canada champions, Weaver / Poje.

3.4 Not forgotten (so many ....)

More awesome programs the other dance couples delivered and as I already mentioned, it is just impossible to write about them all, who would really read such a wall of text anyways? Therefore, just a few more notes, about so much passion and beauty, at the ice dance competition.

3.4.1 Maia & Alex (ever judged fair?)

This lovely couple, had the highest technical score of all competitors in short and long. To me, they skated absolutely beautiful, it was such a joy, that I actually had to watch the whole thing again on tape. Also, both skaters were very pleased with what they did, as Alex mentioned.

We’ve been skating really well all week. This summer went well as far as preparation goes. We really believe in our programs. The competition this week was a tremendous experience for us. It was a great way to start off the Grand Prix series. The Audience was fantastic, it almost felt like skating at home!

I want to point out, especially their Twizzle sequence at the short to Coppélia, there was no way that this were two people on the ice, perfect alignment and synchronicity! To me, the quality and execution of their elements and skating, is probably the best of all skaters we saw. I do not know if siblings have it just easier, but it looks so perfect and soft at times, just wonderful!

Maia also mentioned in an interview, that their short is a very special piece of program for them.

It's great for us to have characters to play, especially when it is a short dance. It really allows us to show our funny side, humor. It's a little bit cheeky but still has that elegance of a waltz. I'm really proud of the program. We've been working with some fantastic people.

Marina Zueva choreographed the short, while Peter Tchernyshev the free dance to Fix You, by the British band, Coldplay, in which the Shibutani´s received a combined total of 102.36, just losing 3,36 in PCs.

PCs are always such a thing that you can discuss over and over again, so I will not do this now, especially since there are more qualified people for that.

But, I honestly don´t see such a big gap between both couples. I mean, the Shibutanis translated the feeling and the vibe of the music very lovely, when the music lifted up slowly, they came into their Twizzles and then their whole program kind of exploded and got more forth-going, reflecting the music, they had soft edges and lovely expression, I just don´t see it I am sorry, second yes, but maybe a tad less of a gap by giving them higher, presentation marks, what do you think?

3.4.2 Charlene Guignard / Marco Fabbri (a historical document)

Last but not least, yes I promise it is the last couple .... so yeah, what do I think about those two here?

Well, first of all, I think they do deserve better PCs, yeah I probably say this about a lot of ice dancers.... anyways, they performed a very thoughtful and remarkable version of Schindler's List in the Free, it was extremely touching and especially with the current situation in the world, where people are hunted because of their religion or nationality, an always important historical document, that should never be forgotten.

They managed to keep the great acting and integrity of the story, while doing good transitions, as example into their comb spin, never losing that dramatic expression, always staying in character. I don´t think analyzing elements and points suits here, I just think everyone should watch this beautiful peace of art and think about what is once again happening in this world.

4.0 The Chan show (from Patrick's toe´s into your heart)

The men´s competition saw a struggling Olympic champion Hanyu, who had a disastrous short, only coming sixth, blowing any jump except the triple Axel.
The other Japanese,, however, Daisuke Murakami, took over the lead and edged out Canada's two time Olympic silver medalist and three time world champion, Patrick Chan by less than one point.

Both programs, however, were not without error, as Murakami (Dice) faulted his quad Sal and Patrick fell on his Axel and doubled the Lutz.

It was definitely not one of my best skates, but I’m glad that I fought through. It was actually the first time I tried the triple Lutz-triple loop in the second half. I’m really satisfied with how I didn’t give up after the quad that I made an error on.

As for Chan, Patrick replied

I started off really strong, a little bobble on the quad-triple, so I had a bit less speed going into the Axel. I had less momentum. And a big part of my triple Axel this year is having good flow into it. But the experience has been phenomenal, being able to be back with everyone.

Patrick, who took a break after the "disappointing" Olympic season, was able to hold back the Olympic champion who came rushing forward with three quad jumps and a lot of anger in his belly, receiving 186.29 for his Free.
My score wasn’t good in the short program. I popped the quad toe and the Lutz combination was not good. So I didn’t get the points in the short program, but I believed that I can do it (today). So I was able to do all my quads in the free skating

Chan convinced with a tremendous effort and an almost clean program, the only error if you want to call it like that, was the triple on his second toe, which was supposed to be a quad. Besides that, he showed beautiful edge work, especially during the step sequence, wonderful stuff and he seemed to be really into it this time, blocking out anything that might disturb him.

It was a high stress, challenging competition for me. I didn’t feel good on the six minutes warm up, I was distracted, you know more my thoughts than physically. When I stepped on the ice I skated with no thought of who is around and who is watching.

In total, Patrick landed eight triples and while his base value was 14 points less than of the Japanese Hanyu, he still only lost a total of 3.18 in the technical score, by performing clean elements, often going into the 2s and 3s at execution, while nailing several 10s in PCs.

Its a great feeling physically, if you just go out and do what you have been doing day after day and we do have good and bad days and today was a good day for me.

He added,

Physical, we are all here for a reason, we are well trained for this level. As for me, it´s all mentally in competition. In my SP I wanted to show people that I am back and I was like a puppy with all his friends, it was just excited to be here and I think this was a little hard to control and it is also a new program, so different challenges await me there.

In regards of the Free,

The Free, is more a calming program, with several moments where I can calm down and gather my thoughts and not panic and obviously the audience enjoyed both program, so it was really exciting.

Exciting it sure was, the crowd loved it and Patrick also spoke a little bit about his reasoning to come back.
It was challenging to decide if coming back was really what I wanted. The biggest reason why I came back was surely the training and having a purpose and having a goal, every day. As much as doing shows, it was really boring at times, doing nothing while all my friends were at the rink training. It´s a lot about the environment, the competitions, my friends at the training center...

The overnight leader, Murakami, came third with a combined total of 252.25 and a very stable program, with two quad Salchow´s and six triple jumps, skating to Anniversary by "Yoshiki".

It was my first time, sitting at first, in a Grand Prix event. Skating after two World and Olympic medalists was definitely a different situation for myself and I am glad I kept my composure.

Adam Rippon, a fan favorite who always got huge cheers from the crowd, was pushed back to four, after being third in the short and receiving a combined total of 239.69. Love the hair dude, wish I could wear that!

5.0 Pairs (a bloody nose, a single toe and a quad)

Pairs-skating is always quite dramatic and emotional and might leave you with an injured nose, if you don´t catch your partner properly, as Andrei Deputat had to find out, when Vera came down from the twist. In general, there was a similar bloody situation earlier in Dance, for the Danish couple and guys, seriously Laurence - isn´t she amazing? I guess, every man out there, want´s to have a lady on his side, who looks at him like she does, at Nikolai.

5.1 Evengia & Vladimir (originality is key)

Evgenia has similar qualities like Laurence, plus she can fly amazingly well through the air, like at the twist that she can do with her partner, it is one of the best in the business, by the former world Jr. silver medalists from Russia.

The energetic couple had a few problems in their short as Evgenia noted, like with the side by side and the throw, yet sitting on two after the short with 64.00.

This wasn’t our best skate, but I am glad that after the mistake, we pulled ourselves together and skated with emotions.

Emotions also came across during their free, which granted them a total of 127.19. Both skaters executed very difficult elements, to music by Frederic Chopin, like the side by side, triple toe – double toe – double toe and a gorgeous reverse lasso lift and her just being the most beautiful piece of music I have ever seen, great idea there!

We can say that after a not so good short, we came back and delivered our elements. A few levels still need some working and we will go back to review our skates and improve what´s slacking.

As for the choreography, Vladimir added,

Yes, in our free program I am the conductor and she is my muse, my music. The program is like a small concert.
We need to find our own ways and stand out, it can not always be about love, we try to offer a variety of programs and not just become a copy of Tatjana & Maxim. We still love them however, they are our idols and to skate with them at Moscow is fantastic.

Vladimir also noted the very special environment at Skate Canada and it´s impact on skaters.
Competitions in Canada are always in great heights and it can be tiresome at times, especially in the second part of our program, when we were pretty tired, but we managed and are very happy to have skated like we did.

I said it last year already, I really love these two, they are so creative and have wonderful elements, clean entry´s and you can definitely see the hand print of their huge coaching experience, by the likes of Robin Szolkowy, Nina Mozer and Andrei Hekalo.

To me, there are a couple of things that need work, but I leave this to the professionals to analyze. What I can say however is, that these two have a lot to offer for the future and maybe, 2018 is exactly the year when they will reach their full potential and then there is going to be a huge showdown at South Korea. Both skaters noted, that the quad twist is in work and might soon be released to the audience.

5.2. Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radfird (I just felt, like doing a quad)

Not a quad twist, but a quad Sal, the Canadians have and they performed it at Canada in their Free program to Adele´s "Hometown Glory", a very emotional piece of music, greatly used for their elements.
A good example of this was their side by side Lutz shaky in the short, but clean in the Free and it just fit perfectly into the small gap of music, landing almost on beat, while the throw Lutz, did exactly this, be on beat with the landing.
It wasn’t perfect, it was a little shaky, we had to fight for a few things, but it was a good performance. I think we showed improvement in the areas that we wanted to.

One of these areas was actually Eric if you listen to some people ...

pairs skating, but also ice dance can be a bit focused on the girls, I mean they have the beautiful dresses, they just smile so much and you love watching them. Eric and Meagan however, seem to have found a really nice balance there and he improved a lot on his artistry I would say, the way he moves and presents her, it really looks lovely, something that very few pairs tend to get a hang of. Maxim & Tatjana are one of those, but also the lovely Canadians Julianne and Charlie.

Also lovely, was the quad. Meagan went heavily down on her knees, but fought through it, something that you often wish more of the ladies would do. Not saying it´s easy, but you just got to fight through it, it´s you job to land these elements, no pressure ladies, I am still proud of anything you do ;)

Before going on to the ice, the couple felt the pressure, as Eric mentioned

Before we skated it felt very challenging. We felt pretty nervous. We just put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We really wanted to go out there and have a great performance.

after a small pause,
We both came in and we really didn't speak to each other as much as we normally do.

A lot of talking however, happened when both skaters left the ice, with Meagan mentioning that the quad was a last minute decision.

I just decided to do the quad, like in the last minute, I am so proud, this is what I was dreaming of.

The current reigning world and GP champions, received a combined total of 216.16, a huge score and it was achieved while still having mistakes, like her single toe or the Lutz of him in the short. It´s a massive achievement already and it will be a really hot boiling competition throughout this season and hopefully all the pairs will stay healthy and perform their best when it counts, at Boston, 2016.

6.0 There is more...

As always, you cannot write about everyone, but try to. Therefore a few more things about some of the skaters, that I have not mentioned yet.

6.1. Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro

Let´s start with these two. For me, Kirsten has always been one of my favorites, what she did with Dylan was wonderful and I always felt that both skaters needed much more publicity than they got in the end. Her smiles are just gorgeous, so beautiful!
With Michael, she found a really good competitor and it´s lovely to see that they finally got their first medal and her reaction to it, was so lovely, she is a very charming young lady!

Their free skate to Romeo & Juliet, however, still gave them quite a task to accomplish, as they aborted their Axel Lasso Lift, yet they never gave up and skated a very impressive Free afterwards, achieving 174.83.

6.2 Veronik Mallet (quiet, sexy, cute)

She smiles so lovely with her eyes, I love that. Veronik is such a calm young lady, with beautiful programs. The 21 years old, is more the classical type of skater, give her a piano and she can really put you in heaven, like she did with her short to Chopin. Such a positive attitude throughout her programs and at times you think she would only skate for you, yeah, those Canadian ladies, they always bring something very special to the table and of course don´t forget Gabby there, who skated a brilliant FS, the third best of all ladies!

6.3 Isabelle Olsson (my favorite short)

She just had the best SP in my opinion. It was beautifully crafted, emotional and just wonderful to watch. Some time ago, I met a Swedish journalist and he knew everything about this lady here, she is a really hard worker, he said and honestly, very mature and graceful at the same time, she just knows how to grab your heart with her performances and I so agree!

6.4. Arigatou Gozaimasu (???)

I have got to admit, I am kind of oblivious to the Asian skating world, it´s just very rare that they come over to my country and worlds or four continents are often just out of reach. Honestly, I admire all the Japanese people who came to Skate Canada, they are so passionate and at least those brought flowers for the ladies!

Besides that, what I saw at Skate America and Skate Canada is really amazing. My favorite is Kanako Murakami, isn't her smile just beautiful? What a gorgeous young lady, she has such a remarkable appearance on the ice and she can go hot and cold with you as she pleases.

But don´t forget me Yuka Nagai, she came third in overall with 172.92 and a new PB and this with just 16 years of age! While both skaters had a few more battles to fight in their free, than in the short, they still impressed me and I need to find a way now to get more into Japanese skating, it seems to look really good over there, and it is not all about Asada and Hanyu it seems.

7.0 Final Words (yes, I have the last word here...)

Second GP done, 4 more to go... wow, I should had never started, it´s just so much work...:dance2:

Anyways, it is always remarkable, to think back about events, as it makes you realize what a tough job it is to be a skater. It´s not just that you go on the ice and do your three or four minute show, there is a lot more involved and if you compare things like prize money, popularity (Asian skaters excluded) ... then it all seems to be a really bad idea to become a figure skater, as you can probably make a lot more money, by just posing half naked with a beer bottle at Youtube...

That said, if someone picks up skating, then not for fame or money, but because they like it and this you see in every skate and this makes the whole thing so fun to watch and write about.

So yeah, thanks everyone for reading, I hope there were a few things in that column that might be new to some of you and that you could smile about a few of my, sometimes silly thoughts. Good luck to all the skaters and keep supporting them, it´s very important for the sport that people go to the venue´s, buy tickets and post positive things at the respective social media pages.

Oh right, my favorite outfit... can we just say all the ladies looked amazing? ;)

Bye....
 
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