2019 Canadian Nats: RD

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje return to competition at the Canadian Nationals offered no evidence of their having lost a step in their time away, as they vaulted clearly into first place in the rhythm dance with a score of 85.19. The team ended the 2017-18 season with a return to the podium at the 2018 World Championships, but, after winning by a wide margin at the 2018 Autumn Classic International, they opted to sit out the Grand Prix season in favor of a nationwide tour with several of their fellow Olympians.

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What's your take on the RD?

Soucisse/Firus are going back to last year's FD.

I didn't see that much change in their quality judging from this RD. But at their age, it's unrealistic to expect anything more than the smallest fine-tuning. A lot of Weaver's arm and leg movements still come from the shoulders and hip primarily, instead of from the center of her back, as any good dance teacher would instruct you to do. The music to their TR pattern just drifts away to nowhere, and the second piece sounds very overused. Her dress looks very washed out against the ice, at least on camera.

I don't see them at an advantage against the two Russian teams and H/D.

^ Having seen them live at Autumn Classic this season, I thought their tango is spellbinding and the atmosphere they create on the ice can only be fully realized as an audience member inside the rink. They are excellent at communicating the character and emotion of the dance with their expression, bodies, and blades. The pacing of their tango is lovely and dynamic, giving a sensual/steamy feeling at the beginning, building in speed and sharpness with the music towards the end. I like the understated elegance and it's not OTT or forced. Plus they imo have the best chemistry of the current top teams, which adds to the passion of the tango.

Tracy Wilson and I agree : Weapo have the best RD in the world.

Bcash said:

I didn't see that much change in their quality judging from this RD. But at their age, it's unrealistic to expect anything more than the smallest fine-tuning. A lot of Weaver's arm and leg movements still come from the shoulders and hip primarily, instead of from the center of her back, as any good dance teacher would instruct you to do. The music to their TR pattern just drifts away to nowhere, and the second piece sounds very overused. Her dress looks very washed out against the ice, at least on camera.

I don't see them at an advantage against the two Russian teams and H/D.

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Whatever to be said about WeaPo ('at their age...' argument like srsly? I would give an example of a fine 'aging' like champions, but this thread is not about that), they are masters in emotional and authentic treatment of music, style & convention of the dance aesthetic given, especially for OD/SD/RD portions - they have very non-obvious connection to each other in non-physical sense on ice for me, conveying a lot through little gesture or look. Also, their Tango is for me definitely the best 'traditional'/classical Tango rendition this season for me (saying that, I really, really like Guignard/Fabbri and Sinitsina/Katsalapov RDs), adapting & appreciating a certain aesthetic, way of movement through skating technique instead of flattening it to a red dress, 'Tango faces' and meaningless grabbing, overdramatizing gestures. As 'for their age' they seemed to develop a lot for me in terms of musicality lately and yesterday's performance was just luminous on its own, Kaitlyn does not need a red or black dress to know she dance a Tango & to shine in it. The choreo is also worth praising due to its simplistic yet effective references to Tango dance style and flowing very well with the music (about overused thing - I wouldn't expect all teams to choose unknown Milonga pieces, it is too hard to adapt/transfer on the ice and they know that judges like their 'Maria' & 'Assasination', so two can play this game or more, not only WeaPo with Libertango which IMHO was interpreted with justice and right amount of flair by them).

My personal taste and preferrence in this season goes to Gilles/Poirier, but it does not hurt to acknowledge someone else's excellence, even if it is not our aesthetic.

I completely enjoyed this event! Special thanks to dorispulaski for posting the video links in competition order in the Videos thread! Even the lower ranked teams were fun to watch. I realize Virtue / Moir aren't competing, and teams like Paradis / Ouelette, Paul / Islam, and Orford / Hill have retired, but I disagree with those who are doom and gloom about Canada's ice dancing talent!

I think Lanaghan / Razgulajevs show a great deal of promise. And the Danes -- now Canadians -- Fournier Beaudry / Sorensen have improved tremendously. Their precision was enhanced by their ice coverage, and they looked very polished. Notably, only they and Weaver / Poje got all the keypoints in the notoriously difficult Tango Romantica pattern. Soucisse / Firus looked better than their earlier outings, which isn't surprising given that Soucisse was recovering from injury. Gilles / Poirier looked strong. But the performance of the RD event for me was Weaver / Poje. I completely agree with Tracy Wilson who said their Tango Romantica is the best one out there. You really do forget you're watching a pattern dance. I remember reading that they said they wanted to emphasize the "romantica" in the Tango Romantica, and they have done that so successfully -- and I think it sets them apart.

Lots of beautiful costumes with Fournier Beaudry's and Weaver's being my favorites. They were stunning! Honorable mention to Soucisse, whose two-piece dress was unexpected for the Tango Romantica, but in my opinion, totally worked with their modern take on it.

Weaver and Poje's Rhythm Dance was more like a beautiful Dance than an exercise in getting points. For me, that's the greatest compliment. The technique and the excellence are there, but absorbed into the romance, the fluidity, the beauty, and the radiance.

And I've always loved loved loved Fournier-Beaudry and Sorensen, but there's something more there, probably what I'm seeing is what Weathergal ^^^ said.

I enjoyed seeing Igor Shpilband with W/P. He looked happy and more calm, somehow.