2014 US Nationals Senior Ice Dance FD

[Mathman]

Chock and Bates' music is growing on me. The first couple of times I felt like the music overwhelmed the skating. This time out the performance seemed more balanced, to me.

Anyway, it was great theater to end the competition with that rousing piece. C&B will have one day more in their competitive season this year.

 

[WeakAnkles]

I think one of the big reasons that it seemed more balanced is that Mr Bates is finally learning to dance and not just partner. He's always been a terrific partner, but one of the more interesting things I've been seeing the last few years in Ice Dance is that instead of Diva Woman/Solid (if not Stolid) Male Partner (exemplified best by Fusar-Poli and Margaglio), we're moving much more to Dynamic Duos in terms of most successful teams. It's a debatable point I admit, but I think there's something to it. In any case, no one would accuse the Les Mis program of being anything more than great theater, but the performance of it was really terrific. Good for Mr Bates. I think he has a lot of untapped performance potential.

 

[Mrs. P]

I feel very privilged to have witness this dance competition go down live in the arena. I feel that all the top six teams performed to their very best yesterday.

Davis and Whitle's FD -- wow! I was actually sad when it was over -- I felt this amazing moment flew by so quickly. Anyway if they turn in this performance at Sochi, it would be wonderful. And it sounds like V/M did great at Canadians, so it should be a great competition.

Chock and Bates handed in a great performance and deserved second. Very sharp and very good performance. the lifts! I agree with Mathman that the music became less overpowering at this point.

The Shibutani's FD is much improved with the new middle section. I know some don't like the slow section, but I think it works. They will have to work on levels -- but I think given that a lot of the choreography is new I think they will get there. But it's worth noting they got very great grades of execution so the quality of the dance was there.
They really were thrilled with their performance, as they should be. They really put their heart into it.

As did Hubbell and Donohue. THey turned in a very good performance as well and it's unfortuante we don't have more dance spots. I will be honest that I think the slow music hurt them. And I do feel, as in the SD, they were cautious, so they weren't as crisp as the Shibutanis or C/B.

K/G-S were another highlight for me. That Spartacus FD is . It is sad they are in such a competitive field. Their performance elsewhere would have done quite well.

A/E probably shouldn't have tried doing a Bollywood dance that would invite comparisions to D/W, but I will say this was probably their best performance of their FD this season and I'm sure they'll do great at 4CC!

 

[Olympia]

Thanks so much, Mrs. P.!

Even just watching it on TV, I agree that it was a wrench to see D/W's program end. I wanted more, more, more. I'll go over to the Canadian thread to see how V/M did. This is going to be some Olympics. It'll be like watching Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps in their respective primes compete for gold--a battle of titans.

 

[blancanieves]

I join in in the general consensus: Great FD, all top 4 should be allowed to go.
i have a real soft spot for Hubbel/Donahue and I just love their music and chemistry. I really wanted them to make the top 3, but I have to admit the ranking is ok for me.

I think the judges would have been more confident about ranking HD's FD above the Shibutanis' if the starting order was reversed. When everyone is performing well, excitement builds and the scores escalate. When things are close, it makes a difference.

 

[bramweld]

Deleted.

 

[TontoK]

I just rewatched D/W's free program again... just to see how I would view it after the flush of enthusiasm had passed.

It is unbelievable. If they skate this program this well in Sochi, it will become one of the iconic moments in the sport of ice dance... even figure skating.

The stunning music of R-K performed in this way at an Olympics in Russia... this will bring down the house.

I think we could see something that becomes legendary, like Bolero.

First things first, though... the program has to be delivered.

 

[blackswanphoto]

I just rewatched D/W's free program again... just to see how I would view it after the flush of enthusiasm had passed.

It is unbelievable. If they skate this program this well in Sochi, it will become one of the iconic moments in the sport of ice dance... even figure skating.

The stunning music of R-K performed in this way at an Olympics in Russia... this will bring down the house.

I think we could see something that becomes legendary, like Bolero.

First things first, though... the program has to be delivered.

Hate to be a debbie downer but the likelihood of them delivering a performance as good at the Olympics is not very high. They left their Olympic performance on Nationals ice. Has it ever happened where someone had a lights out Nationals performance and did the same at the Olympics? I cannot recall it ever happening. On the other hand the reverse has happened many times. Michelle/Tara - Michelle wasted the performance of her life at Nationals, Tara was awful, at the Olympics the reverse happened, Tara skated with abandon and Michelle was cautious. Jeremy/Even in 2010. Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992. Nicole Bobek in 1998.

There are many, many cases of this. Statistics say they wasted the performance of their life on worthless Nationals, which is sad. Davis should have botched a twizzle or something. They still would have won easily. Look how nervous they were at GPF when they were up against Virtue/Moir. They skated their programs the worst they had all season, but still deservedly won. But I wish they had not skated so well at this competition and saved that for the Olympics.

 

[PoppedAxel]

Hate to be a debbie downer but the likelihood of them delivering a performance as good at the Olympics is not very high. They left their Olympic performance on Nationals ice. Has it ever happened where someone had a lights out Nationals performance and did the same at the Olympics? I cannot recall it ever happening. On the other hand the reverse has happened many times. Michelle/Tara - Michelle wasted the performance of her life at Nationals, Tara was awful, at the Olympics the reverse happened, Tara skated with abandon and Michelle was cautious. Jeremy/Even in 2010. Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992. Nicole Bobek in 1998.

There are many, many cases of this. Statistics say they wasted the performance of their life on worthless Nationals, which is sad. Davis should have botched a twizzle or something. They still would have won easily. Look how nervous they were at GPF when they were up against Virtue/Moir. They skated their programs the worst they had all season, but still deservedly won. But I wish they had not skated so well at this competition and saved that for the Olympics.

Meryl and Charlie always perform spectacularly at Nationals though. I don't think this is their best performance possible either. There is still room for improvement in both the short and long and I expect them to be even better by the Olympics.

 

[sweetskates1]

D/W are going to absolutely earn OGM - no doubt. Overcoming pressure is their forte and they will do it again - complete faith in their ability here. No place for negativity.

Hate to be a debbie downer but the likelihood of them delivering a performance as good at the Olympics is not very high. They left their Olympic performance on Nationals ice. Has it ever happened where someone had a lights out Nationals performance and did the same at the Olympics? I cannot recall it ever happening. On the other hand the reverse has happened many times. Michelle/Tara - Michelle wasted the performance of her life at Nationals, Tara was awful, at the Olympics the reverse happened, Tara skated with abandon and Michelle was cautious. Jeremy/Even in 2010. Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992. Nicole Bobek in 1998.

There are many, many cases of this. Statistics say they wasted the performance of their life on worthless Nationals, which is sad. Davis should have botched a twizzle or something. They still would have won easily. Look how nervous they were at GPF when they were up against Virtue/Moir. They skated their programs the worst they had all season, but still deservedly won. But I wish they had not skated so well at this competition and saved that for the Olympics.

 

[tulosai]

Ok so here are my impressions from watching the dance competition LIVE! (Putting both SP and LP observations here). Hopefully somone is still checking this thread

Davis/White were totally sublime in the free dance. They literally brought me to tears. I totally understand now the story they are trying to tell and I think they tell it perfectly. They really are in a class of their own in this field- faster, sharper, and TRULY emotionally moving. I think the people who say they have no on ice connection are either just haters or have never seen them live. They were awesome. Their first lift in particular is also AMAZING in person- there is this suspended moment where you think she is not going to actually land on his back and then she does and all is well.

I was less totally awed by their short program, but it was good. Clearly, objectively the best that day. Subjectively, though, I catually preferred Chock and Bates SD... which beings me to...

C/B. (Un???)fortunately they are now, definitely, 100% my second favorite USA ice dance team and probably in my top 5 current favorites period. No one could be more shocked by this than me, and it's going to take some getting used to. But yeah, they are breathtaking in person! I always knew she had this 'look at me!' star quality, you can tell even on youtube, but I was totally unprepared for how much they BOTH draw you in in person, and how he definitely has star quality too- he doesn't just showcase her, he also showcases himself.

They are definitely of the 'do it so the nearly blind man in the top row can see it and think OMG THAT WAS AWESOME' school of thought, and for me, it really, REALLY worked. There are also many nice details in their programs, particularly some of her arm movements, that are easy to miss on the tv but impossible to miss in person. I do think they had slightly better speed and edging than either the shibs or H/D, but really, at heart, they are just better performers at this time with these programs.

I also agree with the posts saying their FD music (section 2, one day more) is less overwhelming in person.. partly I think because they are bigger performers than I realized. I'd still change it though. It's weak.

Shibs/HD: I was extremely underwhelmed by both teams in the SP and shocked, shocked by how much I preferred C/B as fully outlined above. From what I saw and felt, I'd have had H/D with a slight lead after the short. Their PCS seemed roughly equal to me and Alex had a visible bobble and I just liked the character of H/D's music better.

In the FD though, they both were very, very good and I was very very sad knowing one could not make it to Sochi. THat said, I think the Shibs were the deserved 3rd place finishers. They really perform the heck out of the Michael Jackson and in the free I think they did have better speed than H/D. It is hard to say though- as Mrs. P said above I don't think the slow music in this instance did H/D any favors.

Aldridge/Eton: VERY VERY pleasantly surprised with these two and their huge improvements. In a way they were the highlight of the dance competition for me because they really blew me away compared to my expectations. I am VERY excited to see what they will do in the next quad!

 

[caitie]

Hate to be a debbie downer but the likelihood of them delivering a performance as good at the Olympics is not very high. They left their Olympic performance on Nationals ice. Has it ever happened where someone had a lights out Nationals performance and did the same at the Olympics? I cannot recall it ever happening. On the other hand the reverse has happened many times. Michelle/Tara - Michelle wasted the performance of her life at Nationals, Tara was awful, at the Olympics the reverse happened, Tara skated with abandon and Michelle was cautious. Jeremy/Even in 2010. Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992. Nicole Bobek in 1998.

There are many, many cases of this. Statistics say they wasted the performance of their life on worthless Nationals, which is sad. Davis should have botched a twizzle or something. They still would have won easily. Look how nervous they were at GPF when they were up against Virtue/Moir. They skated their programs the worst they had all season, but still deservedly won. But I wish they had not skated so well at this competition and saved that for the Olympics.

Michelle and Jeremy were heading to their first Olympics. It's not surprising that Michelle was too safe and Jeremy too... Jeremy (I say with love!). I don't get Kristi and Nicole as examples since Kristi won OGM in 1992 and Nicole was injured during the Olympics.

Davis and White are seasoned competitors. They have been competing against Tessa and Scott for their whole careers. They've been to the Olympics. They'll even get to work out whatever nerves they may have at the team event before they skate for their individual gold medal. I'm not overly worried that they're peaking too early. They were great all last season and delivered their absolute best short dance performance at worlds and one of their best free dance performances as well. I don't think they peaked too early in 2011-2012 either. They lost the free dane to Scott and Tessa at GPF, people just didn't realize it at first because of the scoring error. The writing was on the wall that the judges preferred Tessa & Scott's free dance at that point already, and then they didn't get their levels at 4CC and World's.

IDK, I'm not worried! I'm sure I'll be reciting this to myself as I watch them skate through my fingers in February ofc.

I was less totally awed by their short program, but it was good. Clearly, objectively the best that day.

Did you think it was slower than usual? On TV, it seemed slower than usual to me. I remember at Skate America I thought they were too fast, I guess I am never pleased lol.

 

[FSGMT]

I have to say: WOW WOW WOW to C/B!! Didn't love the program at first sight, but they really had a great performance here, and, when they skate this good, even some of the music cuts don't seem so horrible; I appreciated a lot the energy with which they performed the diagonal step sequence at the end, they were incredibly powerful and passionate even if it was almost the end of the program! And, you can understand how good Shpilband is technically just looking at how beautiful their lifts are and at how easy those twizzles looked!

 

[tulosai]

Did you think it was slower than usual? On TV, it seemed slower than usual to me. I remember at Skate America I thought they were too fast, I guess I am never pleased lol.

It is hard to say? I have seen them live before but not since SkAm 2010 (and before that I saw them all the way back in 2007 at TEB when I liked them but only kinda sorta knew who they were) so it's hard to say what I was expecting. I do think they were a bit slower in the SP than the LP and I guess I WAS expecting them to be faster on Thursday... they were much faster than Shibs and H/D, but,, though they were faster than C/B, they were definitely not as much faster than them as I was expecting that day (in the FS I do feel they were much faster than them though).

 

[blackswanphoto]

Michelle and Jeremy were heading to their first Olympics. It's not surprising that Michelle was too safe and Jeremy too... Jeremy (I say with love!). I don't get Kristi and Nicole as examples since Kristi won OGM in 1992 and Nicole was injured during the Olympics.

Davis and White are seasoned competitors. They have been competing against Tessa and Scott for their whole careers. They've been to the Olympics. They'll even get to work out whatever nerves they may have at the team event before they skate for their individual gold medal. I'm not overly worried that they're peaking too early. They were great all last season and delivered their absolute best short dance performance at worlds and one of their best free dance performances as well. I don't think they peaked too early in 2011-2012 either. They lost the free dane to Scott and Tessa at GPF, people just didn't realize it at first because of the scoring error. The writing was on the wall that the judges preferred Tessa & Scott's free dance at that point already, and then they didn't get their levels at 4CC and World's.

IDK, I'm not worried! I'm sure I'll be reciting this to myself as I watch them skate through my fingers in February ofc.



Did you think it was slower than usual? On TV, it seemed slower than usual to me. I remember at Skate America I thought they were too fast, I guess I am never pleased lol.

Kristi won gold but she fell in the long program at the Olympics. She had given the performance of her life at Nationals the month before.

 

[TontoK]

Kristi won gold but she fell in the long program at the Olympics. She had given the performance of her life at Nationals the month before.

I'll have to go back and look, but my recollection is that she stumbled on the 3L. Maybe a hand down, but not a total fall. She then doubled the S.

At World's that year, her only visible error was a fall on 3S.

 

[blackswanphoto]

Tessa Virtue @2014 Canadian Nationals: acknowledging that she botched one of her twizzles. “I think we’re right on track. The point is to peak in Sochi, so it would be alarming if we skated perfectly both programs here."

In this instance I must say that I completely agree with her.

 

[emma]

Thanks Mrs. P and tulosai for sharing your impressions from live viewing! I'm so in awe of Davis and White; but I thoroughly enjoyed all the top couples and it's nice to get your impressions as the computer doesn't convey so much of the details - speed, nuance, audience connection and so forth.

 

[dardar1126]

Twitter:

icenetwork ‏@icenetwork 18m
Video of the U.S. championships free skates and free dance is now available on icenetwork! Watch them all here: http://www.icenetwork.com/video/search/?topic_id=59555720 …

 

[Turbo-Mom]

Alex and Daniel's Free Dance

In defense of Alex and Daniel’s Bollywood and it’s Choreography I’d like to clarify a couple of things. First of all, Daniel idolizes Charlie White and certainly did not intent to imitate or be compared to Charlie.

In India, the traditional men’s costume for dress occasions or weddings is the Sherwani. Daniel’s has two (one for official practice and one or the competition). They are authentic Sherwani’s, purchased through the Bharatiya Temple o Metropolitan Detroit and modified for skating by our seamstress at Detroit Skating Club – Lou Anne Williams. Alex’s Grandma hand painted the scrollwork and insignia on the back of Daniel’s costumes and Alex’s Mom did the crystal work. While it does appear to be a copy of Charlie White’s 2010 Original Dance Costume, what else would be appropriate for a Bollywood Program? Similar, to most Marius’s wearing a white poet shirt, blue trousers and red sash when performing Les Mes.

Angelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo, our coaches, approached Alex and Daniel with the Bollywood program last spring. At the 2012 Professional Skaters Association Awards, Pasquale received the Paul McGrath Choreographer of the Year award and is currently one of the hottest creative commodities in the sport of figure skating today. Alex and Daniel’s Choreography Score at the US Championships was 7.89 and within one point of C&B, S&S, and H&D. A 7.89 Choreography Score at the 2010 US Championships would have been third.

I’d also like to add that In May, 2010, Daniel’s Father was diagnosed with an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. Dr Kirit Patel operated on Mr. Eaton and Daniel, out of gratitude, dedicated the Bollywood Free Dance to Dr Patel who is Indian. I personally love the choreography and find it hard to believe that anyone could view it as a mess. Thanks