2015 NHK Free Dance

[matcha]

So happy for The Shibs!

They need to continue to up their slay count and act like the champions they deserve to be.

 

[Jombi]

For anyone interested, FD will be aired in 40 mins here. Probably it needs hola (set to Italy).

 

[ice coverage]

He said "tatiana and max, we miss you " (about volosozhar/trankov).

Thx, kinori. "....Miss you" is what my ears had caught, but not the names of whom Alex was missing -- so you have satisfied my curiosity.

(auser, still appreciate your answer about Peter T as well. This time, I will not spell his name out .)

Congratulations to all the medalists :yay:.

I like many of the American couples, but the Shibutanis are my very favorites. Happy that Hubbell/Donohue qualified for the GPF.

Bobrova/Soloviev definitely are my favorite Russian couple.

 

[tulosai]

I don't get a lot of the hatred that B/S are getting here... some of it almost seems personal, like they did something to some of the posters (though I think what most of those people are really upset about is that they beat H/D). I personally think their FD is absolutely excellent. The 'high Russian' style isn't for everyone, but they are both very powerful and dramatic skaters, and I actually think it's impressive that they are making this style work while still laying down the technical requirements that are mandatory today. To me there is a cohesive story that is convincingly told in the dance as well.

As for people freaking out about H/D, either about their being 3rd not second, or about how great they are doing this year, I think both these points of view are, well, not accurate. They have improved a lot this year, and have definitely avoided being overtaken by H/B which is great, but honestly, they still need to make a lot of improvements as a team before they'll be really top tier, and I am sure that they know that. If anything I think they are lucky to have made the final and should view this as a huge step. Having seen them live I'd also bet money that they were considerably slower than B/S which probably made some of the PCS/GOE difference.

As for the Shibs, there's nothing to say but that they were awesome Can't wait to see them in the final!

 

[solani]

I thoroughly enjoyed the dance competition (not only because my predictions were accurate ). The Shibs really did very well and it's good to see them fighting this season. And they have the programs to do that (both Zueva (altough I didn't recognize it in the beginning) and Tchernyshev did a great job). U.S. Nationals really could get interesting, I look forward to that.

 

[NoNameFace]

did not watch the whole FD thing live BUT went with my strong will this time and didn't go first to results page but rewatch whole FD from places 6 to 1 <proud><did not spoil>

very impressed by Cannuscio/McManus - not an easy thing to skate to Beethoven (neither to Mozart, Bach or Chopin...), but there was some intricate choreogrphy there. Shame about twizzles, but all lifts were good, very light and seamless step sequences and transitions between all elements. And that signature up-down mini-lifts at the end - simply a deight (and so in music!!!).Definitely a joy to watch.

Coomes/Buckland - totally not my thing, but big props for quite good Muse arrangement (and using Muse, don't care that it became a warhorse), all lifts (cool as heck, especially the second one - WOWZERS) and cool spin.

Stepanova/Bukin - as above, totally not my cup of tea, but have to say - they sure have a presence on ice, both look great...And while they danced I got a little sentimental because Ivan looked a little bit like Fredie Mercury with that facial hair...They sure have a solid tech base, cool as heck sit-cosmic twizzles, but can't shake of an impression that they have no signaure style yet and I can't associate them with anything. They should work on that I think.

Madison and Zach...a real improvement. Previous seasons they were a great promise, but for me something was constantly of and I culdn't put my finger on what was wrong. This season I see a real engagement and unity in their work. I am really amazed by purity, coninuity and simplicity of their SD - deinitely one of my faves this season where I am disappointed by most of SDs. This FD...it looks good, it makes a good impression but I feel that this music is too big for them and for this choreography. Whereas there is a constant building of drama in music, I can't see it in their dance. For me, the movement of arms has to be more profound and sharp and all accents/changes in music have to be more visible.

Maia and Alex - guess the jugdes remind themselves about them this season (still a little disappointed by this FD, but I have too high expectations of everything so nevermind), gooood scores, a FANTASTIC, out-of-this-world 4-set twizzle delight, great chemistry and connection. Wish they would not use 'The Scientist' in the middle - it shakes my reception of the whole dance...

And at the end I left my favourite FD of the event, and I cannot believe myself I am writing this - Ekaterina and Dimirty...From costumes, trough choreography, till music cuts - an absolute fairytale. They are really portraying the storry adding their personal input to it. The whole sequence at the beginning - just amazing (she really has a real acting talent), strong step sequences, fantastic second lift, all elements and transitions working seamlessly. And the ending - when she closed his eyes, I let a few tears drop because of the intensity of this performance (maybe it's stupid, but after Tessa and Scott a veeery few things in ice dance can get me so moved). There is a line between giving you an emotion by proper acting and give you an unecessary drama by overacting - they gave me today a much needed dose of beautiful emotion. Definitely their best FD and one of my favourite FD of all time.

 

[Snow63]

Bobrova / Soloviev, wow.

Just saw it on YT, this is fantastic once again. The expression, the choreography! He kisses her hand to symbolize their first meeting, he tries to hold her, when she wants to run away - great posture by her and the whole sequence on one blade, for a full 14 seconds - this is just out of this world!

This is what the judges want to see, no excessive two blade skating an there are no shaky knees in that whole sequence either, just look at Katja - how she holds a steady blade and it looks like it is nothing.

Then we go into the Tw element, clean and aligned entry, the second with the leg held, increasing the demand on both skaters and the actual "grab" it looks flawless and unnoticeable!
Again, we are talking about those "Easy" elements, while hard you have to show that you can do this, at all times, without breaking a sweat.

Going from hold into the open, back to hold, looks smooth, no matter if one of the skaters is skating backwards, not knowing where the other is - the blind understanding of both skaters is not from this world.

Then we go into the straight line, right in front of the judges, beautiful balance point, no movement in her, she is stiff - yet elegant while facing the eyes up side down.

Followed by a circular step sequence, constant dance hold, again, right in front of the judges, while then traveling to the opposite side, her expression and how Dimi does accompany her elegance and grace, so wonderful. The balance of that pair, is amazing, both are equally present on the ice and this is something that you must give Dimi credit for, Ekaterina is a wonderful and beautiful lady - not hard for a man to still be present there, but he is!

The alignement of their arms, the bows and desperate looks, especially by her - what a performance, they are these two people, they do not just play a role there, exactly what both said they want to present in their Ana Karenina program.

We go on to the curve lift, look at the look again in their faces, the expression, the strong eye to eye contact, held over the whole duration - talking about blind skating. The union of both is just great and then we have the rotational lift, it´s a fluent transition - the exit of said element, how Katja holds position and he puts her gently on the ice, such grace and flow, beautiful arm and hand work by her then she puts her head on his shoulder, to show that she feels safe and secure - all perfectly aligned to the phrase of the music!

The music and it´s soft piano - now takes a tiny break while performing the spin - again, what a choreography.

Soft strings now close the performance, by showing how desperate both are, but there is no future for them is there? The final pose, wow!

You can not dance better, you can not do it better!

And at the end I left my favourite FD of the event, and I cannot believe myself I am writing this - Ekaterina and Dimirty...From costumes, trough choreography, till music cuts - an absolute fairytale. They are really portraying the storry adding their personal input to it. The whole sequence at the beginning - just amazing (she really has a real acting talent), strong step sequences, fantastic second lift, all elements and transitions working seamlessly. And the ending - when she closed his eyes, I let a few tears drop because of the intensity of this performance (maybe it's stupid, but after Tessa and Scott a veeery few things in ice dance can get me so moved). There is a line between giving you an emotion by proper acting and give you an unecessary drama by overacting - they gave me today a much needed dose of beautiful emotion. Definitely their best FD and one of my favourite FD of all time.

Bravo! I'm so happy people liked the dance. I really thought it would be under-appreciated, because of its complexity and not very dancey subtle music.
Even Tarasova, who was never their biggest fan, thought that they 'danced it to tears', and that it's their best free dance up to date. And if they would skated it in their Olympic season, they would have medaled in Sochi.

By the way, their diagonal step sequence after combination spin is real piece of art. I like their change of holds, and little nuances here and there. Not surprised it has highest GOE bonus from all teams who skated here. It has potential to be level 4 at top events, difficult turns are as clean as they can be.

 

[invisiblespiral]

Well, I'm here. Yay Shibs! And I love C/B's Muse FD.

 

[3T3T]

Delighted to see some love for B/S. It was a fantastic performance, they really capture the story and music. It's understated and subtle, it draws you in, the 4mins flew by for me. I hope they keep building as the season continues. At SC the BESP guys were not impressed (would have them behind the Italians G/F) but they were highly impressed this afternoon.

I like the Shibs programme but it falls away for me at the end. They are really going to challenge C/B for the US title. H/D have stepped up this year but do all of the D/L camp programmes look the same?

Looking forward to the GPF, it will be very competitive.

 

[whatif]

The best part was when TAT accidentally slipped in live broadcast who she believes is going to make the Russian National podium. According to her it WILL be B/S or I/Z in first, S/K taking the third spot and then M/K, S/B in any order.

 

[Alex D]

Bravo! I'm so happy people liked the dance. I really thought it would be under-appreciated, because of its complexity and not very dancey subtle music.
Even Tarasova, who was never their biggest fan, thought that they 'danced it to tears', and that it's their best free dance up to date. And if they would skated it in their Olympic season, they would have medaled in Sochi.

By the way, their diagonal step sequence after combination spin is real piece of art. I like their change of holds, and little nuances here and there. Not surprised it has highest GOE bonus from all teams who skated here. It has potential to be level 4 at top events, difficult turns are as clean as they can be.

I have not seen any of the other dances, nor did I follow this thread, I just wanted to post along while watching. If they do not see much love or even hate, then this is really sad.

I agree, their best program and it would have medaled at Sochi.

 

[sweetsugar1613]

Anyone have a link to this interview?

 

[skateluver]

B/S have the best programs this year and they are magnificent!! I hope they win the Nationals and I hope they carry the momentum to Europeans and Worlds. Especially this long program is one of the best I have ever seen. I have fallen in love with this couple this season already. They came back better than ever!! I also think her posture has improved a lot. It is no longer bothering me.

 

[deedee1]

Love love loved Bobrova/Soloviev's Anna Karenina FD. Every second of whole 4min program carries me away to their world. Is it choreo'd by Zhulin?
Shib/Shib and Bob/Solo do have such 2 great programs that are world champ-worthy, I think. Good luck to both teams at GPF and Worlds.

Kudos to Emi/Marien for fighting hard throughout two programs with their will and fire, in spite of Merien's back injury. Heard he had to take a kind of nerve block injection to skate. Hope he gets better by the time Nats comes. Personally, seeing Olivier by their side made my day.

 

[Rissa]

But that free dance is a snoozefest. With moth wings. Oy veh. Where did I put that flyswatter again?

I thought the costume was very appropriate as they were dancing about death. I'm not a fan of this sort of slow introspective performances but I thought they did a really good job on it. A great contrast in style to both B/S and the Shibs.

That said, I'm so happy for the Shibs! I remeber how I thought they should have won SA and hoping for the repetition of the great skate so that they'd make the GPF for sure (well, I wasn't too worried actually when I realized P/C won't be there).

Now question: In comparison with SC did they skate better? I can't tell. They were great, but they seemed just as great at SC. I'm asking because I can't tell whether the judges at NHK were more generous because the Shibs skated better or because they didn't need to hold them down to make sure another pair would win.

 

[Mrs. P]

I thought the costume was very appropriate as they were dancing about death. I'm not a fan of this sort of slow introspective performances but I thought they did a really good job on it. A great contrast in style to both B/S and the Shibs.

That said, I'm so happy for the Shibs! I remeber how I thought they should have won SA and hoping for the repetition of the great skate so that they'd make the GPF for sure (well, I wasn't too worried actually when I realized P/C won't be there).

Now question: In comparison with SC did they skate better? I can't tell. They were great, but they seemed just as great at SC. I'm asking because I can't tell whether the judges at NHK were more generous because the Shibs skated better or because they didn't need to hold them down to make sure another pair would win.

I think the quality of elements actually improved here. The Skate Canada performance had more raw energy, but here, everything looked better from an execution standpoint and they seemed to skate bigger and with presence here. As I said earlier I hope to see the best of both performances as the season go on.

I think the tech panel was more generous here, but thr Shibs got the same BV at Skate Canada. Their GOE was higher and their PCS went up. We'll see how they rank at gpf!

 

[solani]

The best part was when TAT accidentally slipped in live broadcast who she believes is going to make the Russian National podium. According to her it WILL be B/S or I/Z in first, S/K taking the third spot and then M/K, S/B in any order.

Thanks for this info! She did that "accidentally" for sure.

 

[Rissa]

I think the quality of elements actually improved here. The Skate Canada performance had more raw energy, but here, everything looked better from an execution standpoint and they seemed to skate bigger and with presence here. As I said earlier I hope to see the best of both performances as the season go on.

I think the tech panel was more generous here, but thr Shibs got the same BV at Skate Canada. Their GOE was higher and their PCS went up. We'll see how they rank at gpf!

Thanks! I hope they will keep the upwards trend! I would be really overjoyed if they managed to pull off a win.

 

[demarinis5]

Shibs were outstanding! Congrats to them for their Gold Medal win!

So nice to see B/S back and in such good condition! Loved their FD and
I am happy that we will see them at the GPF!

Very nice podium, Congrats to all!

 

[WeakAnkles]

I thought the costume was very appropriate as they were dancing about death. I'm not a fan of this sort of slow introspective performances but I thought they did a really good job on it. A great contrast in style to both B/S and the Shibs.

That said, I'm so happy for the Shibs! I remeber how I thought they should have won SA and hoping for the repetition of the great skate so that they'd make the GPF for sure (well, I wasn't too worried actually when I realized P/C won't be there).

Now question: In comparison with SC did they skate better? I can't tell. They were great, but they seemed just as great at SC. I'm asking because I can't tell whether the judges at NHK were more generous because the Shibs skated better or because they didn't need to hold them down to make sure another pair would win.

Look, Hub?Don have skated this kind of program before--and better.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVdyLMH65j0

That's a far more interesting program, choreographically speaking, than the Moth Dance of Death, which is too one note (it lacks changes in light and shade, tempo, emotionality). I think the move to Montreal didn't necessarily improve them so much as give them a new impetus. As did Madi's surgery/healed body. So I think what you're seeing is the upside of a refreshed commitment. And good for them. I like them. I actually like them quite a bit. And D/L did do one thing that is a definite improvement: they have choreographed to emphasize their line, which is probably their greatest strength. Last year's hiphopfest was just all wrong. So at least they're moving in a better direction, even if I think D/L are very very limited choreographers.