2021 Rostelecom Cup - Ice Dance: Thoughts and Comments?

[gsk8]

Sinitsina and Katsalapov dance to fifth Grand Prix gold at Rostelecom Cup

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia won their fifth consecutive Grand Prix gold medal at 2021 Rostelecom Cup on Saturday. Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy maintained second […]

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Second consecutive win for Sinitsina and Katsalapov although they got a two-point deduction (one for each extended lift) in the FD. I'm sure they will go back and fix that before the Final.

So nice to see Hawayek and Baker back in the mix!

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Second consecutive win for Sinitsina and Katsalapov although they got a two-point deduction (one for each extended lift) in the FD. I'm sure they will go back and fix that before the Final.

S/K need Barbara's stopwatch! I'm sure she's got a spare one she can lend them. I hope they can fix their lifts before the final, all 6 teams can skate their best and we can watch what order they all shake out in.

G/F's FD was my highlight of the event, so beautiful and emotive, and Barbara was clearly emotional about it too. So happy they made the GPF, it's going to be a busy couple of weeks for them (Rostelecom Cup this weekend, Italian Nationals next weekend, GPF the weekend after), I hope they can skate well at all their events and then enjoy a well-earned rest before Europeans! The RD still needs a bit of work, but that lift is awesome and so smooth.

So nice to see Hawayek and Baker back in the mix!

I was really happy to see them back too, and really liked their new FD. It's subtle and gentle but they perform it very beautifully; I look forward to seeing it again soon.

 

[Lamente Ariane]

I'm still playing catch-up but I'm so happy Hawayek and Baker have gone back to classical (without any gimmicks or voiceovers) I just love their Chopin FD. It has the potential to be even better than Liebestraum with some more mileage, imo. Their RD doesn't play to their strengths nearly as well, unfortunately.

 

[chuckm]

One of the lift deductions for S/K was because during a lift, her head got caught in his voluminous shirt and they had to struggle to get her free.

 

[litenkyckling]

One of the lift deductions for S/K was because during a lift, her head got caught in his voluminous shirt and they had to struggle to get her free.

his shirt was so distracting on so many levels - takes away from lines, makes them look messy and I also hate it when it rides up and shows skin because it just takes you out of the performance. I'm looking at his annoying pyjama top instead of the actual skating.

 

[readernick]

My highlights were:

G/ F's FD. They are always impressive technically. Perfectly matched, nice edges, great elements. However, here they also performed really beautifully. The skate of the event for me. I would have them .

H/B came back strong in the FD ( I agree that the RD style doesn't suit them). It's classical, not showy, but beautiful and they performed it well m

FB/S are very powerful and have nice choreo. I hate their FD but I am impressed by them.

Finally, K/B weren't boring. Khudaiberdieva is my favorite Russian ice dancer. I don't love their material but it isn't boring which is more than I can say for the other Russians here.

What I don't understand:

S/K. I like her. I like their power but they are messy. I don't like either program and the judges ignore all their minor stumbles. To me they are perhaps 9/10 in the World when it comes to top ice dancers but that's not how the judges see it. At least they were punished for their fall, it was extreme obvious and disruptive to the program.

H/K are great ice dancers but their material is letting them down this season. Zhulin's choreo isn't to my taste.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

In reality, S/K should have been 3rd or 4th, they are so messy and way out of their league. Italians should have won, Canadians second and I would have put H/B up over the Spanish who are also messy, though I do love their FD if they could just skate it up to speed and clean.

 

[rain]

I am really far behind in watching the competition, and decided just to hit some programs I know I'll like, and some of the ones I haven't seen before. In the latter category, Hawayek and Baker officially have my favourite FD of the season. It is choreographically genius — just utterly beautiful. I think it's probably going to go on the list of my all-time favourites. There are tons of choreographic highlights that hit all the right notes of the music. The lifts are amazing, something this team has sometimes struggled with. The one-foot step sequence is the best in the world, IMO. Their interpretation is out of this world good. You could see a few spots here where they still needed a little mileage, but overall, this was spellbinding. I will be angry if I don't get to see this team at the Olympics. They are so vastly underscored in comparison to their skills, I don't understand it, except, of course, for politics. Amazing, just amazing.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

If actual skating were valued more (versus things like novel packaging), Hawayek/Baker would be a lock for Olympics. They remind me of the Shibs, blade-to-ice skills and togetherness make them stand out. Green/Parsons are developing really nicely for a young team, but not at H/B's level skating-wise yet. Carreira/Ponomarenko are still adjusting to their coaching change... So, despite being chronically undervalued, I think H/B's Olympic prospects are good.
Also, hope they stay around a few more years and take advantage of the post-Olympic pecking order shake-up!

 

[rain]

If actual skating were valued more (versus things like novel packaging), Hawayek/Baker would be a lock for Olympics. They remind me of the Shibs, blade-to-ice skills and togetherness make them stand out. Green/Parsons are developing really nicely for a young team, but not at H/B's level skating-wise yet. Carreira/Ponomarenko are still adjusting to their coaching change... So, despite being chronically undervalued, I think H/B's Olympic prospects are good.
Also, hope they stay around a few more years and take advantage of the post-Olympic pecking order shake-up!

I agree about the relative skill level, though I do love Green/Parsons' FD this season, and think they've clearly elevated themselves above Carreira/Ponomarenko for now. I too hope they stick around. It must be so frustrating for them to skate so well and for it to seem to not matter a lot of the time. I love watching this team, though, and hope they can start to get some more respect from the judges. This free dance really elevates them, however, in a year of particularly middling choreography, so I'm hoping it will wake the judges up — as Green/Parsons have done.

 

[moonvine]

If actual skating were valued more (versus things like novel packaging), Hawayek/Baker would be a lock for Olympics. They remind me of the Shibs, blade-to-ice skills and togetherness make them stand out. Green/Parsons are developing really nicely for a young team, but not at H/B's level skating-wise yet. Carreira/Ponomarenko are still adjusting to their coaching change... So, despite being chronically undervalued, I think H/B's Olympic prospects are good.
Also, hope they stay around a few more years and take advantage of the post-Olympic pecking order shake-up!

I think they will get to go but not skate for a team medal and they’ll be low scored just like they always are, regardless of how they skate.

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

I think they will get to go but not skate for a team medal and they’ll be low scored just like they always are, regardless of how they skate.

My dream is that both Hawayek/Baker and Guignard/Fabbri stick around for the whole of the next quad, get scored as they deserve and end up on the 2026 Oly podium together, proving that great technique and a tiny height difference are the way forward in ice dance!

 

[anonymoose_au]

My dream is that both Hawayek/Baker and Guignard/Fabbri stick around for the whole of the next quad, get scored as they deserve and end up on the 2026 Oly podium together, proving that great technique and a tiny height difference are the way forward in ice dance!

That would be the greatest podium in the world.

Small and Mighty Club unite!

 

[skylark]

I'm very late both watching and posting (lots of Thanksgiving-week company ). When I watched the free dances at Rostelecom, honestly the one highlight was so overwhelming that I've forgotten the rest.

That highlight was Kaitlyn and Jean-Luc. The combination of music, choreography, emotion, and those two particular skaters is simply magical, in an utterly captivating way. The way they interpreted the music is so grand and yet so tender, just how they are with each other. Somewhere I read that they choreographed it themselves, and I believe it was Kaitlyn who spoke of the complexity of the music -- it has lightness, but also slightly darker moments. In that way, it reflects Kaitlyn and Jean-Luc themselves. Well, I am biased in favor of that Chopin piece, having played it on the piano. The range of emotion in it is one of the qualities that draws me to it. I feel that this kind of classical piece is what H/B should use every year for their free dance, because somehow it draws out their talents and limns their relationship to each other. It reminded me of their skate to 'Traumerei,' which was until now my favorite of theirs. Along with Saturday Night Live. LOL.

@rain said:
Hawayek and Baker officially have my favourite FD of the season. It is choreographically genius — just utterly beautiful. I think it's probably going to go on the list of my all-time favourites. There are tons of choreographic highlights that hit all the right notes of the music.