2023 Skate Canada Rhythm Dance

[Ruthypegs]

Try the ISU channel with your VPN on the Netherlands.

or CBC Sports with VPN to Canada

 

[DancingCactus]

I've only managed to catch up with the top three. Based on this outing, I think both G/P and F/G have superior RDs compared to Chock and Bates. And I think Piper and Paul are miles ahead of F/G. Fresh music, shiny pants, the fantastic new lift, the belly flop and simply the way they skate together as two people having fun make them my favourite team.

R/D butchered songs by one of my favourite bands though. Could you skate any less GnR than them? The hydroblading moment was cool and his pants rock, but she did not project any aggressive energy at all. Neither her costume nor her makeup had anything to do with GnR or the 80s either. This makes me unreasonably angry.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Piper and Paul's costumes too dissimilar. Hers is awesome, his looks more late 70's to me... Just looks mismatched to me. His needs to be more bedazzled or something, lol.

I also preferred last year's RD, to be honest - which was by far their most successful and effective RD. P&P have always had stronger FDs than RDs - often very noticeably so - with last year being the exception.

This one reminds me too much of their Olympic Elton John program... just not 'dance-y' enough. Obviously their SS are terrific, but I think that they need more pizzazz throughout. Piper was great, Paul kind of faded into the background in comparison. She was very much the star and he was just 'there'. When you watched Virtue/Moir, you didn't know who to focus on - Tessa or Scott; and often Scott was the one pulled you in at least as much as Tessa expression-wise. P+Cizeron the same thing. Paul is comparable to those two men in terms of skill, and he always looks like he's enjoying skating, but I'd like to see him perform a little bit more. Loosed up and go a bit over the top. Paul was too muted in this. I was not expecting 87 points.

Anyway, certainly potential, and clearly the judges like it. But I would suggest it needs a bit of work to bring it up to the level of last year's RD, which I think was similar in quality and almost as memorable as Tessa & Scott's Prince RD, which I still consider the best RD I've seen.

I think the main issue for me isn't Paul's performance, but rather the speed they have across the ice. Piper and Paul compared to tessa/Scott and gabby/giume lack a lot of speed. I think Paul has a lot of power, certainly not significantly less than Giume/Scott, but it doesn't look like he ever completes his push fully compared to how Giume and Scott push. Of course same to be said about Piper not pushing like Gabby and Tessa. There are different pushing techniques so can't do direct comparison I suppose, but it still feels like there are some inefficiency with pushing techniques.

Of course Piper and Paul have gotten very precise turn technique, strong kneebend, nicely pointed toes, fantastic musicality. Generally great posture. A lot of stuff they do is better than the rest of the teams. I still think teams like Guignard/Fabbri are much better on the skating skills front, but not as good as Piper and Paul in other parts of the skating.

I do find all these comparisons difficult to make in terms of scoring rhythm dances for this season - partly as stuff like posture, musicality and turn technique is much easier when going slower - so if a faster team can do similar level or just below, they are doing something much harder than a slow team doing precise turns etc. It'd be much easier to have a compulsory dance or pattern dance in the rhythm to make the comparison.

But this season it definitely seems Piper and Paul might have the winning RD at the GPF, at least with what the scores have been indicating.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Enjoying the chicken adverts on the Canadian coverage on dailymotion.

 

[amanda b]

I thought Piper and Paul's RD last year was sublime - and I am programmed to favour them above others, not least because I think they are consistently underscored and some of their FD's have reduced me to tears. But cannot engage with this year's RD - naff costumes and weird music choice, if you are going for Eurythmics why not use Annie Lennox! And my general conclusion re 80's is that I don't recall anyone wearing the kind of costumes now seen on the ice. And I was there!

 

[NoNameFace]

Although some of us will look like good baby tractors.....

Thank you for a belly laugh! Baby tractors could be a fashion aesthetic for the season . More seriously, I love how that RD made a statement also by using those shiny lycra capris - they are real eye-catchers and I WISH crepe paper in this shade/structure existed (I've certainly never came across such!).

 

[throw_triple_flip]

We're likely to see the same top 3 on the podium, but close enough that there could possibly be an upset for the bronze. I think Zingas and Kolesnik could've beaten the Lithuanian team if they hadn't made that mistake.

Loved Gilles and Poirier (that slide thing where they threw themselves on the ice in the step sequence was really cool!), Fear and Gibson were great (perhaps looking a bit hesitant in places i thought?). The Lithuanian's RD left me a little cold personally.

Overall i think this was more entertaining compared to last week. Kaitlyn Weaver is great on the commentary.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

But cannot engage with this year's RD - naff costumes and weird music choice, if you are going for Eurythmics why not use Annie Lennox! And my general conclusion re 80's is that I don't recall anyone wearing the kind of costumes now seen on the ice. And I was there!

Zillions of teams are going for Eurythmics. I can't think of any teams using that lyrical new wave sound (apart from one of the junior canadians using Talking Heads). It's different. They stand out and it fits with their quirkier style.

That song isn't Eurythmics by the way! It's written and performed by a band called The Lover Speaks and was only a minor hit. Then Annie Lennox covered it solo in the 90s to greater success.
I believe her Eurythmics band mate Dave Stewart worked with the other band , which might be why she was aware of it and chose to cover it.

 

[rain]

But cannot engage with this year's RD - naff costumes and weird music choice, if you are going for Eurythmics why not use Annie Lennox! And my general conclusion re 80's is that I don't recall anyone wearing the kind of costumes now seen on the ice. And I was there!

I was there in the 80s too and Piper's costume is absolutely on point. She looks like she could step into a Cyndi Lauper or Madonna video.

Also, FYI, the Annie Lennox version is the cover of this song. Piper and Paul get points for using the original.

 

[NoNameFace]

I was there in the 80s too and Piper's costume is absolutely on point. She looks like she could step into a Cyndi Lauper or Madonna video.

Also, FYI, the Annie Lennox version is the cover of this song. Piper and Paul get points for using the original.

90s kid there, but seeing Piper brought me images of Madonna's 80s eras and indeed Cyndi Lauper style a bit. They both just had that 'look' about them of 80s music video or ad commercial for me. I loved how those shiny capris caught the eye, the lip, Paul's hair, those 'robotic' sequences of arm movements, the characters...just made so much sense to me.
Plus indeed brownie points for them to go outside the box musically and use original of 'No more I love you's' plus pairing it with Palmer to have cohesive theme.
I've watched it 10 times already probably. And it brings me so much joy.

 

[4everchan]

i must be the only one but i have absolutely no issue with Paul's costume. Sure, Piper's is so cool and much better... but men back then often wore this sort of black outfits while women went with crazy colours. To me it looked like a 80s dance party with two people meeting on the dance floor to shake some ! And in that sense, they shouldn't have matching costumes... though, i have to admit that I'd love seeing Paul wearing Piper's pants ... but then, you know what, some people would complain that Paul's costume is too daring and that they shouldn't be so matchy... LOL

 

[NoNameFace]

i must be the only one but i have absolutely no issue with Paul's costume. Sure, Piper's is so cool and much better... but men back then often wore this sort of black outfits while women went with crazy colours. To me it looked like a 80s dance party with two people meeting on the dance floor to shake some ! And in that sense, they shouldn't have match costumes... though, i have to admit that I'd love seeing Paul wearing Piper's pants ... but then, you know what, some people would complain that Paul's costume is too daring and that they shouldn't be so matchy... LOL

I (almost) never have issue with their costuming because they seems to create programs with much larger picture in mind. With a lot of elements diligently prepared to fit in together and here costumes are reflecting on characters abd performance energy put on the ice for me. They are one of a kind team that always undergoes image/style transformation every season, every program - and the costume is an important part of that, BUT not the only one (*cough* side-eyeying certain teams thinking that putting a given costume makes the theme or style *cough*).
Their complexity in due diligence put into creating their programs is imho legendary stuff and one of things I will miss the most after R word happens.
Meanwhile I'm celebrating this Saturday as Shiny Lycra Capris supremacy day and don't give a

 

[skylark]

The dances I enjoyed the most were: Emilea and Vadym's, Lilah and Lewis's, and Oona and Gage's.

I don't know how Emilea dances "up" to Vadym's level so soon, but I believe it has something to do with her upper body, beautiful expression ... not just posture. And her skating skills and edges. What's very impressive is how well they did with the judges, considering the mistake on twizzles and also skating 2nd.

I also really enjoyed the Footloose program

 

[TallyT]

Also, FYI, the Annie Lennox version is the cover of this song. Piper and Paul get points for using the original.

Not if the cover is better.

 

[rain]

Not if the cover is better.

I actually like the original. And the cover. Neither is better, just different. And right now I'm enjoying the novelty of the original, since the cover is more common.

 

[SkatersWaltz]

Gilles and Poirier's first music choice makes me realise there's a shocking lack of new wave music amongst these 80s rhythm dances.

Yep! Couldn't agree more.

 

[SkatersWaltz]

Not if the cover is better.

According to the official ISU rules communication, the version selected had to come out in the 1980s so the Annie Lennox cover would not have been permitted according to ISU rules this season as it came out in 1995 :
Excerpt from ISU communication regarding Rhythm Dance:
"The theme selected for the Rhythm Dances for both Junior and Senior for the season 2023/24 is “Music and Feeling of the Eighties”. Any music is possible provided that the chosen version was originally released in the decade of the 1980s and maintains the essence of the 1980s."