Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin | Page 354 | Golden Skate

Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

bramweld said:
Honestly, I don't see the wow you see in S/K. They are fast and and that's about it for me. Their inclination is towards classical movement and line and that suits them to a T, but it's nothing really new is it? None of their programs are particularly intricate in terms of choreography and hence the speed. IMHO, there is a certain sameness about the programs, especially the FD. I come to the end of the FD scratching my head to be honest.

OTOH, I really dig the sophistication and originality that I/Z bring and that's why I'm a fan. If I were a fan of S/K I'd be gushing in their fan thread, quite often. So maybe it's best to say what may be wow for you could be completely meh for someone else (me) and vice versa. :peace:
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Where did I say that I think Sinitsina/Katsalapov's programs/choreography are vow :confused:? Or that I think their skating, performance, overall style or whatever is vow :scratch2:? I was only speaking about their lift entries/exits. Elena and Ruslan's FD as a whole is definitely much more vow for me than S/K's lifts. And I/Z's curve lifts is still vow for me, even though I have seen it before. I was just trying to think about more reasons why judges mark them down, and Staviski gave me this idea which I thought was probably partially true. Finally, I am not an S/K fan, and I haven't been gushing about them neither in their fan thread, nor here. I am an Elena and Ruslan fan. I guess I just don't really know how to gush convincingly enough. I got so emotional after rewatching their CoR FD performance this morning, but I know it didn't come across in my post. I am just not like that.
 
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lauravvv said:
Where did I say that I think Sinitsina/Katsalapov's programs/choreography are vow :confused:? Or that I think their skating, performance, overall style or whatever is vow :scratch2:? I was only speaking about their lift entries/exits. Elena and Ruslan's FD as a whole is definitely much more vow for me than S/K's lifts. And I/Z's curve lifts is still vow for me, even though I have seen it before. I was just trying to think about more reasons why judges mark them down, and Staviski gave me this idea which I thought was probably partially true. Finally, I am not an S/K fan, and I haven't been gushing about them neither in their fan thread, nor here. I am an Elena and Ruslan fan. I guess I just don't really know how to gush convincingly enough. I got so emotional after rewatching their CoR FD performance this morning, but I know it didn't come across in my post. I am just not like that.
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I am so tired of this conversation could we just stop? I don't want to talk about Stavinsky or S/K or any other team other than I/Z. When did this thread get highjacked? If I gave you the impression that I was interested in this peace out.

I am tired of trying to find the faults in their programs. I enjoy watching their programs period. Either they'll get a chance come nationals to show what they can do with mature programs or they will not. I'm looking forward to much better performances come nationals. This is where I'm at I'm just not into the nitpicking.
 
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bramweld said:
I am so tired of this conversation could we just stop? I don't want to talk about Stavinsky or S/K or any other team other than I/Z. When did this thread get highjacked? If I gave you the impression that I was interested in this peace out.

I am tired of trying to find the faults in their programs. I enjoy watching their programs period. Either they'll get a chance come nationals to show what they can do with mature programs or they will not. I'm looking forward to much better performances come nationals. This is where I'm at I'm just not into the nitpicking.
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:roll9: I started with a post that was, for the most part, very positive about Elena/Ruslan and their FD (with the first intent to say how much I love their FD, how wrong I think their scoring at CoR was, an how I won't understand if the Russian federatin buries them, and the second part about elements as just an afterthought). You didn't understand some of the things that I had said. I tried to explain in my next post which still included more really positive words about Elena and Ruslan. Then, in response to that, you falsely accused me of things I had not said. Again, I tried to clarify an defend myself. Now you accuse me of "highjacking" the thread. Sorry, but if your reading of other people's posts is so superficial and selective, you simply can't expect that they won't try to clarify/explain and defend themselves. If you don't want such conversations to go on and on, you should simply refrain from false accusations that have nothing to do with what is written in the person's post.



Alba said:
The same for me. It's much better than when she did it before. I think the entry is great though. Smooth and quick.
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Thanks a lot, Alba.
 
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lauravvv said:
:roll9: I started with a post that was, for the most part, very positive about Elena/Ruslan and their FD (with the first intent to say how much I love their FD, how wrong I think their scoring at CoR was, an how I won't understand if the Russian federatin buries them, and the second part about elements as just an afterthought). You didn't understand some of the things that I had said. I tried to explain in my next post which still included more really positive words about Elena and Ruslan. Then, in response to that, you falsely accused me of things I had not said. Again, I tried to clarify an defend myself. Now you accuse me of "highjacking" the thread. Sorry, but if your reading of other people's posts is so superficial and selective, you simply can't expect that they won't try to clarify/explain and defend themselves. If you don't want such conversations to go on and on, you should simply refrain from false accusations that have nothing to do with what is written in the person's post.



Thanks a lot, Alba.
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Puhlease, :giveup::bed:. After all, tomorrow is another day:peace:
 
bramweld said:
Puhlease, :giveup::bed:. After all, tomorrow is another day:peace:
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Okay, I see you have nothing to say for yourself anymore. And I don't have time for this anymore. It's already morning (have been working all night long, with short periods of "relaxation" on these forums), and I have to rise for my plain in a couple of hours. Most likely I will be away for a week, and won't have much time to post here. Am going to Barcelona and GPF (I so regret that I won't be able to see 'Frida' live there - it's one of my biggest disappointments when it comes to the GPF fields this season, even though I knew chances of Elena and Ruslan getting into the Final were not large - and, believe me, I didn't want to see them live there in order to criticize them ;)).
 
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lauravvv said:
As for entrances into and exits from elements, I think the most noticeable ones are those into an out of lifts and maybe spins, sometimes twizzles. Elena and Ruslan have none of that in their FD. Not always those are some special entries, but, for instance, Sinitsina/Katsalapov have both a "vow" entry and an interesting exit from one of their lifts and an interesting exit from another + their rotational lift is pretty "vow" in itself as rotational lifts tend to be when done fast and well. Bobrova/Soloviev also have a nice exit from one of their lifts, although it is not "vow". As for other top teams, Shibutanis have their fourth set of twizzles as an exit from their "technical" twizzles, no to mention that their twzzles are "vow" in themselves, as is their rotational lift. Chock/Bates have their special (although still not perfect) entry into their spin, and also an "unexpected" entry into one of their lifts and an exit from another (not that I personally like it). As for Cappellini/Lanotte, one of their lifts is a "vow" in itself, an another one has an unexpected and really beautiful exit. Weaver/Poje have some transitional entry into or an exit out of almost each element, or a transition inside of an element (most of them are not "vow", but they give points). Etc.
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The problem is, what people consider "wow" is so subjective. I really like C/L's FD, but I hate the lift you refer to, because it's not dance-like & it jars the program. It's technically impressive, but I find Anna's position aesthetically horrid. But lots of other people comment on how impressive it is. Yes, S/K have some impressive lifts this year, but if we're criticizing I/Z for using an old I/K lift, where's the complaint for S/K using a lift from I/K's Ghost (a season where everyone complained their lifts were too boring) or doing a standard split rotational lift that we've seen from lots of teams?

I/Z have a really really tough transition in their straight line lift when Ruslan changes from a forwards to backwards lunge (and the lunge itself just travelling in one direction counts as a difficult lifting position). I can't think of any other team off the top of my head that are using the change of difficult position as an exit feature like that. I've seen Stephane Lambiel wipe out on that move in NMQP, and he didn't have to worry about also controlling the movement of a partner around his shoulders. It's "wow" for me, but not in an obvious way, more that you have to understand a bit about the technicalities to appreciate how tough it is & hope that the judges feel the same way.

If you wanted a more obvious "wow" moment, they could have just kept the same lift as last year, but it wouldn't suit the dance in my opinion. It's always coming back to the tension between staying true to the artistic vision they have for the overall piece & changing things to chase after what might end up getting more points. But I think overall, it's better to keep the choreographic consistency. P/C last year didn't have any lift or move that particularly stood out, but the dance as a whole piece of work was memorable.
 
uhh said:
The problem is, what people consider "wow" is so subjective. I really like C/L's FD, but I hate the lift you refer to, because it's not dance-like & it jars the program. It's technically impressive, but I find Anna's position aesthetically horrid. But lots of other people comment on how impressive it is. Yes, S/K have some impressive lifts this year, but if we're criticizing I/Z for using an old I/K lift, where's the complaint for S/K using a lift from I/K's Ghost (a season where everyone complained their lifts were too boring) or doing a standard split rotational lift that we've seen from lots of teams?

I/Z have a really really tough transition in their straight line lift when Ruslan changes from a forwards to backwards lunge (and the lunge itself just travelling in one direction counts as a difficult lifting position). I can't think of any other team off the top of my head that are using the change of difficult position as an exit feature like that. I've seen Stephane Lambiel wipe out on that move in NMQP, and he didn't have to worry about also controlling the movement of a partner around his shoulders. It's "wow" for me, but not in an obvious way, more that you have to understand a bit about the technicalities to appreciate how tough it is & hope that the judges feel the same way.

If you wanted a more obvious "wow" moment, they could have just kept the same lift as last year, but it wouldn't suit the dance in my opinion. It's always coming back to the tension between staying true to the artistic vision they have for the overall piece & changing things to chase after what might end up getting more points. But I think overall, it's better to keep the choreographic consistency. P/C last year didn't have any lift or move that particularly stood out, but the dance as a whole piece of work was memorable.
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Completely agree with you here uhh. I/Z aren't going for a wow moment. They have instead a very impressive "wow" dance, a cohesive whole. As Pechalat said a real dance. Their transitions are so intricate and in some places they practically have no transitions they just move from one element to the next. I don't think they repeat a single transition for either the SD or the FD. That's why I find nitpicking their FD for obvious flaws futile. Because from what I see especially at COR the FD scores just did not make objective sense.

The eurosport commentators hit the nail on the head, the one thing that would make the dance sparkle more is Ruslan's expression. He was a bit too concentrated. But I'm hoping he'll begin to enjoy it more so that he can connect more with her in competition. Sometimes for reasons we don't need to understand some judges will not appreciate a dance. How else do you explain the 7.0's they got within their PCS? Nothing they do should score below 8.5 if Zhulin is asking for 8's for Monko and Khaliavin. Does that mean there's necessarily an issue with the dance? I don't think so. It's just the way it is at times. Enjoy the guys for what they do, sometimes scores are irrelevant.
 
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Tex said:
The Christmas spirit inspired me to start a Ruslena Christmas tree in my home office. The fans who made the Ruslena Christmas ornaments last year were also a big inspiration along with our talented duo of Elena and Ruslan.
2rna2xv.jpg
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So lovely! I'm sure they'd be happy to see it!
 
I can't find the link now, but there was an interesting interview with Gennadi Karponosov after GPF. It was basically saying that although B/S skated well, a 5th place finish is nothing to get excited about and that they haven't shown themselves to be the leading Russian team. He then said there were two other strong challengers, I/Z and S/K. After the GP series, it would have been easy for him to not mention I/Z, so I was pleased with that & I think it indicates the fed still hasn't decided who they are backing, and it will all come down to how everyone skates at Nationals.
 
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