Fedor Andreev and Jana Khokhlova

[siberia82]

kosjenka shared K/A's free dance in the Golden Spin thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEV9G792b7Q

It's far from elite-level ice dancing, but I really enjoyed their free dance!!! I had a big smile on my face during the entire performance! :yay: Whatever their competitive results may be, I know I want to see them skate at exhibitions!

 

[Nadine]

I liked their other dance better by far, this one not so much, but I wish them both all the luck in the world!

 

[siberia82]

To each his (or her) own, of course, but the crowd at Golden Spin clearly loved K/A's performance; their enthusiastic reaction is quite Beatlemania-esque! (Which is very appropriate, considering that Jana and Fedor skated to The Beatles!)

 

[herios]

Yes they look fine for to be their first time, with 5 months of training. But in RusNats B/S, I/K, R/T, G/B won't leave them a chance. The next season maybe K/A would improve, but at least three of the great juniors that made it JGPF this season will be seniors...

Sorry if that sounded too alarmist, I'm in panic

Why in panic? There should have not been much of an expectation in the first place, for someone who is "starting" ice dance with one experienced good partner.
Let's be realistiic. or people believe we can have a real "cutting edge"story ? Those are just made in Hollywood

 

[colleen o'neill]

Hear, hear , for realistic expectations ! I don't know, I'm really pleased with what they've done in 5 months. Of course, I never expected them to come back at Rus.#1..but I believe that if they meet with reasonable success ,you'll see a more polished Fedor next year. He'll probably be signed up for more dance classes than you can shake a stick at between now and then. Z/S have had good success building other teams' speed ..why should this team be different ? The lifts are already looking pretty smooth , no prob with the "tvizzlies" , and if I may say so I love Jana's dressed look , and I think these are two good first programs for them.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

Why should this team be any different? Ummm.... let me count the ways.

 

[herios]

Hear, hear , for realistic expectations ! I don't know, I'm really pleased with what they've done in 5 months. Of course, I never expected them to come back at Rus.#1..but I believe that if they meet with reasonable success ,you'll see a more polished Fedor next year. He'll probably be signed up for more dance classes than you can shake a stick at between now and then. Z/S have had good success building other teams' speed ..why should this team be different ? The lifts are already looking pretty smooth , no prob with the "tvizzlies" , and if I may say so I love Jana's dressed look , and I think these are two good first programs for them.

Well, it would not be "come back for them" to number #1, only for her, let's start with that first. I am not saying the programs are bad, but he has a LOT and I mean a LOT to catch up to do. It could work in years, but months, no way at his level. The question will be only if he would stay the course for the hard work and not give up in between? Knowing his history, I would be skeptical.

 

[colleen o'neill]

herios.. Yes, that was my point..When they first paired there was a very "schizo " reaction on the part of many fans. Some seemed sure she would bounce right back with Fedor and squeeze into the top 3 at nationals without a hitch . At the other end of the spectrum were those who took the attitude that Fedor would be completely hopeless..you would have thought he'd never been on skates, never mind not having been an ice dancer. ( Mind you , a lot of this seemed to come from people who are determined to dislike Z/S and everything they do. ).. But I'm sure the people who are intimately involved in the project aren't realistically thinking of reaching the pinnacle of what is possible for them in just a few months. Of course they're going to accentuate the positive in any progress reports, but I doubt they're blind to what needs to be done.

I'm interested ,too , in seeing whether Fedor has staying power. Some times people do recognize their last chance and really commit , some never see it until it's too late and still others couldn't make a serious commitment to save their lives , whether they recognize their opportunities or not. We'll just have to wait and see.

But, Pogue... you don't think it's possible to improve their speed ?

 

[Ituriel]

I'm in panic because seems like Jana has commited a suicide with her skating career. The only future that I see with this partnership is to be 5 and 6 (with good luck 4) at RusNats for the next quadrennial (if he wants). Retire and make shows with Sergei it would be better than crash in the try for make the russian team with her "no dancer" partner.

My only hope is a little improve for the next season, maybe a grand prix host pick, bronce in the russian nats, but is a very little hope. I think that Jana won't get a medal again and that is sad.:disapp:


Sorry, I'm too sentimental with Khokhlova/Novitski. Because of them I'm a ice dance fan (I hadn't seen figure skating for 10 years until I saw them in youtube). I have another favs (Meryl & Charlie, Tessa & Scott, Kerrs...) and I'm happy with their sucess. It's a tragedy for me because I'm a very emotional latinamerican woman.:

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

But, Pogue... you don't think it's possible to improve their speed ?

Not in any serious way.

 

[colleen o'neill]

Ouch.

 

[KKonas]

Interesting in checking the protocols for Zagreb, Judge #1 had K&A PCS in the 4s in the SD while Judge # 2 had PCS in the 7s - quite a disparity. In the FD most of the PCS scores from the judges were more in line in the 5s with a few low 6s, so the referee, Alperin, must have had a little talk with the panel between events.

 

[dorispulaski]

If you watched the videos, the FD was a better effort, IMO, than the SD, where it was a wonder that Fedor finished the GW without falling. Who knew Jana could lead that well

 

[colleen o'neill]

I guess they're waltzing the hours away 'til Russian Nationals.

However long it takes to get the skating up to scratch ( others will be able to judge that better than me ) ,it will help their look tremendously if they can get him using his body in a more dancer-like fashion. That may not be as big a task as it may seem at first. It makes a huge difference when the person already is an athlete , and has no really bad habits or posture issues to overcome. The brain already knows how to get a message to the body, and the body is used to responding.

When I was teaching dance, it was much easier dealing with adult newcomers who had been involved in some other form of physical activity than those who had not. I think a lot could be accomplished in this area in a year.

 

[herios]

Sorry, I'm too sentimental with Khokhlova/Novitski. Because of them I'm a ice dance fan (I hadn't seen figure skating for 10 years until I saw them in youtube). I have another favs (Meryl & Charlie, Tessa & Scott, Kerrs...) and I'm happy with their sucess. It's a tragedy for me because I'm a very emotional latinamerican woman.:

OK, now I understand that you are a Jana fan, that is why you are panicking. Well, I have to tell you I was quite surprised that Jana had a tryout with Stagniunas and they choose Fedor instead, I am wondering if Marina had her own contribution in this, she might think this project is doable, but I have doubts.

After checking the Golden Spin results and saw them coming in 5th, and well behind Gor / But, this year is a doine deal for them. They won't even make it into the last flight i think at their nationals.They will have to woirk towards 2012, but there are of course Mon / Kha coming up at the minimum. tough road ahead and they will have to work hard.

 

[Nadine]

I was only curious about this pair because of Fedor, whom I've noticed on my peripheal vision since his entre into seniors a long long long time ago. What, he's now 28 yrs. old, right? And then it was only because of his drop dead gorgeous looks, which blew me away, and immediately brought to mind Sergei Grinkov. So I thought he would do good in pairs (lol, specifically with Sasha Cohen, then Jennifer Kirk) since his singles career didn't seem to pan out.

Since then I lost my physical attraction to him (yes, I realize he's still the best looking male skater out there in terms of looks), but his dilettante attitutde, et al, has been a huge turn off, especially his running around desperately trying to skate for a country that would allow him to do so in order to compete at the Olympics instead of just going head-to-head with the best in his country, Canada, and seeing where the chips may fall. I looked on him with scorn after this. Just a pretty man with no character, a dime a dozen.

So I initially laughed when I found out he would now pair with Jana to compete for Russia. In my mind I was thinking "aha, Mama Zoueva", he probably had a fit & cried to her "mama, help, I want to skate at the Olympics". And she said "Yes, you will my only child, you SHALL skate for Russia!, even if I have to sell my soul to the devil!"

BUT, my attitude has changed somewhat, after hearing about how he injured his back, which is the reason why he gave up pairs and went dabbling into all other sorts of things (e.g. modelling, race car driving/drifting, etc.). Still, imho there is no excuse for basically abandoning one's country, Canada, in search for a way to desperately skate in the Olympics by applying for Azerbaigan citizenship. A man of character would go head-to-head to with the other male skaters in Canada and earn his spot on the team.

The way I see it, now he now has a chance to redeem himself with all the doubters (of course assuming he gives a rat's behind) by digging in for the long haul, staying with it, not giving up, going the distance no matter what the outcome. For that alone he will have earned my respect. My jaundiced eye will be replaced with admiration & respect.

Until then, I sincerely wish them both good luck.

ps: and I did enjoy their first dance together.

 

[colleen o'neill]

Right, Ituriel, try not to panic. Remember, she had no immediate options for a partner in Russia. And I can't quite remember who said it or where, but apparently the tryout tapes with Stagniunas weren't very promising. ( I think it was a russian poster on FSU who claimed to have seen the tape..)

If she had paired with Stagniunas , there may have been other problems to overcome , such as whose country would they compete for , and could they get the necessary releases in time for this year. In another year down the road, more juniors would be moving up, and it would be even more likely that she and whatever partner she had would be squeezed out.

Fedor has dual Russian / Canadian citizenship , having been born in Russia. He had not competed for Canada in the previous year,( though he was at Canadian nationals the year before that ). No obstacles, there. No need to sit out a year... To wait till next year to put in an appearance might really have been too late.

Still, I was surprised to read that the tryout with Stagniunas wasn't as good and I couldn't help thinking how could that be ? But then I thought, whatever the downside , maybe the upside with Fedor would be that he would have no timing, or set practices developed with other partners to unlearn. He would be the one mostly having to match or adapt to her. Maybe not an entirely bad thing from her point of view.

 

[KKonas]

Right, Ituriel,If she had paired with Stagniunas , there may have been other problems to overcome , such as whose country would they compete for , and could they get the necessary releases in time for this year. In another year down the road, more juniors would be moving up, and it would be even more likely that she and whatever partner she had would be squeezed out.

Fedor has dual Russian / Canadian citizenship , having been born in Russia. He had not competed for Canada in the previous year,( though he was at Canadian nationals the year before that ). No obstacles, there. No need to sit out a year... To wait till next year to put in an appearance might really have been too late.

Still, I was surprised to read that the tryout with Stagniunas wasn't as good and I couldn't help thinking how could that be ? But then I thought, whatever the downside , maybe the upside with Fedor would be that he would have no timing, or set practices developed with other partners to unlearn. He would be the one mostly having to match or adapt to her. Maybe not an entirely bad thing from her point of view.

Pretty much agree with this analysis, plus I do think Jana was "smitten" with Fedor. (He not so much.) He is even more handsome up close and being tall and well-built is an imposing figure. His reasons are also pretty clear - easier to gain attention back into the skating world by aligning yourself with a top-ranked dancer. After all here we are all talking about them.

 

[herios]

Pretty much agree with this analysis, plus I do think Jana was "smitten" with Fedor..

I agree with you, he loks like a movie star

On a positive note, they look happy with what they did at Zagreb, of his twitter:

"Finished the FD in Croatia and Yana and I are very pleased with our performance! Got some great feedback and excited to get back to work! "

 

[Ituriel]

My desperate point of view sounds optimistic compared with Stavinski's opinion:

http://sport.rian.ru/sport/20101216/309566250.html