Gilles/Poirier's WC placement

[VIETgrlTerifa]

It was seriously one of the best skated ice dance competitions in recent years. So many teams had their thus far career best skates (or close to it), and I think it's sort of the turning point where although Papadakis/Cizeron are the class of the field, the other teams are showing they are not to be underestimated and who knows what more they can do. I honestly felt that since D/W and V/M left competition (even if only temporarily), people sort of felt that this class of ice dancers that always ranked lower than D/W and V/M weren't up to snuff and were holdovers until either D/W and V/M returned or when some juniors became seniors. However, I can honestly say that in general, I haven't enjoyed a field of ice dancers this much for quite a while.

 

[Skater Boy]

I think G and P are the Duchesnay's and the Bourne and Kraatz's of today. But I do think they will get pushed down with now two Canadian medal threats probably ahead of them. I do think they get undermarked and that their pcs should be higher and yes their costumes are controversial but nevertheless I think this team deserve more respect but I am not sure it will happen this olympic quad.

 

[Blades of Passion]

It was seriously one of the best skated ice dance competitions in recent years.

That's an interesting statement to make. 2013 and 2014 (Olympics) were both stronger for me than this past Worlds.

2016 Worlds for dance was certainly a big improvement over the dreadful 2015, but aside from Papadakis/Cizeron I don't think I'll be re-watching the programs much in the future. The technical level has improved, although not as much as the scoring inflation would have us believe, from what I can see. None of these teams have the overall power of Virtue/Moir or Davis/White, although Pakadakis/Cizeron have overtaken both of them in terms of pure dance quality.

 

[lyverbird1]

Poirier is a huge guy with lots of muscle but I find his dancing really stiff now compared to what he was before.

Are you saying Paul is a "huge guy" in comparison to other ice dance men or in contrast to his partner? I ask because I was lucky enough to meet and chat with Piper and Paul after the free dance in Boston and he certainly didn't appear huge at all to me so that description is a bit puzzling to me. Maybe it's made in a specific context...

 

[Crossover]

Are you saying Paul is a "huge guy" in comparison to other ice dance men or in contrast to his partner? I ask because I was lucky enough to meet and chat with Piper and Paul after the free dance in Boston and he certainly didn't appear huge at all to me so that description is a bit puzzling to me. Maybe it's made in a specific context...

Ditto. I saw them in person and Paul's physique didn't strike me as a huge guy. On the other hand, Alex was much taller and than I thought.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

That's an interesting statement to make. 2013 and 2014 (Olympics) were both stronger for me than this past Worlds.

2016 Worlds for dance was certainly a big improvement over the dreadful 2015, but aside from Papadakis/Cizeron I don't think I'll be re-watching the programs much in the future. The technical level has improved, although not as much as the scoring inflation would have us believe, from what I can see. None of these teams have the overall power of Virtue/Moir or Davis/White, although Pakadakis/Cizeron have overtaken both of them in terms of pure dance quality.

I disagree. I found the overall programs and performances from every team from 1st to at least 8th to be much more interesting to watch than most competitions since 2008 Worlds. I actually do think teams like Papadakis/Cizeron, the Shibs, Chock/Bates, Hubbell/Donahue, Coomes/Buckland, Gilles/Poirier (SD), and though some disagree Cappellini/Lanotte (FD) all had their personal best skates with their execution being spot on for the most part with my fave programs from them thus far. That's what made it really enjoyable for me.

You have a point about Virtue/Moir and Davis/White but they aren't the entire field and though I do think they are deserving Olympic champions, I never thought Davis/White were great dancers (though Meryl and Charlie showed to have real ability when they did Dancing with the Stars) nor was I fan of most of their programs. When I rewatch most of their dances, I don't feel anything that I would feel when I rewatch some of my fave ice dance teams, and I would honestly prefer to watch the programs from this past Worlds than their Sochi Olympic winning programs.

As for my comment about Paul Poirier, when I say huge I mean he's bulky and has a lot of muscle, and I think it hinders her upper body movement in a way. He seems stiff, especially at the Worlds FD compared to his peers. I enjoyed their FD the most at this past season was at Skate America.

 

[Blades of Passion]

You have a point about Virtue/Moir and Davis/White but they aren't the entire field

Right, but I think Ilinykh/Katsalapov and Pechalat/Bourzat at the Olympics were better than anyone ranked #2 or lower at 2016 Worlds. I agree with Davis/White's programs that year not being great artistically, but technically they were astounding. Virtue/Moir's FD was also artistically a huge letdown, but their SD is my favorite ever.

Then in 2013, aside from D/W+V/M, Weaver/Poje gave my favorite performance of theirs, Bobrova/Soloviev had a very interesting program that I consider more creatively successful than most of what we saw in 2015-2016, and while Pechalat/Bourzat did not skate their best at Worlds, their peak that season was again better for me than anyone besides Pakadakis/Cizeron in the 2015-2016 season.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Right, but I think Ilinykh/Katsalapov and Pechalat/Bourzat at the Olympics were better than anyone ranked #2 or lower at 2016 Worlds. I agree with Davis/White's programs that year not being great artistically, but technically they were astounding. Virtue/Moir's FD was also artistically a huge letdown, but their SD is my favorite ever.

Then in 2013, aside from D/W+V/M, Weaver/Poje gave my favorite performance of theirs, Bobrova/Soloviev had a very interesting program that I consider more creatively successful than most of what we saw in 2015-2016, and while Pechalat/Bourzat did not skate their best at Worlds, their peak that season was again better for me than anyone besides Pakadakis/Cizeron in the 2015-2016 season.

I just love that we're talking about ice dance even if we disagree.

I think one thing to keep in mind, which seems to get lost in conversation with the Shibs is that they "physically" had to rebuild from their initial debut season. What I mean by that is that Maia had a major growth spurt after winning that first World medal -- she was only 16 after all. And then Alex, perhaps because of having to adjust to Maia's body changes, went through two seasons of various injuries, mainly his back. It really wasn't until the Olympic year when she had stopped grown and he had fully recovered from the injuries.

The Shibs never made a to-do about the injuries, but I really think it did affect them greatly in those middling years. I remember seeing Alex's body change because they were trying to figure out how much muscle he needed to support Maia, but then they would lose a lot of speed and ease because he was too muscular. 2013 Worlds comes to mind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLxkryl5BaM). You can see that Alex is so much broader because of all the muscle. You can see by this year, Alex is still muscular, but much leaner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rJkxE_rgZ4

Speaking of Alex getting buff that season, you need to check out this recent Twitter exchange between Adam Rippon and Alex Shib where they actually talk about how buff they were during that time:

https://twitter.com/Adaripp/status/753996439227727872

It's like they read our posts, haha. Love the hashtags.

Adam: #2012 #beefyboys #yearofthebeef #doyoulift
Alex: #ouchmyback #bicepstoobig #nicetanktopbruh #nowweskinny
Adam: #ouchmycareer #thin #better #driedout
Adam: