Ice Dance - FD

[gmyers]

Honestly the negativity is getting kind of hilarious. "Playing with dolls"? That's a new one. Just rehashing the same hate over and over again, but keep it up if you like. You're not bringing down S/S any time soon.

I know S/S wont be going down any time soon. LOL! But that is my opinion of them.

 

[Mattieu]

Yes, France does have some upcoming talent. Zahorski/Miart placed second in the free dance at Junior Worlds and were just off the podium in fourth due to a poor short dance.

And Papadakis/Cizeron, who were 3rd reserves for JGPF at only 15 years old.....

 

[lavender]

I wonder why V/M move that gorgeous crazy lift that they did at the beginning of the program like at 4CC. You can tell that they aren't as crisp from not performing but still great.

I expected something more with their samba. It certainly wasn't as difficult or polish as D/W. I"m not sure why people are saying this. I do agree that they are naturally more elegant and expressive.

I can see now why D/W program was more than 2 points ahead. The transitions tell the story.

 

[100yen]

I know S/S wont be going down any time soon. LOL! But that is my opinion of them.

I know, but it gets a little old hearing they are "kids" when yeah, they pretty much are kids! Maia's 16 and Alex just turned 20. Some mucchh older dancers out there.
And if anything they're proved they can change, especially after the direction they were going with last year's FD, and found something that really worked this year. S/Z do a good job of changing up the style season after season...nothing similar about V/M FD from this year and last for example.

Hehe, hey you never know, they could change your opinion sooner than you think.
But anyways, your opinion is still as good as mine!

 

[Dodhiyel]

Yeah. THAT is what they know how to do. Give me a break. There is something rotten going on.

I'm serious. The Shibutanis have exceptional unison and flow, and so a programme was designed for them that emphasized that, and that was suitable for their ages. V&M offer unusually polished dance presentations, which capture the feel of specific dances *as* dances, really well, so a programme was designed for them that featured these gifts. D&W offer speed and precision in spite of difficulty, so a programme was designed for them that drew on their excellence in those areas. The Canton coaches design very specifically for the needs of their skaters, and that, I think, is the secret of their success. No dance team can offer the best of everything, and only a small percentage of dance teams can offer the best of anything, so specificity of approach is the answer. Successful choreography does not exceed the skaters' limits, but rather it distracts the audience's attention from their limitations, and calls attention to their talents, their strong points. The power of this kind of choreographing was demonstrated today.

 

[gospodi]

I'm sorry but who are you talking about? Blanc/Bouquet?

 

[bigsisjiejie]

Second that - where were they? I am so out of the loop....

Faiella/Scali retired mid-season I think, at end of 2010...or before Europeans. They withdrew part way through their GP in Russia which in retrospect, was an ominous sign. Sinead Kerr kept having that shoulder injury that just didn't seem to resolve. They hung on until several weeks ago hoping to compete but eventually had to withdraw, and retired from eligible competition.

 

[aniela]

V/M performance is already on YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ-I3cYjbtA

 

[gmyers]

Faiella/Scali retired mid-season I think, at end of 2010...or before Europeans. They withdrew part way through their GP in Russia which in retrospect, was an ominous sign. Sinead Kerr kept having that shoulder injury that just didn't seem to resolve. They hung on until several weeks ago hoping to compete but eventually had to withdraw, and retired from eligible competition.

F/S retired after Europeans. They bombed in the SD and did OK in the FD but no medal.

 

[wallylutz]

I expect P/B to retire now, unless they want to try again in their home country next year. But I highly doubt that until V/M, D/W, S/S go away, any European team can beat them. Unreachable and judges showed it with redicilously high scores and gaps. B/S and I/K and the whole Russian ice dancing is in the past, they look outdated.

I disagree, I think in today's Ice Dance world, not a single team can afford to stand still and expect to hold down to their position. We are at a cycle where the top teams happen to be young North American teams whereas a lot of veteran European teams have just retired or split due to injuries. Naturally, when that happens, the balance is overweighted towards to North America but the situation will correct itself soon enough with time, this will not last too long.

There is no such thing as unreachable. On that point, I like to comment on B/S and I/K more specifically since we haven't talked about these two very much yet. In terms of their FD:

Elena and Nikita looked petrified to me out there today. They were fine during the 1st minute of their FD, until Nikita stumbled not once but twice on the Sync. Twizzles, 1st a slight off in the unison on the 1st pair of twizzles, then he lost his balance on the 2nd set of the twizzles and came down early. From that point on, they skated very cautiously and slower than usual. What didn't help their cause either was the in-between composition of the dance left a lot to be desired, meaning there were way too many instances that they were either on two feet or not fully utilizing their blades and edges to create intricate connecting steps between each of their elements. They also could have better utilized their upper body to better engage the audience. Combined with clear lack of confidence on their part and a subsequent mishap on the combination lift, the performance level was quite low. Even the partisan Russian audience caught those troubles and stopped clapping after the 1st minute of their dance because they were struggling pretty badly. At that point, I was very curious to see how the panel would have placed these two because emotionally, it almost felt as though those two were destined to be moved up in Moscow. But given such poor skate, I wanted to see whether the panel had the guts to put them down and they did rightfully so on the technical marks, which is exactly what should have happened. I knew that this is going to be a well judged competition from this point forward. On the positive side, this is a very handsome and talented young team. I believe their potential is quite high and think that given the right material and coaching, they would could easily challenge the North American dominance in Ice Dance in the foreseeable future.

Ekaterina and Dimitri had demonstrated a lot of promise last season when they did their OD on a Soviet Navy folk dance which was traditionally a dance that only men can perform. One of their most remarkable quality is their creativity but this season, by becoming the top Russian team, it almost seemed as though the label blinded them to do what a top Russian team is supposed to do as opposed to continue to distinguish themselves through their uniqueness. That said, today their FD was somewhat unoriginal and they skated cautiously as well. Although there was no major error aside from a little step out on the part of Dimitri, their technical elements lacked polish and the type of smoothness and effortless feeling that the Shibutani conveyed. Execution issue aside, they could have also gone a little more creative with their lifts and dance holds, which Weaver/Poje did very well in today's FD and succeeded in setting themselves apart from the pack. To make a long story short, Ekaterina and Dimitri needs to find material that make them unique and stand out in the crowd. Their choice of FD today fails to do that as it simply has the generic image of a man and woman in love, which most people have seen at least 1,000 times. Unique also means they need to further challenge themselves technically and create dance composition that would impress the audience and the judges about their skating skills and what they can do with their blades. In terms of their talent and potential, I think they are slightly inferior to their teammates of Elena and Nikita. But this can be made up by hard work and perseverance. I look forward to seeing how this team manages their rivalry in their own country as well as internationally next year.

 

[KKonas]

I'm serious. The Shibutanis have exceptional unison and flow, and so a programme was designed for them that emphasized that, and that was suitable for their ages. V&M offer unusually polished dance presentations, which capture the feel of specific dances *as* dances, really well, so a programme was designed for them that featured these gifts. D&W offer speed and precision in spite of difficulty, so a programme was designed for them that drew on their excellence in those areas. The Canton coaches design very specifically for the needs of their skaters, and that, I think, is the secret of their success. No dance team can offer the best of everything, and only a small percentage of dance teams can offer the best of anything, so specificity of approach is the answer. Successful choreography does not exceed the skaters' limits, but rather it distracts the audience's attention from their limitations, and calls attention to their talents, their strong points. The power of this kind of choreographing was demonstrated today.

Absolutely correct. The Shibs have wonderful edge quality and their programs were designed to show it. V&M reach audiences with their great expression and solid skating, D&W can do great difficulty with great speed. The Z/S group design programs to highlight their skaters' best attributes. As for the podium, I think it was correct. P&B are great theatrical skaters but they both fell which killed their chances for a medal. D&W do an Argentine Tango, which is basically a battle of wills - not a romantic piece at all - more confrontational with the man playing the dominant role. I thought they did it perfectly. V&M's samba was great but their rhumba was not so "hot" and it showed - probably because they really didn't get enough feedback by missing most of the season. The Shibs did a fine representation of a Fred & Ginger routine. It wasn't innovative but it was well skated. Congrats to all the medalists.

 

[gmyers]

I'm serious. The Shibutanis have exceptional unison and flow, and so a programme was designed for them that emphasized that, and that was suitable for their ages. V&M offer unusually polished dance presentations, which capture the feel of specific dances *as* dances, really well, so a programme was designed for them that featured these gifts. D&W offer speed and precision in spite of difficulty, so a programme was designed for them that drew on their excellence in those areas. The Canton coaches design very specifically for the needs of their skaters, and that, I think, is the secret of their success. No dance team can offer the best of everything, and only a small percentage of dance teams can offer the best of anything, so specificity of approach is the answer. Successful choreography does not exceed the skaters' limits, but rather it distracts the audience's attention from their limitations, and calls attention to their talents, their strong points. The power of this kind of choreographing was demonstrated today.

But all the Shibutani's did IN and performance was just to smile? That is literally all they did. I don't think that was worthy of such high marks. No range. Nothing. It was weird to me. That may be best for the Shibutanis according to Z/S but it was not worthy of a world medal. I haven't liked these programs since I first saw them. They are not even programs.

I know, but it gets a little old hearing they are "kids" when yeah, they pretty much are kids! Maia's 16 and Alex just turned 20. Some mucchh older dancers out there.
And if anything they're proved they can change, especially after the direction they were going with last year's FD, and found something that really worked this year. S/Z do a good job of changing up the style season after season...nothing similar about V/M FD from this year and last for example.

Hehe, hey you never know, they could change your opinion sooner than you think.
But anyways, your opinion is still as good as mine!

I can change my mind - I did with Chan. But the 2010-2011 season for S/S was one of terrible programs and undeserved medals.

 

[CARA]

I'm serious. The Shibutanis have exceptional unison and flow, and so a programme was designed for them that emphasized that, and that was suitable for their ages. V&M offer unusually polished dance presentations, which capture the feel of specific dances *as* dances, really well, so a programme was designed for them that featured these gifts. D&W offer speed and precision in spite of difficulty, so a programme was designed for them that drew on their excellence in those areas. The Canton coaches design very specifically for the needs of their skaters, and that, I think, is the secret of their success. No dance team can offer the best of everything, and only a small percentage of dance teams can offer the best of anything, so specificity of approach is the answer. Successful choreography does not exceed the skaters' limits, but rather it distracts the audience's attention from their limitations, and calls attention to their talents, their strong points. The power of this kind of choreographing was demonstrated today.

ITA. Couldn't have said it better. :thumbsup:

 

[MikiAndoFan#1]

Congratulations to the medalists! I absolutely loved Virtue & Moir's free dance. I feel horrible for Péchalat & Bourzat, but the Shibutanis were great and really deserved their medal.

 

[wallylutz]

Dance programs are NEVER at their peak in their debut. The opening Samba section in V/M's danse was - WOW!! the level then dropped in the remaining 2/3s, but I really don't think it would have been possible to sustain the energy of that opening to the end, in a first-time performance. You could see they had to think through it and reach for it here and there. I echo the lament of another poster regarding the Diana Krall music, and the underwhelming choreo there, but do have faith they would have made more of that section with more mileage on the program.

D/W's FD didn't "sizzle" at all, and our perception of their expression suffers all the more by having V/M's smowing hot one just before it. It is still a really really neat program though. Their choreo was difficult, endlessly intricate and detailed. They delivered it with mastery of technique and passable - if not smoldering - expression. It had neither the highs nor the lows of V/M's program, but I think their steadiness and polish through a routine of so much amazing non-stop difficulty is what crowns them the rightful winners of this one.

The Shibutanis are precious. That was really classy.

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment, these are my thoughts as well even though I personally like V/M better than D/W as a team but judging in this sport is not about personal favorites but rather who wins based on the established rules and criteria. If we want this to be a real competition and Olympic sport that non-figure skating fans can respect as well, then one cannot expect that same person and same team will win 100% of the times and that placement is always the same.

 

[CARA]

I am so happy for D/W. Congratulation for the first American to win the world gold medal. Couldn't have come to a more deserving team!

Congratulations are also in order for V/M & the Shibs. Oh, this is such a happy day for America!

 

[kensal]

The jury on Shibutani is still out. I would like to see how they mature. So far I see great skills and cute smiling faces. But let's see them do Mujer Latina in front of a hostile no-American judging panel before issuing a verdict.

 

[wallylutz]

Am I the only person who missed having the Kerrs and Faiella/Scali at the competition this year?

I actually wasn't a fan of most of the FD's this year. Meh. But the Kerrs and F/S always seemed to put something out there that struck a chord with me, most every year.

You do realize they are very old teams, 30+ year in age for the 4 of them, like double the age of Maia Shibutani. It's time for them to retire.

 

[Tonichelle]

Two American medals!!!! And the first gold!! Hehe. I remember Hersh gloomily predicting just one medal for Americans at worlds. I don't think he even mentioned the Shibutanis. too busy lamenting the state of American singles.

I called him on his doom and gloom on twitter and he got really offended. Said if he were all doom and gloom he wouldn't have mentioned our chances to win. Um, right, dude. The end of the world was the theme of how many articles this year?

 

[gospodi]

I'm sorry but who are you talking about? Blanc/Bouquet?