Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi

[mikeko666]

Carnival on Ice will be aired on Sunday, October 4. I hope someone will upload their performance on YouTube!

木下グループpresents カーニバル・オン・アイス2020(Carnival on Ice 2020)：テレビ東京

木下グループpresents カーニバル・オン・アイス2020公式サイトです。10月3日（土）さいたまアリーナにて開催！世界のトップスケーターによる華麗な競演は、まさにカーニバル！！

www.tv-tokyo.co.jp

According to TV Tokyo's official figure skating Twitter, they will show their full performance and comments in the venue and livestream, but will only air a short version on TV.

EDIT: They did not show a program, but did a very short clip from their training. I hope TV Tokyo will show the entire clip in today's broadcast. You can still tell how much they have developed technically in the last few months. The lift was smooth (the rotation was fast!) and their union was perfect!

 

[synesthesia]

Abridged version from today's broadcast including KanaDai's message with English subs kindly provided by meowmix.


The rotational lift and skating in close side-by-side (Kilian) hold look great!

The additional streaming footage contained a very well executed straight line lift and synchronized twizzles.

I'm eagerly looking forward to watch them compete at Sectionals!

 

[mikeko666]

Abridged version from today's broadcast including KanaDai's message with English subs kindly provided by meowmix.


The rotational lift and skating in close side-by-side hold look great!

The additional streaming footage contained a very well executed straight line lift and synchronized twizzles.

I'm eagerly looking forward to watch them compete at Sectionals!

You beat me!

This is a modified version of what they showed at the show and in the livestream yesterday posted by the same user.
You can see a straight line lift before the rotational lift. The RoLi was actually longer and the rotation in the first half was faster.
There are some step sequences, a CCW twizzle, a sliding movement that looks like a finishing pose.

EDIT: Here is another version, which is less processed.

 

[demarinis5]

They skate great together, and Dai with his tan and long hair is looking quite fabulous!

 

[synesthesia]

Kana and Dai posted ig updates to advertise a couple of new Puma face masks :

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGJAVwtsaQa/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGNugcpHJ2q/

Dai asks if the second one looks good... Since a lot of fans comment they want to get the exact same designs now to match him, I'd say mission accomplished!

He also seized the opportunity to update his ig header, which now states that he's not only a single(s)* skater but also an ice dancer.

* I doubt he meant to hint towards his relationship status

 

[mikeko666]

JSF decided to exempt non-seed skaters who train overseas from Sectionals in order to minimize the risk to catch COVID-19 and maximize their training time, which means Kana and Dai will not compete at Western Sectionals later this month. Their first competition will be NHK Trophy.

2020-2021シーズン　予選会通過者数について | 公益財団法人 日本スケート連盟 - Japan Skating Federation

ãã¡ãã®ãã¼ã¸ã¯å¬ç財å£æ³äºº æ¥æ¬ã¹ã±ã¼ãé£çã®æ°çè¨äº | 2020-2021ã·ã¼ãºã³ãäºé¸ä¼ééèæ°ã«ã¤ãã¦ãã¼ã¸ã§ãã

www.skatingjapan.or.jp

Exempt from Eastern Sectionals
- Koshiro Shimada
- Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara
- Rikako Fukase & Cho Eichu(Oliver Zhang)

Exempt from Western Sectionals
- Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi

 

[demarinis5]

Article by Nick McCarvel/Olympic Channel with quotes from Merly Davis about this season challengers for skaters.
She has some nice words for Kana/Dai!

https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/stori ... k8-q3ktuRo

 

[demarinis5]

K/D fan art!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG4qeRsJkQv/?igshid=1dz7tjf7ok5d8&fbclid=IwAR1kSH_AtCFoG2wBbVI3L-jQjQKdCEP7M_Lcm2cxH3h9ic7W7OQJubcsAmc

 

[mikeko666]

ISU now has a bio page of Kana & Dai.
Needs to be updated though. Looks like they just copied some info from Dai's page as a singles skater and Kana's page with Chris.
Dai's Internet contact no longer exists and Kana is no longer with Kinoshita Club and now is in Kansai University SC like Dai.

 

[synesthesia]

^ The profile seems to be provisional indeed. Whoever put this together probably did so hastily in anticipation of KanaDai (hopefully) competing at NHK later this month. But hey, at least there finally is one!

________________________________________


Happy Halloween from Kana and Dai!

From Dai's igs:

https://twitter.com/FSIgstories/status/1322870749619736578

And Kana's ig-account:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHB_ydIpbqd/?igshid=1ktbri3jno64d

What's everyone's favourite jack o'lantern here? Mine is a tie between Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Christmas and Dai-chan.


Bonus: some delicious looking Halloween food from Kana's igs:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=200820871480164&id=100445448184374

________________________________________


Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto mentioned the effect Dai's discipline switch has on people's awareness of ice dance in Japan and looking forward to competing with him in an interview after winning Western Sectionals. They also announced that Cathy Reed joined their coaching team two months ago and that they practice at Kanku Ice Arena on the weekends. I'm very happy that Cathy decided to continue building up Japan's ice dance program! Her young team, Sumire Yoshida/Ibuki Ogahara, also did very well at novice nationals, placing second out of five teams.

小松原美里は高橋大輔効果実感　アイスダンスへの注目度「変わったなあ…」 - スポーツ報知

アイスダンスは１９年世界選手権代表の小松原美里（２８）＝倉敷ＦＳＣ＝、ティム・コレト（２９）＝米国＝組がフリーダンス１０１・３３点、合計１７０・０４点で優勝した。

hochi.news

Partial google translation (parts about Dai only):

Daisuke Takahashi (34), who turned to ice dancing this season, is looking forward to competing at the GP series NHK Cup (27-29, Osaka) in November, when he will make his debut with Kana Muramoto (27) = Kansai University KFSC. Misato Komatsubara: "I've been in the same club [as Daisuke; Kurashiki Figure Skating Club where Dai started out at the age of 8] since I started skating, and it's like a dream. I'm a fan. Now I'm skating together, and it's a competition I've been doing for a long time, so I'm inspired that I should never lose. There's a lot, but the respect doesn't change. It's a commandment that I'll do something that no one else can do, I'm looking forward to it." Koleto also smiled, "I respect him very much. I'm looking forward to acting with him."

With the conversion of the men's single 2010 Vancouver Olympics bronze medalist, the degree of attention to ice dancing has increased dramatically. Recently, Komatsubara has become more and more aware that it has changed. When I introduced myself to the person I met for the first time as an ice dancer, I got a response saying, "Oh, Daisuke Takahashi was turning around in the news!" "The things we do are the same, but I think it's fun to see the people around us. I'd be happy if people could pay attention to ice dancing and say,'It's fun, ice dancing.'" I am looking forward to the NHK Cup, which will be the "first confrontation" with the person I admire.

 

[plushyfan]

They skate great together, and Dai with his tan and long hair is looking quite fabulous!

He always cared about his hair

 

[synesthesia]

Aaaah, we have program announcements! They didn't keep them secret until their debut after all.

Rhythm dance
“The Mask”, choreo by Marina Zoueva, Ilia Tkachenko, Maxim Kozhevnikov

Free dance
“La Bayadere”, choreo by Marina Zoueva/Massimo Scali

https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1323109030378680320

KanaDai's video message :

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHEpLgEHvgS/

Message from Kana:

This season's RD program is the movie The Mask! It was difficult to start the choreography due to the corona sickness, but it became a program created by everyone, packed with ideas from many people! It's a very fun and energetic program from start to finish, so I hope you enjoy it!

Free dance is the classical ballet La Bayadère! Mainly on the scene of the shadow kingdom in the latter half of the story, after the main character Nikiya died, Solor saw the hallucination of Bayadere and swore love with Nikiya in a dream, and the last dance is the theme of the program. I hope we can express the exotic and fantastic world unique to La Bayadère.

村元哉中オフィシャルサイト

村元哉中オフィシャルサイトです。

kana-muramoto.com

Message from Dai:

In rhythm dance, we will challenge the world of the movie MASK. I will do my best to express Jim Carrey's various facial expressions and movements. It's a program that you can enjoy from the beginning to the end, so I'd like to get everyone involved and get excited together! Thank you for your preparation! Lol

Free dance represents the world of classical ballet, La Bayadère. I think it's difficult to express the unique world of La Bayadère because everyone knows it. While valuing the basics of classical ballet, we will do our best to bring you a world unique to the two of us.

高橋大輔公式サイト

高橋大輔公式サイトです。

d1sk.com

I don't know what to expect, but I'm looking forward to his Jim Carrey impersonation!

 

[mikeko666]

“La Bayadere” sounds very ambitious for a skater who just switched from singles to ice dance, but we all know Dai is no-ordinary beginner. And it sounds like something Marina Zueva really loves, classical and romantic.
We haven't seen a FD using classical ballet music from top teams recently. Kana & Dai's program may be able to stand out in the field.
I'm really looking forward to their debut at NHK Trophy.

 

[mikeko666]

Seems like there is a sort of practice competition going on at Hertz Arena this week, and this Japanese lady who is also an adult skater was lucky to see Kana/Dai's RD. The program started rather slowly, but then began picking up the pace and excitement. She wanted to watch them skate forever, didn't want it to end.
The people in the first pic are an American team, and the ones in the second pic are Marina and Ilia.
She thought Kana was so flexible, the steps were so fast, one-foot skating with so much speed, their edges were so deep, twizzles in perfect unison. But all she could tell them in person was "It was so beautiful."
I find it interesting that she thought The Mask RD beautiful rather than fun. I am really looking forward to seeing the program in three weeks.

 

[mikeko666]

Seems like there is a sort of practice competition going on at Hertz Arena this week, and this Japanese lady who is also an adult skater was lucky to see Kana/Dai's RD. The program started rather slowly, but then began picking up the pace and excitement. She wanted to watch them skate forever, didn't want it to end.
The people in the first pic are an American team, and the ones in the second pic are Marina and Ilia.
She thought Kana was so flexible, the steps were so fast, one-foot skating with so much speed, their edges were so deep, twizzles in perfect unison. But all she could tell them in person was "It was so beautiful."
I find it interesting that she thought The Mask RD beautiful rather than fun. I am really looking forward to seeing the program in three weeks.

The same lady watched their FD today. The tempo of the music was slower but the choreography was more difficult with more turns and hold changes. They were elegant and beautiful, and skated the complex choreography in amazing speed. Kana was in a costume while Dai was in his training clothes, and she was later discussing with her ballet instructor about necessary adjustments of her costume.

 

[mikeko666]

Aaaah, we have program announcements! They didn't keep them secret until their debut after all.

Rhythm dance
“The Mask”, choreo by Marina Zoueva, Ilia Tkachenko, Maxim Kozhevnikov

Free dance
“La Bayadere”, choreo by Marina Zoueva/Massimo Scali

https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1323109030378680320

Max Kozhevnikov is a Russian professional dancer who now teaches in the US. He was born with disabilities and his story is amazing.
He confirmed in his FB that he was indeed involved in their choreography.

 

[synesthesia]

^ With Kozhevnikov's involvement the choreo has the potential to be fire! His own The Mask version with his partner was a lot of fun!


New video message regarding their debut at NHK Trophy:

動画 - 村元哉中選手･髙橋大輔選手からのメッセージ デビュー戦に向けて | 2020NHK杯フィギュア特設サイト｜NHK

2020NHK杯フィギュアは11月27日(金)〜29日(日)開催。全選手の演技動画をお伝えします！

www3.nhk.or.jp

Dai has a proper ice dancer mane now.

 

[demarinis5]

LOL synesth that is exactly what I though about Dai's hair. He has very nice hair and I like
the natural flowing look on him, then again there is not much I don't like about Dai, he is so easy on the eyes.
I am fangirling now but darn I miss seeing him on the ice..

They both look great. It won't be long now!

 

[mikeko666]

ISU now has a bio page of Kana & Dai.
Needs to be updated though. Looks like they just copied some info from Dai's page as a singles skater and Kana's page with Chris.
Dai's Internet contact no longer exists and Kana is no longer with Kinoshita Club and now is in Kansai University SC like Dai.

Now their ISU bio has been updated, and has more detailed program info.

Music Rhythm Dance as of season 2020/2021
The Business of Love (from "The Mask")
Let the Good Times Roll by Fleecie Moore and Sam Theard, arranged by Alexander Goldstein
Hey Pachuco! (from "The Mask")

Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2020/2021
La Bayadere Act 2 No.29 Andante by Leon Minkus
La Bayadere Act 2 No.30 Tempo Di Valse by Leon Minkus
La Bayadere No.37 Allegretto by Leon Minkus
La Bayadere No.39 Vivace by Leon Minkus


EDIT:
According to DaisukeTakahashi RtS, Alexander Goldstein is the guy who arranged the hip hop Swan Lake thirteen years ago.

 

[mikeko666]

NHK aired their interview and some training footage during tonight's news.

Preview - Looks like some transition that leads to Finnstep

Interview and training footage - I see OFSt in FD, 1st set of twizzle in RD, SlLi, StLi?/ChLi?, RoLi.