Pairs FS Worldwide: The Divine Discipline

[BlissfulSynergy]

Can't help you with suggestions for this pair as I know nothing about them, don't think I've ever seen them skate (they're Americans and I'm not), and have no idea what music or choreography would be good for them.

However, if anyone wants them to be choreographed by the Kerrs, I'm all for that. I'm distantly related to them and was one of their financial supporters way back when -- in fact, when the teenage Sinead was skating with her first partner Jamie Ferguson. I heard from her mother the story about her lamenting she couldn't find a new partner after Jamie dumped her for a girlfriend from another country, and her kid brother saying "Ahem?" across the dinner table. And her astonishment at the idea, and then their "tryouts" together and the crash course in getting John through his dance tests up to her level, and....on and on. So anything that rewards the Kerrs after all that and gives them paying work gets my vote .

Thanks for sharing this heartwarming anecdote. The Kerrs seem like lovely, positive people. I have truly enjoyed the choreography I have seen from them (in addition to their own skating when they competed together). I'd love to see more from them for pairs and ice dance teams.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Thanks for sharing this heartwarming anecdote. The Kerrs seem like lovely, positive people. I have truly enjoyed the choreography I have seen from them (in addition to their own skating when they competed together). I'd love to see more from them for pairs and ice dance teams.

A good assessment of them as people. They lived at home for most of their careers, with level-headed, supportive parents, and a loving relationship with their disabled younger brother who competed in the Special Olympics program. I wish more skaters had such a warm, stable family supporting them.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Also interesting in Juniors: Paola Jurisic (, singles skater so far) skating with Ivan Khobta () and Violetta Sierova () skating with Robert Löwenherz ().

Not sure if this has any meaning, maybe Sonja is injured and couldn't be there and they decided to pair the least experienced female pairs skater with the most experienced male pairs skater, but who knows.

Um, seems like Violetta deleted all pictures on her IG with Ivan, and they're not following each other anymore

 

[TeamGubanova]

Um, seems like Violetta deleted all pictures on her IG with Ivan, and they're not following each other anymore

nooo i really liked them together.

 

[elbkup]

I'm not sure why Tammy Gambill is listed as one of their coaches? I suppose she's going to be employed to help Audrey gain a comfort level during her transition to pairs?

We'll see what happens. I'm just gonna wait and see. Plus, the fact is, there are a lot of promising looking teams gearing up worldwide, even as the ISU has threatened to cut the pairs field at Worlds to only 16 teams. And they are planning the stupid cut-off qualifying round, too. That really is not conducive to developing new pairs teams or actually growing the sport. It's like a game of tic-tac-toe and musical chairs. So many teams joined, so few with a real chance to succeed, especially if they aren't able to show great promise and consistency right off the bat!

Meanwhile, does anyone have music and choreographer ideas for Shin/ Nagy?

ETA:
Hello again. Calling all pairs fans to weigh in here, rather than continuing to comment in the New Partnerships reference thread regarding Shin/ Nagy and their coaching team. @skylark @saine @Diana Delafield @PaulE @elbkup @moonvine @iluvtodd, et al. What are your takes, music ideas, choreographer suggestions, etc?

Knowing nothing about their music tastes and preferences I’ll just add these as music I would love as pairs performances..

Grave of the Fireflies

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Hope Suite from Star Wars Rogue One

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Death of a Tyrant from The Vikings

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Sybilla - Kingdom of Heaven

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[Diana Delafield]

Knowing nothing about their music tastes and preferences I’ll just add these as music I would love as pairs performances..

Grave of the Fireflies

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Hope Suite from Star Wars Rogue One

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Death of a Tyrant from The Vikings

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Sybilla - Kingdom of Heaven

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Almost all new selections to me (the Danish Symphony's recordings are goldmines for popular or light classical pieces). My partner and I are always looking for new ideas for programs. At our ages we can't do the music justice the way younger skaters can, but we both find the right music lifts us to levels we couldn't achieve otherwise.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Some pictures from Pair Skating Days in Austria;



From left to right:
Seniors - First picture: Faula/Belle (FRA), Schaller/Mayr (AUT), Izzo/Maierhofer (AUT), Christina Lyons/Marty Haubrich (CAN), Pereira/Michaud (CAN)
Juniors - Second picture: Paola Jurisic/Michail Savenkov (AUT), Heckova/Valky (SVK), Rothenbuehler/Berei (HUN), Telemaque/Coulon (FRA), Zahra Wood/Alex Lapsky (GBR)
Novices - Third picture: Lia Wenaweser/Justin Wenaweser (LIE), Maia Tish/Nikita Fedosov (EST), Brynleigh Mc Cully/William Bocskay (CAN), Anastasia Goschescheck/Karl-Siegfried Goscheschek (AUT), Raphaela Aschl/ Jonathan Aschl (AUT)

 

[Diana Delafield]

Some pictures from Pair Skating Days in Austria;



From left to right:
Seniors - First picture: Faula/Belle (FRA), Schaller/Mayr (AUT), Izzo/Maierhofer (AUT?), Christina Lyons (?)/Marty Haubrich (CAN), Pereira/Michaud (CAN)
Juniors - Second picture: Paola Jurisic/Michail Savenkov (AUT), Heckova/Valky (SVK), Rothenbuehler/Berei (HUN), Telemaque/Coulon (FRA), Zahra Wood/Alex Lapsky (GBR)
Novices - Third picture: ???, ???, Aschl/Aschl (AUT), ???, ???

I'm envious. We never got to go to summer camp in Austria in my era! Ontario once that I remember, which was at least different for those of us from BC, but kind of ho-hum for the majority of Canadian pairs at that time who were from Ontario already. I do remember a couple of California pairs came also for some fresh ideas -- they were surprised to find we didn't still have snow around.

 

[saine]

Christina Lyons (?)/Marty Haubrich (CAN)

Lia made an Instagram post from the camp, she tagged Cristina Lyons in the second picture:

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

All those fans who are interested, here's an article on Shin/ Nagy and their upcoming performance debut:

Audrey Shin and Balázs Nagy preparing for debut – Figure Skaters Online

 

[Diana Delafield]

All those fans who are interested, here's an article on Shin/ Nagy and their upcoming performance debut:

Audrey Shin and Balázs Nagy preparing for debut – Figure Skaters Online

I like when he says he can finally call himself a "pair boy" . My current partner is, as he says, "on the plus side of 50", but I heard him say in a recent conversation with a non-skater that he'd been a pair boy since his teens and couldn't imagine skating alone. After he left, I told the obviously confused woman that he wasn't joking, that was the correct term in pairs circles. I'd been a pair girl since I was 15 and would still be calling myself that in whatever retirement home I end up .

 

[saine]

New Pairs Teams listed from the Pairs camp in Austria:

Gabriella Izzo/Luc Maierhofer (Austria)
Cristina Lyons/Marty Haubrich (Canada)
Paola Jurisic/Michail Savenkov (Austria)

Anything GOEs posted confirmation of the couples at the pairs camp from an article about it. Izzo/Maierhofer were listed for Austria.

 

[saine]

From SkatingScores, they shared some information from an article from the latest Pirouette magazine. McIntosh/Zandron are intending to skate for Spain, but the author speculated that Brooke's release may not be easy.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

This makes sense for McIntosh/ Zandron as competing for Spain will give them more competitive opportunities than they could currently hope for repping Canada. Albeit, Brooke's release needs to happen asap prior to them competing internationally. They are another interesting couple where they are both non-native skaters for the country they will rep (Smart/ Dieck; Savchenko/ Massot; Pavlova/ Sviatchenko, et al).

I can see Canada not wanting to lose Brooke. Skate Canada had issued a directive to their skaters a while ago about no easy releases. They have certainly enjoyed a measure of success with skaters released from other countries, most recently with Deanna Stellato.

Danylo Siianytsia's new partner, Meghan Fredette, is Canadian. She skated in junior pairs for Canada, but I do not think she has competed for a while. So her release would likely be easier (she may have been released already, I'm not sure).

 

[saine]

I can see Canada not wanting to lose Brooke. Skate Canada had issued a directive to their skaters a while ago about no easy releases. They have certainly enjoyed a measure of success with skaters released from other countries, most recently with Deanna Stellato.

Just like USFS not giving an easy release to Deanna Stellato-Dudek, or Georgia not giving an easy release to Daniil Parkman or Belarus not giving an easy release to Ivan Desyatov. Skate Canada is not unique in this regard. Federations invest money into skaters, they don't want them skipping off to another country after that investment. Other federations are happy to benefit from skaters coming from other countries, that's also not unique to Skate Canada.

Danylo Siianytsia's new partner, Meghan Fredette, is Canadian. She skated in junior pairs for Canada, but I do not think she has competed for a while. So her release would likely be easier (she may have been released already, I'm not sure).

For Meghan Fredette, her release would be easier since she doesn't have the record that Brooke has. Brooke is a Junior National Champion, Junior Worlds medalist, Challenger medalist, Senior Grand Prix medalist and a Senior National medalist. She's been on the National Team two years in a row. The CBC profiled her and her sister Summer for their accomplishments as Canadian athletes.

Meghan Fredette was on the 2021-22 NextGen team and competed in 1 JGP competition. That's not close to the record that Brooke has a Pairs skater. Her release would be a lot easier without having the high profile that Brooke has.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

@saine, As a longtime fan of figure skating, I am fully aware of everything you have mentioned in response to my earlier post about Brooke McIntosh and Marco Zandron, which was certainly not intended as a negative, undue critique directed solely against Skate Canada. Quite obviously, there have been any number of situations that numerous skaters from various countries have faced involving not being released expeditiously. Many years ago, U.S. fed denied Morgan Matthews her release to rep Canada, which contributed to ending her career. That case is surely one that led to the ruling preventing federations from exerting a lengthy or indefinite hold over skaters.

Of course, federations are concerned about the expenses involved in supporting skaters' careers. But one of the factors in federations unduly holding onto skaters has to do with not wanting them to possibly succeed in winning at the top for a rival country. The situation with Belarus demanding a huge payout for Ivan Desyatov's release was clearly questionable. I am glad that Daniil Parkman has apparently finally received his release from Georgia.

Meanwhile, I wish Brooke and Marco bountiful success in their pairs journey. And I hope Brooke will get her release soon! ️

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

Um, seems like Violetta deleted all pictures on her IG with Ivan, and they're not following each other anymore

Confirmation in Pirouette magazine that Ivan and Violetta have split. Ivan has a potential new partner outside of Germany.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Confirmation in Pirouette magazine that Ivan and Violetta have split. Ivan has a potential new partner outside of Germany.

Wonder who, and if they'll show up at competitions already this season... Violetta is still in Germany, but doesn't seem like there's a new partner in sight for her yet.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I recall Violetta and Ivan had somewhat of a rough season due to her competing with an injury she was trying to manage. They cut back on the difficulty of their content but still tried to bravely compete. I hope the split is mutual after all they've been through together.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

@figureskatingandrainbows recently mentioned the following having been reported in Pirouette:

"Marco Zandron and Brooke McIntosh ... plan to compete for Spain due to citizenship issues with Canada, although Brooke has not been released yet."

I was curious whether they mean it takes longer for an athlete to obtain citizenship in Canada than in Spain, so I did some checking. We already have an approximate understanding that it can take up to 6 years in Canada, I believe, unless a particular case is expedited. For regular people, it can take 10 years to obtain Spanish citizenship (2 years if you are from Portugal, some Latin American countries, The Philippines, Andorra, and Equatorial Guinea). Except for the aforementioned countries, individuals of other nationalities may have to renounce their former citizenship. However,

"Athletes who represent Spain may be granted citizenship by Royal Decree, if they have exceptional circumstances, such as participating in international competitions." Thus, Marco got his Spanish citizenship quickly, so Brooke surely will, too.

Spain does love their sportsmen and women. Pictures of Spain's King at Wimbledon and at the recent World Cup congratulating the Spanish team come to mind.