Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier | Page 18 | Golden Skate

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier

They got their first international win since 2015 at Nebelhorn (the Skate Canada press release called it their first international win ever, how soon they forget), surely satisfying, and hopefully auguring well for the coming season.

I liked both programs a lot. More subdued than some of their past work, to be sure, but very effective.
 
Wow just watched they free dance and loved it. That lift in the end ❤️ Can’t wait to see how it develops as the season progresses. It was really moving.

I enjoyed their RD too - agree with the poster who said it needs a bit more tension and push/pull.
 
I watched their both programs from Nebelhorn today (again) - what amazes me in general is how they manage to re-invent themselves season after season, making this into a creative journey, exploration of new things, digging deeper into emotion evoked by style/theme chosen, the music. And that all of this feels...natural? Still exciting? Effortless in variety? Their programs just always feel thoughtful, originally crafted to the character and the music chosen, standing out - this time, I feel much more excitement and anticipation of not the sole concepts/designs of programs, but HOW they will progress, develop and open up to audiences (FD in particular).

As I mentioned already in Nebelhorn threads, I really love that their dance, skating seems very 'straightforward', 'face-to-face', based on reaction, impulses one sends to another by movement yet it is structured, has shades to it and most importantly - it is not obvious as for interpretation, movement expression. A lot of their partnering, holds, transitional sequences are skated towards each other with significant dose of individuality in movement (one's movement often does not exactly match another one's), giving that freedom of expression inside the dance to each other yet being perfectly in synch on that whole image, vibe created. In RD I love that their bodies express the music, dance character the most: it is never about exaggerated facial expression or rapid, bold movements, it is more about Paul's leading and Piper response to it, picturesque quality of their holds, partnering, transitions, rhythmical accentuation in elements, sublime tempo changes in their movement, translating this authentic Argentine Tango flavour into pretty strict and closed concept of RD. What I like also is that none of them 'overpowered' each other in terms of performance - for me, the movement was decisive, direct, precise and sharp enough to match the music, but the whole quality of expression and presentation was fluid, they had continuity even in the pose moment. The whole vibe was more vibrant, non-direct sensuality, more about various Tango shades than singular feel to it: between the movement with AG references, costumes in character, whole demeanour, leading and partnering, musicality, how sensibly their bodies absorbed the concept, the style and choreography it made a stunning, lively picture to look at, full of different aspects, interactions, like 3-D experience.

I found FD, its very first performance as very touching - for me, this is their most personal, emotional program ever made, with that tenderness put into originality, character and quirk that was not as much there before. There are characters there that tell the story of Vincent, but it is very non-literal, not obvious and capturing more spiritual feel to it than earthy one. Personally I found these rougher, unfinished/unpolished yet moments pretty charming and adding that flavour into performance; again, the movement is designed pretty irregularly, but it mimics perfectly for me 'Starry Night' swirling technique, just translated in motion (so thoughtful and original, again!). One of the very few programs and teams (maybe the only one) to pay such attention into tempo changes during elements, to match movement into that (twizzles, lifts in particular). Lots of unexpected, non-obvious transitions, lots of translating lyrics into moves without being tacky or too literal. And probably the most beautiful 'sliding' movement yet - perfectly encompassing this whole serenity and emotion put into performance. There's just so much air and freedom into this 4 minutes, there's lyricism but with energy and purpose - I really, really love teams who take more dynamic and structured approach (movement and expression-wise) towards lyrical/contemporary style; the program is true and authentic in its original concept, yet has a 'warmth', familiarity into it.

Well, I just love them and love both programs, but thoughts wandered behind me since Saturday so I had to let them out;)
 
NoNameFace (aka Beatrice :laugh:), thank you! Your insights are always so thoughtful and eloquent, and beautifully express so often what I love about certain programs/performances but can’t quite put into words (even to myself) exactly why. I completely agree with you about Piper and Paul’s programs this season. In fact, their performances at Nebelhorn were the decisive factor in my finally deciding to attend Skate Canada. I’d wanted to attend GPF (and still do!), but good tickets seem unattainable, and I think this might be my next best chance to see P/P’s programs live (along with the other great lineup of skaters I love, e.g., Shoma, Evgenia, Roman, Jun, Jason), not to mention the head to head with Madison and Zach! :luv17:
 
Heleng said:
NoNameFace (aka Beatrice :laugh:), thank you! Your insights are always so thoughtful and eloquent, and beautifully express so often what I love about certain programs/performances but can’t quite put into words (even to myself) exactly why. I completely agree with you about Piper and Paul’s programs this season. In fact, their performances at Nebelhorn were the decisive factor in my finally deciding to attend Skate Canada. I’d wanted to attend GPF ( and still do!), but good tickets seem unattainable, and I think this might be my next best chance to see P/P’s programs live (along with the other great lineup of skaters I love, e.g., Shoma, Evgenia, Roman, Jun, Jason), not to mention the head to head with Madison and Zach! :luv17:
Click to expand...

I see it caught with my alter ego given by ancientpeas :laugh:

Thank You for your kind words, You won't regret going to SC, Piper and Paul are amazing experience to see live and adding rest of line-up...I am envious of everyone who will be there!
I find Piper and Paul very inspiring and re-watching their programs gives me a lot of thoughts - I really love teams whose work lingers in my mind and surprises me with constant discovery :)
 
There doesn't seem to any CBC coverage for their 2018 Worlds performances on YouTube, so I uploaded these vids for those of you who live outside of Canada and would like to hear the commentary. They're not in HD, unfortunately, but it's better than nothing.

SD: https://vimeo.com/285630224

FD: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6vmu84


And here's a bonus No Commentary 720p version of their SD (I couldn't find one for their FD): https://vimeo.com/285630248



ETA: They're on the Entry List for the Skate Ontario Sectionals: http://skateontario.org/results/19SEC/19SECSeniorDanceEL.pdf
 
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