- Joined
- May 2, 2015
Glad, they're well
Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier
- Thread starter Layback11
- Start date
Glad, they're well
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2011
Given the tenor of the times, P/P's FD would have been especially poignant. And to miss merlot flower crowns may be even more bittersweet (see B, I'm telling you, they're going to be SOUGHT AFTER, your crowns).
Still a big thank you to both P&P and their entire team. I wasn't sure about the FD when I first saw it, but unlike other teams I won't name, they continually grow their programs over the course of the season. And it's one of the few programs of this season I will remember in years to come. Kudos.
Still a big thank you to both P&P and their entire team. I wasn't sure about the FD when I first saw it, but unlike other teams I won't name, they continually grow their programs over the course of the season. And it's one of the few programs of this season I will remember in years to come. Kudos.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2012
Ah, thank you so very much WeakAnkles, it really moves me when people mention crowns as something so closely associated with skaters/teams. Sending a hug and hope all is relatively well and safe
I think that too - their FD would make a difference. For me, they MADE a difference already with their continuous growth and searching for various ways of expressing themselves, their love for arts, skating, performance fir the people. Both Sides Now I feel holds a sensitive kind of universal poignancy that grew with each showing, getting to the level of emotional meaning/ significance Vincent (still) holds, but developed it just slower. Because it was not an easy program to work with I believe - it took right skill, right approach with different elements (music in particular) and right set of 'push' or attention given by the whole team to produce magic we saw at 4CC. And I have no doubt Montreal could have been a pinnacle.
The unique thing for PSQUARED is what you have said, that they never stop in growing their material. What I incredibly value in their work is that the steely strenght of vision for the program (as for aesthetic, concept, theme and vibe) never crosses out constant work and challenge put to it. It helped them not only to become better skaters as fir skills, not only better team as for their partnership, but most of all - it makes them better ARTISTS at the end of the day, whose craft is one of a kind, unforgettable and to be reminisced as you said.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2018
Piper appeared in the most recent episode of Lilah Fear's podcast, and mentioned that she'd once been on The Price Is Right.
An enterprising fan on Twitter tracked down the episode in question.
An enterprising fan on Twitter tracked down the episode in question.
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2011
- Joined
- May 2, 2015
Piper was just 18 then, awesome! Are other shows so loud as well? I know Drew from 'Whose line is it anyway' and I don't remember so much noise :shocked:
Piper & Paul are doing a live interview with PJ Kwong at 11 AM ET today.
It will be on PJ Kwong's Facebook & Youtube:
https://twitter.com/skatingpj/status/1262426882785587200
It will be on PJ Kwong's Facebook & Youtube:
https://twitter.com/skatingpj/status/1262426882785587200
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2018
happy! birthday!
New Piper & Paul interview with Beverley Smith:
https://bevsmithwrites.com/gilles-and-poirier-on-a-quest-for-the-sun/
https://bevsmithwrites.com/gilles-and-poirier-on-a-quest-for-the-sun/
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2015
There are no words to describe how happy I am for them.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2012
I still can't believe what happened. Quoting myself from FD thread and I just want to add - I am glad to see that being hardworking and patient sometimes pays off. Moreover, I am even more glad that they managed to do it with this particular FD - I remember doubts and criticism (including my own in 2019) plus inferiority comparisons to Vincent FD, yet all the trust, work, dedication given by the whole team into nurturing this vehicle, honing it into something special showed off yesterday in it's full glory.
I found their FD performance definitely the most raw and authentic emotionally-wise (trying to act as objective as I can upon final group re-watching, detaching my bias as much as possible, believe me) - the performance never felt *performative* just for the sake of it in my opinion, the expression was tender, attentive and honest without overpowering the lyrics of Joni Mitchell or the choreography design. Also, I love that tweaking in the program focused on enriching that poignancy through working on nuance details, intricacies of the transitions (eg. I personally LOVED putting RoLi as the final one and the effortless transition out of it) than making it look differently altogether.
Once again, I command the whole PSquared team's trust & conviction put into their material, music choice etc. - and I do believe this is one of the vital factors of their success. While I sense some kind of *detachment* about other top teams and their material (or even lack of deeper *team identity* developed regarding their repertoire), it's never the case about Piper and Paul.
What's funny is that this specific, unique team identity, their *quirk* on which they built recognition and their brand was often (still is tbh) pointed as their vice/a factor that brought them backwards in terms of results, yet now it triumphs. Thinking about it yesterday (fun fact: it is ALWAYS in the bathroom that I get best ideas for commentary content, no joke, brushing teeth, cleaning there always bring me some good food for thoughts, I have almost 5 pages of handwrittennotes about P&P, will try to put them there the best way I can decipher my writing lol
), I realized how their versatility repertoire-wise played big role in pushing Both Sides Now FD into shape/reception it got yesterday. Throughout all these years, they really pushed themselves into big variety of aesthetics and styles, always advocating for authenticity, particularity, uniqueness - and with each year, they progressed their partnership, skills, tech capabilities. I feel that variety of styles done helped them immensely to build that sense of confidence in producing performance authenticity regardless of aesthetic (lyrical or dynamic) and to build that emotional connection on top of basically any theme of the program chosen.
What I believe also helped to push this FD into that new level of recognition was how the projection was directed there. For me, their expression was equally focused between them both and towards the audience (despite it being minimal live): there was distinct sense of intimacy/tenderness about performance, but gave an invitation to connect. Paradoxically, I also feel that the song gave them possibilty to click with the people more closely, despite rather nostalgic/melancholic vibe - in my opinion, the song provided a beautiful canvas to fill it with motion & expression being complimentary reflection of the lyrics, making the message even more poignant, never *fighting* the song.
Another factor that may sound a bit stupid in relation of impact Both Sides Now FD had through yesterday's performance is that...it was the only live competition performance of it. I think that P&P having no other chance to show this FD in live competition during this season made people to see it through *fresh* perspective/mindset and simultaneously - P&P seemed to have this in mind while tailoring the program to this one performance, that it has to not only resonate visually/aesthetically within audience, but that the *message* behind it had to be tuned just right, be resounding.
I saw already few opinions that this is a *charity* or *cheat* medal due to issues both US teams had in FD...Would actually brush it off, if it wasn't so disregarding of hard work & dedication P&P put into this whole outing and their work/progress done for few past seasons. Upon closer look on all 3 performances, I have to say that Both Sides Now FD stood out as being the most *fresh* and confidently performed in my opinion - PSquared never did such program before and this was definitely the best version of it design-wise. Adding MUCH improved basics, partnerings, flow and speed throughout the program WHILE comparing it with other two performances that weren't even bad or that faulty as a whole, P&P didn't leave any doubt regarding their competitiveness out there, which might been decisive. I feel that Both Sides Now is the epitome of *compromise* between P&P and the discipline's tight mindset: it combined P&P's transformative nature, uniqueness of their material with making it more *streamlined* for discipline expectations of sorts. They built their strengths at the same time adapting to the field & competition which proved to be a successful strategy.
What set them apart too was the ability to make that music totally *theirs* in the process of building that FD up, unlikely to other teams I find struggling with taking *ownership* of the music/program as a whole, which could lead to indifference in reception/unconvincing projection imho (I have this case with S/B material...). Piper and Paul seems to take the music and just make it very personal, owning it completely through mileage process - the mold the music to themselves and at the same time mold themselves into the music through so many variables: costumes, arrangements, attitude, choreography. It just gives out deep connection/conviction from a team towards their material, which further helps audiences in team's recognition, even if the program is not universally liked.
One thing I noted while re-watching FD yesterday that I haven't realized previously was the balance between poetic/flow-y feel and sense of *being grounded* in that program's performance. There was airiness there about movement, but without unnecessary floatiness/soapy quality about the whole thing plus the *grounded* feel came from the realness of the program I think, how it managed to click with so many people on different levels of aesthetic/sensibility. Usage of *mirrored* effect between them throughout the program also helped in my opinion - it was never in-your-face, but a subtle way to interpret the lyrics in accessible, visual way for the people.
Watching it for the n-th time yesterday, I had the final thought that the real shine, brilliance of that program and performance reaches way, way deeper behind embellishments on their beautiful Merlot costumes. And I was beyond happy world (at least part of it) had chance to experience it.
I am SO happy.
I found their FD performance definitely the most raw and authentic emotionally-wise (trying to act as objective as I can upon final group re-watching, detaching my bias as much as possible, believe me) - the performance never felt *performative* just for the sake of it in my opinion, the expression was tender, attentive and honest without overpowering the lyrics of Joni Mitchell or the choreography design. Also, I love that tweaking in the program focused on enriching that poignancy through working on nuance details, intricacies of the transitions (eg. I personally LOVED putting RoLi as the final one and the effortless transition out of it) than making it look differently altogether.
Once again, I command the whole PSquared team's trust & conviction put into their material, music choice etc. - and I do believe this is one of the vital factors of their success. While I sense some kind of *detachment* about other top teams and their material (or even lack of deeper *team identity* developed regarding their repertoire), it's never the case about Piper and Paul.
What's funny is that this specific, unique team identity, their *quirk* on which they built recognition and their brand was often (still is tbh) pointed as their vice/a factor that brought them backwards in terms of results, yet now it triumphs. Thinking about it yesterday (fun fact: it is ALWAYS in the bathroom that I get best ideas for commentary content, no joke, brushing teeth, cleaning there always bring me some good food for thoughts, I have almost 5 pages of handwrittennotes about P&P, will try to put them there the best way I can decipher my writing lol
), I realized how their versatility repertoire-wise played big role in pushing Both Sides Now FD into shape/reception it got yesterday. Throughout all these years, they really pushed themselves into big variety of aesthetics and styles, always advocating for authenticity, particularity, uniqueness - and with each year, they progressed their partnership, skills, tech capabilities. I feel that variety of styles done helped them immensely to build that sense of confidence in producing performance authenticity regardless of aesthetic (lyrical or dynamic) and to build that emotional connection on top of basically any theme of the program chosen.What I believe also helped to push this FD into that new level of recognition was how the projection was directed there. For me, their expression was equally focused between them both and towards the audience (despite it being minimal live): there was distinct sense of intimacy/tenderness about performance, but gave an invitation to connect. Paradoxically, I also feel that the song gave them possibilty to click with the people more closely, despite rather nostalgic/melancholic vibe - in my opinion, the song provided a beautiful canvas to fill it with motion & expression being complimentary reflection of the lyrics, making the message even more poignant, never *fighting* the song.
Another factor that may sound a bit stupid in relation of impact Both Sides Now FD had through yesterday's performance is that...it was the only live competition performance of it. I think that P&P having no other chance to show this FD in live competition during this season made people to see it through *fresh* perspective/mindset and simultaneously - P&P seemed to have this in mind while tailoring the program to this one performance, that it has to not only resonate visually/aesthetically within audience, but that the *message* behind it had to be tuned just right, be resounding.
I saw already few opinions that this is a *charity* or *cheat* medal due to issues both US teams had in FD...Would actually brush it off, if it wasn't so disregarding of hard work & dedication P&P put into this whole outing and their work/progress done for few past seasons. Upon closer look on all 3 performances, I have to say that Both Sides Now FD stood out as being the most *fresh* and confidently performed in my opinion - PSquared never did such program before and this was definitely the best version of it design-wise. Adding MUCH improved basics, partnerings, flow and speed throughout the program WHILE comparing it with other two performances that weren't even bad or that faulty as a whole, P&P didn't leave any doubt regarding their competitiveness out there, which might been decisive. I feel that Both Sides Now is the epitome of *compromise* between P&P and the discipline's tight mindset: it combined P&P's transformative nature, uniqueness of their material with making it more *streamlined* for discipline expectations of sorts. They built their strengths at the same time adapting to the field & competition which proved to be a successful strategy.
What set them apart too was the ability to make that music totally *theirs* in the process of building that FD up, unlikely to other teams I find struggling with taking *ownership* of the music/program as a whole, which could lead to indifference in reception/unconvincing projection imho (I have this case with S/B material...). Piper and Paul seems to take the music and just make it very personal, owning it completely through mileage process - the mold the music to themselves and at the same time mold themselves into the music through so many variables: costumes, arrangements, attitude, choreography. It just gives out deep connection/conviction from a team towards their material, which further helps audiences in team's recognition, even if the program is not universally liked.
One thing I noted while re-watching FD yesterday that I haven't realized previously was the balance between poetic/flow-y feel and sense of *being grounded* in that program's performance. There was airiness there about movement, but without unnecessary floatiness/soapy quality about the whole thing plus the *grounded* feel came from the realness of the program I think, how it managed to click with so many people on different levels of aesthetic/sensibility. Usage of *mirrored* effect between them throughout the program also helped in my opinion - it was never in-your-face, but a subtle way to interpret the lyrics in accessible, visual way for the people.
Watching it for the n-th time yesterday, I had the final thought that the real shine, brilliance of that program and performance reaches way, way deeper behind embellishments on their beautiful Merlot costumes. And I was beyond happy world (at least part of it) had chance to experience it.
I am SO happy.
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 2, 2015
I don't really have eyes for subtelties of ID, but yesterday I was mesmerized, whereas before when they performed this program, I wasn't. I'm not able to say if it was more or less difficult than other dances, but I'm gald that apparently judges were mesmerized as well I just love how this team steadily grow with every passing year 
I just love how this team steadily grow with every passing year 
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
Belated but most heartfelt congrats to Piper and Paul for their Bronze medal at the Worlds in Stockholm!!! 
My husband and I have been rooting for this wonderful couple ever since we saw their 2013-14 season's Hitchcock FD at NHK Trophy live. They are one of the few skaters/couples for us that we do look forward to seeing new programs every season. So unique, so engaged, full of new ideas and lots of fun, always stand-out. One and only. :yes:
We were over the moon the moment we knew they finally won a world medal which is well-deserved. Again, many congrats to Piper, Paul, their coaches and all their fans here!
My husband and I have been rooting for this wonderful couple ever since we saw their 2013-14 season's Hitchcock FD at NHK Trophy live.
They are one of the few skaters/couples for us that we do look forward to seeing new programs every season. So unique, so engaged, full of new ideas and lots of fun, always stand-out. One and only. :yes: We were over the moon the moment we knew they finally won a world medal which is well-deserved. Again, many congrats to Piper, Paul, their coaches and all their fans here!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2018
who said there're no quads in ice dance? 
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2012
So - Piper & Paul are listed for Autumn Classic International in September. New programs incoming.
Plus Piper's last IG/Twitter posts are announcing another part of 'Programs for the people' (I assume FD): https://twitter.com/PiperGilles/status/1428056523540992009?s=19
And there's a graphic...I wonder if this is sort of hint about the program..
Plus Piper's last IG/Twitter posts are announcing another part of 'Programs for the people' (I assume FD): https://twitter.com/PiperGilles/status/1428056523540992009?s=19
And there's a graphic...I wonder if this is sort of hint about the program..
