2016-17 State of Russian Ice Dance

[SnowWhite]

Are you speaking of his technical abilities as a skater? If so you can be accurate but is he working well with Elena? Even if has improved technically and improved his projection overall he's still not working with Elena on an artistic level. She is just too dominant. No team can be a Fusar Poli /Margaglio anymore.

So who would be a good partner for Elena in your opinion? She seems to enjoy working with Ruslan - I seem to remember her stating that he calms her down when she gets upset. Obviously working with a prima donna Katsalopov didn't work out for her!

This is not a serious comment obviously, but the first person I thought of when I saw these was Guillaume Cizeron. I mean, people often complain that he's overshadowing Gabriella. Well, actually he was the second person I thought of. The first was Scott Moir, but that's more because he and Tessa are my favourites, so I think of them first about anything ice dance related. Though, no one can say he doesn't have personality...

Again, not at all serious comments, just funny thoughts that popped into my head. I like both those guys with their current girls.

And I agree that it's really important how she feels working with him. They may never have the passion and fire that she had with Nikita, but then as Kitt said, that didn't work out too well in the end.

 

[Skater Boy]

Well too much fire and ice can lead to a melt down. Elena has to want it and find her passion. Z needs work on expression and being his own person. He needs to release the beast, the fire and passion from within. The both need to want it and if they don't have that goal, that fire, that zest they won't improve.

As to the state of Russian dance it is very stagnant. All teams are prone to tech issues. None of them really have that fire, that passion, that drama which may be too early 2000, 1990's or 80's but these teams are now just pretty good dance teams. At least before you had tech strong, vivacious, dramatic female leads going back to Bestmianova, Klimova, Usova, Lobacheva to a point, Krylova, Navka and Domina. Elena has drama but doesn't have the drive

 

[madison]

This is not a serious comment obviously, but the first person I thought of when I saw these was Guillaume Cizeron. I mean, people often complain that he's overshadowing Gabriella. Well, actually he was the second person I thought of. The first was Scott Moir, but that's more because he and Tessa are my favourites, so I think of them first about anything ice dance related. Though, no one can say he doesn't have personality...

Again, not at all serious comments, just funny thoughts that popped into my head. I like both those guys with their current girls.

And I agree that it's really important how she feels working with him. They may never have the passion and fire that she had with Nikita, but then as Kitt said, that didn't work out too well in the end.

Oh, nooo. Elena won't be at all suited to G. Cizeron, they just skate different and have different energy. Gabriellla complements very well Guillaume when it comes to their energy, their understanding of the music and movements.
Elena and Ruslan have to find a music to suit them really well and to enjoy skating on it, to develop the relationship mainly with the music, as they did with Carmen. I think smth fierce and intense will suit them, but smth classical.

 

[SnowWhite]

Oh, nooo. Elena won't be at all suited to G. Cizeron, they just skate different and have different energy. Gabriellla complements very well Guillaume when it comes to their energy, their understanding of the music and movements.
Elena and Ruslan have to find a music to suit them really well and to enjoy skating on it, to develop the relationship mainly with the music, as they did with Carmen. I think smth fierce and intense will suit them, but smth classical.

Oh I know, there are a million reasons it wouldn't work. He's just the first guy I think of when people talk about guys who aren't overshadowed by their partners.

 

[coldblueeyes]

The fact that people still think Frida was a masterpiece even know baffles me. Elena and Ruslan had one fantastic program that balanced their differences, and it was Carmen. After that every single program they had only highlighted their problems, either because of the choreography, packaging or lack of technical prowess. Even this year there was all this talk about a new face, new lifts, and they came back once again with just about the same stuff, only worse. I wanted them to place over S/K at Nats, I really did, but

 

[Jammers]

Let's be honest it wasn't just Nikita that made I/K so unpredictable. Former coaches always questioned their work ethic and drive and that's why they didn't achieve nearly as much as people thought they could. Elena also did not look to be in the best physical shape either for competition this year which makes you question if she got a bit lazy and didn't train properly.

 

[gmyers]

Well too much fire and ice can lead to a melt down. Elena has to want it and find her passion. Z needs work on expression and being his own person. He needs to release the beast, the fire and passion from within. The both need to want it and if they don't have that goal, that fire, that zest they won't improve.

As to the state of Russian dance it is very stagnant. All teams are prone to tech issues. None of them really have that fire, that passion, that drama which may be too early 2000, 1990's or 80's but these teams are now just pretty good dance teams. At least before you had tech strong, vivacious, dramatic female leads going back to Bestmianova, Klimova, Usova, Lobacheva to a point, Krylova, Navka and Domina. Elena has drama but doesn't have the drive

I wish it was stagnant. It's collapsing. only one team can even dream of a world medal and they can't medal at the gpf. Only two teams medaled during the whole Grand Prix. Only three medals total. Almost all judges hate the programs of all the teams and there are gigantic technical issues. The Russians still think men equals stem and woman equals flower. Completely ignoring what IJS is about.

Oh, nooo. Elena won't be at all suited to G. Cizeron, they just skate different and have different energy. Gabriellla complements very well Guillaume when it comes to their energy, their understanding of the music and movements.
Elena and Ruslan have to find a music to suit them really well and to enjoy skating on it, to develop the relationship mainly with the music, as they did with Carmen. I think smth fierce and intense will suit them, but smth classical.

I just think spelling out every word but doing "smth" is hilarious.

 

[Abraxis12345]

The fact that people still think Frida was a masterpiece even know baffles me. Elena and Ruslan had one fantastic program that balanced their differences, and it was Carmen. After that every single program they had only highlighted their problems, either because of the choreography, packaging or lack of technical prowess. Even this year there was all this talk about a new face, new lifts, and they came back once again with just about the same stuff, only worse. I wanted them to place over S/K at Nats, I really did, but

The judges didn't seem to particularly care for Frida. Meanwhile, as trashy as their Bollywood program was, it did the job. And that's what you should expect from Igor. You are not going to get anything groundbreaking but you are going to get the marks if you skate well. Oleg Vasiliev seemed to hit the nail on the head

It's so funny to see people praising Igor's horrific mishmash of Sadko and Peter Gabriel as something "innovative" back when I/Z were still with them, then going around and accusing Igor of not knowing even the basics of physiology. It's like we live in a bizzaro world where Igor is a choreographic genius who knows nothing about how to train athletes.

 

[coldblueeyes]

The judges didn't seem to particularly care for Frida. Meanwhile, as trashy as their Bollywood program was, it did the job. And that's what you should expect from Igor. You are not going to get anything groundbreaking but you are going to get the marks if you skate well. Oleg Vasiliev seemed to hit the nail on the head

It's so funny to see people praising Igor's horrific mishmash of Sadko and Peter Gabriel as something "innovative" back when I/Z were still with them, then going around and accusing Igor of not knowing even the basics of physiology. It's like we live in a bizzaro world where Igor is a choreographic genius who knows nothing about how to train athletes.

I wouldn't say Bollywood was that much better than Frida, and saying it "did the job" is a bit much. Alas, Igor was only the next best thing until I/Z crashed and burned again, and I wonder what's the next coach that's going to get a bad rep in fandom because of them.

 

[Abraxis12345]

I wouldn't say Bollywood was that much better than Frida, and saying it "did the job" is a bit much. Alas, Igor was only the next best thing until I/Z crashed and burned again, and I wonder what's the next coach that's going to get a bad rep in fandom because of them.

It got higher PCS scores than Frida and his programs allowed them to get higher GOE. Of course, it could have been due to any boost from just being associated with Igor. The real issue was, they showed up to Skate America looking under trained and spent the whole season playing catch up. We can all make fun of Igor's choreo, but all his skaters show up to competitions in shape, polished and prepared

And I agree it's a shame that coaches' reps are taking a hit for being associated with them. Like you could accuse Kustarova and Alexeeva of a lot of things but whenever their skaters moved, the new coaches would always comment on how hard working and disciplined they are. Yet K/A got blamed for not fostering a disciplined environment towards the end of last season... Whose fault is that...

 

[cathlen]

Change of topic, is there any news on Yuri Vlasenko?

 

[Abraxis12345]

Change of topic, is there any news on Yuri Vlasenko?

He's still in the US. No word on a partner, but I can't imagine a penniless Russian who doesn't speak much English and who insists on training in Connecticut would be in much demand. Unless he was Cizeron.

 

[cathlen]

He's still in the US. No word on a partner, but I can't imagine a penniless Russian who doesn't speak much English and who insists on training in Connecticut would be in much demand. Unless he was Cizeron.

Oh, so he's nowhere in terms of career right now? That's a waste.

 

[Abraxis12345]

Oh, so he's nowhere in terms of career right now? That's a waste.

Vlasenko is not particularly smart, let's put it that way.

 

[NicolettaL]

So we should cross him out i guess?

 

[gmyers]

Vlasenko is not particularly smart, let's put it that way.

So he wants to train in the US. That is smart.

 

[Abraxis12345]

So he wants to train in the US. That is smart.

What isn't is expecting someone to train in an ice dance wasteland and pay for his life. Connecticut is not Detroit

 

[coldblueeyes]

What isn't is expecting someone to train in an ice dance wasteland and pay for his life. Connecticut is not Detroit

Not only that, but it doesn't do skaters any good to train in the US as the fifth, sixth, seventh or whatever else team with any coach.

 

[gmyers]

What isn't is expecting someone to train in an ice dance wasteland and pay for his life. Connecticut is not Detroit

Better than Moscow at the moment. If you want to find a partner in the ice dance capital of the world why not go for it! He has a solid resume.

 

[Aqua Lady]

I'm so upset right now. Literally fuming. So I was reading skating protocols and apparently, S/K earned a trip to Euros because Elena got a one-point costume deduction. A FREAKING COSTUME DEDUCTION COSTED I/Z. Can you freaking believe it?! SMH. I can't take it. Russian Judging is crap. No sugarcoating. Check out @SkatingProtocol on Twitter. Breaking down the marks, they called out some Russian judges... :disagree::disagree: