Free Dance Cup of China

[aemeraldrainc]

Watching on Universal Sports now.
I didn't realize they were broadcasting this soon. I wouldn't have read through this whole thread if I had known.
I already know what's gonna happen!
I'm liking Judy Blumberg's commentary.

 

[wallylutz]

How can a team who spends 90% of the FD parallel to the ice get 9s in PCS? They looked as if they were madly searching for the contact lens that slipped out of her eye onto the ice.

Not HORRIBLE posture----EXECRABLE posture!

Well, B/S didn't actually get any 9 for any of their PCS component, they all averaged to 8 something. Shibs also averaged to 8s for four of their five components, albeit in the lower 8.

Given the amount of animosity displayed towards B/S here, it makes you wonder what if the Shibs lose to both W/P and I/K next week? Will they need to hire bodyguards after the competition? :sheesh:

 

[Tonichelle]

Watching on Universal Sports now.
I didn't realize they were broadcasting this soon. I wouldn't have read through this whole thread if I had known.
I already know what's gonna happen!
I'm liking Judy Blumberg's commentary.

I'm watching, too. I always hate the CoC broadcasts, their camera angles and audio stink... every year!

and I really hate B/S's costumes... ok really I just hate hers lol

(and [from earlier] who thought the theme from 2001 Space Odyssey was a good idea for ice dance?!)

 

[wallylutz]

I love Maia's dress... I don't think it's fair to hit them with the "they're too young" - yeah, they look younger, but that's not something they can control... unless they want to start doing something unhealthy to speed up the aging process, which I'm sure they don't want to do. I think they look mature for their age as they dance. They can't do the sexy route without a severe creeper alert, so they're doing amazingly well with what they can do choreographically. I thought their lifts were awesome.

Well, they can probably consider emotions such as angst, sorrow, nostalgia, pureness, reflection, expectations and etc., just to name a few. Right now, they come across as fairly limited and their programs look way too similar year after year.

 

[aemeraldrainc]

I know people always critizise the over-the-top costumes and drama of European skaters, but I happen to like it.
It's what makes ice dance, ice dance.
Of course you also need the technik and I agree there has to be a balance, but it's not all about that.
But anyways, I'm no expert on ice dance technique so I can only say so much.

ETA: I made this comment while watching B/S's free dance so that's where that came from.

 

[yunafan1860]

Walpurgis dance is cool in theory. But i don't really get the final lift, why she has to put her head in that unflattering place.

 

[Mrs. P]

Well, B/S didn't actually get any 9 for any of their PCS component, they all averaged to 8 something. Shibs also averaged to 8s for four of their five components, albeit in the lower 8.

Given the amount of animosity displayed towards B/S here, it makes you wonder what if the Shibs lose to both W/P and I/K next week? Will they need to hire bodyguards after the competition? :sheesh:

W/P is fine. I like their programs this year and as I said earlier they are a real threat. It would not surprise me if W/P beat the Shibs here, especially as the Shibs are doing back to back comps. I/K has the potential to surprise, but from what I have seen I don't expect them beat the Shibs, especially since the Fed seems to be back B/S more.

 

[missysays]

I'm liking Judy Blumberg's commentary.

I really like Judy's commentary as well. She explains the technical aspect of ice dance so well. She calls steps and explains edges and position requirements. Tanith and Tracy don't really offer the same type of technical information.

 

[Tonichelle]

I really like Judy's commentary as well. She explains the technical aspect of ice dance so well. She calls steps and explains edges and position requirements. Tanith and Tracy don't really offer the same type of technical information.

Judy has the advantage of being trained as a tech caller...

 

[Mrs. P]

Well, they can probably consider emotions such as angst, sorrow, nostalgia, pureness, reflection, expectations and etc., just to name a few. Right now, they come across as fairly limited and their programs look way too similar year after year.

I don't get the whole "The Shibs need to stop doing the same programs" thing? Sure this year's program is similar to last year. But the way people are talking you think they did this their type of routine for years.

2010 FD: Tango Rhapsody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lBDNb36iWM
2009 FD: Cinema Paradiso: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ONEuW7RxE
2008 FD: Sakura variations and taiko drums: "Heartbeat"
2007 FD: Memoirs of a Geisha

The first two programs programs show they're capable of expressing other emotions. But, as expected, these programs are not as technically sound as their programs now, even with this rough-around-the-edges FD.

Going back to what I said in various threads, given the challenge the Shibs face in the SD -- that has been made apparently clear in this competition -- it makes sense not to play around with the FD and stick to something they know they can do and advance technically in.

 

[aemeraldrainc]

I'm watching, too. I always hate the CoC broadcasts, their camera angles and audio stink... every year!

and I really hate B/S's costumes... ok really I just hate hers lol

(and [from earlier] who thought the theme from 2001 Space Odyssey was a good idea for ice dance?!)

Yeah, what's up with that? Especially audio. Can barely hear.

I kinda like the costumes. If anything, just to make fun of them!
That's always fun! Can always count on that.

Yeah. And the sucky audio did not help at all.

 

[gmyers]

Except Carron/Jones are not the Shibs' competition by any definition. There are at least 10 other teams who could place ahead of Carron/Jones in this world so finishing ahead of France #2 is pretty meaningless at this point.

That's what I was really saying. They are 20 points ahead so they are on a different level and they had no other competition so that is why the 20 point difference was there.

 

[wallylutz]

I don't get the whole "The Shibs need to stop doing the same programs" thing? Sure this year's program is similar to last year. But the way people are talking you think they did this their type of routine for years.

This is why it's called typecasting. As with other kind of perceptions, it can be inaccurate but nonetheless, how people perceive something or someone. Hence, they need to manage others' perception of them a little more carefully. Not everyone has been following the Shibs feverishly since their novice days and many of those judges only noticed them since they moved up to the senior rank. Speaking for myself, I have this impression, perhaps incorrectly, that their style is fairly limited. If this is how I perceive it, there is a chance that I am not alone.

 

[mikiandorocks]

After watching the event, all I can say is that Bobrova & Soloviev were, in my opinion, the right winners. I like their choice of music and their lifts, the twizzles looked better than in other of their programes and I like their presentation/interpretation. Obviously, they still have a lot of work to do especcially in what concerns the elements on the 2nd half of the programe. Sure that with time things will look much better, but I do hope they get to improve the last lift and ending pose (btw, Katia please get a new dress!). Also I like the fact that they picked a more "serious" theme.
The Shibs are a nice team but they do nothing for me.
Carron & Jones had some really interesting moments in their FD. Nevertheless, I didn't like his jacket cause it gets distracting.. A black shirt would be enough. The chemestry between them seems good and their twizzles were interestingly different. On the 2nd half of the programe it's obvious that they do skate on two feet a lot. That's something they may improve.
Coomes & Buckland - these two were a surprise for me. I like their style. A couple I want to watch again.

 

[Buttercup]

I love Maia's dress... I don't think it's fair to hit them with the "they're too young" - yeah, they look younger, but that's not something they can control... unless they want to start doing something unhealthy to speed up the aging process, which I'm sure they don't want to do. I think they look mature for their age as they dance. They can't do the sexy route without a severe creeper alert, so they're doing amazingly well with what they can do choreographically. I thought their lifts were awesome.

Dance teams do have options beyond sexy/romantic, as other sibling teams have shown repeatedly. Look at what the Kerrs did - aliens and The Matrix and Exogenesis; the Zars did Schindler's List and Jesus Christ Superstar; even non-sibling ice dancers have had concepts that a sibling team could do, such as P/B's Circus. I'm not saying all these programs were great, or that the Shibs need to follow the precise blueprint of other teams, but there is a wealth of ideas to explore even for a young sibling team. But you have to think outside the box, which I'm not sure Marina and Igor are capable of doing at this point, with so many teams to look after. I just looked at Mrs. P's list that supposedly shows their great range, but it's all either very standard music choices or programs playing up their Japanese heritage. The latter is great, the former, not so much.

It's the perception that the only other option is sexy/romantic that's limiting the Shibs, IMO, and it's unfortunate, because I sense that they are definitely capable of more.

 

[Tonichelle]

I'm not a Kerr's fan and thought most of their dances were beneath them... their OD for folk was the only one I can remember liking...

Thing is, most people seem to either want over dramatic or overly sexy... I agree there's way more they can portray, but it seems the extremes are the only things that work...

 

[blackswanphoto]

I actually like B/S programs a lot. im pretty sure they will beat Weaver/Poje at Cup of Russia and Worlds and it will be close between them and the French team at the World Championships.

 

[Buttercup]

I'm not a Kerr's fan and thought most of their dances were beneath them... their OD for folk was the only one I can remember liking...

Thing is, most people seem to either want over dramatic or overly sexy... I agree there's way more they can portray, but it seems the extremes are the only things that work...

I don't think all the examples I gave are extremes or fall into those two categories. The Kerrs are actually a very good example of how far a team can go by being creative, because they were working around more limitations than the Shibutanis: not only are they siblings, but there's almost no height difference between them, and on top of that, there were technique issues (John switched to ice dance at a relatively late age).

It's not about being extreme, it's about looking at your strengths and weaknesses and trying to find different ways of highlighting your strengths on the ice. The Shibutanis have found one way, but I am sure they can find more.

 

[snowflake]

^
Though not being the biggest fan of ice dance I like the Kerrs and the Shibutanis and I like this post :agree:

 

[wallylutz]

I just learned that Alla Shekhovtsova, the wife of Valentin Piseev (wife of the head of Russian skating fed) was in Shanghai for the Cup of China as well even though the actual Russian judge on the ice dance panel was not her. This is an interesting coincidence.