2013 Skate America - Pairs Free Skating Report | Golden Skate

2013 Skate America - Pairs Free Skating Report

Joined
Jan 22, 2004
2013 Skate America
Pairs – Free Skating

Detailed Classification
Judges Scores
Final Result


Links to other Reports:
Ice Dance – Short Dance
Ice Dance – Free Dance
Ladies – Short Program
Ladies - Free Skating
Men – Short Program
Men – Free Skating
Pairs – Short Program

Disclaimer: The GOE values listed next to the elements are ones I would award if I was a judge and they’re intended to give you a general impression of how each element was executed. I try to describe each of the elements but there's not always time to be as detailed as I would like and a numbers can sometimes say a thousand words.

I am generally very nitpicky, try to pay a lot of attention to detail and attempt to notice various errors that judges might have missed. I realise that I’m being very harsh but I try my best to apply the same high standard to all of the skaters.

Any questions, comments, criticisms and discussion are all very welcome.

1. Margaret PURDY / Michael MARINARO /CAN/
Casablanca (soundtrack) by Max Steiner

dance lift to 3twist [-3] – lacking height, underrotated, crash, two-footed
3toe(she slightly underrotated and two-footed)/2toe(off-synch: she singled, he fell) [-3]
2axel [0]
step in lasso to changes of position to one hand to difficult dismount [-1] – a little sluggish, two-footed
catchfoot spiral into forward inside death spiral with change of hold [0]
spread eagle into axel lasso to one hand to difficult dismount [1] - solid
throw 3loop [0] – a little hesitation getting the free leg out on the landing but decent flow out and distance covered
camel/sit/up L/change sit holding foot/up [0] – well synchronised but could use some more speed
hand-on-hip lift to one hand to carry to difficult dismount [-1] – two-footed
dance lift to throw 3salchow [-2] – two-footed
choreographic sequence: front spirals / spread eagle and ina bauer [1] – good flow, well extended positions
to pair change combination spin [-2] – off-centred throughout

Quite good flow throughout but the choreography was generic. Skated through the music.

There isn’t much height difference between them.

2. Felicia ZHANG / Nathan BARTHOLOMAY /USA/
Les Miserables by Claude-Michel Schönberg

3twist [0] – quite strong catch but two-footed
3toe [-1] – she didn’t get a lot of height, he pitched forward on the landing
throw 3lutz [0]
Y spiral into back outside death spiral with change of hold [0] – position a little strained
to pair change combination spin [0]
flying camel/sit/up/change sit broken leg [0]
choreographic sequence: spread eagle and spiral / dance lift [0]
lovely spiral from her towards 2axel into 2axel [1] – all four jumps solid
reverse lasso to change of position and one hand hold to difficult dismount [0]
throw 3salchow [1] – good height
axel lasso to one hand hold to difficult dismount [1]
star lift to one hand to change of position and carry [0] – very good positions from her, good speed but two-footed

Skated with attack and confidence. A few nice choreographic touches throughout but the program seemed mostly quite open (even for pair skating).

There is room for improvement as far as quality of execution of elements is concerned (most were clean but not outstanding) but this was a very good performance.

3. Caydee DENNEY / John COUGHLIN /USA/
Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber

3twist [1] – high and solid
throw 3loop [2] – decent distance covered, secure landing with a nice extension and quite good flow out
3toe [0] – clean but a little off-synch on the entry
2axel/2toe/2toe [-1] – clean but both toe-loops off-synch
flying camel/sit/up leg to the side/change sit to cannonball(his position not extended very well)/up [0]
axel lasso to reverse rotation to change of position and one hand hold [0]
throw 3flip [-1] – hand down
choreographic sequence: catchfoot spiral into front spirals / dance rotational lift [0]
backward lasso to one hand to difficult dismount [0] – quite strong but two-footed
Y spiral into back outside death spiral with change of hold [-1] – weak position
press lift to carry to difficult dismount [-1] – two-footed
pair change combination spin [0] – could use some more speed

They responded to a few musical accents and there were a few interesting choreographic touches but the program was mostly stroking into elements.

4. Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR /USA/
Skyfall (James Bond soundtrack) by Thomas Newman

3twist [-3] – very high but he didn’t impede her downfall (skyfall?) much despite catching her at the waist and they both two-footed the landing
3toe(she doubled, he stepped out with hand down)/1toe(he didn’t do it) [-3]
spiral to throw 4salchow [-1] – enormous but she put the free foot down and turned out
flying camel/sit/up leg to the side/change sit cannonball [-1] – rotation speed not bad but it was off-synch
choreographic sequence [0]
3salchow [0] – landings a little tight but clean
reverse lasso to change of position and one hand and to another change of position and another one hand hold to difficult dismount [0] – impressive positions but a little labored
dance lift to throw 3salchow [-1] – very good height but step out
Y spiral into back outside death spiral [0] – position a little high
into pair change combination spin [1] – very nicely extended positions by her
star lift to change of position and carry to difficult dismount [1]
axel lasso to one hand [1] – good speed, solid

Quite a lot of in character upper body movement as well as transitions in between the elements. Beautiful lines and extensions from her but he seems to struggle to control his very large body (truck driver syndrome very much present, I’m afraid).

Finally a program featuring more complex choreography. Starting to work with Julie Marcotte was a great move for those two.

5. Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK /ITA/
Dracula by Philipp Glass

3toe/2toe/2toe [1] – sharp and solid on all of the jumps
3twist [-1] – two-footed, catch a bit weak
3salchow [-2] – she singled
flying camel/camel var/change sit holding foot/up L [0] – done very far apart (same goes for their jumps)
choreographic sequence: cantilever and spiral / V spirals [1]
throw 3salchow [0] – a little over the toe on the landing so not a lot of flow out
dance lift to hand-on-hip lift to changes of position and difficult dismount [1]
Y spiral into back outside death spiral with change of hold [0]
reverse lasso to change of position and one hand hold to difficult dismount [1]
throw 3loop [-3] – two-footed, overrotated
axel lasso to one hand [1]
arabesque into pair change combination spin [2] – very well extended positions, good rotation speed

Smooth basic skating and elegant movement, throughout. They did a memorable in character move with her lying down low, near the start of the program, but other than that the program seemed quite sparse.

A question mark over their choice of music again. It lacked highlights and intensity and wasn’t very varied.

6. Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV /RUS/
The Addams Family (soundtrack) by Marc Shaiman

2twist with arms above [2] – high with room to spare, strong catch
throw 3flip [-2] – step out
3toe/2toe/2toe [0]
reverse lasso to change of position and one hand hold to difficult dismount [0]
Y spiral into back outside death spiral with change of hold [0]
flying camel/up L/change sit broken leg [1] – well synchronised
choreographic sequence: a creative dance lift / catchfoot spirals [1]
steps into 2axel [-2] – he underrotated and stepped out, her landing very solid
backward lasso to one hand hold and dismount [1]
pair change combination spin [0] – could use some more speed
dance lift into hand-on-hip lift to change of position to difficult dismount [2] – quite effortless
throw 3salchow [1] – decent distance covered, good flow out

Creative choreography featuring a few nice dance lifts, some connecting footwork and an unusual element layout, with them changing positions relative to each other quite a lot.

They could have brought out the theme more and sold the program better through their upper body movement, however.

7. Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH /CAN/
Fellini Medley by Nino Rota

3twist [-1] – not much height, landed on his shoulder, good flow throughout though
3toe into 3toe [1] – solid, good flow out
3salchow [-1] – he landed deep in the knee and had to step out
Y spiral into back outside death spiral with change of hold [1] – lying quite low, decent rotation speed
dance lift into pair change combination spin [1] – good positions and rotation speed
throw 3loop [1] – good distance covered, good flow out
choreographic sequence: spirals [1]
axel lasso to one hand [2] – very strong
step in lasso to carry to one foot to reverse rotation to one hand [1]
flying camel/up L/change sit cannonball [-1] – very good rotation speed but off-synch throughout
dance lift to throw 3salchow [1] – good flow out
kneeling into star lift to reverse rotation to change of position to difficult dismount [1]

Quite elegant movement and good flow throughout (although their postures and lines – whilst better than in the past - could still improve) but the choreography was quite generic.

Between the Rota music and the understated black costumes, this program screams ‘mature.’ Oh how easy it is to enamour the judges. ;)

8. Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV /RUS/
Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber

3twist [2] – huge
spread eagles to 3salchow [2] – high and very solid
3toe/2toe [2] – solid, quite effortless
shoot-the-duck into back outside death spiral [1]
steps to flying camel/sit/up leg to the side/change camel/sit/up Y [1] – good positions and rotation speed, a little off-synch getting into the second position but quickly regained it
posing
throw 3loop [1] – huge, landing a tiny bit shaky and not a great deal of flow out though
choreographic sequence [2] – good flow
transitions into throw 3salchow [2] – huge
reverse lasso to change of positions and one hand hold to difficult spread eagle dismount [1]
into pair change combination spin [-1] – quite slow, a little off-centred after change of foot
backward lasso to one hand hold and dismount [1]
roll-up entry into star lift to one foot carry back to rotation [0] – strong lifting but footwork a little slow and it didn’t cover a lot of ice

Nice postures and lines. Some extremely impressive elements. It was a strong and confident performance skated without any hesitation, the choreography was quite simple however. There is a lovely, in-character, sweeping move with her lying down low at the start and a couple of transitions into other elements but they’re not doing much with the music, the element layout is pretty standard and there’s a lot of cross-overs. And strategic posing in the middle in order to catch their breath.

(With regards to the judging: This was obviously the best performance here by a country mile but the ‘3s and 10s for everything’ trend is now reaching ridiculous levels. It would be fine if IJS marks worked like ordinals since that would just indicate how much better they were than everybody else. But the current judging system is supposed to reward execution of particular elements and specific skills.)
 
Top