2018-19 European Ice Dance

Mohacz · Sep 12, 2018

Hello everyone,

With similar threads for Men and Women, I think we could start the discussion about the state of the European ice dance. Gabriella and Guillaume are unquestionable leaders, but behind them there are a copule of quite good and very decent duets that at the beginning of this new quad may consolidate their position in Europe or even ascend in the ranks thanks to retirements and/or hard work. The couples I think that may easily enter or fight their way into the European Top 10, with no particular order, are the following:

Stepanova & Bukin (RUS)
Zagorski & Guerreiro (RUS)
Sinitsina & Katsalapov (RUS)
Popova & Mozgov (RUS) or other promising Russian duo if they are able to qualify for the Europeans)
Kaliszek & Spodyriev (POL)
Guinard & Fabbri (ITA)
Hurtado & Khaliavin (ESP)
Smart & Diaz (ESP)
Nazarova & Nikitin (UKR)

What are your ideas? Who do you think will fight for medals at the Europeans? Which European schools and training ideas will result successful in the European ice rink? Barbara Fusar-Poli, Russian coaches or some nowe emerging ones, like Fabian Bourzat?

pearly · Sep 12, 2018

Europe lost a great team when Laurence and Nikolaj switched to Canada. Such a shame.

I think Barbara's school is behind in ideas and technique. For non-Montreal European teams, right now I think one of the reasonably successful coaches is Zhulin and I am very curious to see what Krylova will come up with.

bunnybarista · Sep 12, 2018

I'm excited to see where Hurtado and Khaliavin can go - from what I've seen, I really like their energy. Certainly Hurtado has shown great determination over the years, becoming the first ice dancer (with former partner Diaz) to represent Spain internationally / at the olympics back in 2014! Even though she and Khaliavin have been to the 2018 Olympics together, they really haven't been skating together long yet, which might put them at a disadvantage... I will be wishing them well!

pearly said:
Europe lost a great team when Laurence and Nikolaj switched to Canada. Such a shame.

Just wanted to second this! Being from Denmark myself, I was very sad to see our only senior team switch over to Canada, but ultimately I understand why they made that decision. They are a beautiful team and it's a shame that Denmark couldn't offer them the opportunities they were seeking.

Mohacz · Sep 12, 2018

bunnybarista said:
I'm excited to see where Hurtado and Khaliavin can go - from what I've seen, I really like their energy. Certainly Hurtado has great determination in becoming the first ice dancers to represent Spain internationally / at the olympics! However, the fact that they haven't been skating together long might put them at a disadvantage... I will be wishing them well!

Just wanted to second this! Being from Denmark myself, I was very sad to see our only senior team switch over to Canada, but ultimately I understand why they made that decision. They are a beautiful team and it's a shame that Denmark couldn't offer them the opportunities they were seeking.

Sara Hurtado was in Sochi and represented Spain with Adria Diaz. They performed there their iconic Picasso program and, if I remember correctly, obtained their personal marks in both segments. It's a pity Sara and Adria decided to split, but the good thing is that Spain gained two very good pairs that have to push each other and develop in order to gain spots and be sent to the Europeans and Worlds. I see more potential in Sara and Kiril and soon we'll see their new programs since both Spanish duos are listed for Finlandia Trophy at the beginning of October.

bunnybarista · Sep 12, 2018

Mohacz said:
Sara Hurtado was in Sochi and represented Spain with Adria Diaz. They performed there their iconic Picasso program and, if I remember correctly, obtained their personal marks in both segments. It's a pity Sara and Adria decided to split, but the good thing is that Spain gained two very good pairs that have to push each other and develop in order to gain spots and be sent to the Europeans and Worlds. I see more potential in Sara and Kiril and soon we'll see their new programs since both Spanish duos are listed for Finlandia Trophy at the beginning of October.

Sorry if my wording was confusing - I knew that she represented Spain at Sochi with her former partner and was referring to that. I have reworded my post to clarify now.

DSQ · Sep 12, 2018

Considering they train in Montreal I really hope Fear and Gibson (GBR) can make there mark this year considering Coomes and Buckland are sitting this year out and probably don’t have another Olympics in them.

Not to be forgotten is Olivia Smart’s former partner Joseph Buckland and his new partner Robyanne Tweedale. Both Fear/Gibson and Tweedale/Buckland have two GP spots - I hope they don’t waste them!

Ice Dance · Sep 12, 2018

I like Nazarova & Nikitin. Excited to see them at Skate America this season. Hoping they will be prepared, despite moving back to Ukraine where there seems to have been a lot of difficulty for skaters trying to obtain ice. Glad that Bourzat is still working with them though.

LandShark · Sep 13, 2018

DSQ said:
Considering they train in Montreal I really hope Fear and Gibson (GBR) can make there mark this year considering Coomes and Buckland are sitting this year out and probably don’t have another Olympics in them.

Not to be forgotten is Olivia Smart’s former partner Joseph Buckland and his new partner Robyanne Tweedale. Both Fear/Gibson and Tweedale/Buckland have two GP spots - I hope they don’t waste them!

Yes, ;UK ice dance has been in a relatively healthy, productive vein for most of this current century, ;and it's important that momentum isn't lost like it has been in the past.

DSQ · Sep 14, 2018

I know right?! They’ve got such a golden opportunity here. Especially since NISA just lost all it’s funding they need to smash this season and prove they’re worth lottery funding for the next Olympics.

I’m not asking for a miracle like making the Grand Prix Final but coming fourth or *whisper it* third would be my dream.

siela · Sep 14, 2018

Mohacz said:
I see more potential in Sara and Kiril and soon we'll see their new programs since both Spanish duos are listed for Finlandia Trophy at the beginning of October.

Sara and Kiril are competing today in Lombardia, so we will see their programs a little bit earlier than that

siela · Sep 14, 2018

BTW, I believe, there is another European dance team with potential that has not been mentioned yet - Shira ICHILOV / Vadim DAVIDOVICH. I remember seeing them last year at JGP and liking them quite a lot. They can certainly climb up to top ten in Europe in a couple of years.

Mohacz · Sep 14, 2018

siela said:
Sara and Kiril are competing today in Lombardia, so we will see their programs a little bit earlier than that

Oh, that's right. I'm happy about that and I hope they'll have a satisfactory start of the season. Looking only at the entries I think they can easily medal there although the gold will be probably reserved for Charlene and Marco. Lombardia trophy is famous for its crazy high points awarded to Italian ice dancers. I suspect this time will be similar, especially since Guignard and Fabbri are currently Italy's no. 1 ice dancers. Other skaters I am curious about are the British and the Finnish. All the rest, apart from the Parsons siblings, is unknown to me. And I will add no more comments regarding this event since the moderators keep asking to discuss the events in the events thread. I can only say that I am very happy that the season officially has started and week by week we'll see and discover the programs of all the skaters and be able to discuss the condition of the European ice dance based on the first impressions from these Challenger events.

By the way, I've just noticed another Fabbri on the entry list. His name is Andrea Fabbri and skates with Carolina Moscheni. Any idea if he's family with Marco?

Andrea82 · Sep 14, 2018

Mohacz said:
By the way, I've just noticed another Fabbri on the entry list. His name is Andrea Fabbri and skates with Carolina Moscheni. Any idea if he's family with Marco?

Andrea is Marco's brother.

He skated for a couple of seasons with Misato Komatsbura (Euros 2015 and 2016 but failing to advance to FD).
He started with Moscheni ahead of last season. They did a couple of senior Bs (Cup of Nice, Open of Andorra).

Nirti · Sep 20, 2018

siela said:
BTW, I believe, there is another European dance team with potential that has not been mentioned yet - Shira ICHILOV / Vadim DAVIDOVICH. I remember seeing them last year at JGP and liking them quite a lot. They can certainly climb up to top ten in Europe in a couple of years.

With the split of Tankova/Zilberberg (he's on IcePartnerSearch), Ichilov/Davidovich are the only israeli senior team for this season, a big chance to see them at Europeans and maybe Worlds.

Mohacz · Sep 20, 2018

Louis Thauron will debut tomorrow at Ondrej Nepala Trophy with his new partner (Adelina Galayavieva). I am curious about this new pair and their programs.
by the way, is it finally confirmed that Abachkina will skate with Pavel Drozd? And if so, do we know anything about their possible participation in any Challenger event?

Andrea82 · Sep 20, 2018

Judging by social media (IG Stories) it looks like Joti Polizoakis is having tryouts with Nicole Schott's sister Vivienne

Mohacz said:
Louis Thauron will debut tomorrow at Ondrej Nepala Trophy with his new partner (Adelina Galayavieva). I am curious about this new pair and their programs.
by the way, is it finally confirmed that Abachkina will skate with Pavel Drozd? And if so, do we know anything about their possible participation in any Challenger event?

One of them (the one switching country) will have to sit out for a year since last internationnal competition for previous country. Her last competition for France is Euros 2018. I think his last international event was Golden Spin 2017. So no chance to see them in Challenger Series this year if they have indeed teamed up

brushalley · Sep 20, 2018

Stepanova/Bukin I think are going to make a leap this year. A silver at at euros is definitely in their grasp.The Italians Charlene and Marco I'm liking more and more.I also like Popova/Mozgov looking forward to seeing them.They are a little different as a team like they are a bit more how can I explain? Energetic exhuberant lots of personality especially her!

WeakAnkles · Sep 20, 2018

Hmm I watched the Russian test skates (finally) and frankly what I thought was, It's 1995 all over again--only with better tricks!

Look, I'm a fan of the High Russian Style, but I don't think any of the senior Russian dance teams I've seen are a major podium threat (barring of course any off-stage shenanigans). It seems to me that both Kyrlova and Zhulin are choreographing the type of programs that made them successful, so everything looks like a throwback. I was far more impressed with P/M and S/K than I was with S/B. I like their programs. I actually like them quite a bit. But they're dated.

Ice Dance · Sep 21, 2018

Andrea82 said:
One of them (the one switching country) will have to sit out for a year since last internationnal competition for previous country. Her last competition for France is Euros 2018. I think his last international event was Golden Spin 2017. So no chance to see them in Challenger Series this year if they have indeed teamed up

This. Plus one of them would need a release.

Mohacz · Sep 21, 2018

Mohacz said:
Louis Thauron will debut tomorrow at Ondrej Nepala Trophy with his new partner (Adelina Galayavieva). I am curious about this new pair and their programs.
by the way, is it finally confirmed that Abachkina will skate with Pavel Drozd? And if so, do we know anything about their possible participation in any Challenger event?

We'll see Galayavieva/Thauron and Popova/Mozgov today in Bratislava. And although Betina and Sergei already presented their programs at the Russian test skates, it will be interesting to see them in a competition. Also, I'm curious about Thauron's new partner. I wonder if she's equally fierce and with such a marked personality like Abachkina, or maybe softer and more calm.

BTW, according to ISU, Galayavieva and Thauron's programs are:
SP: Flamenco by Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos / Tango Flamenco by Armik

9 out of 10 ice dancers in Bratislava are Europeans, which is quite obvious due to logistics reasons. I think it will be the first direct competition between both British duos. And although everyone seems to assume Vika and Nikita will be the winners, I'm curious about the judging and the point gap between them and Betina and Sergei (assuming both pairs skate clean).
LP: Amelie Sountrack by Yann Tiersen

2018-19 European Ice Dance

Mohacz

pearly

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

Mohacz

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

DSQ

Ice Dance

LandShark

DSQ

siela

siela

Mohacz

Andrea82

Nirti

Mohacz

Andrea82

brushalley

WeakAnkles

Ice Dance

Mohacz

Similar threads

Connect with us