2017 GP Skate Canada Free Dance

[Silvia451]

I just rewatched V/M. Their skating is so mature, so intricate. I can't decide what to look at, their arms, their facial expressions, everything is part of the dance. There are so many lovely details, entries and transitions. The passionate looks at the end of the twizzles, the way she holds his head during the first lift, this interaction when they cross their hands...I was a huge fan of Carmen, but this is another level. Actually, everything they did after the comeback was at another level, even for them.
Come what may in Pyeongchang, for me this is gold.

 

[bixby]

Just cover the eyes of the baby dancers watching their idols. Dance is for adults!

I just look away, then clap because they're that good. They are already the gold standard and don't need to take it that far in the name of being so innovative as others would call it.

 

[Purv]

I just rewatched V/M. Their skating is so mature, so intricate. I can't decide what to look at, their arms, their facial expressions, everything is part of the dance. There are so many lovely details, entries and transitions. The passionate looks at the end of the twizzles, the way she holds his head during the first lift, this interaction when they cross their hands...I was a huge fan of Carmen, but this is another level. Actually, everything they did after the comeback was at another level, even for them.
Come what may in Pyeongchang, for me this is gold.

At the beggining , it looked lke Carmen, seriously. But this program does nothing for me. Music irritates me. I want it to end , because of the music. Mcgregor is awful.

 

[gravy]

With two silvers is a bit more guaranteed that they will qualify, but a silver and a bronze is quite possible too, especially with those scores.

If all goes as expected: Virtue & Moir, Papadakis & Cizeron, and the Shibutanis will make it to the GPF with all the golds wrapped up.

Two silvers would be guaranteed to get anyone into the final. It will most likely come down to bronze-and-silver tie break city. The scores H&D earned here were higher than what won Rostelecom so they should be good as long as they score well in Japan where they absolutely need to win the silver to have any chance of making the final.

 

[Ravyn Rant]

I love the Carmen lift. Watching people clutch pearls over it is quite amusing.

Mr. Rant overheard me say "it's the 'sit on my face' lift again!", and wandered in to see who was skating. "That doesn't sound right", he said. "Well, they are skating to Tango de Roxanne", I replied. "Oh, well that's all right, then!"
That's my sweetie.

 

[Anyasnake]

SO, breaking off the competition :

Virtue/Moir :

They are awesome. I know why they wanted MR. (It might actually be more suitable for an Ice Dance program than singles...).
The twizzles could be sliiiiighlty better. I'm obvisouly nitpicking (but that's okay that's V/M, we can nitpick all we want, right ), and I still feel slightly nervous for their twizzles, but I have no doubt it would be solved. They want to maximize the points after all.
Tessa had a clear wobble in the Cist though, so for sure it wasn't going to be level4 (it shouldn't at least). It was on a twizzle, her toepick took the ice. Nothing major for the whole program (so no cut in PCS) but they can't afford that if they want level 4. (They got 2 3's in GOEs for this though, so I don't know with a different panel...).
They maximized the points on all the 3 lifts !
For the Dist, I felt like some steps could be changed (towards the middle of it, there is a sort of break (?) and I felt it could be more attached/linked together).

Now for the program as a whole : they felt a bit cautious compared to what we can expect, no ? Actually, not everywhere but especially on the step sequences. That might be the reason for the level3's (in the Dist I felt that). And I still feel this is reversed from your "typical" skating program : this one just start off with a bang, and... I wouldn't say that it's fading away, but loses a bit of intensity. And then goes back. And then again (I'm just not familiar with the movie so... ).
But that was very good anyway. They're not here to play, I love it !!

 

[Anyasnake]

Weaver/Poje :

Feels niiiice to have them back. You can tell they connect so much with this program. However, some of the elemnts felt a bit rougher than usual, because you need a bit of time to adjust to a "new" program and they haven't had that much time, but at least the connection is already there and that's MAJOR.
They won on Base Value with a Dist level 4.
However, it felt quite slow (especially the twizzles and some parts of the steps). I know you're readjusting, it's fine. But they would have won the FD over H/D if not for the extended lift, and that is big NO. Not going to sugarcoat this one, but as much as I like WeaPo, they did get the homecooking this time. For these performances, TODAY (and yesterday) they shouldn't have been 2nd.
The program is realllllly nice, and I can't wait to see it polished. I'm not regretting spartacus as much now

 

[Anyasnake]

Hubbell/Donohue :

Not here to play. These guys want that national title BADLY.
Their FD is great. This time they actually maxed out on twizzles (they were great so no doubt about that). If you look at the GOEs, they are actually no +1, just 2 and 3's, so that's an EXCELLENT sign for them. Yes I feel like they did get a bit robbed for this competition, and they need to be 2nd in Japan for that GPF (well they could 3rd and go but that would imply a ton of situations that I'm not ready to explain).
Technically speaking, I actually put them with in the top 4 in the world. And they're starting to get those PCS now.
They have gotten the Shibs memo : Execute cleanly, and nobody can't say anything. However, Zach had a couple of glitch (one in the SD and one in the FD), and he can't afford to pull off a Guillaume when he's feeling the pressure. The 2 of them should have a talk about nerves actually (actually add Scott in the mix, Gadbois men for the win !)
Overall, they had a great competition, and more importantly, a great showing. Looking foward to NHK.

 

[asunta]

I can't help but V/M MR is so generic for me, and I do not get this season costumes choices. I always find them stylish and well dressed. But now most of Scott's trousers fit so unflattering on him (bad cut). His current MR costume reminds me ski jumpers outfit.

 

[Blades of Passion]

I guess Weaver/Poje are hoping for the top 2 teams to not go to Worlds this year, trying to win the title with the best received program of their career. Re-using this program is cheap though and it was overrated anyway, really wish they had come up with something better. Losing to H/D on home ice is not a great look.

 

[ancientpeas]

I concur with whomever said Scott's trousers are badly cut. Fix this please.

All in all I was pleased by what I saw by most of the teams. Well done to all.

Really liked the young Russian team but I think Chicago is all wrong for them.

Also liked H/D free dance a lot and I really like the tango part of V/M's Free. the last part needs to grow on me some but I liked it so much more than when I saw it at ACI. Happy to see W/P happy. Kaitlyn is an ugly crier like I am.

 

[TontoK]

I guess Weaver/Poje are hoping for the top 2 teams to not go to Worlds this year, trying to win the title with the best received program of their career. Re-using this program is cheap though and it was overrated anyway, really wish they had come up with something better. Losing to H/D on home ice is not a great look.

You are a great contributor to the forum. Sometimes I agree with you, sometimes not.

But you always make me think. This time you're right.

I though W/P would be the great thing this cycle. Hasn't turned out that way. I'm starting to wonder if H/D are setting themselves up to be the big thing next quad. They're plenty young, and he (especially) is hungry for big success. Ambition is a good thing.

 

[Emilia12]

That was an interesting competition, much more exciting than CoR to be honest.
H/D used to be a big favorites of mine for years, but this time I just really cannot connect with their FD, it's just so boring to me. They skated it very well, and they should get a very high score for it, but I probably won't remember that FD tomorrow. My other concern with HD is speed. They looked much more settled on their elements that WP, but very very slow.
As far as WP goes, it's very difficult for me to tell. I don't like when skaters reuse their programs, we have way too much recycled material this season as it is. But on the other hand, Malade is a great dance, I don't think it's their best dance in their career, but it's the most crowd friendly one for sure, and I'm not surprised at all that their fans asked them to bring that one again, especially since it actually fits very well into the current aesthetic in ice dance. They obviously have a strong emotional connection to that program, and that what makes it exciting to watch. They seem like they are not settled with the elements yet, the skate was a little tentative, which is understandable, the program is back only for two weeks now, but overall I was impressed with their skating and very happy with their well deserved silver medal. One thing that is interesting to me is that they were the only team to get level 4 on their DiSt, and they literally just re choreographed that step sequence. I think they going to score very well with that program during the season, when they going to settle with it.

My absolute favorite FD was actually HB. I just love that dance, it was beautifully choreographed and beautifully performed. I really wish HB all the best this season.

 

[Snow63]

So the panel of judges are all from Canada? Get over it!

This argument works for Canada only then? It didn't work for CoR or, let's say, Sochi 2014.

 

[Snow63]

I think Skate Canada "home cooking" has the worst judging of all the circuit.

At least be thankful they didn't give anyone pefrect scores and left some room for 'improvement'. It would be embarassing considering Olympics are usually overscore fest.

 

[Purv]

I wasn't super impressed by FD of V/M. Hated their costumes. Good skating. Some great acrobatic lifts. She's really good at throwing herself all around him. But this program is beatable. Why do Moulin Rouge if it's going to be so tame? Tessa's over-emoting is so exhausting. Plus the music is super tacky. . I don't find either of V/M's programs as strong as last season--the SP is okay, while Roxanne is kind of conceptually awful with bad cuts. It's also too close to the SP in the characters being played--Tessa-as-sexy-vamp

 

[ManyCairns]

I still think Tessa and Scott are so much better than this music. With that said, they are legends! The acting, skating, Tessa extension, etc. is just world class.

Yes 1000x. I just can't warm to this program at all. For me it's tacky and OTT, mostly due to the music cuts, but I don't like a coup,e of the tango choreographic moves either. Obviously it's divine for many/most, though. But Tessa and Scott are just incredible, incredible skaters.


eta: Purv, I swear I hadn't gotten to your post yet when I used the word tacky -- obviously though I quite agree.

 

[Anyasnake]

Yes 1000x. I just can't warm to this program at all. For me it's tacky and OTT, mostly due to the music cuts, but I don't like a coup,e of the tango choreographic moves either. Obviously it's divine for many/most, though. But Tessa and Scott are just incredible, incredible skaters.

So, I don't find them "tacky". It's a strong word... and a bit incorrect, at least for the FD.

Their SD is obviously OTT and that's exactly what they want, and they are playing with it. It's basically screaming "We are the Champions, give us all the points", and it's working perfectly because they have the technique to go with it (Their pattern and no-touch are excellent). It's very effective.

Weirdly enough I find a contradiction with the FD : it starts very strong, athletic, acrobatic, but I wonder if the step sequences are properly placed in the programm. They attack those sequences with a slightly slower music : the Cist on the slower part of Roxanne and the Dist on Come What May. The thing is, they are excellent with steps when the music is fast (just look at the SD), so it gives a contrast when it's slower (and it gets better once the music is faster). I think that's why they got 2 level 3's (not just because of the bobble on the Cist, it actually felt a tiny bit slower).

Just my 2 cents.

EDIT : Tessa's dress is amazing. Scott should change the color, because grey suits him, but the combination of both of them felt a bit colder (and I don't want Tessa to change her dress ). But they'll definitely adjust.

 

[GGFan]

So, I don't find them "tacky". It's a strong word... and a bit incorrect, at least for the FD.

Their SD is obviously OTT and that's exactly what they want, and they are playing with it. It's basically screaming "We are the Champions, give us all the points", and it's working perfectly because they have the technique to go with it (Their pattern and no-touch are excellent). It's very effective.

Weirdly enough I find a contradiction with the FD : it starts very strong, athletic, acrobatic, but I wonder if the step sequences are properly placed in the programm. They attack those sequences with a slightly slower music : the Cist on the slower part of Roxanne and the Dist on Come What May. The thing is, they are excellent with steps when the music is fast (just look at the SD), so it gives a contrast when it's slower (and it gets better once the music is faster). I think that's why they got 2 level 3's (not just because of the bobble on the Cist, it actually felt a tiny bit slower).

Just my 2 cents.

EDIT : Tessa's dress is amazing. Scott should change the color, because grey suits him, but the combination of both of them felt a bit colder (and I don't want Tessa to change her dress ). But they'll definitely adjust.

I would not use the word tacky either. Ewan McGregor's singing is pedestrian, but it worked in the context of a schmaltzy pastiche film (which I really enjoyed). I think of Scott and Tessa as legends of the sport, so the music choice is not ideal. Having said that their A++ skating and dancing elevates the piece--just not to classic program levels. I similarly thought that the Sam Smith part of their FD cheapened the overall effect but I would never call them tacky.

 

[La Rhumba]

Well, he's tall with dark hair, but he doesn't have a "hot" face.

Olivia Smart would beg to differ!