2018 NHK Free Dance

[GGFan]

Finally got a chance to watch the team from the UK. What a great tribute to the 70s (and black artists specifically--RIP Donna and Michael)!! Where Piper and Paul's was more of a parody and a wink (which I loved) this one was more earnest. Awesome highlights and those first set of twizzles are some of the most musically appropriate I have ever seen. What a breath of fresh as air!

 

[cake]

F/G were on fire So far my second favourite Program of the season behind G/P. Too bad for the mistake in the RD. They earned over 13 points on the choreo sequences These elements are very important this season with the massive GOE earning possibility. Cudos to the judges for going with them despite ranking low after RD.

Z/Gs program will be very good in my opinion when they get mileage. It suits them and features very interesting moves but today it seemed rough and laboured.

H/B were lovely. On a side note: the lyrics repeat "rainbow" all over again, and their costumes are all grey?? A bit more colour would look much better.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

FOUR BRITISH SKATERS IN THE TOP FOUR!!!!



1[SUP]st[/SUP] – Jean-Luc Baker
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] – Tiffany Zahorski
4[SUP]th[/SUP] – Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson

And I bet you the BBC don't even pick up on it! :disapp:

Got to say, I loved the rections when Kaitlin and Jean-Luc's scores were being announced. Kaitlin started celebrating when the FS score was announced, and then realised "hang on, that's only the segment score" and then stopped. And then they all sat there waiting and then the overall score was announced, and Kaitlin was the first to realise that they had won, and she went completely mad!!! And then everybody else joined in!!!

As the guys said in commentary, it was so refreshing to see such genuine joy.

Felt so sorry for Tiff and Jon. Like, it shows you how badly things went for Jon when even our favourite uncles were being harsh about his performance. But, everybody has one of those days now and again, so I'm sure things will be much better the next time we see them.

EDIT: Just watched the podium ceremony, and I thought that was a lovely moment when the medallists were all waiting to come out onto the ice, and there was Tiff standing there with a needle and thread sewing Jon's cuff back together!​

And as for the partnership that was actually representing Team GB, I will never tire of that FS programme. Absolutely love it! These two are quickly becoming the most promising young Ice Dance partnership on the circuit.

What a great competition!

And I put the correct four partnerships at the top in my predictions!!! Just a pity I didn't put them in the correct order!!!

WELL DONE EVERYBODY!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[GGFan]

F/G were on fire So far my second favourite Program of the season behind G/P. Too bad for the mistake in the RD. They earned over 13 points on the choreo sequences These elements are very important this season with the massive GOE earning possibility. Cudos to the judges for going with them despite ranking low after RD.

Z/Gs program will be very good in my opinion when they get mileage. It suits them and features very interesting moves but today it seemed rough and laboured.

H/B were lovely. On a side note: the lyrics repeat "rainbow" all over again, and their costumes are all grey?? A bit more colour would look much better.

I wanted to be fair so I went back and watched the other Blues for Klook programs: Sui/Han, Daisuke Takahashi, and Usova/Zhulin. For the latter I watched their Skate America performance, since the program was newer and less polished then.

My verdict: Z/G is missing SWAG! In all of the other examples the skaters bring an attitude that matches the music. They also utilize a lot more of the beat and the musical highlights.

The Z/G program seems like a lot of half baked ideas that could be built into something. But it is ROUGH. I hope they rework the program substantially.

 

[cake]

I wanted to be fair so I went back and watched the other Blues for Klook programs: Sui/Han, Daisuke Takahashi, and Usova/Zhulin. For the latter I watched their Skate America performance, since the program was newer and less polished then.

My verdict: Z/G is missing SWAG! In all of the other examples the skaters bring an attitude that matches the music. They also utilize a lot more of the beat and the musical highlights.

The Z/G program seems like a lot of half baked ideas that could be built into something. But it is ROUGH. I hope they rework the program substantially.

I agree the swag is not there yet, but I see a possibility to get some in the future. (Maybe that´s just my hope because I´m a bit sick of all the lyrical programs ). Sui/Han or Takahashi level ist out of their reach probably. I will go now and watch Usova/Zhulin, I don´t really remember their program.

 

[NoNameFace]

I wanted to be fair so I went back and watched the other Blues for Klook programs: Sui/Han, Daisuke Takahashi, and Usova/Zhulin. For the latter I watched their Skate America performance, since the program was newer and less polished then.

My verdict: Z/G is missing SWAG! In all of the other examples the skaters bring an attitude that matches the music. They also utilize a lot more of the beat and the musical highlights.

The Z/G program seems like a lot of half baked ideas that could be built into something. But it is ROUGH. I hope they rework the program substantially.

Yes, it misses the spark and filling up the music with presence and movement. At this point, it all feels a bit too sqared and bumping into the edges instead of flowing and having the edge itself. Saying that, it is by far their best FD (and maybe a program in general) ever for me, at least concept-wise and going well with their attitude/chemistry on ice. Still, the music is quite big and needs work to be done with their movement and partnerings - looking back at Wenjing and Cong or Takahashi, they did interpret and perform the piece way better than a lot of ice dancers in my opinion, You just couldn't tear eyes of how they completed the music.

It is quite a pity that once again it is FD that takes them down overall, but no doubt they will work on it.

 

[NoNameFace]

Finally got a chance to watch the team from the UK. What a great tribute to the 70s (and black artists specifically--RIP Donna and Michael)!! Where Piper and Paul's was more of a parody and a wink (which I loved) this one was more earnest. Awesome highlights and those first set of twizzles are some of the most musically appropriate I have ever seen. What a breath of fresh as air!

Believe me, seeing it live at Nepela really shifted my perception of dynamic, lively program in Ice Dance - it was fresh, catchy, tastefully done performance with a right balance between groove and a bit of Disco nostalgia. To start for mid-90s score and make it into 113+ in just 2 months is beyond remarkable - they improve leaps and bounds while having so much fun with it, giving the fun to us! Everything just went sleek, with energy, I love how they caught each other's eyes during performance and made eye contact with judges/audience. Also, I am quite a fan of how music was cut and chosen for this program - there are few tracks, but the mix feels nice and easy for ears.

They carry the happy program torch with Lauriault/Le Gac this season, I love both programs to be honest!

 

[BillNeal]

Thank you, yes, you are right and your explanation is correct. However, this is one more time an illustration of how deeply wrong is the math behind the GOEs for the Choreographic elements. Only 1.10 basic value for all of them (with no levels, i.e. no say from the technical panel) and then these enormous values from positive GOEs, which can increase the basic value from 1.10 to 5.25, i.e. 500%, and can allow the absurdity we see with the above result - 6 judges think that the element is not good, but the final value is still increased. SImply ridiculous, imo.

Agree that the math is absurd here. Imo, if they are going to use unequal scales between the positive and negative sides, a better reflection of the score would be taking the average GOE scale value first, find out whether it's negative or positive, then translate it into a GOE point value. If they do that in this case, the average GOE would be [2 * (+1) + 5 * (-1)] / 7 = -3/7. Since it's negative, multiply by 0.22 to get -0.09.

 

[litenkyckling]

Only just had time to watch this - I have to say, I so wish Lilah and Lewis had been able to get the bronze here because I love what they're doing this season but still an amazing result for them. Pleased for H/B for their gold - and on a selfish note I'm glad that Piper and Paul still have a chance to get to the final!

 

[La Rhumba]

I've only just been able to watch and am FUMING Lilah & Lewis didn't get a medal! They won the FD TES by a mile for Dance - over 3 points, but due to PCS of the top 3 were placed 4th. So unfair! The ISU Ice Dance Committee need to bring in the Entertainment bonus point they talked about! They deserved to be on the podium. I am so bored with Marie France lyrical FDs, no surprise she did not choreo Lilah & Lewis's Disco. And no to the Parson's French rehash. Not really loving Chris Dean's choreo for the Russians either. Think Maya Usova & Alex Zhulin interpreted that music better. Tiffany & Jonathan are too long limbed for the Dean intricate hold style of choreo IMO. NHK scheduling is not good for Dance at all. But SO proud of Lilah & Lewis. We know how it works, and they have still have to bide their time, so consequently were 7th in the RD, too far behind, or so we thought, to push for a medal. Almost. Jean-Luc had a trip in the 2nd TR Pattern but weren't punished by the Judges as much as Lilah was for the Twizzle trip. Look what happens when non big 5 country couples are given a chance? We've had 2 GBR Dance couples in the GP this year, and both have done us proud!

:clapper:

 

[IceDancingQueen]

It was nice. I preferred the disco brits. Sorry Americans.

Completely agree! Lilah and Lewis were SO good. I just can’t seem to get on board with the Parsons. Yes, they are great skaters but are they memorable? And using music that P/C used SO well is super gutsy but IMO it didn’t work.

I feel like the choreography for both programmes does have a weird romantic vibe to it which makes for uncomfortable watching. And I never felt like that with the Shibs or the Kerrs - so they need to sort out an appropriate dynamic for their programmes that works for a brother and sister and is unique to them. I feel like I’m watching romantic Donnie and Marie Osmand on ice which is just a NO!!!

 

[NoNameFace]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Timkoleto/status/1061635853301084160/photo/2

All 5 Gadbois teams competing at NHK during banquet

 

[LaArdilla]

I loved H/B reaction to their win: "Yay, we are first in FD! But will it be enough to win overall... Pause, pause, consternation... Yay, we've got this!!!" These figure skating folk are not the best in doing maths in their heads, hahaha.

 

[SnowWhite]

Completely agree! Lilah and Lewis were SO good. I just can’t seem to get on board with the Parsons. Yes, they are great skaters but are they memorable? And using music that P/C used SO well is super gutsy but IMO it didn’t work.

I feel like the choreography for both programmes does have a weird romantic vibe to it which makes for uncomfortable watching. And I never felt like that with the Shibs or the Kerrs - so they need to sort out an appropriate dynamic for their programmes that works for a brother and sister and is unique to them. I feel like I’m watching romantic Donnie and Marie Osmand on ice which is just a NO!!!

I have never felt anything romantic about their programs, and I haven't heard that comment before tbh, so I don't know that it's a big problem for them. I do think that if, say Tessa and Scott skated this program it would feel romantic. But then I also think that if Tessa and Scott skated the Shibs Fix You program it would have felt romantic.

 

[kkermit]

Has anyone else noticed that Marie France is not listed on some the introduction boxes as a coach for some the Montreal teams? I started to notice it yesterday, but couldn't figure out if this was already a well known thing. Patrice is listed with some other coaches, but not M-F

Seems like a new development. It makes sense that Patch is listed more as he is the tech specialist while Marie-France does more choreo (but not for every team). They have so many teams it would be hard to be a "main" coach for all of them.

 

[SnowWhite]

Seems like a new development. It makes sense that Patch is listed more as he is the tech specialist while Marie-France does more choreo (but not for every team). They have so many teams it would be hard to be a "main" coach for all of them.

In terms of Marie-France, I don't think it's a new thing, I think it's thing with their British teams. Before last season, their coaches were listed as Karen Quinn and Romain. This year, Patch was added to F/G's list and according to their bio they now train full-time in Montreal. Fear/Waddell have Romain, Karen and someone else listed, and they seem to only be in Montreal part-time still.

Marie-France is listed for all their other teams: H/D, P/C*, Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen*, Hawayek/Baker, Lauriault/Le Gac, Smart/Diaz, Soucisse/Firus (actually they only list M-F, which is new), Wang/Liu (no Romain, but a Chinese coach is listed), Lajoie/Lagha, Komatsubara/Koleto, Fisher/Malette-Paquette, Bronsard/Bouaraguia, Markova/Daze

*Haven't updated their bios for this season

Chen/Sun have no coaches listed yet in their bio. Chock/Bates and Plutowska/Flemin haven't updated their bios since their coaching changes. That's 17 of their 18 teams, and the last one is a Canadian novice team

Pascal is the Montreal coach who only shows up on the bios of some of the teams, but that's not new: Lauriault/Le Gac, Smart/Diaz, Lajoie/Lagha, Komatsubara/Koleto, Fisher/Malette-Paquette, Bronsard/Bouaraguia, and Markova/Daze. He tends to be listed for the juniors and "lower-ranked" teams from what I can tell.

 

[kkermit]

In terms of Marie-France, I don't think it's a new thing, I think it's thing with their British teams. Before last season, their coaches were listed as Karen Quinn and Romain. This year, Patch was added to F/G's list and according to their bio they now train full-time in Montreal. Fear/Waddell have Romain, Karen and someone else listed, and they seem to only be in Montreal part-time still.

Marie-France is listed for all their other teams: H/D, P/C*, Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen*, Hawayek/Baker, Lauriault/Le Gac, Smart/Diaz, Soucisse/Firus (actually they only list M-F, which is new), Wang/Liu (no Romain, but a Chinese coach is listed), Lajoie/Lagha, Komatsubara/Koleto, Fisher/Malette-Paquette, Bronsard/Bouaraguia, Markova/Daze

*Haven't updated their bios for this season

Chen/Sun have no coaches listed yet in their bio. Chock/Bates and Plutowska/Flemin haven't updated their bios since their coaching changes. That's 17 of their 18 teams, and the last one is a Canadian novice team

Pascal is the Montreal coach who only shows up on the bios of some of the teams, but that's not new: Lauriault/Le Gac, Smart/Diaz, Lajoie/Lagha, Komatsubara/Koleto, Fisher/Malette-Paquette, Bronsard/Bouaraguia, and Markova/Daze. He tends to be listed for the juniors and "lower-ranked" teams from what I can tell.

Thank you this in depth post

 

[La Rhumba]

In terms of Marie-France, I don't think it's a new thing, I think it's thing with their British teams. Before last season, their coaches were listed as Karen Quinn and Romain. This year, Patch was added to F/G's list and according to their bio they now train full-time in Montreal. Fear/Waddell have Romain, Karen and someone else listed, and they seem to only be in Montreal part-time still.

The "someone else" is Alan Abretti, who was sitting with them in the K&C at NHK, who coaches with Karen Quinn at Alexandra Palace rink in London. Alan & Karen represented GBR at Europeans in 1989. This weekend Karen was with Sasha & George at Oloumouc, Czech Republic for Pavel Roman Memorial where they won the Junior Dance Bronze medal.

Romain Hagenauer has always done the Fear Sisters choreo for both programmes. Marie France has always been known not to choreo Junior or lower ranked couples, but sometimes she makes an exception. Lilah & Lewis have been permanently in Montreal since mid-Summer, and Lilah now goes to University there and Lewis works as a Spin Instructor. Sasha is 16, so as far as I know is still in education in London where the family home is.

 

[el henry]

Finally got a chance to watch the team from the UK. What a great tribute to the 70s (and black artists specifically--RIP Donna and Michael)!! Where Piper and Paul's was more of a parody and a wink (which I loved) this one was more earnest. Awesome highlights and those first set of twizzles are some of the most musically appropriate I have ever seen. What a breath of fresh as air!

I’m afraid I need to make a small correction. Michael (Jackson) was nowhere near the Fear and Gibson FD.

“September” was F/G’s middle tune. By Earth Wind & Fire. Maurice White, may he rest in peace, was the lead baritone singer for EWF and sang lead vocals for September. Philip Bailey, the falsetto/tenor, sang backup.

Sorry to be so picayune, but back in the day I loved EWF more than anything, more than Toller

And this FD is *wonderful*.

 

[Mrs. P]

I’m afraid I need to make a small correction. Michael (Jackson) was nowhere near the Fear and Gibson FD.

“September” was F/G’s middle tune. By Earth Wind & Fire. Maurice White, may he rest in peace, was the lead baritone singer for EWF and sang lead vocals for September. Philip Bailey, the falsetto/tenor, sang backup.

Sorry to be so picayune, but back in the day I loved EWF more than anything, more than Toller

And this FD is *wonderful*.

They had Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Until You Get Enough” in the last part. It’s perfect for those epic slides!!!