2018 Skate Canada Free Dance

[NoNameFace]

I failed to wake up and I'm in the middle of catching up, but the thing is I've just watched G/P's stellar FD and I don't want to watch other teams for now. God that was beautiful and lyrical, I was mesmerized during the entire performance. That should be shown again at Vancouver, really Oh, and Piper's dress is a thing of beauty.

And you are not wrong in that! I cried happy tears this time at 2 AM watching this special, magical moment casting its spell, everything that followed paled in comparison to be honest, no e of other FD had this kind of lasting power and lingering impression about it. The reflective, nostalgic nuance this FD bears just keeps on giving, the swirling of 'Starry Night' painting so vividly mimicked by their movement and energy...

As a side note, I think that Madison and Zachary should really pay attention, because this FD not only fell pale and bland going side by side with Gilles/Poirier and Vikita, but also was not scored higher than them. There should be food for thought taken away from Laval in terms of that FD, because there won't be giving out medals - some teams are pretty ready to take them ourselves...

 

[demarinis5]

Delete. Sorry wrong thread.

 

[Ichatdelune]

Got to watching the other teams, thoughts:

- H/D is a very strong team, but this FD just shows their technical abilities, period. I think I've watched this program enough times for me to say that. I might be traumatized and react to I'm Kissing You with extra negativity for now (god how I wish I could have a very serious conversation with Shae-Lynne Bourne), but if you watch this after G/P (like I did), it's just... well, bland. Not much character, not much emotion, not much anything. Yes, they're great dancers/skaters. No, this program isn't gold material.

- I liked S/K's program, and I confess that with ID I am as knowledgeable as I am in baseball (as in, I know nothing), but was it that good to beat G/P and H/D? I mean, they are good and the program is soft in flow yet with emotion, but... I don't know, I'm no expert.

- Lauriault/Le Gac pleasantly surprised me, I was meh on this program the first time I saw it yet I was very much into their performance this time. Deserving SB.

- I had to watch Smart/Diaz on mute, so all I can say is that unfortunately, I like her dress as much as I liked the shirt (not much).

- Poor Skoptsova/Aleshin, that was an awful senior debut. I haven't decided what my opinions are on the program itself, just that it feels a lot like Shevchenko/Eremenko's FD.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

Interestingly Piper and Paul won the TES. I wonder if they are in 3rd for the free because of early group or because the judges still don't prefer them.

I think Sinitsina/Katsalapov have better basic skating/skating skills. That also helps with performance and composition mark, especially when watching them live. I would give Gilles/Poirier better score in interpretation of the music though

 

[edenlover]

Interestingly Piper and Paul won the TES. I wonder if they are in 3rd for the free because of early group or because the judges still don't prefer them.

Not yo take anything away from Piper and Paul because it was a STUNNING free dance and deserving of the score, but wouldn't the -1.00 deduction of H/D on the lift come be taken on the TES score? If so then H/D TES would have been a bit higher than the other two teams. I think they are all very close and that makes for an interesting competitive season. We all know the ice is slippery, and also we haven't see P/C yet!

 

[TontoK]

Not yo take anything away from Piper and Paul because it was a STUNNING free dance and deserving of the score, but wouldn't the -1.00 deduction of H/D on the lift come be taken on the TES score? If so then H/D TES would have been a bit higher than the other two teams. I think they are all very close and that makes for an interesting competitive season. We all know the ice is slippery, and also we haven't see P/C yet!

I think, but I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong, that the deduction is taken off after the score is calculated.

That is to say that it does not come off the TES, but comes off separately at the end.

 

[Lester]

Not yo take anything away from Piper and Paul because it was a STUNNING free dance and deserving of the score, but wouldn't the -1.00 deduction of H/D on the lift come be taken on the TES score? If so then H/D TES would have been a bit higher than the other two teams. I think they are all very close and that makes for an interesting competitive season. We all know the ice is slippery, and also we haven't see P/C yet!

But the score is about how everything was performed on the day, deductions and all. If Piper hadn't slipped the other day, then G/P would have had loads more TES for the RD too, right

 

[La Rhumba]

Just watched the Free Dance on Eurosport Player - thankfully minus commentary - and what a fascinating event it was!

Firstly, speaking as a Brit, so proud of Robynne & Joe in only their 2nd ever GP, 6th in the FD (5th in FD TES) 7th Overall, with Nick Buckland in the Kiss & Cry looking very handsome in a blue suit and tie. That was their best ever performance of Ghost, the Musical, their expression has improved hugely and a deserved PB. Hopefully they, and Lilah and Lewis, will continue to progress and GBR will have 2 Dance couples in Beijing 2022.

I am so not on the Hubbell and Donohue bandwagon this season. I'm not a fan of either program, they're too old to portray Romeo & Juliet, and she's been wearing that dress (or similar) for too many seasons. IMO they appeal alot to fans of Figure Skating, ie folk who mostly watch Singles. For Ice Dance devotees, they are far from the No.1 couple as predicted by TSL. Personally I would've had Piper & Paul and SinKats ahead in the FD. Their Choreo, Interpretation, and music was so much more engrossing and appealing to me. SinKats RD is my favourite Tango I've seen so far this season, my opinion since seeing it at Ondrej Nepela hasn't changed. If Victoria's Twizzles had've been better, and if Piper's Romantica Pattern on point, we could've really had a nail biter in the Final!
Even though Victoria had a knee bandage, I hope Nikita's shoulder problems are behind him and we can see a real contest at Russian Nats!

Olivia's pink dress doesn't work as well as the man's white shirt in their Beatles FD for me. The previous look epitomised that lazy weekend feeling created by the music and their Choreo, so I hope she brings back the old costume. She is so captivating on the ice and does tend to overshadow Adrian a bit, but she looked so disappointed after they dropped. Hopefully they can improve the FD, as their Tango is fab.

Last season I was so in love with both Shane & Carolane and Lauriault/LeGac's programs, but this season both couples' FDs leave me cold. I just can't get into the music/choreo of either. And frankly, I thought L/LG 111.42 was overscored. It seemed like a Gadbois home game there were so many coaches and the fan club there.

An unimpressive Senior debut for the Russian Junior World Champions, who still looked very Junior and had 2 weak programs performed poorly. How on earth did they beat Carreira/Ponomarenko last season?

 

[rain]

I think Sinitsina/Katsalapov have better basic skating/skating skills. That also helps with performance and composition mark, especially when watching them live. I would give Gilles/Poirier better score in interpretation of the music though

Both have strengths and weaknesses in terms of skating skills that balance each other out. In SinKat's case, he is the stronger skater, who still tends to drag her around the ice at times. In terms of the judges, this team has a very classic Russian ice dance look to them with the long matching lines, so that helps them, for sure.

I think, for me, Gilles and Poirier just had the best fully realized performance here. I love the Russians' program — the best program for a Russian team in many, many years. It's just not quite there yet (see the ragged ending as the tempo picks up — I love the concept and choreo, but it needs more run-throughs).

Hubbell and Donohue have the least interesting choreography of the three, but it was performed very well and they have some of the best knees, speed and power in the business.

It's going to be an interesting season.

 

[Off My Rocker]

Nikita is such a star in his own mind...

That's it. You hit the nail on the head! Candide's Maximilian immediately comes to mind.

BUT...it DOES take a smidge of arrogance to be any kind of performer. I acknowledge the elegance and talent of this pair, however would like to see that he presents her instead of mostly himself.

 

[WeakAnkles]

But the score is about how everything was performed on the day, deductions and all. If Piper hadn't slipped the other day, then G/P would have had loads more TES for the RD too, right

Yes, because the fall was in the single worst possible place: between the two sections of the TR. So double deductions. If it had happened earlier, they could have salvaged at least one of the sections.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Protocols Up: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1819/gpcan2018/gpcan2018_IceDance_FD_Scores.pdf

Good news is that G/P got the highest BV. H/D had an extended lift.

However, with the way they revised the scoring system this season, the incremental differences between levels have lessened quite alot (eg. level 2 and level 3 on XSt differs by 0.5 only versus 1.5 of last season) and therefore, GOE plays a much greater role now (and there are also three choreo elements that are only dependent on GOE).

The changes are a travesty. Didn't take long to find that out, did it? We're heading back to the days of 6.0...

 

[Hyena]

The changes are a travesty. Didn't take long to find that out, did it? We're heading back to the days of 6.0...

I agree, sadly

 

[viennaskater]

Are you effing kidding me?! THAT above G/P AND H/D'S R&J I'm DONE, DAHECK!!!

It's a travesty. The Russians have nothing new to offer and it just doesn't stand up next to the genius and beauty of Gilles/Poirier. NOT happy!

And much as I love Hubbell/Donohue, their free dance doesn't show them at their best. Last season's FD was amazing!

 

[viennaskater]

Well, such a pity about the fall. But it is really a fun program and I enjoyed that a lot!

(Scoptkova/Aleshin) I thought it was so atrocious I stopped watching after the first third of it.

 

[Heleng]

Just wanted to ask - if their FD had this much power and pull live as it seemed through the screen?

Absolutely. I can’t adequately put into words quite what it was like to see their FD live.... It cast a spell on the audience. They got the biggest standing ovation of the FD competition. I was crying, the gentleman sitting next to me was crying.... It was everything I thought it would be, and more. It was the highlight of the entire competition for me.

 

[cell]

I really liked SinKats FD.... At least the first part for sure. Their lines are beautiful...People seem to think it's blah?

 

[WeakAnkles]

I really liked SinKats FD.... At least the first part for sure. Their lines are beautiful...People seem to think it's blah?

It's certainly something, but blah is not a word I would use. It's also certainly the best FD they've ever had. The main issue seems to be that this dance essentially is a throwback to a bygone era where "drama" trumped well, pretty much everything else.

And the scoring of it is raising a red flag about just how easy it is to manipulate the new 5pt GOE and the downgrading of level differentiation. Not a trend I'm happy to see rearing it's (VERY) ugly head.

 

[IceDancingQueen]

Just catching up on the competition - gutted for Piper and Paul - that free dance really is special so it’s a shame about the fall in RD. I was really hoping they would make the GPF but it looks unlikely now if the top three Russian teams and Italian team perform well in the rest of their competition.

I must say I’m enjoying having some proper Russian ice dance teams back in the competition though. S/B are my faves and I absolutely love their free dance but SinKats are lovely to watch even if their FD is a bit old school.

H/D’s FD is fine but it definitely feels like it’s lacking a bit of inspiration. Is it just me but does Madison seem a bit arrogant or entitled this season? I could totally be projecting but she seems so different in the Kiss and Cry. Maybe it’s just the air of confidence and not arrogance but it’s coming across more arrogant than confident to me!

It’s definitely going to be an interesting competition this year. Who knows how this will all pan out at Worlds!

 

[jersey1302]

I re watched Piper and Pauls FD and the only thing I can really nit pick is what the score box called "rotational lift 4" I thought it was a bit ugly. I didnt like the position. It looked awkward and un finished. So I hope they change that, I think something else would be so much better there.. Other than that, it sure was special!

I also REALLY liked Lauriault and Le Gac RD.. I think they nailed the Chicago number, super entertaining. I wasn't blown away by H/D, they are nice skaters but it was kinds meh. I also really really liked Soucisse and Firus FD of Dirty Diana.. it was so sexual! They just nailed it! I love how original it felt. I kinda re said some of what I had from my previous post somewhere up there but the point of this post mainly was to say I wasnt a fan of G/P rotational lift haha.