2019 Canadian Nationals Junior Ice Dance

[SnowWhite]

Also, of the top ten, 3 are aging out of junior (F/MP, F/A, O/R) and 1 other has said they will move up to senior (L/L). The other six should stay junior (unless there are splits).

Galiyanova/Lochhead have 2 more seasons of junior eligibilty.
McIsaac/Circelli have 2 more seasons.
Makita/Gunara have 3 more junior seasons.
D’Alessandro/Waddell have 4 more seasons.
Bashynska/Beaumont have 4 more junior seasons.
Bronsard/Bouaraguia have 4 more junior seasons.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

There was actually a lot of variety, just not as much among the last few. But in the top ten we also had Bashynska/Beaumont and their story-telling, character-based Cinderella FD, D'Alessandro/Waddell's Carmen/Malaguena Spanish FD, McIsaac/Circelli's open, folky FD to There Will Be Time by Mumford & Sons, Baaba Maal, Bronsard/Bouaraguia's high energy character-based Greatest Showman FD...

But actually, I would say that Galiyanova/Lochhead, Fabbri/Ayer and Orihara/Royer had similar types of FDs, but less so Lajoie/Lagha. L/L's feels less contemporary and more dramatic to me - not just romance-focused.

Also keep in mind that of the top ten, a lot of these teams are in their first season together (G/L, F/A, O/R, M/C). And then Bronsard/Bouaraguia just got back together for this season after splitting and skating singles last year.

Yeah, i assume lower ranking teams had more variety in their programs/elements... Top teams are usually 'playing safe', which is justified when you consider they came for a medal...

 

[SnowWhite]

Yeah, i assume lower ranking teams had more variety in their programs/elements... Top teams are usually 'playing safe', which is justified when you consider they came for a medal...

Well, one of the teams I listed got bronze, and another came sixth and could have come 4-5th if he hadn't botched the twizzles in the RD. So not just lower ranked teams.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Their SB is 166.52. The next Canadian team's is F/MP at 152.46 (more than 14 point difference) and that was at the Armenian JGP which I know some people found quite inflated. F/MP's first JGP score was 141.60 (~25 points behind L/L). The next Canadian team after them Bronsard/Bouaraguia was 140.67 (~26 points behind). Now, Fabbri/Ayer skated much better here than on the JGP, but still - Lajoie/Lagha have a huge gap on the others internationally. This is pretty realistic.

Spot on. I was surprised at the relatively weak showing by Bronsard/Bouarguia. But the placements look very uncontroversial to me. I have to see the vids. But there's a lot of talent coming up, which bodes well for Canadian ID.

 

[SnowWhite]

Spot on. I was surprised at the relatively weak showing by Bronsard/Bouarguia. But the placements look very uncontroversial to me. I have to see the vids. But there's a lot of talent coming up, which bodes well for Canadian ID.

It's mostly his botched twizzles in the RD. They probably would have been 4-5th without that.

 

[NoNameFace]

I had pretty s****y mood yesterday (still kinda have), but watched last 2 groups last night & siblings who skated last in group 2 - I have to say that the variety and depth of the field is INSANE in my opinion; frankly, I enjoyed this FD competition far much than quite few senior ones this season - I love the attitude of these young teams, a lot of dedication, passionate approach put into their performances, even if technical content is not yet there/something went wrong. It was a nice mix of something we know (like 'Malaguena' with some 'Carmen' hint or 'Cinderella') and something I always wished was used in ID ('There will be time' by Mumford & Sons feat. Baaba Maal). Despite crafting flowers, I couldn't tear my eyes of all teams .

I found Bashynska/Beaumont with 'Cinderella' very charming - I liked how affectionate and into the music they appeared, also dug the costume change, very tasteful and fitting the theme. And they seemed to enjoy the moment so much - I couldn't help, but enjoyed it with them! They have this youthful energy and charm to pull of a nice 'Cinderella'.

Olivia/Corey were my second fave FD after Lajoie/Lagha - God knows how I love that song and how badly I wished someone would use it as a FD, and my wish came true! I do think that with more experienced/refined team the program & the song would shine even brighter, but they did such a nice job - I really love how paced was their movement, how well music was cut (I love that their left this 'pick up' moment in music near the end and the whole beginning section), how it just flowed. I would love to see more of such pieces used that comprise contemporary/lyrical side with dynamic element, message into it than just serving as a nice company to pretty visual of a program. And I love how they look together on the ice, some kind of harmony between them, the expressiveness going between them (they could give it even more fire and speed though).

I have to say that Natalie & Bruce are looking quite grown-up and polished already, I just felt that they were little too 'severe' and serious in that FD comparing them to other teams, but it is also the specific of the program I think that gave me this impression on their presentation. I quite liked the 'build' in that program, some nice, but not-so-obvious Spanish/Paso/Flamenco references in movement, good, focused attitude and strong execution, loved some of the partnerings, their lines and speed.


Love the musicality and softness of Makita/Gunara - it was a pleasure with ease and effortless feel to it watching them in that FD. I think that their age and style made that program better in action than like seeing the theme/music on paper. I particularly appreciated the music tempo differentiation in movement: love the way they transitioned between slower/more 'romantic', softer parts and dynamic ones, really love their 'snap' and quickness to the movement too. I very much liked his attentiveness as a partner - he really saw to her in basically every moment in partnering and made really good frame to them as a team on ice.

Emmy/Aissa - I fell in love with them and that FD during JGP series, her smile really lights up the stage (and somehow she reminds me with this attitude, presentation young Tessa Virtue)! I have similar impression with them as with Lajoie/Lagha: while lady is more exuberant/expressive, male partner appears more reserved/focused; at the beginning, it bugged me a bit watching them and L/L, but I grew to understand that they balance each other quite well this way and it is better to have them 'growing' into expressiveness gradually than to force it onto them (it creates just more natural vibe, partnership, musicality in my opinion for the team and partners separately). Again, this is one of my favourite programs in Junior this season - I love how it was pieced together, what songs were used to it, it added to variety and played nicely on expressiveness (something lyrical, something energetic). I really like their attack throughout the program and attention to the detail, her accentuation of musical cues. And the theme/music played very well in my opinion on their age - it was 'show-y', but not too much.

And Marjorie and Zach...I love, love & LOVE this FD (along with RD) since I saw it in Autumn at the beginning of the season, it looks sharp, interesting in treating classical music, expressive, very well-rounded in terms their skills/capability vs their age/experience. For me tbh, they look waaaaaay more senior, polished & refined than a lot of senior teams - it is a contemporary program in sense of creation/movement aesthetic for me which comprises greatly classical notion of the music with dynamics/tempo changes implemented as for interpretation; a very alluring, unique twist to serve nowadays. It has a structure, built added to it, vivid expression pronounced by the whole body (Marjorie's especially), you just can't tear your eyes off them moving, telling the story alongside music, which brings me to the next big pros of that program & their performance yesterday - it showed a ,lot of focus in execution, attention to the detail in choreo/partnering, but at the same time a lot of freedom and abandon in movement in general, trying to convey some feel, something to give out to the people besides just pretty visual; that ability alone makes them superior to quite few senior teams. I was very impressed by how they grew up in last 3 years, how they became more and more of that 'full package' in terms of potential. And like I said, their attitudes balance themselves perfectly for me, they are both expressive, just each on their own, not forcing particular style of expression above one another. Big congratulations!!!

 

[WeakAnkles]

Skate Canada has the full events posted. I haven't looked for individual videos yet. The full events can be found on the event website under the red tab "Streaming archives".

SnowWhite you've been an absolute treasure for all the work you've done on making Canadian Nationals "available" to those of us who cannot attend. Many thank yous!