2022 Skate Canada Free Dance

[IceDancingQueen]

This is a fair podium but I am really bugged that Fear and Gibson are still milking the Madonna stuff and being rewarded. I get it that it's their niche but I'm wondering if a different set of world judges might not be so enamored.

I was wondering the same thing but you could argue that P/C skated their niche style almost their entire winning career as did Sinitsina/Katsalapov so I don’t really know if judges care whether couples do different styles as long as they skate them well. F/G are electric performers and really sell their programmes so it will be interesting to see what the judges do when they are eventually vying for top of the podium. I could be wrong but I don’t think they will leap frog over G/F, Psquared or C/B just yet.

 

[4everchan]

Breakdown of marks by judge

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British judge (Buchanan) puts Fear/Gibson first
Italian judge (Orlandini) (thinking about Guignard/Fabbri) puts Fear/Gibson behind Lajoie/Lagha in PCS
USA judge (Dalley) wasn't too hot on anyone except, relatively speaking, Bratti/Sommerville...and Komatsburar/Koleto

USA Judge also put Gre/Par ahead of LALA.... Bratti Sommerville ahead of La Le... and then some call for homecooking... the Canadian judge is pretty much placing everyone in the way the results ended up.

 

[4everchan]

Khaki? How about Camo Green?

same difference

 

[Andrea82]

USA Judge also put Gre/Par ahead of LALA.... Bratti Sommerville ahead of La Le... and then some call for homecooking... the Canadian judge is pretty much placing everyone in the way the results ended up.

Given how close La/La and Gre/Par were overall, it is not particularly shocking US judge put Green/Par ahead (by 0.2). Just like the Canadian judge had a 4 points gap between these two couples rather than 1.5 point. Pretty much within the range. Czech and Japanese judge went for a higher gap than the Canadian judge. And the Australian and British judge went for the Gree/Par marginally ahead too.

The Bratti/Sommerville thing by US judge on the other hand.....

 

[lariko]

It was a wonderful event!

 

[NoNameFace]

Beatrice don't know how to feel.
As for scores, I can place a bet that those scores will be grounded to the halt in Espoo (and it will make my trip bitter, but I'm used to be disappointed by judging fluctuations).
As for the FD...I see where they are coming from. Listening to Evita soundtrack after the announcement I imagined at least three different programs with different vibes radiating from them. Turning their approach to storytelling and that sort of more 'grounded' look reminded me a bit of...Hitchcock FD in 2013/14. But now 8-9 years have passed and the storytelling depth and capability are different, they feel differently now.
The program of course requires to be rethought when it comes to certain parts I think (the ending in particular bugs me a bit, it is too abrupt and confusing imho), but - I will probably die on this hill, but I so very much appreciate a program that has elements woven into music, with elements having sensible musical phasing. And this FD has it in abundance, especially choreo elements which I usually tend to hate on lately - they are NOT a score-grubby filler in this case, but a well-thought part of the whole story told by them on the ice.
And what I sense is that...they approached this FD (and RD too I think) with sort of renewed energy that wasn't there last season. There seems to be a lot more confidence and faith radiating from their attitude and how they perform. It brings me joy, simply as that.

And while I'm aware that this was Canada, the scores were...the scores and that they are not the most liked team by judges, it sort of hurts me that there is so much shade/harping over them/their programs/scores/results. It's stupid, but sometimes it makes me feel...guilty of not choosing to be a fan of more universally liked team, a *cool* team. In moment like that I feel like I'm standing on the wrong side of the fence. And that whatever I would say won't matter.
Guess that's just a *perk* of getting emotionally invested.

 

[rain]

well it was worth the wait for Piper and Paul's first event... so glad they didn't retire ... considering how good Carol is at tweaking things as the season progresses... this will be stellar by the end of the year...

This does need some tweaking, but I do think this has a lot of potential. Considering I have often felt the same way about my favourite material from them in its first performance, my hopes are high.

Right now, it doesn't quite hang together completely as a cohesive whole yet, but there are a whole bunch of parts I love. Love the choreographic stuff bisecting the ice from the judges to the other side of the boards. Love the straight line lift and exit. Love the choreographic slide, love the placement of the twizzles. I need a few more character moments for Paul. I need the footwork sequences to be a bit more special, have some more interesting choreography in them. And I need more tying the middle section to the beginning and end (more than all being music from Evita). But overall this was an amazing performance and a well-deserved gold. Beats Chock/Bates's material by a mile in my book.

 

[slider11]

I was wondering the same thing but you could argue that P/C skated their niche style almost their entire winning career as did Sinitsina/Katsalapov so I don’t really know if judges care whether couples do different styles as long as they skate them well. F/G are electric performers and really sell their programmes so it will be interesting to see what the judges do when they are eventually vying for top of the podium. I could be wrong but I don’t think they will leap frog over G/F, Psquared or C/B just yet.

Good points. I really like their skating, especially Lewis. The RD will likely be waltz or something other than latin/chacha next year so this will force them to look at a different style. But, of course, the free dance is free!

 

[auser]

Beatrice is stressed, despite any better judgement and yesterday's results.
Hello everyone!

Great to see you @NoNameFace.

 

[auser]

i think the real limitation si to only consider the romantic one the only possible dynamic for a team. i'd like to see more different choices

Yes. I enjoyed Sinead and John Kerr's interesting dances.

 

[auser]

Holly & Jason are skating to the story of my life as an off-shift worker

Please hang in there. The work you do is valuable.

 

[auser]

isn't it what we always do.... oh.. here is Lala Land.... recycling at its best... wish they would reduce it

As a Southern Californian I completely concur.

 

[Lamente Ariane]

I caught up on the top three FDs super late, so brief thoughts:

Gilles/Poirier- as someone who's been... less than enthusiastic about their programs over the last quad, and isn't much of an Evita fan to begin with... this was okay, actually. As I said to a friend, if I was at a competition and I knew this was coming up I wouldn't dread it (I very much dreaded Long and Winding Road last year, and Vincent before that. Yes, really. Both Sides Now was the best of that bunch IMO.) I think there's room to grow here. Some lovely transitions and choreographic moments, and I really appreciate that this is a program where they can work on their connection with each other via clear characters. Reminds me of the Tango FD they did in 2016-17 which is still probably my favorite FD of theirs (though I'm one of the few that liked the scrapped Perry Mason noir program!) I think they were the deserved winners of the event, even if the margin was a bit much. Although...

Fear/Gibson- I struggle to politely phrase how overrated I find this team and how baffling their scores are to me every competition. I did not like Vogue, but that program was much less clumsily cut than this one, which flat out reuses several lifts and moments (such as the character step) to much less effect. The scores suggest a rise, the program suggests a plateau. I understand wanting to lean on your strengths (upbeat, crowd-pleasing pop, lifts with wow-factor) but the choreography is feeling less and less specific and the lifts don't have as much wow-factor when they're recycled. I would not have had this in second place.

Lajoie/Lagha- Elegant, gentle program that showcases how well-matched these two are. I'm starting to get a bit tired of White Crow, but it's all right here. I would like a more specific costume for Zach (a Swan Lake or Romeo and Juliet style doublet?) and the end pose felt a little forced/contrived, but overall I think it's a nice change of pace after two years of parrots.

 

[LadyB]

well it was worth the wait for Piper and Paul's first event... so glad they didn't retire ... considering how good Carol is at tweaking things as the season progresses... this will be stellar by the end of the year...

My thoughts exactly! For the first part I thought this could do with a bit more sass, but after second half I’m sure this could potentially turn into something spectacular.
So pleased for them They’re just beautiful dancers. P&P all the way!

 

[LadyB]

It was a wonderful event!

Wasn’t it just? I’ve caught up with it right now and thoroughly enjoyed everyone in the last group, but most of all P&P and F/G. To me Ice Dance is gonna be the most interesting and exciting discipline on the international stage this season.

 

[snd]

i hate piper and paul's fd music.

was rooting for L/L over them and the other pair with the skating-skills-impaired lady - F/G

 

[IceDancingQueen]

Good points. I really like their skating, especially Lewis. The RD will likely be waltz or something other than latin/chacha next year so this will force them to look at a different style. But, of course, the free dance is free!

Oh yes! A waltz for them will be very interesting!!

 

[IceDancingQueen]

You should find out what happened to her AFTER she died.

Her corpse had a more active existence that most people do while alive.

I found a BBC article about it:

The 20-year odyssey of Eva Peron's body

After Evita died in 1952 her body was taken by the Argentinian military and began a 20-year odyssey around the world, before being returned to Buenos Aires in 1974.

www.bbc.com

There is actually entire show about the saga of her body after she died on Disney +. I think it’s called Santa Evita or something like that - produced by Salma Hayek!

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Fear/Gibson- I struggle to politely phrase how overrated I find this team and how baffling their scores are to me every competition. I did not like Vogue, but that program was much less clumsily cut than this one, which flat out reuses several lifts and moments (such as the character step) to much less effect. The scores suggest a rise, the program suggests a plateau. I understand wanting to lean on your strengths (upbeat, crowd-pleasing pop, lifts with wow-factor) but the choreography is feeling less and less specific and the lifts don't have as much wow-factor when they're recycled. I would not have had this in second place.

Agree with this, especially the point on the reusing of lifts. If you're going to rely on wow moments and impressive lifts, then I would prefer to see new ones rather than recycled positions. Equally, F/G scoring 125 for a program where most of the step sequence levels were L2 and skating skills were not wonderful while all last quad G/F fought to break 125 (despite multiple L3/4 programs) and just last week H/B got 122 with all L3s/4s seems baffling to me. I hope if/when all the teams face each other, skating skills/tech prowess wins out.

I feel bad for F/G as they seem to be getting a lot of negative comments on twitter/reddit, especially as it's the judges who are putting them in this position by giving them such marks, while the team has to take the brunt of the criticism (although this applies in general with scoring!)

well it was worth the wait for Piper and Paul's first event... so glad they didn't retire ... considering how good Carol is at tweaking things as the season progresses... this will be stellar by the end of the year...

I hoped this FD would be a good choice for Gi/Po and it didn't disappoint, a few tweaks here and there and I think it'll be a really great program for them!

 

[NoNameFace]

I caught up on the top three FDs super late, so brief thoughts:

Gilles/Poirier- as someone who's been... less than enthusiastic about their programs over the last quad, and isn't much of an Evita fan to begin with... this was okay, actually. As I said to a friend, if I was at a competition and I knew this was coming up I wouldn't dread it (I very much dreaded Long and Winding Road last year, and Vincent before that. Yes, really. Both Sides Now was the best of that bunch IMO.) I think there's room to grow here. Some lovely transitions and choreographic moments, and I really appreciate that this is a program where they can work on their connection with each other via clear characters. Reminds me of the Tango FD they did in 2016-17 which is still probably my favorite FD of theirs (though I'm one of the few that liked the scrapped Perry Mason noir program!) I think they were the deserved winners of the event, even if the margin was a bit much. Although...

Fear/Gibson- I struggle to politely phrase how overrated I find this team and how baffling their scores are to me every competition. I did not like Vogue, but that program was much less clumsily cut than this one, which flat out reuses several lifts and moments (such as the character step) to much less effect. The scores suggest a rise, the program suggests a plateau. I understand wanting to lean on your strengths (upbeat, crowd-pleasing pop, lifts with wow-factor) but the choreography is feeling less and less specific and the lifts don't have as much wow-factor when they're recycled. I would not have had this in second place.

Lajoie/Lagha- Elegant, gentle program that showcases how well-matched these two are. I'm starting to get a bit tired of White Crow, but it's all right here. I would like a more specific costume for Zach (a Swan Lake or Romeo and Juliet style doublet?) and the end pose felt a little forced/contrived, but overall I think it's a nice change of pace after two years of parrots.

Your F/G comment pretty much echoes my own thoughts.
And I am giving all the due to them being entertainers and finding their repertoire 'niche' to explore (and exploit too, not necessarily seeing it as a negative thing), but this FD is their weakest yet in my opinion in terms of construction and music editing/arrangement. I get, this serves entertainment purpose, having a good time, being yourself on the ice, channelling your inner Lady Gaga etc., but - I feel that choreography and music are going separate ways there. And while their fitness level is impressive, as are those lifts etc., I couldn't shake the feeling of all those moves being not exactly 'rooted' in the music. And I blame only my subjective preferences regarding watching ID. Plus the music - it just feels random. Not the choice, but the edit of it all together - call it a pet peeve of mine, but I am not exactly a fan of those instrumental arrangements with a radom artist's song added over it as a 'voiceover'.


As for Lajoie/Lagha, while I was watching victory Ceremony, it struck me how she resembles imho Marina Anissina now, in this hair colour. Not sure if my impressions are correct, but that was the thought