2023 Skate Canada Rhythm Dance

[discodisco]

Piper and Paul's costumes too dissimilar. Hers is awesome, his looks more late 70's to me... Just looks mismatched to me. His needs to be more bedazzled or something, lol.

I also preferred last year's RD, to be honest - which was by far their most successful and effective RD. P&P have always had stronger FDs than RDs - often very noticeably so - with last year being the exception.

This one reminds me too much of their Olympic Elton John program... just not 'dance-y' enough. Obviously their SS are terrific, but I think that they need more pizzazz throughout. Piper was great, Paul kind of faded into the background in comparison. She was very much the star and he was just 'there'. When you watched Virtue/Moir, you didn't know who to focus on - Tessa or Scott; and often Scott was the one pulled you in at least as much as Tessa expression-wise. P+Cizeron the same thing. Paul is comparable to those two men in terms of skill, and he always looks like he's enjoying skating, but I'd like to see him perform a little bit more. Loosed up and go a bit over the top. Paul was too muted in this. I was not expecting 87 points.

Anyway, certainly potential, and clearly the judges like it. But I would suggest it needs a bit of work to bring it up to the level of last year's RD, which I think was similar in quality and almost as memorable as Tessa & Scott's Prince RD, which I still consider the best RD I've seen.

 

[Seven Sisters]

So the big surprise was Oona & Gage finishing in fourth..

I am so proud of the Browns!! Lights out skate, fourth place going into the free, and highest placement out of the three US teams. An even better skate than they had last week at Skate America. Bravo, bravo!

 

[discodisco]

I like Piper/Paul’s programs this year . I haven’t been their biggest fan of their programs the last few years. I’m a fan this year. I think he needs a new costume for the RD.

F/G just aren’t my cup of tea.

Enjoyed the Lithuanian’s. Good and unique program. They need to work on their levels.

My faves, as always, were the Browns. They just skate together so well and their basics and musicality are so good.

The other Americans were good. And, I enjoy Jen and Ben even if they aren’t particularly technically strong. She’s hard to look away from.

The Brown's had great attack and good speed, as well as solid basics. Just not the same quality of lines, extension, unison and finish on some of their elements/choreography.

 

[NoNameFace]

Okay, I watched Piper and Paul. It's whooping 2.34 AM and I want to screech around the block (probably BAD idea).
I might be wrong, but they truly did a condensed version of 80s music video sentiment there - their diligence to always come with something off the beaten path, with characterisation and movement stylisation to reflect the theme never ceases to amaze me. And it makes my jaded heart twice bigger seeing their joy in KnC.
PS. We are all getting those Shiny Lycra Capris and we will ALL LOOK GOOD!!

 

[Skatingcat]

Damn- I hate that I missed the short program (darn phone). I hope there will be a way to watch it somewhere on you tube b/c it doesn't look like Peacock has any replays available.

 

[Cilla70]

Peacock had reruns for SK AM, but after a few hours later.

 

[TallyT]

Damn- I hate that I missed the short program (darn phone). I hope there will be a way to watch it somewhere on you tube b/c it doesn't look like Peacock has any replays available.

Try the ISU channel with your VPN on the Netherlands.

 

[reader3]

Well done, Oona and Gage!

 

[Skatie]

PS. We are all getting those Shiny Lycra Capris and we will ALL LOOK GOOD!!
View attachment 7154

 

[auser]

Damn- I hate that I missed the short program (darn phone). I hope there will be a way to watch it somewhere on you tube b/c it doesn't look like Peacock has any replays available.

Replays for RD and Women's SP are showing for me on Peacock.

 

[TallyT]

PS. We are all getting those Shiny Lycra Capris and we will ALL LOOK GOOD!!

Although some of us will look like good baby tractors.....

 

[purplecat]

My thoughts - I agree with most of the placements, not all the scores (but Skate Canada inflation is expected). Overall for some reason I did not enjoy the RD event as a whole as much as I did at Skate America. Maybe I'm already burnt out on them? I think it was more that the music choices just didn't entertain me as much as last week.

G&P - once again they look like they are each doing different dances based on costume (I felt this last year as well). Don't really like the double fall (I just know all my casual fan friends will ask me - "Was that a mistake?") Still a strong outing that should only get stronger.

F&G - I feel like Sweet Dreams has been done too much so it just didn't feel very original. But they always sell a program! I don't understand the pink flesh of the costumes - makes them look like they got sunburned! haha

The American teams - interesting fight between the three teams and I wonder if we'll have some different placements in the FD. I think the judges would have put Z&K ahead if it weren't for the twizzle error. I did like Z&K minus the error - very tired of MJ routines but they did manage to use music that wasn't as overused. Browns were the cleanest so rightfully ahead. Pate & Bye were probably disappointed with their score - I feel like their music doesn't suit their personalities.

 

[lileychristie]

you think so? I thought they simply skated over a lot of nuances and even beats

Maybe they did a bit, but they still owned the performance for me. Just rewatched it again and still as impressed.
The slide move was so cool and their twizzles were very in sync.

Also why I like this program is so much is because the 2 GnR songs they picked really worked well together. And the music cut was smooth - not jarring like many other rock RDs we've seen so far.

 

[rain]

I've only managed to catch Piper and Paul so far — and I loved it. A lot more than I thought I would when I heard what their music choices are. The choreography is clever, and I, for one, LOVE the double roll on the ice, the new lift, the choreographic step, everything.

 

[Lamente Ariane]

I just watched Reed/Ambrulevicius and Saulius is giving some real 1980s Lestat energy this season. I approve!!

 

[Skater Boy]

Piper and Paul's costumes too dissimilar. Hers is awesome, his looks more late 70's to me... Just looks mismatched to me. His needs to be more bedazzled or something, lol.

I also preferred last year's RD, to be honest - which was by far their most successful and effective RD. P&P have always had stronger FDs than RDs - often very noticeably so - with last year being the exception.

This one reminds me too much of their Olympic Elton John program... just not 'dance-y' enough. Obviously their SS are terrific, but I think that they need more pizzazz throughout. Piper was great, Paul kind of faded into the background in comparison. She was very much the star and he was just 'there'. When you watched Virtue/Moir, you didn't know who to focus on - Tessa or Scott; and often Scott was the one pulled you in at least as much as Tessa expression-wise. P+Cizeron the same thing. Paul is comparable to those two men in terms of skill, and he always looks like he's enjoying skating, but I'd like to see him perform a little bit more. Loosed up and go a bit over the top. Paul was too muted in this. I was not expecting 87 points.

Anyway, certainly potential, and clearly the judges like it. But I would suggest it needs a bit of work to bring it up to the level of last year's RD, which I think was similar in quality and almost as memorable as Tessa & Scott's Prince RD, which I still consider the best RD I've seen.

I wouldn;t mind seeing some camp from Paul. But I don't like their mismatched costumes but I do like them better than Chock and BAtes but I doubt the judges would see it that way. I also prefered their RD over the Italians.

 

[rain]

Ok, I've now had the chance to see everyone. A few thoughts: I could not listen to some of this music every day in practice, lol. Piper and Paul were the absolute standouts and felt like a breath of fresh air. I think it was because, to me, a lot of these programs seemed kind of frantic. Piper and Paul had highs and lows in terms of energy and no superfluous movement. This is part of the difference that makes top level choreography, well, top level choreography. I found many of these programs OK, but ultimately forgettable.

Lanaghan/Razgulajevs: I actually enjoyed this Footloose program. I'm not sure what this team needs to do (aside from no more doll programs) to move up. They seem to have stalled out in terms of where they are in the Canadian dance field.

Zingas/Kolesnic: The judges were clearly ready to go with this team and I think they were on their way to third place until that twizzle mistake. Michael Jackson, which, ugh, and not even some of the Michael Jackson songs I like more (aside from Smooth Criminal). But this was at the least the third, if not the second best choreographed program in this field. I can see here why people like this team.

Fabri/Ayer: This one bored me. And I would find the AC/DC grating day after day in practice.

Wang/Liu: At least "Amadeus" was a more unique choice?

Janse van Rensburg/Steffan: This lost me at the beginning with his dancing around her — what was that choreography? Please change it. Then he stumbled on some footwork. But thanks for using "Beds are Burning".

Pate/Bye: It was energetic to the point of frantic. Beyond that I don't remember much.

Brown/Brown: This was so one-note in terms of energy and I zoned out at some point.

Reed/Ambrulevicius: The Guns n' Roses I would also find grating day after day. Again I found this overly frantic, and not very memorable.

Fear/Gibson: This was the second or third best choreography in the event, next to Gilles/Poirier. I thought they skated a bit tentative, though, and this seemed almost a bit subdued. Too much unnecessary armography towards the end. I would have preferred something cleaner. I did like her split while holding his skate, that was cool.

I've already noted most of what I loved about Gilles/Poirier so I won't reiterate. I thought they were clearly the class of the field. I loved her costume (that would have been my dream outfit in the 80s, lol), and I didn't mind him in black. I thought it was maybe a nod to the Robert Palmer. I really liked this original version of "No More I Love Yous". So much about the choreography was original and cleverly timed to the music. I thought they deserved every bit of that score, and I think the program still has room to grow, at that.

Overall, so far, I find watching an entire event of these 80s rhythm dances a bit exhausting. There's so much fast, high-energy music and choreography that it starts to feel same-y in a way that doesn't do many of these teams any favours.

 

[4everchan]

well well... i caught up on dance.... I think the judges are going nuts on GOE for Fear and Gibson.... seriously... If it weren't for Piper and Paul's superior levels and technical advantage, gimmicks would have won over skating. UGH.

 

[4everchan]

Piper and Paul have a great RD. So many good and interesting elements and a brand new lift. These two don't like recycling and should be rewarded for pushing the sport.

 

[4everchan]

I am so proud of the Browns!! Lights out skate, fourth place going into the free, and highest placement out of the three US teams. An even better skate than they had last week at Skate America. Bravo, bravo!

They skated better than last week and the other USA teams faltered. I am not sure they can keep that ranking after the FD.