Crone and Porier - 2010/11 :)

[flowerpower]

Well so much for all our analysis of the dance and trying to figure out the meaning of it.

Haha. Well, I wonder if Chris Dean would agree that it doesn't mean anything.

[pat c]

I thought of the red and blue albums.....

I'm home from Cdn Nats in Vic, it was a great comp. I love Vanessa's new sd dress, and I like Fallin'. I know it's not the original, but the version they use has the dance rhythm.

My fav fd is still the yo yo ma piece, but I admire the intricacy of ER.

[alilou]

I'm with you pat c - the yo yo ma is my fav, followed by last year's nocturne/bohemian rhapsody. Eleanor Rigby may get to be but it needs more oomph yet.

[briancoogaert]

Well, I love their actual FD to Eleanor Rigby, but my heart belongs to their YoYo Ma's FD ! One of my favorite dance, ever.

[shutterbug]

For anyone in the Kingston area, Vanessa and Paul will be performing in a show tomorrow evening: Canadian Champion Dance Pair Skaters to Open Feb Fest

I really enjoyed seeing them again in Victoria. They skated beautifully and handled the pressure of being the favorites (albeit slight favorites) very well. ER is a marvelous vehicle for them, but they’re starting to make it look almost too easy as it gets more mileage. I suspect they’re on the verge of outgrowing it, which is nothing short of amazing considering they were pushed to their limits at the beginning. Mr. Dean will have to work them even harder next season. We had a bit of a chuckle at the usual jostling for dominance during the final FD practice. Vanessa & Paul held their own very well and didn’t budge an inch when challenged. Good for them, get some practice for Worlds when they’re in that final flight.

Not sure which of their FD’s I liked the best. Each one was my favorite at the time. If someone held a gun to my head and said pick, I’d probably choose Nocturne. The serpentine step sequence was to die for.

[rvi5]

At Canadians someone asked Paul directly what the dance was about and he said it doesn't really have a theme or mean anything lol.

Sure, burst our bubble.

As Josee Chouinard said during her commentary during Nationals, Christopher Dean is usually "deep into telling a story". It's odd this one does not. Or perhaps they are defining "meaning" as, the story does not have a moral?

The dance has more depth when it tells a story through the movement. It becomes Art instead of just a superficial routine. I wonder if they are shooting themselves in the foot somewhat by this admission.

[alilou]

Well they didn't admit it publicly, just in a brief conversation with a volunteer. Anyway I don't think it will matter much.

The day before the same volunteer chatted briefly with them and one of them mentioned that they were amused that there was all this speculation and analysis as to the meaning of their FD, but that no-one (meaning the media presumably) had ever actually asked them what it was about lol.

[Parsley Sage]

Not sure which of their FD’s I liked the best. Each one was my favorite at the time. If someone held a gun to my head and said pick, I’d probably choose Nocturne. The serpentine step sequence was to die for.

I think that's what I like about them. Every FD is different and shows their growth and development as skaters.

[geoskate]

The dance has more depth when it tells a story through the movement. It becomes Art instead of just a superficial routine.

Is this really true?

It's certainly not true for music in general. For example, I don't think that Bach's Brandenberg Concertos or Cello Suites are considered to be lesser art than his cantatas, simply because the cantatas have a story line. The same thing could be said of Mozart's sonatas vs. his operas; the sonatas are not judged to be inferior to his operas simply because the sonatas do not have a story line.

I think that dance becomes art when it expresses what the music is saying, regardless of whether or not there is a storyline. Perhaps dances that are based on a story line are actually taking the easy way out. It's much easier, IMO, to create movements based on a storyline than to create movements based on listening to the music and using that to define the movements. The latter is also riskier, IMO. Dances based on a story line are more easily assessible by an audience, and probably by the judges. Dances based on only expressing the musical ideas are far more difficult to do successfully, and sometimes fall flat. IMO if they are done well they can be truer art than dances based on a storyline, though.

I've never thought of their dance as having a story line, actually. I've just admired and enjoyed their creative ways of expressing the music in movement.

[shutterbug]

Scott Russell did a short interview with Vanessa & Paul about the Worlds situation on CBC Sports this afternoon: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/122.../ID=1849966518 The interview starts after the audio with Patrick.

[victoriajh]

kudos to them for the interview- being honest and up front about the situation- hope they get to skate at the WC soon!!!

[The Observer]

Paul is so cute.