Virtue and Moir # 27 - ROAAAAAAAAAAR

[Shayii]

this is my favorite pic
http://s897.photobucket.com/user/Ore...ml?sort=3&o=28

I love how all the coaches are just staring at them (I think Igor is on the far right).

Here are some practice pictures from the gala posted on FF (thank you). You can see Tessa hugging Yuna and Shawn? in it. There's some other pics on FF too so go check it out.

[ddtpdx]

Not sure whether FD from Br ESP has been posted yet, but here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p42d...Cse1Gg&index=6

[Twilight1]

I have to say hearing/ reading so many skating legends say how much they enjoy the pure skating of V&M is thrilling to me. Carmen is my all time fave FD. That means it is over Toccato & Fugue by K&P which was my fave for 20 years.

V&M have been and will always be a gift to skating. That they are Canadians is jst icing on the cake to me.

Hope they kick butt next year and go out in a blaze of glory. ( though I wish they would stay)

[lauravvv]

With them, it's not so much about accents and pauses. They do not make statements with their movements; their limbs do not tell a story, so the movements are sometimes aimless: she reaches out to touch his chest, but it is over before it even begins. He lifts her, but her legs and arms simply move, but her fingers and her feet don't work harmoniously. During the step sequences, her hand on his shoulder is there to grab him and complete a step. He is faster, so she needs to take more strokes to compensate, but even then, you see they are just compensating steps, not a dancing step. They are straight-forward: they do A to accomplish B to then reach C.

With V-M, each tiny little detail has a purpose. Look at the way she simply puts her arm on his shoulder, but see how she... I don't know how to say it in English, she just has a way of setting her shoulders and arms that bring such fluidity to her hands, so they are like a feather on his shoulder. That's a tiny detail that you would think matters very little, but when you see them move, that's what makes the dance so graceful from the waist up. That posture is NOT easy and hold it for 4 minutes, on skates, that's VERY tough. But she can and she does. And this is just an example. We could talk hours about the many details and nuances each V-M dance has. They don't skate from A to be to C. A must mean something and they deconstruct that meaning and tell you, "and this is why B happens", see the difference? Again, I am not sure I am explaining myself too well. It's hard for me to express these things in English, but to me, the difference between both this is SO obvious it's almost tangible.

I agree with Emdee and rainbowkisses. You explained it really well, Golightly.

[PEZazzz]

I notice in the pictures how other coaches always transfix on V/M. I'd like to think that just like in the Ice, Sweat, and Tears documentary where patrick chan's quads were used to teach technique, Tessa and Scott are used as well for teaching purposes. I think they are the epitome of finesse.

[iNap]

They are straight-forward: they do A to accomplish B to then reach C.

This is some truth but alphabetes is wrong. D-W starts with D E F alphabets then go back to E. In end they do A and complete with big T

[Twilight1]

Youtube compulsory dances and V&M are there from ISU releases I think.

[walei]

With V-M, each tiny little detail has a purpose. Look at the way she simply puts her arm on his shoulder, but see how she... I don't know how to say it in English, she just has a way of setting her shoulders and arms that bring such fluidity to her hands, so they are like a feather on his shoulder. That's a tiny detail that you would think matters very little, but when you see them move, that's what makes the dance so graceful from the waist up. That posture is NOT easy and hold it for 4 minutes, on skates, that's VERY tough. But she can and she does. And this is just an example. We could talk hours about the many details and nuances each V-M dance has. They don't skate from A to be to C. A must mean something and they deconstruct that meaning and tell you, "and this is why B happens", see the difference? Again, I am not sure I am explaining myself too well. It's hard for me to express these things in English, but to me, the difference between both this is SO obvious it's almost tangible.

Great post!!

Just by looking at the twizzles you can already tell world of difference. Besides doing the actual twizzles, V/M's angle of their shoulders, the tilting of their head, arm movements, all match the theme and the dance. The sequences from Mahler to Latin to FF to Carmen are not interchangeable. For D/W, even though they are lightening fast and almost all the time in unison, I always feel when it comes to their twizzle sequence it's as if they just tell each other grab their blades and GO. Yet they are the one that receives +3s all over the place and higher marks for choreography and interpretation... What I wouldn't give for a judge to speak up like the one (forgot his name) did regarding Plushy's transition marks.

[aka_gerbil]

This comes from elsewhere on the internet, but these are are videos of the V/M's, P/B's, and D/W's FD's from the GPF. They're shot from a perspective where you can see how each team moves across the ice. Your jaw is going to drop when you watch the twizzles. Two words: ice coverage.

D/W: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...3TzHrdo#t=114s

V/M: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SNFY...tailpage#t=73s

P/B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU...ailpage#t=109s

[lauravvv]

This comes from elsewhere on the internet, but these are are videos of the V/M's, P/B's, and D/W's FD's from the GPF. They're shot from a perspective where you can see how each team moves across the ice. Your jaw is going to drop when you watch the twizzles. Two words: ice coverage.

D/W: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...3TzHrdo#t=114s

V/M: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SNFY...tailpage#t=73s

P/B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU...ailpage#t=109s

Thanks. Quite interesting. To be fair, though, Tessa and Scott have connecting steps that also help them cover more ice.

[rainbowkisses]

This comes from elsewhere on the internet, but these are are videos of the V/M's, P/B's, and D/W's FD's from the GPF. They're shot from a perspective where you can see how each team moves across the ice. Your jaw is going to drop when you watch the twizzles. Two words: ice coverage.

D/W: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...3TzHrdo#t=114s

V/M: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SNFY...tailpage#t=73s

P/B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU...ailpage#t=109s

the videos dont work for me
also remind me again why v/m lost gpf?
also the new twizzle post on the blog that must not be named is killing me i bet they read fsu

[chipso1]

Thanks. Quite interesting. To be fair, though, Tessa and Scott have connecting steps that also help them cover more ice.

Exactly -- that extra push into the second set of twizzles is why they cover so much ice. Great twizzles, though not really directly comparable to D/W or P/B.

[ddtpdx]

also the new twizzle post on the blog that must not be named is killing me i bet they read fsu

my gosh, i haven't visited that site in a long time.
but that was worth it!

[rainbowkisses]

idk about you guys but i dont think a couple should be getting a higher GOE for doing the same set of twizzles every year compared to other dance teams who change them up alittle to reflect the pattern dance
the isu is screwing itself over by not following its own rules

idek something is fishy here

[aka_gerbil]

Exactly -- that extra push into the second set of twizzles is why they cover so much ice. Great twizzles, though not really directly comparable to D/W or P/B.

I'm not talking about the total distance covered from the start of the first twizzles to the end of the third set. Of course the third set is going to add in more distance as P/B and D/W only do 2. I'm not talking about connecting steps either. I'm talking about the ice that each individual twizzle in the entire set covers. D/W's second set barely travels.

Rainbows, try the links in my original post, not the ones that were quoted.

[aka_gerbil]

idk about you guys but i dont think a couple should be getting a higher GOE for doing the same set of twizzles every year compared to other dance teams who change them up alittle to reflect the pattern dance
the isu is screwing itself over by not following its own rules

idek something is fishy here

I don't think so either. I get that teams are going to reuse from time-to-time, but reusing the same set of twizzles for both programs for 5 years is a little excessive.

[bbkenn]

LOL Pani wouldn`t that be interesting. Marina just go screw it I`m too tired to make two programs so you will all skate to the same thing

Anyways I don`t think this has been posted here, this is the CBC version of the World`s FD. It seems to me Tracy knows exactly why Tessa and Scott are the best so maybe she should go talk to the judges or make Skate Canada talk to the judges.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Oa39Uojj0

That was incredible! HOW did they not win the FD??

[aka_gerbil]

That was incredible! HOW did they not win the FD??

How did they not win the FD AND the world title? The errors in the SD weren't so bad as to be fatal, especially considering the considerable strength of the FD.

When I was a teen in the late 90's, I was a huge fan of Chicago Hope. In one of the second season episodes, Mandy Patinkin sang a version of "The Emporer's New Clothes." It's been running through my head for a week now.

[rainbowkisses]

How did they not win the FD AND the world title? The errors in the SD weren't so bad as to be fatal, especially considering the considerable strength of the FD.

When I was a teen in the late 90's, I was a huge fan of Chicago Hope. In one of the second season episodes, Mandy Patinkin sang a version of "The Emporer's New Clothes." It's been running through my head for a week now.

and its not like D/W were perfect in the SD either

also i was reading an old article and it said:

As for the dance, a Reuters report stated, “On Thursday, every man, woman and child sitting inside Nice’s Acropolis Arena thought the Americans [Merly Davis and Charlie White] won. That is, everyone except the experts who made up the judging panel.” The sentiment was shared by fans and the press worldwide.

so? everyone in the moscow arena thought that v/m should've won in 2011

but this made me think. where are all the canadian articles claiming that v/m should've won this year? does the canadian media suck or are the american media a bunch of douchebags? idek as I said before if v/m plan on beating d/w they need to step up to their level when it comes to PR. at this point in time i wish i was a journalist lol
perhaps if skate canada played dirty like the usfsa and started whining that v/m should've won this year maybe they'll win next year

[chipso1]

I'm not talking about the total distance covered from the start of the first twizzles to the end of the third set. Of course the third set is going to add in more distance as P/B and D/W only do 2. I'm not talking about connecting steps either. I'm talking about the ice that each individual twizzle in the entire set covers. D/W's second set barely travels.

Which was exactly my point. D/W's second set does not travel as far because they don't have the extra push into it. There is no set-up time either which makes it more difficult to synchronize and maintain speed. Meryl & Charlie are able to keep up synchronization and speed wonderfully, IMO.

Once again, I don't think anyone is picking on V/M's twizzles, but they really aren't directly comparable to D/W's or P/B's because the pattern is so different. All three of Marina's teams have fabulous twizzles, and I like that each team takes a different approach to that element.