The Dance Hall 11: Movin' On Up 2023-2024

[firstflight]

I personally don’t like F/G using “Sweet Dreams.” I’ll always associate that song with Manta/Johnson’s last competitive performance at US Championships where they got a standing O (partial) and got to soak in all the appreciation and rainbow flags being waved by audience members. …And how, after, many fans memorized their campy but fabulous ChSt choreography.

 

[Karen-W]

I personally don’t like F/G using “Sweet Dreams.” I’ll always associate that song with Manta/Johnson’s last competitive performance at US Championships where they got a standing O (partial) and got to soak in all the appreciation and rainbow flags being waved by audience members. …And how, after, many fans memorized their campy but fabulous ChSt choreography.

Eh, I think that's fairly niche, and several years in the past already. I wouldn't mind FearGib or any other team using the same song if they had choreo and costumes that make it work. It's just that FearGib really aren't doing anything unique or special. If they wanted to differentiate themselves, they'd have been the perfect team to do a Dolly '9 to 5' program.

 

[firstflight]

Eh, I think that's fairly niche, and several years in the past already. I wouldn't mind FearGib or any other team using the same song if they had choreo and costumes that make it work. It's just that FearGib really aren't doing anything unique or special. If they wanted to differentiate themselves, they'd have been the perfect team to do a Dolly '9 to 5' program.

I agree mostly. Love the 9-5 idea. It’s just that for me, Lewis being out and having explored the themes in “Born This Way” last season, combined with Karina having come out fairly recently before that season and her and Joe getting so much love.
It felt like an iconic moment in the sport in terms of queer visibility. As a gay dude, I just have kind of complicated feelings about this. Probably doesn’t make sense or isn’t rational, but it just feels like they’re not doing anything “better” with the song and then therefore shouldn’t have picked it.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I actually really like B/H's music - but perhaps that's because I've been wanting someone to skate to this kind of Muse selection for years! They do need to sort the deductions but that straight line lift is fantastic.

I loved their FD a couple of years ago that was "Hollywood" themed with In The Mood in it - and in that they were really struggling to even do a level 4 lift so the progress they've managed to make over the last couple of years is great

The Kerrs has a great FD to this Muse song in 2009!

 

[litenkyckling]

The Kerrs has a great FD to this Muse song in 2009!

Oh yeah that's true - I forgot about that. I think the piece I've always wanted specifically in dance is their version of Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix - I think it's a fun take on Samson and Delilah without having to delve into telling the story (if that makes sense?)

 

[Wyliefan]

And now for the baby Brits, being adorable as usual! Twizzles as their next-to-last element -- gutsy move.

Ashlie Slatter & Atl Ongay-Perez Junior Free Dance British Qualifier 23

Our Streatham couple scored 88.83 (49.67 39.16) which is their highest ever, to win Gold in an enjoyable high level Junior Qualifier and deservedly so for a ...

www.youtube.com

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Oh yeah that's true - I forgot about that. I think the piece I've always wanted specifically in dance is their version of Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix - I think it's a fun take on Samson and Delilah without having to delve into telling the story (if that makes sense?)

Lynn and Logan did that piece in 2010-11

2010 Skate America Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT FD

youtu.be

 

[litenkyckling]

Lynn and Logan did that piece in 2010-11

2010 Skate America Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT FD

youtu.be

ah I was a young teenager in the UK with very limited coverage and internet access then so I didn't see this - thanks

 

[Spikefan]

I could buy a Rocky program from skaters that are more working class type but not F/G. They are too posh for lack of a better word. It would also need better choreography.

 

[Rhumba d’Amour]

It's certainly an interesting choice and would be curious to hear what their strategy was in making it.
If it was to make a movie based FD like Smart/Diaz or Virtue/Moir did I think they picked the wrong movie.

My first thought on seeing this was that the concept probably came out of the success of the sword fighting sequence in Smart/Diaz’ Zorro, which many people loved. Lightning seldom strikes twice, though

 

[Karen-W]

I could buy a Rocky program from skaters that are more working class type but not F/G. They are too posh for lack of a better word. It would also need better choreography.

Hmmmmm... that begs the question, which senior team (if any) currently competing COULD pull a Rocky program off?

 

[Spikefan]

Hmmmmm... that begs the question, which senior team (if any) currently competing COULD pull a Rocky program off?

Teams with speed and power. Taschlers, Mrazeks, or Browns, maybe?

 

[Karen-W]

Teams with speed and power. Taschlers or Browns, maybe?

Maybe the Browns, definitely not the Taschlers - they certainly have power, but they're the team that gave us a freakin' climate change FD last season - too earnest for Rocky.

Flores/Desyatov was the team that sprang to my mind, or maybe Orihara/Pirinen. If you are whacky enough to come up with a cannibal mermaid program, you probably have the chutzpah for Rocky.

 

[Rhumba d’Amour]

Maybe the Browns, definitely not the Taschlers - they certainly have power, but they're the team that gave us a freakin' climate change FD last season - too earnest for Rocky.

Flores/Desyatov was the team that sprang to my mind, or maybe Orihara/Pirinen. If you are whacky enough to come up with a cannibal mermaid program, you probably have the chutzpah for Rocky.

Weirdly, Desyatov was the first one who occurred to me also. He is a bit rough, ham-fisted and heavy on his blades and so might be a credible Rocky!

 

[shah]

It seems obligatory to be a British dance team and skate to Muse . The Kerrs (who appear to have started the Muse wave in skating, lol), Coomes/Buckland, and now Bekker/Hernandez (I put the blame on the coaches ). Their free is not particularly memorable but it flows smoothly and looks easy on the eye.

As for Fear/Gibson - I'm really torn! Yeah, it's highly entertaining, on the other hand, certain fragments of their free dance definitely cross the line (the notorious choreo step sequence). For me, it's still better and much more coherent than their RD - I was really put off by the jarring music cuts. We'll see how both programmes are going to progress this season...

 

[screech]

Eh, I think that's fairly niche, and several years in the past already. I wouldn't mind FearGib or any other team using the same song if they had choreo and costumes that make it work. It's just that FearGib really aren't doing anything unique or special. If they wanted to differentiate themselves, they'd have been the perfect team to do a Dolly '9 to 5' program.

They could have done a mash-up of Dolly's 9 to 5 with Sheena Easton's 9 to 5 (which was released as 'Morning Train' in the US), which also gives them the Scottish connection through Sheena.

 

[Belsornia]

Watching live, Fear/Gibson and Bekker/Hernandez FDs both felt very "10am on a Friday morning in August". F/G aren't as sharp as they were this time last year, and Rocky fell a bit flat for me. The audience (small, but predisposed to F/G) weren't as responsive as they were to Lady Gaga at the equivalent event last year. I'm expecting them to make some revisions to the FD before they compete again. I think part of the issue is that there aren't any 'wow' moments. They're reusing a lot of elements (lifts, spin etc) but that shouldn't make much of a different to audience impact so part of it is how they're placed on the music. They new choreo hydroblade is really cool, but it just kind of passes by. And I wonder if switching the character step to the long axis would help; it would give more space for skating elements alongside the cheesy moves.

B/H I think have the bones of two good programmes but they have lots of work still to do (Nick Buckland buy a stopwatch). I'm expecting them to have a typical up-and-down first senior season. I was hoping for some of the more electronic Muse selections but I think this suits them, and it moves from twinkly into the more powerful parts fairly quickly. It's not too out there for a team moving up but not too overdone (not Exogenesis III - but that they thought it hadn't been used before. I heard the first 10 seconds while getting a tea and immediately thought "Kerrs 2009". Should have run it by a fan!) I think it will be more impactful when they're more comfortable with it and skating 'bigger' and with fewer hesitancies. And a positive is that they're skating more closely together, with more intricate holds and transitions.

Layla Karnes is great! Very capable technically and an uber-dramatic on ice personality like we haven't seen for a while. And Oksana Grishuk's 1997 hairdo. So glad they've decided to compete for GB. I think B/H will stay ahead (at least for this year) but BIS probably should send them for a head-to-head in front of an international panel before Euros.

I enjoyed all the 80s RDs. Still not sure what "feeling of the 80s" actually means for ice dance but it makes for an entertaining competition, and the pattern variation works much better than the choreographic rhythm sequence.

Looked at their wiki page to see their FD history and it looks like Romain (and Sam) are their choreographers. Anyone know who is with them here? ( I was behind Romain in Montreal security the 22nd so he was going somewhere).

It was Romain. They didn't share him with Karnes/Carr who were with another coach I didn't recognise (def not Moir or Lauzon and Diaz was in Bangkok).

 

[layman]

I think I am less bothered by the cheesy choreography (and music) that Fear/Gibson are using in their Free Dance and more bothered by the fact that the choreography seems much simpler than choreography that we see from other teams or from Fear/Gibson in the past. There was too much side to side skating, two foot skating and hand to hand holding...it was not complex or innovative at all. The program looked very junior-ish. It's just not a world class program and were it not for reputation judging, I could see at least seven or eight American teams passing right by that (by showing more difficult choreography, holds, lifts, and transitions).

 

[Kateri]

I think I am less bothered by the cheesy choreography (and music) that Fear/Gibson are using in their Free Dance and more bothered by the fact that the choreography seems much simpler than choreography that we see from other teams or from Fear/Gibson in the past. There was too much side to side skating, two foot skating and hand to hand holding...it was not complex or innovative at all. The program looked very junior-ish. It's just not a world class program and were it not for reputation judging, I could see at least seven or eight American teams passing right by that (by showing more difficult choreography, holds, lifts, and transitions).

Yeah. For the first 30 seconds, I thought it might be a fun idea, but then they just didn't DO anything. It's an exhibition.

 

[Gris]

I.AM on Instagram: "GRANDE NOUVELLE!! ⭐ Dans le but d'élargir notre offre de service, d’offrir un service à la communauté québécoise et de redonner aux premiers.ères qui ont cru en nous, c'est avec fierté que nous annonçons un nouveau projet de déve

384 likes, 4 comments - iceacademyofmontreal on August 29, 2023: "GRANDE NOUVELLE!! ⭐ Dans le but d'élargir notre offre de service, d’offrir un service à la..."

www.instagram.com

Looks like I.AM has opened a new development campus.

 

[litenkyckling]

I guess we're only really waiting on 5 more major RD announcements (C/B, G/P, G/F, F-B/S, H/B) so we might get it yet but I am mighty disappointed that we don't have any Jimmy Somerville or Soft Cell or Madness or Dexys Midnight Runners (I could go on) so far. In a decade that was so incredibly rich with talent we really shouldn't be getting repeats like we are. At the British qualifier there were just 5 senior teams - 2 went with Eurythmics and 2 with Prince....

I think my disappointment with F/G is that they kind of went for the obvious option but there is a wealth of great stuff they could've chosen. Not sure if the UK/Scottish link was important to them but if so, a Communard's RD would've been so great from them!

 

[Sylvia]

Nadiia Bashynska's latest vlog is titled A day in a life of a figure skater (CHAOS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj3b_Jy3U98
In the caption: "I'm excited to say that I'm vlogging the high performance camp and will be posting it next week!"

Skate Canada High Performance Camp thread in GSD (will be updated with any news generated from today's media day): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2023-skate-canada-high-performance-camp.110924/

 

[Sylvia]

I guess we're only really waiting on 5 more major RD announcements (C/B, G/P, ...

Gilles/Poirier spoke to the media at HP camp and revealed their music (starting at 1:50) this their video: https://twitter.com/goldenskate/status/1697020039067468209

RD: “No More I Love You’s” (from wiki: "a song written by British musicians David Freeman and Joseph Hughes and originally recorded by them as the Lover Speaks. It was released in June 1986 as the lead single from their self-titled debut album."
(Annie Lennox's cover was in 1995.)
ETA from the Programs/Choreographers thread:

Just watched the interview on Twitter... the Lennox version was the 90s, so they went back to the original version, and the other piece of music with it is "Addicted to Love" (Robert Palmer).

FD: Wuthering Heights (which soundtrack?)

 

[Belsornia]

FD: Wuthering Heights (which soundtrack?)

I hope it’s Kate Bush!

 

[Sylvia]

Paul said the movie soundtrack is "very classical but it has a lot of angularity and an undertone of darkness..."

 

[Sylvia]

My guess - Gilles/Poirier may be using the Emily 2022 film soundtrack by Abel Korzeniowski?

 

[Dobre]

an undertone of darkness..."

I'd say Wuthering Heights, itself, has more than an undertone.

Well, it's a great story and could be a great program. I'm not able to picture either of them in the roles; but that certainly makes it a challenge.

 

[litenkyckling]

My guess - Gilles/Poirier may be using the Emily 2022 film soundtrack by Abel Korzeniowski?

I hope so - I’m looking forward to them doing something dark and moody again especially now they’re older and may bring more to the performance. My actual dream is for them to do a Hitchcock again but with their experience OR a twin peaks FD but alas.

 

[Alilou]

OMG Twin Peaks would be awesome!

 

[chantilly]

I think Paul can do brooding, passionate and aloof well.
Cathy for Piper is more of a stretch and aesthetically blonde does not work for Cathy.
But her mercurial personality may work for Piper.
Interesting choice
The RD music is intriguing.
Seems a little more mature and nuanced so far.