U.S. Ice Dance 2017/18 season news & updates

[chameleonster]

so C/P are going to seniors the next season?

They were asked at JGPF and had not decided. Their goal is to win junior worlds, and then they'll sit down with their coaches and discuss how to move forward.

US junior dance has a lot of talent, its just very new, young talent. The Greens are the furthest along of that crop, but at this age and level, you can see teams really take huge leaps forward from season to season. Some very good novice teams will also be going junior.

 

[Lara111]

They were asked at JGPF and had not decided. Their goal is to win junior worlds, and then they'll sit down with their coaches and discuss how to move forward.

US junior dance has a lot of talent, its just very new, young talent. The Greens are the furthest along of that crop, but at this age and level, you can see teams really take huge leaps forward from season to season. Some very good novice teams will also be going junior.

This is what I meant. Junior is very competitive this year fro the first team to the last. It will be even more competitive next season.

 

[dancefan17]

The Junior talent pool is not even close to what it has been over the last ten years. After C/P, it drops off dramatically. Teams below will likely improve, but not there today.

 

[Lara111]

The Junior talent pool is not even close to what it has been over the last ten years. After C/P, it drops off dramatically. Teams below will likely improve, but not there today.

Everything was better 20 years ago....

 

[wickedwitch]

People talk about the competitiveness of Russian ladies, but US ice dance is a close second.

 

[Bellanca]

The entire U.S. ice dance picture is blurry at best, especially after these Nationals. Everything is fluid with the possibility of an upset in the air @ the Olys for, IMO, not just Oly bronze, but at the international level especially following the GPF for gold and silver, as well. One slip up does not necessarily spell doom for the Shibs, but it is unfortunate timing and not helpful. These results will make all the U.S. ice dance teams hungry for different reasons

 

[topaz]

US ice Dance is the best the world. Our talent is blinding.

 

[Sylvia]

(deleted - mixed up the time)

The Olympic team for dance nomination announcement will be live streamed on IN starting at 8:55 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, January 7 (free but you need to be registered): http://web.icenetwork.com/video/v1871201283

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I havent been in this thread in a few weeks....

Just some comments and a question.

C&B had been my favorite USA pair, then The Shibs became my favorite. Now Im kinda back to C&B.

I do feel that C&B are such great technicians that (for me) they never have a moment or a special move... like Stepanova & Bukin have those cool squat twizzles, or P&C have a real cool spin..... but I do think C&B are my favorites again anyway.

I felt bad for her when they announced their scores... just flat, and no emotion.

Once again they won the free skate.. what do they need to do in SP to not bury themselves? What could they do to make themselves more competitive for the SD?

I think Im burned out on The Shibs Coldplay programs. Probably because Im not really a Coldplay fan..... But The Shibs SD is far superior!!!!!

Anywhooo can someone give me their 2 cents on C&B?

 

[muffinplus]

I do feel that C&B are such great technicians that (for me) they never have a moment or a special move... like Stepanova & Bukin have those cool squat twizzles, or P&C have a real cool spin..... but I do think C&B are my favorites again anyway.

I felt bad for her when they announced their scores... just flat, and no emotion.

Their lifts are exciting. The one when Evan throws Madison over his shoulder in the last part of the program as the music builds is great. Madison had full on bitchface in K&C; she wasn't happy... it was super close though

 

[barbarafan]

Their lifts are exciting. The one when Evan throws Madison over his shoulder in the last part of the program as the music builds is great. Madison had full on bitchface in K&C.

The program was lovely but not captivating in any way. Charlie white was talking like it was a magical 2nd coming of Christ but I did not feel it was that special.

 

[muffinplus]

The program was lovely but not captivating in any way. Charlie white was talking like it was a magical 2nd coming of Christ but I did not feel it was that special.

They might have skated this better at GPF?

 

[wickedwitch]

I haven't been a C/B fan in the past, but their FD had that magic for me.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

I like all three teams a lot and I'm tickled they all have a national championship! Now they need to split the events so they all win an Olympic medal.

I'm not convinced the Shibs should have added the section of Fix You to their FD. It just made me think "wow, I loved that other program so much!"

 

[barbarafan]

They might have skated this better at GPF?

Maybe they did....My watching at GPF was very spotty...it kept cutting out on me..I might have missed it.

 

[muffinplus]

I haven't been a C/B fan in the past, but their FD had that magic for me.

I think their best performance I've seen is 2016 Worlds FD (so far ... I'm still catching up on all of their programs). But people hate that program for them too. :

 

[lmarie086]

I don't like the music changes the Shibs made - they were quite distracting for me, and actually made the program feel less cohesive. I admit I didn't love the previous version, but I thought it was stronger in its previous incarnation at Skate America.

 

[Sylvia]

(deleted - mixed up the time)

The Olympic team for dance nomination announcement will be live streamed on IN starting at 8:55 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, January 7 (free but you need to be registered): http://web.icenetwork.com/video/v1871201283

Late start but underway now...

 

[Doggygirl]

I like all three teams a lot and I'm tickled they all have a national championship! Now they need to split the events so they all win an Olympic medal.

I'm not convinced the Shibs should have added the section of Fix You to their FD. It just made me think "wow, I loved that other program so much!"

I found myself thinking it might have been cool to fade to fix you at the end, and build up to that. Not sure how that would work with the elements though i.e. twizzles. I sort of liked the fix you cut, but then the rest of the program after the twizzles seemed very anti-climatic. They probably should have moved on to completely different material after Fix You two years ago rather than try for this trilogy thing....

 

[VGThuy]

The best thing they can do is stick with their FD, especially if they truly believe in it. Don't listen to worrywarts like me, and keep training and find their inner assassins. I may not always believe in things, I can be jaded and cynical, and people may piss me off, but I do believe in the Shibs.

 

[chapis]

But the thing is they did not lost the gold medal because of the program, they lost because a technical mistake, I hope they won´t make more changes. If anything, I hope their original straight line lift come back

 

[LilJen]

EVAN NO, NO, PLEASE NO, NOT THAT HAIR!!! He should just cut it shorter. It looks terrible.

Missed the whole press conference except the final few words from Chock. Assuming the top 3 are the Oly team. Did they say anything about the team event? Worlds? 4CCs?

 

[Barbara Manatee]

Auxier was asked about choosing who skates in the team event, and he said it would come down to strategy and he wasn't going to reveal that. No mention of Worlds or 4CCs.

 

[jiejie]

http://www.usfsa.org/story?id=91150&type=media

Announcement about US Olympic Dance team members up, and it has a real "oops" flaw that hopefully they will quickly get fixed (hint: start of 4th paragraph from the cut-and-pasted USFS web page):

U.S. FIGURE SKATING ANNOUNCES ICE DANCE NOMINATIONS FOR 2018 U.S. OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATING TEAM

(1/7/18) - U.S. Figure Skating announced today the ice dance teams who will compete at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 as part of the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team.

The ice dance team is Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates are the 2018 U.S. bronze medalists. They are the 2015 U.S. champions, 2016 World bronze medalists and placed eighth at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. After winning silver at both of their Grand Prix assignments this season, they qualified for their fourth-straight Grand Prix Final.

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue are the 2018 U.S. silver medalists. They are four-time U.S. bronze medalists and the 2014 Four Continents champions. They stood on the podium at both of their Grand Prix assignments this season, qualifying them for their third-straight trip to the Grand Prix Final. This is their first Olympic berth, following their highest U.S. Championships finish.

Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani are two-time U.S. champions. They topped the podium at both of their Grand Prix assignments this season before earning bronze at the Grand Prix Final. They are the 2017 World bronze medalists, 2016 World silver medalists, and placed ninth at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

 

[Sarah]

“Alternates for the 2018 Olympic Team have been named as Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker (first alternate), Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter (second alternate), and Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons (third alternate).”

http://www.usfsa.org/story?id=91150&type=media

Interesting that they went with McNamara and Carpenter over the Parsons as second alternates...

 

[VGThuy]

Surprised that the Parsons are third alternates and McNamara/Carpenter are second alternates considering the Parsons placed ahead at Nationals. But they lost the FD and I guess the rest of the season looked better for M/C.

 

[Willin]

What was up with the Shibs adding the Fix You section in? Maybe they were thinking "this FD isn't getting the rave reviews of Fix You, why don't we add it in" or something along those lines? It seemed so out of place and made me hate a FD I'd previously loved because it reminded me of a FD so good I don't think they can replicate it. The change turned a program I loved into one I found very underwhelming. I hope they go back to the old cut, but I don't think they will at this point.

I have always been confused by the trilogy, but hearing their explanation in their pre-competition jumbotron fluff piece really made me realize why it didn't work. The explanation for Fix You was great - they were struggling and they knew it, so the program was about their struggle to fix themselves. The explanation for "Evolution" (they were evolving that season) and "Paradise" (this season feels like paradise after their evolution) is extremely weak. Especially since Paradise's lyrics aren't about being in paradise, but rather about daydreaming of paradise. Maybe they could've phrased it that "Fix You" was about realizing they needed to change something, "Evolution" was the process they took to change it, and "Paradise" is describing their hopes that that hard work will pay off?

Seeing C/B in person, I think certain YouTube personalities (*cough*Dave Lease*cough*) were greatly exaggerating how bad Chock's skating skills are. Yes, they're not as strong as other skaters, but I only heard tiny moments of scratchiness and she still has deep edges. My greater complaints about her are about how ugly that SD dress is and how much speed they lose in the twizzles. They lost the most speed of any team in the last group, and probably than most teams in the second to last group. That's really why I think they got third - those twizzles.

I still love H/D. They have such great chemistry, especially considering that they reportedly broke up as a romantic couple (I'm confused about their relationship status considering all that touching and kissing they do outside of the program). The people behind me were gushing about how sexy that FS was, and I have to agree.

The younger couples all showed that they'll be great in the future. I think Hawayek/Baker are finally hitting their stride, but I hope that they do more energetic stuff. Their SD really stood out - it was great! It seems they try to do classical stuff as much as possible, but I think that sassy style fits them just as well if not better.

@jiejie omg that's a glaring error

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

he change turned a program I loved into one I found very underwhelming.

Yes, I did too. I found myself thinking the program was middle of the road. Strange because I think the Shibs have the best SD.

Also, I wish C&B could not bury themselves in the SD.

 

[mackiecat]

What?? Did usfs change the results?
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue are the 2018 U.S. silver medalists.

 

[jlai]

What?? Did usfs change the results?
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue are the 2018 U.S. silver medalists.

You're kidding right?
http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2018/26192/results.html