Canadian Ice Dance 2018-19 season news & updates

[dramagrrl]

Canada has a wealth of junior dance teams at the moment. I love Lajoie/Lagha and really enjoy Fisher/Malette-Paquette, Fabbri/Ayer and Bronsard/Bouraguia. I haven't seen Orihara/Royer's programs yet, but I will look them up on YouTube.

ETA: Checked out Orihara/Royer and they are good (especially her, IMO), but they lost me by using Ed Sheeran in their FD.

 

[Moustaffask8r]

Canada has a wealth of junior dance teams at the moment. I love Lajoie/Lagha and really enjoy Fisher/Malette-Paquette, Fabbri/Ayer and Bronsard/Bouraguia. I haven't seen Orihara/Royer's programs yet, but I will look them up on YouTube.

ETA: Checked out Orihara/Royer and they are good (especially her, IMO), but they lost me by using Ed Sheeran in their FD.

If Canada wants to play smart and think about the future they should definitely send Bronsard/Bouraguia to JW or Nathalie D'Alessandro/Waddell because they will be returning on the JGP and they are the future. My other bet would be Orihara/Royer (are they representing Canada ??) As for F/M-P they had plenty of time to get ready for this season, much more than L/L . They were done competing in January after Nationals. This is his 3rd or 4th JGP season and last one he will be aging out this year. She might be beautiful and looking like Alexandra Paul but she's not strong technically, so, not my choice to invest sending them to JW, we need to think of the future generation. As fo Alicia and Paul, it's sad. I think they're a better match, they need time... A lot of things goes into matching two ice dancers, looks, skating skills but when it comes down to competition, you need to be able to find two individual able to handle the pressure and to give a good show!

 

[Colonel Green]

As for F/M-P they had plenty of time to get ready for this season, much more than L/L . They were done competing in January after Nationals.

Not really relevant since they were evidently struggling with an injury. They were initially announced for Bratislava, and kept getting pushed back, and I don't believe they did any summer competitions.

 

[Rafter]

Not really relevant since they were evidently struggling with an injury. They were initially announced for Bratislava, and kept getting pushed back, and I don't believe they did any summer competitions.

I agree. Does anyone know what the problem was? I thought their FD this weekend looked quite empty and undertrained/cautious. It was almost like it was thrown together a month or two ago.

Very weak from what I’ve come to expect from Gadbois.

 

[barbarafan]

If Canada wants to play smart and think about the future they should definitely send Bronsard/Bouraguia to JW or Nathalie D'Alessandro/Waddell because they will be returning on the JGP and they are the future. My other bet would be Orihara/Royer (are they representing Canada ??) As for F/M-P they had plenty of time to get ready for this season, much more than L/L . They were done competing in January after Nationals. This is his 3rd or 4th JGP season and last one he will be aging out this year. She might be beautiful and looking like Alexandra Paul but she's not strong technically, so, not my choice to invest sending them to JW, we need to think of the future generation. As fo Alicia and Paul, it's sad. I think they're a better match, they need time... A lot of things goes into matching two ice dancers, looks, skating skills but when it comes down to competition, you need to be able to find two individual able to handle the pressure and to give a good show!

Worlds is about spots not about giving a chance to teams to prepare them for next year. So Re:Alicia and Paul. Yes a great match. Alicia is one of the strongest female dancers in Canada. When competition comes she attacks it. She is very experienced and international judges appreciate it. Paul has the talent but not the same competitive experience and is not used to doing such difficulty at such high speeds under pressure. At their first competition the twizzles and moves were so close they could have challenged seniors. After that event the basically watered it down. Spaced the twizzles and made program a bit easier. I expected them to look nice at that competition not challenge the top teams.From some point in March they had to find each other, get programs, learn programs and new elements and learn to skate together and match. So look how far they went in 4 months.They have 3 months to nationals.
Whatever happens we know Skate Canada powers to be are not the sharpest tools in the shed so they are sure to screw it up. Elliot and Ashlynne and Orihara/Royer have had the same time together as Fabri/Ayer and are amazing.I think Elliot is at least 2nd best Junior male dancer in Canada. Bronsard/Bouraquia became brilliant between Minto (where they were blah) to Quebec summer skate where they established presence when they walked on the ice. Nathalie and Bruce improve by leaps and bounds each outing and certainly are very experienced and that FD,,wow.

 

[barbarafan]

I agree. Does anyone know what the problem was? I thought their FD this weekend looked quite empty and undertrained/cautious. It was almost like it was thrown together a month or two ago.

Very weak from what I’ve come to expect from Gadbois.

They may have been ready to take on this years but their coaches were all tied up with worlds and Olympics plus down time and getting together this years teams they will train. I believe they got their programs with same timing as L/L which was not that long before Minto. Then they were injured. It is possible that what they are skating right now is bare bones of their program.

 

[pani]

Love Nathalie and Bruce FD this season, simply amazing
I also enjoy Miku Makita. This girl look so happy on ice.

 

[Colonel Green]

Taking the discussion of programs to its logical conclusion, I decided to rank the junior programs we've seen this year (rankings are all those who competed on the JGP plus Orihara/Royer).

Junior RD
1. Lajoie/Lagha
2. Orihara/Royer - heh, they use the same opening as Soucisse/Firus
3. Makita/Gunara - they had some issues performing it in Richmond, but it's a really nice program.
4. Galiyanova/Lochhead
5. D'Alessandro/Waddell - while they aren't getting the same kinds of marks in the RD as they do in the FD, the program itself is fine.
6. Bronsard/Bouaraguia - one gets the sense that if the pattern this year was the quickstep, these two would be hard to beat. The second half is much better than the first.
7. Fabbri/Ayer
8. Bashynska/Beaumont
9. Fisher/Malette-Paquette
10. Stairs/Graham
11. McIsaac/Circelli - bleh.

Junior FDs
1. Lajoie/Lagha - the best free dance of the season so far, junior or senior.
2. Bronsard/Bouaraguia - love.
3. D'Alessandro/Waddell - winning the battle of the 14-year-old Canadian girl dancers playing Carmen.
4. Bashynska/Beaumont - I was not looking forward to a Cinderella free dance, but Carol Lane and co. have a lot of fun with it, and the end pose is one of my favourites of the season.
5. Makita/Gunara
6. Orihara/Royer
7. Fabbri/Ayer - if they could just skate it without him falling.
8. Galiyanova/Lochhead - winning the battle of the Christina Aguilera programs.
9. Stairs/Graham - Burlesque medley; not great transitions between the music cuts, but fine.
10. McIsaac/Circelli
11. Fisher/Malette-Paquette - the only program that I think is outright bad.

 

[Dobre]

I would say this upcoming GP is a significant head-to-head, as Fisher & Mallette-Paquette currently have the second highest JGP score for a Canadian junior team and Bronsard & Bouaraguia's score is essentially one point behind.

 

[pani]

My favotite tango - Fabbri/Ayer, Bratislava version.
Second - Makita/Gunara
As for FD, my favorite D'Alessandro/Waddell.

 

[yurokis40]

Lajoie and Lagha are very impressive their Warsaw Concerto fd looks like it can be competed at the senior level, their understanding of music is truly remarkable for a difficult piece of music like that their is a reason why its not really used in skating, they should be the runway favorites to win junior worlds this year, lets hope politics does not interfere.

 

[Colonel Green]

As far as podiums go, going into this season it looked like there were three teams who were set apart from everybody else (L/L and the two leading Russian duos), but Nguyen and Kolesnik have definitely elbowed their way into that conversation, so it's looking like a four-way contest for three podium spaces.

 

[yurokis40]

I like Nguyen and kolesnik, but I thought they were overscored , I thought their free dance lacked the complexity of those you mentioned , they are very promising though.

 

[Dobre]

As far as podiums go, going into this season it looked like there were three teams who were set apart from everybody else (L/L and the two leading Russian duos)

At least 5 teams in the podium hunt at the moment. Three leading Russian duos. Shevchenko & Eremenko, Khudaberdieva & Nazarov, and Lajoie & Lagha all have combined scores within 1/2 a point of each other. And Ushakova & Nekrasov have the highest junior score of the season. Nguyen and Kolesnik have the third highest junior SB. The three Russian teams all split placements with each other last year at Russian Junior Nationals.

Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy haven't skated since the first competition of the season. They could put themselves into the battle with a great skate this week. And the Greens have not competed since June, but it would be unwise of us to count them out considering they outscored Nguyen & Kolesnik's combined score in that event and finished top six last year. (Obviously G&G won't be in the battle for the JGPF podium).

 

[Colonel Green]

Shevchenko & Eremenko, Khudaberdieva & Nazarov, and Lajoie & Lagha all have combined scores within 1/2 a point of each other.

Comparing individual scores across events is already difficult, but comparing their combined scores seems even less meaningful to me. L/L, especially, have the second-highest score given out so far from the second event, added to a score that is atypically low both because Linz had the tightest scoring of any of the JGP events so far and because they had some real kinks in the program that time. S/E, conversely, came first at a really low-scoring event and then second at a higher-scoring one.

 

[Dobre]

Hmm? L/L's top score is 4 points higher than S/E or K/N. How much that means, debatable, since scoring differs between events, but as things stand now there are two clusters of top scores: Ushakova/Nekrasov, Lajoie/Lagha and Nguyen/Kolesnik in the mid-160s, and then Shevchenko/Eremenko and Khudaiberdieva/Nazarov at 161 each.

A head-to-head win is a win. There is no reason to take S&E out of this equation. The combined scores (scores from both events added together) for L&L, S&E, and K&N are within 1/2 a point. L&L's skate in Canada is a valid reason to consider them to be in the medal hunt. S&E's win in Austria is a valid reason to consider them to be in it too. Ushakova & Nekrasov had the highest FD score prior to the JGPF last season and Lajoie & Lagha had one of the top two SB scores heading into the event. Neither one finished on the podium. Both teams are legit contenders this year (and more established than they were at this point last season); but that is no reason to narrow one's view of the field. P&V lost to U&N prior to the Final last year; but P&V are the ones that made the podium. One can argue that there are favorites, but there are logical reasons to see at least five possible contenders at this point.

 

[Colonel Green]

A head-to-head win is a win. There is no reason to take S&E out of this equation.

I never suggested they should be. They were one of the four teams I listed as vying for the podium.

 

[Lara111]

I like Nguyen and kolesnik, but I thought they were overscored , I thought their free dance lacked the complexity of those you mentioned , they are very promising though.

Re-watched N/K and S/E tango - Vadim's edges are fairly flat and nowhere near Eremenko's skating skills. Overscored as #1 US Junior team at the moment.

 

[Dobre]

I never suggested they should be. They were one of the four teams I listed as vying for the podium.

Then my point is simply that--as far as we can tell--there are at least three Russian teams in the hunt as of the moment. (You didn't name your two teams). As this conversation is drifting off-topic, maybe respond in the Dance Hall if you wish to continue it? Sylvia already copied the initial posts there.

 

[Lara111]

At least 5 teams in the podium hunt at the moment. Three leading Russian duos. Shevchenko & Eremenko, Khudaberdieva & Nazarov, and Lajoie & Lagha all have combined scores within 1/2 a point of each other. And Ushakova & Nekrasov have the highest junior score of the season. Nguyen and Kolesnik have the third highest junior SB. The three Russian teams all split placements with each other last year at Russian Junior Nationals.

Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy haven't skated since the first competition of the season. They could put themselves into the battle with a great skate this week. And the Greens have not competed since June, but it would be unwise of us to count them out considering they outscored Nguyen & Kolesnik's combined score in that event and finished top six last year. (Obviously G&G won't be in the battle for the JGPF podium).

Kazakova&Reviya might get in the mix. He is just outstanding. They are from a small federation and may not be supported as much though.

 

[Colonel Green]

I stand by my position that Fisher and Malette-Paquette have the worst free program of any of the Canadian junior teams, but they've also got themselves a medal and the best non-L/L score (by some way) of any team competing, so I'm sure they're okay with that.

 

[Rafter]

I stand by my position that Fisher and Malette-Paquette have the worst free program of any of the Canadian junior teams, but they've also got themselves a medal and the best non-L/L score (by some way) of any team competing, so I'm sure they're okay with that.

On second viewing, I think Fisher and Malette’s FD is only bad in the last 1/3. The first 2/3’s aren’t that bad. But they did get a very generic FD, especially compared to Bronsard/Bou.

Malette-Paquette is very talented. Really really good edges. I’d like to see more expression from Fisher but they have a good look together.

 

[Bigbird]

On second viewing, I think Fisher and Malette’s FD is only bad in the last 1/3. The first 2/3’s aren’t that bad. But they did get a very generic FD, especially compared to Bronsard/Bou.

Malette-Paquette is very talented. Really really good edges. I’d like to see more expression from Fisher but they have a good look together.

No offence to their fans but Bronsard really needs a better partner, she is special. He is completely out of his depth and to my untrained eye he looks uncomfortable with her. Maybe he senses this?

As to the Le Mis. FD, I couldn't make it through the first minute. But given that they're so talented better material should be coming their way pretty soon

 

[Colonel Green]

On second viewing, I think Fisher and Malette’s FD is only bad in the last 1/3. The first 2/3’s aren’t that bad. But they did get a very generic FD, especially compared to Bronsard/Bou.

The "Look Down" and instrumental suite parts actually don't bother me that much; it's the "I Dreamed A Dream" middle portion that I think is terrible.

No offence to their fans but Bronsard really needs a better partner, she is special. He is completely out of his depth and to my untrained eye he looks uncomfortable with her. Maybe he senses this?

I don't think he's that bad, but he's definitely the weaker link, which is potentially an issue when he's four years older and should theoretically be the more experienced and technically proficient. He pretty much always gets lower levels than she does. I wouldn't say it's a hopeless case, but if I was Marie-France and co. I'd be really focusing on whipping him into shape.

Though the other potential issue for those two is that, at least to my eyes, they seem to be virtually the same height (their ISU bio doesn't have his height listed), and when you consider that he's 17 and she's 13 it's not hard to imagine her becoming taller than he is (though she might not; some girls grow like weeds early into their teens and then barely at all afterward, as with my mother, who everybody thought was going to be a giant when she was in Grade 7 but basically stopped growing from then on).

 

[RoseRed]

The "Look Down" and instrumental suite parts actually don't bother me that much; it's the "I Dreamed A Dream" middle portion that I think is terrible.


I don't think he's that bad, but he's definitely the weaker link, which is potentially an issue when he's four years older and should theoretically be the more experienced and technically proficient. He pretty much always gets lower levels than she does. I wouldn't say it's a hopeless case, but if I was Marie-France and co. I'd be really focusing on whipping him into shape.

Though the other potential issue for those two is that, at least to my eyes, they seem to be virtually the same height (their ISU bio doesn't have his height listed), and when you consider that he's 17 and she's 13 it's not hard to imagine her becoming taller than he is (though she might not; some girls grow like weeds early into their teens and then barely at all afterward, as with my mother, who everybody thought was going to be a giant when she was in Grade 7 but basically stopped growing from then on).

He also may not be done growing at 17 - some boys grow until around 20. I think there's enough of a height different right now, but I'm not sure if the partnership will work long-term.

And he's actually only 3 years older than her. His birthday is just a little early (she's 14 today actually). But the good thing is he was 16 as on July 1st, so he has 4 years of junior eligibility left. She has 5.

 

[RoseRed]

I stand by my position that Fisher and Malette-Paquette have the worst free program of any of the Canadian junior teams, but they've also got themselves a medal and the best non-L/L score (by some way) of any team competing, so I'm sure they're okay with that.

I think they'll be our 2nd team at JW. Of course, they have to deliver at Nationals, but they're way ahead of the other non-L/L teams even with having missed time training.

And in terms of securing a 3rd dance spot for JW, here's the SB ranking of the junior teams
1. 172.81 Arina USHAKOVA / Maxim NEKRASOV RUS
2. 166.52 Marjorie LAJOIE / Zachary LAGHA CAN
3. 165.63 Avonley NGUYEN / Vadym KOLESNIK USA
4. 164.65 Maria KAZAKOVA / Georgy REVIYA GEO
5. 161.67 Sofia SHEVCHENKO / Igor EREMENKO RUS
6. 161.00 Elizaveta KHUDAIBERDIEVA / Nikita NAZAROV RUS
7. 152.46 Ellie FISHER / Simon-Pierre MALETTE-PAQUETTE CAN
8. 148.51 Eliana GROPMAN / Ian SOMERVILLE USA
9. 144.25 Maria GOLUBTSOVA / Kirill BELOBROV UKR
10. 142.96 Loicia DEMOUGEOT / Theo LE MERCIER FRA
11. 141.16 Yana BUGA / Georgy POKHILYUK BLR
12. 140.67 Emmy BRONSARD / Aissa BOUARAGUIA CAN
13. 138.13 Natalie D'ALESSANDRO / Bruce WADDELL CAN
14. 137.42 Sophia ELDER / Christopher ELDER USA

Of course, it's hard to compare across comps, and a lot can change until JW, but still interesting. I included max however many JW spots they have (except Canada), and I didn't go too far down the list. The Greens and Lagouge/Rahier missed the JGP but may be back for JW and could rank up there. But still, as of now, F/MP give us by far the best chance at getting a 3rd spot.

 

[dramagrrl]

The "Look Down" and instrumental suite parts actually don't bother me that much; it's the "I Dreamed A Dream" middle portion that I think is terrible.

I agree. As I posted earlier in the thread, I think the FD as it stands right now is pretty bad, but it would be salvageable if they scrapped the middle section entirely and replaced it with something else.

 

[Colonel Green]

Skate Ontario's Octoberfest event was on the weekend. D'Alessandro and Waddell scored a pretty decisive victory, with Galiyanova/Lochhead second and Bashynska/Beaumont third.

 

[chewy]

Just watched Piper and Paul's practice run-through of their free dance at Skate Canada and omfg am I in love! I'm always kinda meh on ice dance but this is a stunner!

 

[fsfann]

Just watched Piper and Paul's practice run-through of their free dance at Skate Canada and omfg am I in love! I'm always kinda meh on ice dance but this is a stunner!

Maybe there is a glimmer of hope for *something* this season for the Canadian Team...