The Dance Hall 6: We're All Off Our Rockers 2018-2019

[Colonel Green]

2. S/B 81.95

“It was not supposed to be this way, Rusfed!”

 

[kittysk8ts]

“It was not supposed to be this way, Rusfed!”

Hahaha! Many are surprised at the rise of SinKats this season. I haven't actually watched the performances yet. But huge score for SinKats. If this ends up being the final podium, it would please me.

 

[VGThuy]

Quick someone give Bestemianova a mic and record her now.

 

[cocotaffy]

Quick someone give Bestemianova a mic and record her now.

Not just anyone, I want an Ivana Komova exclusive interview.

 

[PRlady]

Funny thing is I haven’t seen anyone in this thread claim that S/B were robbed and should be first. As in, the judges are right?

 

[Ka3sha]

Funny thing is I haven’t seen anyone in this thread claim that S/B were robbed and should be first. As in, the judges are right?

I agree with placements and scores in the top-three (probably would have had a bigger difference in PCS between SinKats and Step/Bukin).
But to me Popova/Mozgov were really robbed here , that was their best skate of the season so far and no way they should have placed behind Evdokimova/Bazin

 

[NAOTMAA]

Russian Nats RD results

1. S/K 84.01 (Whoah!)
2. S/B 81.95
3. Z/G 73.37

Whoah indeed!

Did S/B make any mistakes? Were S/K really that much better or is Zhulin really that powerful behind the scenes?

It's rather strange if the fed. judges dumped S/B as #1 after seemingly grooming them to be that for quite some time. One competition and they suddenly jump on another bandwagon just like that? I'm surprised they are willing to possibly change the pecking order so quickly instead of hanging on longer. I thought pecking order meant more in ice dance then in other disciplines in Russia.

Now if only one of the younger teams in pairs rise up and the fed. have the guts to do the same there!

 

[supergirl573]

Whoah indeed!

Did S/B make any mistakes? Were S/K really that much better or is Zhulin really that powerful behind the scenes?

It's rather strange if the fed. judges dumped S/B as #1 after seemingly grooming them to be that for quite some time. One competition and they suddenly jump on another bandwagon just like that? I'm surprised they are willing to possibly change the pecking order so quickly instead of hanging on longer. I thought pecking order meant more in ice dance then in other disciplines in Russia.

Now if only one of the younger teams in pairs rise up and the fed. have the guts to do the same there!

SinKats has long been the better team. Once Nikita got over himself, they were able to succeed.

 

[VGThuy]

Honestly, looking back from the 2014-2015 season on, it seems like S/B were almost always the extra Russian team and they were just getting opportunities and higher up in the hierarchy because preferred teams were just fizzling out or had fizzled out. Now that Nikita is back on form and has shown he and Vika can hit multiple events in a row and medal, it seems S/B are back to being the back up team despite their improvements, endearing themselves to the fans and judges by taking advantage of those opportunities, and having big names back them up.

 

[Andora]

Complete educated guess, but international results have to factor in who is Russia #1. S&K have been better received, particularly their RD.

S&K have had decent/potentially breakthrough seasons before, and it didn't hold. They're skating so well this year, but who knows what'll happen come worlds/next year/etc. They've been consistent for the first half of the season, whereas S&B have historically been a little more reliable, according to my potentially faulty memory.

 

[mollymgr]

I think S/K has a really good tango this season. Probably the best of the season. S/B's feels more like some sort of experimental tango romantica.

 

[muffinplus]

Wow Popova and Mozgov were indeed quite robbed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvV9kVw2mBc

 

[yurokis40]

I Like Sinkats don't know if I want them on a world podium their fd is so old fashioned and 90's retreat , like the Eurosport commentators said, they are good technically this year but worlds is a whole other ballgame we have seen teams mess up when they were in contention for the podium their lack of experience might show against more seasoned teams, Frankly I would not be surprised if the world podium is the same as last year depending on how Weaver and Poje perform at Nationals and 4CC, I can also easily see Europe politick against weapo at the expense of sinkats, the politics haven't exactly favored Weapo over the years. While Sinkats have a strong rd Kaitlyn Weaver is still a better dancer than sinitsina especially with the tango, at the moment Nikita is probably a little better than Andrew but other than the twizzles Andrew is a very strong dancer let's hope he somewhat fixed his twizzles.

 

[chantilly]

People need to keep in mind that the GOE range is likely affecting the differentials in overall marks as well as the total scores.

 

[Bigbird]

S/K have the better tango, S/B were truly flat today, and too overly cautious. Placements are correct. But in terms of just pure dance both performances were rather mediocre for different reasons. Who would have imagined four years ago that Russia's top two teams would be so mismatched. Sinitsina may be able to keep pace with K but she is so bland and sloppy at times. Stepanova, well her poor posture and poor skating skills were really obvious today.

Still waiting on the total package Russian team.
Besti and TAT really should be silent.

 

[chantilly]

S/K have the better tango, S/B were truly flat today, and too overly cautious. Placements are correct. But in terms of just pure dance both performances were rather mediocre for different reasons. Who would have imagined four years ago that Russia's top two teams would be so mismatched. Sinitsina may be able to keep pace with K but she is so bland and sloppy at times. Stepanova, well her poor posture and poor skating skills were really obvious today.

Still waiting on the total package Russian team.
Besti and TAT really should be silent.

That’s really not in their DNA. But I’m really not that sold in any Russian team yet.

 

[muffinplus]

S/K have the better tango, S/B were truly flat today, and too overly cautious. Placements are correct. But in terms of just pure dance both performances were rather mediocre for different reasons. Who would have imagined four years ago that Russia's top two teams would be so mismatched. Sinitsina may be able to keep pace with K but she is so bland and sloppy at times.
.

Sloppy and bland? Not seeing that at all...This was a very sharp performance from both S and K.

 

[Bigbird]

Sloppy and bland? Not seeing that at all...This was a very sharp performance from both S and K.

They are very sharp and very fast they pratically rob me of any opportunity to enjoy the dance if that makes sense. To me a tango is not an athletic aesthetic which is what I sense when I watch them perform but that is just my impression. I can also understand if you perceive them differently.

 

[muffinplus]

They are very sharp and very fast they pratically rob me of any opportunity to enjoy the dance if that makes sense. To me a tango is not an athletic aesthetic which is what I sense when I watch them perform but that is just my impression. I can also understand if you perceive them differently.

Not really, but you are entitled to your opinion obviously... The piece requires being sharp and fast, which I think they excel at. I am guessing you don't feel like they embody the character ?

 

[mjb52]

I often feel that things that would be praised as innovative if done by a French or North American team are criticized in a Russian one. It drives me nuts. If say Virtue and Moir or Papadakis and Cizeron were doing an unconventional tango would anyone really care? Now you do to some extent earn that by being at the top of your field for sure, but I still find it frustrating. This isn't really about the response to any one team in particular, it's just a thing that I've been thinking about for awhile.

 

[casken]

S&K were definitely stronger today.

Like others, I also thought P&M were robbed a bit as well. Their performance here was a big step up from the GP. Way more control and finished movements.

I also thought Skoptcova and Aleshin were a big step up from how they performed on the GP. Their RD made no impression me before, but I really enjoyed the choreography here.

 

[Peepsquick]

I often feel that things that would be praised as innovative if done by a French or North American team are criticized in a Russian one. It drives me nuts. If say Virtue and Moir or Papadakis and Cizeron were doing an unconventional tango would anyone really care? Now you do to some extent earn that by being at the top of your field for sure, but I still find it frustrating. This isn't really about the response to any one team in particular, it's just a thing that I've been thinking about for awhile.

S/K have a conventional tango in my book and it is very well performed. The rest is a matter of taste.

 

[mollymgr]

The weird thing is that the Tango Romantica Compulsory Dance doesn't even look anywhere close to a tango. The one from 2009-10 season sounded like some carousel music. Just because everyone shows up in black outfits and make serious faces at each other doesn't make it a tango.

 

[VGThuy]

For the amateur/arm chair callers out there, do any of these teams hit all the key points?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0-3AETWXWU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMc0j-LmYsQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjirpSnNia0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cruSiVW1giM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FVOmpEaZEw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx3C1_N2ZMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID4gV5UDHIk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a4SDYprc_w

Fun video of the top 3 at SA 2018 and Grishuk/Platov's TR playing all at once:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyk-C0Tbh9A

 

[Colonel Green]

Complete educated guess, but international results have to factor in who is Russia #1. S&K have been better received, particularly their RD.

That's definitely the biggest factor, I would say. S/K are one of the two teams that I think are really advancing on the strength of their relative mastery of the pattern this year (the other is Guignard/Fabbri).

 

[binbinwinwin]

I haven't had time to watch but I think it's about right for SinKats to be over StepBuk if they're both at their best. At GPF I felt like StepBuk were more entertaining but SinKats were the more skilled team. They traveled across the ice effortlessly and their footwork stood out to me as detailed and intricate. Stepanova needs softer knees and their twizzles don't cover ice as well as the other top teams, they still have some things they can work on.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I haven't had time to watch but I think it's about right for SinKats to be over StepBuk if they're both at their best. At GPF I felt like StepBuk were more entertaining but SinKats were the more skilled team. They traveled across the ice effortlessly and their footwork stood out to me as detailed and intricate. Stepanova needs softer knees and their twizzles don't cover ice as well as the other top teams, they still have some things they can work on.

Correct me if I'm wrong but they've been with the same coaches for their whole partnership haven't they? They got together in 2006!

They definitely have improved from season to season but it seems like a snails pace, especialy in comparison to the huge leap S/K (especially Viktoria) made from last season to this. S/K seem to be moving forward faster and that's why they were able to surpass them at the GPF and the SD here. Why the Russian fed. seem to be jumping on the bandwagon instead of staying the course they were on pre-GPF.

They were being groomed to be the new #1 after B/S for nearly two seasons (thanks to them being stable and other teams being a mess) and apparently have lost it in less then one after finally getting it to a team that seemed on a downward spiral and looked very close to being behind Z/G in the hierarchy. After 12 years with the same coaches do you think perhaps its time they move on and get a fresh perspective? Because it S/K continue to skate as they have the last few performances, and keep improving themselves, S/B it seems run the risk of being left in the dust.

 

[wickedwitch]

I much prefer S/B and especially their FD, but S/K have a much stronger RD. The only reason they should be losing the RD to S/B is if S/K are making major mistakes. None of those mistakes occured at Russian Nats.

 

[Dobre]

Kudos to Sinitsina & Katsalapov for dealing with the pressure and skating a strong RD today while going up last. I think that was not an easy draw for them, and I do like this rhythm dance very much.

 

[binbinwinwin]

Correct me if I'm wrong but they've been with the same coaches for their whole partnership haven't they? They got together in 2006!

They definitely have improved from season to season but it seems like a snails pace, especialy in comparison to the huge leap S/K (especially Viktoria) made from last season to this. S/K seem to be moving forward faster and that's why they were able to surpass them at the GPF and the SD here. Why the Russian fed. seem to be jumping on the bandwagon instead of staying the course they were on pre-GPF.

They were being groomed to be the new #1 after B/S for nearly two seasons (thanks to them being stable and other teams being a mess) and apparently have lost it in less then one after finally getting it to a team that seemed on a downward spiral and looked very close to being behind Z/G in the hierarchy. After 12 years with the same coaches do you think perhaps its time they move on and get a fresh perspective? Because it S/K continue to skate as they have the last few performances, and keep improving themselves, S/B it seems run the risk of being left in the dust.

Had to google that but yes Stepanova's first partner is Bukin and they've been with Svinin and Zhuk since the beginning. I wouldn't say they are necessarily jumping on the bandwagon, I just think that SinKats are the stronger team overall and they are choosing to recognize that right now.

I don't have a problem with Step/Buk and the current vision their coaching team has for them, I think their programs are overall pretty acceptable. Something like hip hop which should've been a huge challenge for them turned out pretty well imo and I found it fun when I saw it live. They should try working with a new technical coach though, more closed holds, less side by side skating. Having seen them twice in person now I was always kind struck by how soft Bukin's blades can be but Stepanova skates kinda like Bambi beside him.