The Dance Hall 9: Bring the Bling or No Beijing 2021-2022

[~tapdancer~]

I think I may be the only person who genuinely likes most of the programs this season. But also, I will check off from the bingo card my favorite thing to say at this point in this season which is that they're not training to peak in November, they're training to peak in February. We used in the olden times (at least most of us) not to even see these early competitions so skaters had time to work things out.

You know, so true. Skating fans are blessed these days with the streaming tech we have. When I first started watching skating (late 70s) we only got one hour shows on ABC Wide World of Sports of Nationals and Worlds. Only the top skaters. And ice dance? We only ever saw our #1 team in the USA and every 4 years we could see our lower ranked teams at the Olympics. It's truly amazing to me to be able to see so many skaters and even though I can be critical of lower ranked teams, it really is a blessing to be able to see pretty much everyone that's skating these days. From so many countries.

 

[Karen-W]

So, it sounds like Tiff & Jon won't be at RusNats or Euros. Now things are going to get interesting, I think, in seeing which team finishes 3rd at RusNats behind SinKats and StepBuk and what the RFSF does regarding the 3rd Olympics spot. At this point, it seems like it's a fight between Skoptcova/Aleshin and Davis/Smolkin.

Where would the #3 team need to finish at Nats to lock up the Olympic spot? At Euros, we'll have PapCiz, SinKats, GuiFab, StepBuk, FearGib, SmaDia, HurKha, KaliSpod, LopBri, NazNik, MueDie, KazRev, AmbruLev, GaraPS, TurkVer, Taschlers... Is Top 10 the minimum and anything lower leaves the spot in play for either Z/G or the #4 team at RusNats?

 

[taz'smum]

Is Top 10 the minimum and anything lower leaves the spot in play for either Z/G or the #4 team at RusNats?

Bazin managed top 9 at Euros 2019 I think it was, from a far lower ranking than D/S and with less political backing.

 

[Bigbird]

Bazin managed top 9 at Euros 2019 I think it was, from a far lower ranking than D/S and with less political backing.

True, but their RD is just horrifying. I think she was much better suited to Filatov. Bazin in my mind is way overrated.

 

[taz'smum]

True, but their RD is just horrifying. I think she was much better suited to Filatov. Bazin in my mind is way overrated.

I'm just pointing out that it is unlikely that the 3rd Russian team won't make top 10 at Euros no matter which team is sent.

 

[Bigbird]

I'm just pointing out that it is unlikely that the 3rd Russian team won't make top 10 at Euros no matter which team is sent.

Ah. Gotcha.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm just pointing out that it is unlikely that the 3rd Russian team won't make top 10 at Euros no matter which team is sent.

So, who does the #3 Russian team need to beat, in your opinion? Even with political backing, I'd say that 8th is the highest they can go.

It seems like there is a pretty wide gap between the top 7 (PapCiz, SinKats, GuiFab, StepBuk, FearGib, SmaDia, & HurKha) and the next two Russian teams - SkopAle & DavSmo scored nearly identically at their lone GPs, then a smaller gap between the next 2 Russian teams (MorBag & KhudaBaz), LopBri, AmbruLev & TurkVer.

Or, is it possible that SinKats skip Euros and the #3 & 4 teams are sent to battle it out?

 

[litenkyckling]

Lets be honest, even with a fall it's likely that we'll see Diana and Gleb in either the #5 or #6 spot at Euros. I don't want that to happen and don't think that they are nearly as good as that, but the highly questionable judging of then we've seen so far this season is making me a pessimist.

 

[skatingguy]

So, who does the #3 Russian team need to beat, in your opinion? Even with political backing, I'd say that 8th is the highest they can go.

It seems like there is a pretty wide gap between the top 7 (PapCiz, SinKats, GuiFab, StepBuk, FearGib, SmaDia, & HurKha) and the next two Russian teams - SkopAle & DavSmo scored nearly identically at their lone GPs, then a smaller gap between the next 2 Russian teams (MorBag & KhudaBaz), LopBri, AmbruLev & TurkVer.

Or, is it possible that SinKats skip Euros and the #3 & 4 teams are sent to battle it out?

I'm not sure what this means, but the Russian judge at Rostelecom put Khudaiberdieva/Bazin ahead of Skoptsova/Aleshin in both segments of the competition.

 

[taz'smum]

I'm not sure what this means, but the Russian judge at Rostelecom put Khudaiberdieva/Bazin ahead of Skoptsova/Aleshin in both segments of the competition.

I wouldn't read too much into that. it could just simply be a Russian judge that is more politically aligned to the Denis Samokhin camp than the Kustorova camp.

 

[Andrea82]

I wouldn't read too much into that. it could just simply be a Russian judge that is more politically aligned to the Denis Samokhin camp than the Kustorova camp.

It was Alla Shekhovtsova.
She gave higher PCS to S/A but higher GOEs to K/B.
She was also the only -3 to S/K' StaLift in the FD.

What she didn't like the most was Hawayek/Baker.

 

[marbri]

I didn’t give Green/Parsons’s FD a chance initially, because I see major flaws and limitations to Michael’s body line. But after watching it in full I have to agree with Charlie White that it’s the artistically boldest and most original FD of this season. I wish P/C could have gone for something like that. They would have been able to give such conceptually brilliant programs beautiful articulation.

I loved their FD the first time I saw it but less and less with each competition as I found myself thinking what a brilliant program this would be with a better team skating it. I agree if P/C were skating this it would be and I would be a lot more confident Olympic gold would be a slam dunk for them versus the FD they are actually skating this year.

 

[Peepsquick]

I loved their FD the first time I saw it but less and less with each competition

Same impression for me ... I love the ideas and the out of the box concept but overall I find it slow going and lacking rhythm. Still, a good indication of good things to come for G/P.

 

[Peepsquick]

Am I the only one who loves A/R programs this season? They need more mileage but I would not have put them so low at Rostelecom. I also love Allison's green dress!

 

[deegee]

I loved their FD the first time I saw it but less and less with each competition as I found myself thinking what a brilliant program this would be with a better team skating it. I agree if P/C were skating this it would be and I would be a lot more confident Olympic gold would be a slam dunk for them versus the FD they are actually skating this year.

yeah, i said the same thing, even early on though. the first time i saw it, i thought that it would be a perfect program for hawayek and baker. but now that you mention papadakis and cizeron, that would've been sublime. i love p/c's current fd, though (it's grown on me and i have a lot of confidence that they will make the necessary improvement for beijing just seeing the evolution of the rd); i think i would have preferred gr/p's fd for p/c rather than the 'find me' program which just never did it for me.

 

[muffinplus]

Alternative music cut for SinKats FD courtesy of @Braulio

https://youtu.be/8xH09c76fYs?t=193

I must say it fits well!

 

[Karen-W]

Alternative music cut for SinKats FD courtesy of @Braulio

https://youtu.be/8xH09c76fYs?t=193

I must say it fits well!

My favorite part has to be the throwing of their hands at the judges right on the musical cue. It's so perfectly timed!

 

[Orm Irian]

The next episode of On Edge is out! And I defy anyone not to sniffle at the bit where Nik Sorensen gets the news that his Canadian citizenship has come through.

 

[deegee]

The next episode of On Edge is out! And I defy anyone not to sniffle at the bit where Nik Sorensen gets the news that his Canadian citizenship has come through.

the episodes are toooooooo short

 

[Bigbird]

My favorite part has to be the throwing of their hands at the judges right on the musical cue. It's so perfectly timed!

I mean could we see the costumes. Katsalapov would make a perfect pirate a la Captain Sparrow and Vika his perfect wench.

It would be so crowd pleasing. They should be the ones doing the H/K Stairway to Heaven program.

What has happened to Zhulin?

 

[muffinplus]

Morozov will join Stepanova/Bukin’s coaching team

 

[allezfred]

That all sounds a bit desperate. Weren’t Ilinykh/Katsalapov the last team that had any sort of “success” with him?

 

[Cherub721]

Didn't W&P medal at Worlds with Morozov?

 

[VGThuy]

Maybe he’ll give them a new FD to Tosca.

 

[Debbie S]

Didn't W&P medal at Worlds with Morozov?

Sort of. He was one of their coaches, along with Pasquale, and it was Pasquale's program (Je Suis Malade).

 

[mjb52]

Je Suis Malade accurately describes how I feel about this news

 

[alchemy void]

Alternative music cut for SinKats FD courtesy of @Braulio

https://youtu.be/8xH09c76fYs?t=193

I must say it fits well!

Is it too late for them to switch their entire FD to Pirates? Would be quite the upgrade!

 

[mjb52]

So what's a good resource for learning just a tiny bit more, nothing too crazy, about the rules for dance? I feel like I get the basics - speed, close holds, transitions, etc... but I'd like to be slightly (again, nothing too crazy) more educated about the code of points and that kind of thing. I think it constantly comes up that people have a hard time understanding where points come from in dance as compared to singles/pairs and so I'm curious to understand it a little better.

 

[skatingguy]

So what's a good resource for learning just a tiny bit more, nothing too crazy, about the rules for dance? I feel like I get the basics - speed, close holds, transitions, etc... but I'd like to be slightly (again, nothing too crazy) more educated about the code of points and that kind of thing. I think it constantly comes up that people have a hard time understanding where points come from in dance as compared to singles/pairs and so I'm curious to understand it a little better.

The ISU website has all the information, but it is a bit dense.

Handbooks Ice Dance - International Skating Union

The International Skating Union is the international sport federation administering Ice Skating sports throughout the world.

www.isu.org

You might be best to search for specific things - for example the midnight blues pattern - to get a handle on the information.

 

[mjb52]

I was hoping for something shorter but thank you! Maybe during the long winter nights I will take a gander at this. There's at least two months 'til Beijing so that's plenty of time.