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

[Peepsquick]

I’m guessing, though, that Zueva choreographed Muramoto/Takahashi’s RD this season, and I thought that was brilliant—probably the best RD of the year

I loved the RD but honestly didn't care for the FD. I found it outdated choreographically speaking.

 

[Colonel Green]

Here's an interview with the choreographer of Papadakis & Cizeron's waacking RD:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/waacking-olympics-montreal-choreographer-axelle-munezero-1.6363639

 

[sap5]

Here's an interview with the choreographer of Papadakis & Cizeron's waacking RD:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/waacking-olympics-montreal-choreographer-axelle-munezero-1.6363639

Yes!! Love this:

"She spent about six months teaching the skaters about the dance's history before she even started to choreograph their acclaimed performance. She made them dance in unconventional places, including hallways.”

“I told them I wouldn't be comfortable just giving them movements," she said. "It can show in the movement if you know where it's coming from."

 

[sap5]

His wife?

Marina killed the golden goose. And she betrayed the skaters afterwards but for her daughter in law. Talk about being a good coach.
She's a bad choreographer. But she knows how to "package". That's all she knows to do really.

I don’t think she’s a bad choreographer. I’m not saying she’s the greatest, but some of her pieces are my favorites. I also think she’s very good at translating floor choreography onto ice, which is a skill in and of itself.

 

[sap5]

That woman you see in KnC with him, at least during the post-2012 break up period.

I heard the top teams were frustrated that Igor was less available to them and he was concentrating more on younger teams who he wanted to develop on his own with his “side piece” without Marina. I think that last part incensed Marina so much that she started the steps to kick him out of the rink.

I always thought the Shibs and C/B were kind of damaged by the split because Igor/Marina were better together honestly. I think Igor would have pushed the Shibs more technically and had them do more transitions and improve their speed during their stagnant period and Chock/Bates’ programs would have more polish and not just arm raising. I do think Marina is a choreographer with a very limited dance vocabulary and her programs don’t have the fullness or creativity or movements they should but I think she has a good eye for packaging and cleaning up already-made choreography to take it to that next level. That’s why she’s so good at poaching, I guess.

Igor was good at coming up with moves that ticked the boxes, but actually improving skating technique, such that they could compete with a team like P/C? I’ve never seen him do that for anyone. Maybe he could have stuffed their programs with more transitions, but next to something like P/C’s To Build A Home, I don’t think that would have helped the Shibs scores.

Who did she poach? From whom did she poach Muramoto/Takahashi?

 

[VGThuy]

Igor was good at coming up with moves that ticked the boxes, but actually improving skating technique, such that they could compete with a team like P/C? I’ve never seen him do that for anyone. Maybe he could have stuffed their programs with more transitions, but next to something like P/C’s To Build A Home, I don’t think that would have helped the Shibs scores.

Who did she poach? From whom did she poach Muramoto/Takahashi?

I was talking about the period from Fall 2012-Spring 2015 when they dropped from medal contenders to lower top ten and went from top two American to third place American ice dance team who almost lost their Olympic berth to a then newish Hubbell/Donohue. The Shibs programs started becoming a lot simpler and they became slower and more careful with their movements with one another compared to their 2011-2012 programs that may seemed dated and boring to people but had full choreography and Igor pushing them to skate faster with more difficult transitions. I think three seasons of them stagnating was a result of that and they improved once they started doing their own choreography and sought out other on-ice and off-ice choreographers and dancers and skaters to improve their programs and standing. It also helped that Scali joined the team around 2014-15 and he openly was excited to work with the Shibs and publicly said so, something Marina never did for them. While Scali was excited about working with the Shibs, Marina was waxing poetic about her beautiful blonde and blue-eyed Russian team of Niki and Viki, who had just joined the team.

The only time I ever remember Marina talking about the Shibs in an interview was when a Russian reporter talked about noticing how Alex was practicing progressives for a whole session or something and being surprised that a skater at his level was still working on those fundamentals and Marina said something to the effect of he does it because he knows he has to in order to compete with the top…aka always work on the basics no matter how high you go. She spoke more about Nathan Chen when he had that lapse in judgment and left Raf for like a hot week or so to join Marina before he came to his senses. Marina also waxed poetic about him.

I think she had no idea what to do with the Shibs but didn’t mind supporting them and probably “quietly” politicking for them in whatever way she could.

 

[Dobre]

According to this, the French Government will be announcing that until further notice no Russian or Belarusian club or athlete will be able take part in a competition in France.
https://twitter.com/rockerskating/status/1498356456977879042?s=21

Well, presuming this comes to pass, Nikita might as well go have his surgery.

 

[Fadeevfanboy]

Well, presuming this comes to pass, Nikita might as well go have his surgery.

He should have surgery anyway. There is no point holdin off on it for any reason. His future happiness and comfort in life depends on it. If he recovers he can decide on competing again then. The dance field won't be that strong it looks like at all, with all the retirements, so if he recovers and still wants to compete, returning and being very competitive isn't unrealistic. And it is more realistic than trying to keep competing hurt and hanging on. Lastly it is a way to quietly slip away from Zhulin and his awful choreography forever, without a big break up.

 

[Dobre]

Does anyone know if Nazarova & Nikitin are in Moscow?

 

[Karen-W]

Does anyone know if Nazarova & Nikitin are in Moscow?

I believe someone said they're in Dnipro following the Olympics, but not positive.

 

[sk9tingfan]

After a two-year hiatus, ice dancing competition will return to Lake Placid in July!

https://twitter.com/icedancecom/status/1498346960981528577

A separate thread has been opened in Kiss and Cry

 

[Taso]

I believe someone said they're in Dnipro following the Olympics, but not positive.

Kharkiv is what I remember seeing I hope they actually are in Dnipro

 

[Dobre]

Kharkiv is what I remember seeing I hope they actually are in Dnipro

For both of them, no matter where they are.

And for their families.

 

[justtojoke]

For both of them, no matter where they are.

And for their families

Ditto, I pray they are safe as they can be. If anyone comes across any info on ways to help please post. Or if it's in another thread please let me know.

 

[yeslek]

That woman you see in KnC with him, at least during the post-2012 break up period.

I heard the top teams were frustrated that Igor was less available to them and he was concentrating more on younger teams who he wanted to develop on his own with his “side piece” without Marina. I think that last part incensed Marina so much that she started the steps to kick him out of the rink.

I always thought the Shibs and C/B were kind of damaged by the split because Igor/Marina were better together honestly. I think Igor would have pushed the Shibs more technically and had them do more transitions and improve their speed during their stagnant period and Chock/Bates’ programs would have more polish and not just arm raising. I do think Marina is a choreographer with a very limited dance vocabulary and her programs don’t have the fullness or creativity or movements they should but I think she has a good eye for packaging and cleaning up already-made choreography to take it to that next level. That’s why she’s so good at poaching, I guess.

The shibs were very good technical skaters…

 

[Fadeevfanboy]

The shibs were very good technical skaters…

They were for sure, but maybe they could have become even better, with someone other than Zoueva.

 

[MarieM]

Well, presuming this comes to pass, Nikita might as well go have his surgery.

The surgery was supposed to take place in Germany. So no surgery at the moment.

 

[VGThuy]

The shibs were very good technical skaters…

They had an excellent technical foundation but there was a period where they weren’t progressing as they should have after the split. They got better once Scali joined Zoueva’s team in the 2014-15 season and then their technical skating that was already great got even better. I’m a huge a fan of theirs and was the resident FSU Shibs Uber, so I’ll be the first to recognize their attributes. That said, I don’t think they ever truly reached their peak as ice dancers and as a huge fan of theirs, it’s sort of a point of frustration for me.

 

[Dobre]

The Shibs were great with Zoueva. As was the vast improvement of the entire U.S. dance field, when she moved in and saved us from what felt like was every single team skating a Latin program. (I forget what year that was, but it was bad). The Shibs did exactly what I hope teams will do, which is figure out who they were as a team and take a certain amount of ownership over their own material. Of course, I would have loved to see them compete four more years; but with Maia's cancer & covid, I guess fate was on their side that they met major goals by 2018.

So no Stepanova & Bukin at Worlds. The last two years have been just brutal for every dance team that has made it onto my favorites list since the Shibs moved on. Of all the partnerships I have been rooting for over the past quadrennium, I did not think Sui & Han were going to be the most likely to make it to the 2022 Worlds. (Though I didn't really think Nguyen & Kolesnik would get there that fast. I just hoped they'd stay together). I really did hope McNamara & Carpenter would get there though. The world of being an ice dance fan--especially a fan of junior ice dance--is not for the faint of heart.

As I'm sure all of you can agree. (At least if you've had more than one favorite young ice dance team).

 

[Bigbird]

He should have surgery anyway. There is no point holdin off on it for any reason. His future happiness and comfort in life depends on it. If he recovers he can decide on competing again then. The dance field won't be that strong it looks like at all, with all the retirements, so if he recovers and still wants to compete, returning and being very competitive isn't unrealistic. And it is more realistic than trying to keep competing hurt and hanging on. Lastly it is a way to quietly slip away from Zhulin and his awful choreography forever, without a big break up.

The surgery was supposed to take place in Germany. So no surgery at the moment.

So this cannot be done in Russia?

 

[text_skate]

The surgery was supposed to take place in Germany. So no surgery at the moment.

He can go to Germany for surgery. He's not on any list. It's another question if he wants or is allowed to go.

 

[Karen-W]

He can go to Germany for surgery. He's not on any list. It's another question if he wants or is allowed to go.

And whether or nor he wants to take a longer trip to get there than it would have been on a direct flight from Moscow.

 

[Sylvia]

Ditto, I pray they are safe as they can be. If anyone comes across any info on ways to help please post. Or if it's in another thread please let me know.

Support for Ukrainian figure skaters/ice dancers (Nazarova is in Kharkiv ) thread in PI:

Messages of support for Ukrainian Skaters

This thread is to post messages of support for Ukrainian skaters. Aleksandra Nazarova is currently in Kharkiv, which is currently under heavy attack. If anyone posts a message of support for Aleksandra Nazarova - I will screenshot it and pass it on to her. If you'd prefer to private message...

www.fsuniverse.net

In OTBT:

Ways to support Ukraine, refugees & those helping them (please share info & links)

Starting a new thread in OTBT (no politics in here please): @Sylvia, maybe we should start a thread specifically about ways to donate? Someone just asked a question about it in the Dance Hall, and I realized that I've read of several ways to donate (between the ones Sadovsky recommended and...

www.fsuniverse.net

 

[justtojoke]

Support for Ukrainian figure skaters/ice dancers (Nazarova is in Kharkiv ) thread in PI:

Messages of support for Ukrainian Skaters

This thread is to post messages of support for Ukrainian skaters. Aleksandra Nazarova is currently in Kharkiv, which is currently under heavy attack. If anyone posts a message of support for Aleksandra Nazarova - I will screenshot it and pass it on to her. If you'd prefer to private message...

www.fsuniverse.net

In OTBT:

Ways to support Ukraine, refugees & those helping them (please share info & links)

Starting a new thread in OTBT (no politics in here please): @Sylvia, maybe we should start a thread specifically about ways to donate? Someone just asked a question about it in the Dance Hall, and I realized that I've read of several ways to donate (between the ones Sadovsky recommended and...

www.fsuniverse.net

Support for Ukrainian figure skaters/ice dancers (Nazarova is in Kharkiv ) thread in PI:

Messages of support for Ukrainian Skaters

This thread is to post messages of support for Ukrainian skaters. Aleksandra Nazarova is currently in Kharkiv, which is currently under heavy attack. If anyone posts a message of support for Aleksandra Nazarova - I will screenshot it and pass it on to her. If you'd prefer to private message...

www.fsuniverse.net

In OTBT:

Ways to support Ukraine, refugees & those helping them (please share info & links)

Starting a new thread in OTBT (no politics in here please): @Sylvia, maybe we should start a thread specifically about ways to donate? Someone just asked a question about it in the Dance Hall, and I realized that I've read of several ways to donate (between the ones Sadovsky recommended and...

www.fsuniverse.net

Excellent, thank you so much Sylvia!

 

[barbarafan]

Does anyone know if Nazarova & Nikitin are in Moscow?

Sh*it....I didn't think of them. I wonder where the best place for them at this time is.

 

[Karen-W]

Sh*it....I didn't think of them. I wonder where the best place for them at this time is.

They are both in Kharkiv and posting on their IG stories. It is very scary and sad for them.

 

[barbarafan]

They are both in Kharkiv and posting on their IG stories. It is very scary and sad for them.

I am sure it is. They have been one of my very favorite teams since they were young teens on JGP. My best wish for them is to somehow get to MTL to MIA. I guess at this point they might just need to be with family. What a crappy situation. Pls keep them safe.

 

[bcash]

Wow, Zhulin is out there being his mendacious deluded gaslighting self again, defending Tutberidze and blaming everything, expectedly, on the US, Canada, etc., etc. I hope I don’t see him at international competitions again, for years if not for ever. Also, why wasn’t he condemned by ISU for calling another Olympic skater a freak?

 

[Bigbird]

Wow, Zhulin is out there being his mendacious deluded gaslighting self again, defending Tutberidze and blaming everything, expectedly, on the US, Canada, etc., etc. I hope I don’t see him at international competitions again, for years if not for ever. Also, why wasn’t he condemned by ISU for calling another Olympic skater a freak?

But the good thing is he more or less confirms that the ROC does practice institutionalized doping. They just disagree about what substances should be on the banned list. LOL. I'm just wondering if they got the dosage wrong where Ms. Valieva was concerned and just how far does it go.

 

[Dobre]

From the "Messages of support for Ukrainian Skaters" thread in the Politically Incorrect forum:

Update from Aleksandra Nazarova

Me: How are things today, any worse?

AN: worse today
AN: Around my house…
AN: Everything is fire

AN: today my room is shaking, there is nowhere safe to go

Thank you to the fans who are sending money directly to her bank account, she is incredibly grateful.
At least that is one worry less for her!

I've been thinking about her all day.

When you have been following someone so long, since they were in juniors, it feels like you know them somehow.