2025 Cup of China Free Dance PBP - Grabbing The Bull By The Scores

[deegee]

I’m listening to the NBC recap and I find it very surprising how negative gabi was about Zingas/kolesnik, called them simple and unoriginal multiple times. Yet was over the top positive about chock/bates. Said how difficult their free dance is, and how great they’re doing it already.i

i can't find it... do you have a link? did she comment on gpdf

 

[Tinycities]

i can't find it... do you have a link? did she comment on gdpf

It’s on NBC right now but don’t think they put it on peacock. Maybe later they will?

 

[Debbie S]

You don't suppose Gabby wants C/B to beat Guillaume at the Olys with every fiber of her being, do you?

I loved Z/K. C/B's FD has potential, but needs more drama, more build at the end, bigger movements in the choreo step sequence. And a new dress.

 

[Coco]

I've never seen Z/K before, or don't remember them. He really gives off Artur Dmitriev Sr. vibes, doesn't he? They seem to be in late season form.

 

[Aceon6]

I’ve watched ChoBat’s free twice. First, the dress has to go. It’s way too heavy looking for Madison’s frame and the red plus the shiny plus the bling makes Evan disappear. Second, they were slow, really slow. To the level of slowness that impeded flow between the elements. Yes, this style is staccato, but you need speed to make twizzles cover ice and make the curve elements sing.

 

[PRlady]

I've never seen Z/K before, or don't remember them. He really gives off Artur Dmitriev Sr. vibes, doesn't he? They seem to be in late season form.

https://i0.wp.com/adivinesport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Emily-and-Vadim-Finlandia-Trophy-24-free074A8305.jpg?ssl=1

Artur Dmitriev - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Artur Valeryevich Dmitriev (Russian born 21 January 1968) is a Russian former pair skater who competed internationally for the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. He is a twotime Olympic champion, having won gold with Natalia Mishkutionok in 1992 and with Oksana

alchetron.com

I guess so!

 

[BittyBug]

I've never seen Z/K before, or don't remember them. He really gives off Artur Dmitriev Sr. vibes, doesn't he?

To me he looks like a young Johnny Weir.

 

[AYS]

I'm thrilled for Zingas/Kolesnik - they have 2 great programs and have made huge strides in their abilities, all along really, but over this off season especially. They pulled me into big time fandom from the very start of their partnership (partly because I loved Vadym before and because Emilia is such an amazing dancer and performer). I've liked very few RDs this season but I really like theirs and actually C/B's too.

We've seen C/B come out like this with their FDs in GP #1 more than once in this quad. I look forward to seeing how the program evolves, which we know it will. Does anyone know what gave them the ! in the assisted jump sequence? That lost them a couple points based on the initial score that went up on the tracker. That, her twizzles, and the L2 lift added up. In general, the lifts didn't seem their usual quality, and I wonder if the costume contributed to that.

I just have to call out D/LM's gorgeous first lift, it evolves so beautifully.

 

[skategal]

Third season in a row I’ve LOVED Zingas/Kolesnik.

Oh dear….am I becoming an Uber?

 

[Matryeshka]

Xiao/He Twenty years from now, we're going to look at these bubble braids the same way we look at 80s bangs today. I do not understand this program at all.

Ren clearly lost her mojo with the sneak attack costume reveal.

Wang/Liu was like someone set a bad British noir drawing room play to an 8 o 8 drum.

S/D. I was worried about this sequel idea and while a few parts were a little rough, I see the vision. I see the potential. I think by the Olys, it might not be a masterpiece, but it will definitely be a memorable, Oly worthy program. She is just stunning. I just don't want this to start a trend. Ice Dance does not need an entire career set to the Avengers movie franchise

L/Q Good to see the Korean teams working together--it was so nice of Lee to allow them to rifle through her collection of Songs o' Screeching.

D/LM Costumes scream Tron. This is so purely French it almost hurts. This here is some grade A feckery. My interpretation is this is an FU to the French Federation and the first part is them bringing out the mummy's curse against them cause they are the true legends and they continue to skate in this mundane world, bringing their art and pain as weapons, French mummy weapons if you will, against the cruelty of meddling Canadians

Lop/Bri. They need to dig deep, find their inner Surya, and start stomping around angrily in teddy bear outfits as God and Bjork intended them to do. SO GLAD they medalled here.

Z/K. I like this modern interpretation of R&J; it has the feel of Russian ice dance from the late 90s and I'm here for it. If you can't get the skill set, go for the drama.

Reserving (most) judgement on C/B's FD because 1. I'm not their biggest fan and nothing would please me more if they decided to retire and both GreenP and Z/K could go to the Olys with CarPom and 2. their programs always improve A LOT over the course of a season. I will give this to Chock/Bates--even when they're winning, they make necessary improvements. I think it was their time program, I hated it at the beginning but by the World Championships, it was amazing. For now, she's not wearing the skirt, it's wearing her. I spent the entire time worrying Skirty was going to trip Evan. I like the idea of Paint it Black as a tango, and Madison as a Sexy Skirt and Evan as a rather mild mannered bull.

 

[peibeck]

You leave Vadym’s hair alone! It’s sexy and it suits him.

They shouldn't have waxed it back for this "Romeo and Juliet" program though. By the end and in the KnC he looked like Edward Scissorhands.

 

[cholla]

No one's hair is worse than Shaidorov's..

Egadze's!

 

[mtnskater]

So impressed with Z&K here! What an exciting surprise. Finally a free dance I will watch again this season (so far). I have disliked so many of Benoit’s singles programs. But this is a winner with some very creative and interesting moves. My one nitpick is that Zingas’ costume is much too bland. She needs to be tiffed out much much more. And/or do a very simple architectural modern ballet style costume ala the costumes that Cizeron’s partners all wear. Her black dress looks like a standard figure skating dress with no R&J vibes. Smart move to go to Benoit here.

Maddie and Evan. Well I loved the RD, even though I know they will skate it much better as the season goes on. It had big time. Really played to their strengths. As to the free dance, what puzzled me was the free dance costume. It swallowed Maddie alive. Looked like she didn’t have legs and distorted her line. It kept their twizzles slow. Though I must admit I was impressed that Maddie could do them as well as she did with that heavy fabric throwing her balance off. Plus I didn’t see any of the things that really play to their strengths and make them stand out from the field like their eye popping difficult lifts. So far lifts seem to be a weakness of FB/C. Surprised they aren’t capitalizing on that. This program is more about the skirt than the skating. They need to go back to the skating and not design a program around a costume that makes it hard to skate. She needs to show her lovely lines and the shapes they can make. It will be very interesting and exciting to see what they do going forward. At least they don’t need to rework the RD. But it always seems like it is high anxiety with these two and early season program debuts.

I was disappointed with Dune 2. Like most sequels, not nearly as good as the original. I didn’t like the figure skating bling on her updated costume either. Not nearly as engaging and mesmerizing. I’m guessing they will bring back the original for the Olympics.

Lopereva & Brissaud. Didn’t care for the rhythm dance. Liked the free dance music but they need way more angst and expression to live up to that deeply angsty music.

Sad for Green & Parsons. The White/Belbin group just can’t seem to get momentum. I like their rhythm dance choice of music.

 

[cholla]

D/LM Costumes scream Tron. This is so purely French it almost hurts. This here is some grade A feckery. My interpretation is this is an FU to the French Federation and the first part is them bringing out the mummy's curse against them cause they are the true legends and they continue to skate in this mundane world, bringing their art and pain as weapons, French mummy weapons if you will, against the cruelty of meddling Canadians

I like your interpretation and I'm sure they would absolutely love it, especially Théo
HERE you have what their FD is about.

 

[MacMadame]

My one nitpick is that Zingas’ costume is much too bland

It was reported somewhere that their real costumes didn't make it so it was all borrowed stuff.

 

[clairecloutier]

I was disappointed with Dune 2. Like most sequels, not nearly as good as the original. I didn’t like the figure skating bling on her updated costume either. Not nearly as engaging and mesmerizing. I’m guessing they will bring back the original for the Olympics.

My thought as well. Although I like Dune 2 (and appreciate the effort involved in making it a truly different program).

 

[mtnskater]

It was reported somewhere that their real costumes didn't make it so it was all borrowed stuff.

Didn’t she have a the same bland black costume at their Challenger? I had the same thoughts about her costume there.

 

[Debbie S]

Didn’t she have a the same bland black costume at their Challenger? I had the same thoughts about her costume there.

It was the RD costumes that didn't arrive, that they had to improvise.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I love Emi’s black dress. It’s different from the expected Juliet dresses and gives an elegant, sexy vibe.

Vadym either needs to use the whole bottle of hair gel plus some hairspray or just let the flow naturally flow lol. I’d prefer option 2.

 

[zigzig]

Love C/B's free dance but she needs to revamp that cheap looking silver plating on her costume - the skirt is fab though.

S/D and L/Q also highlights for me.

 

[her grace]

thoughts:

C/B: much smoother than RD. I think skirt should stay—they aren't going to win playing FB/C's game. They need something to set themselves apart and if they can make it more audience-friendly, the skirt could add an exciting element to the dance. I think they'll make some adjustments as they always do. I didn't see a lot of bull-ness from him. I wonder if there would be a way within the spacing requirements to make it look like he's chasing her in the one foot turns and she could be swinging her skirt at him.

Z/K: What a great result for them! Zingas shows continued improvement and Kolesnik's citizenship means that USFS has more incentive to get behind them.

L/B: His expression in this program was dynamite! Either they need to lean more into him or she needs to raise her expression level closer to his. Either way, she needs a different dress. Pretty-pretty didn't match the mood.

Smart/Dieck: a lot of highlight lifts, the skating still doesn't look very intricate

Lim/Quan: unlike the board consensus, I thought this was a great choice of FD for them. Lim is growing in her ability to convey mature emotion and the storyline is clear enough that Quan knows what the assignment is and what emotions he should be trying to convey. I mean, what was he supposed to do with his 101 Dalmatians role?

DeMougeot/Bigot Le Mercier: Perhaps too abstract of a program. IAM gives their teams concepts and while it grinds my gears that their well-developed stories beat good skating, what exactly is preventing D/LM creating a better, understandable concept?

Green/Parsons: I fear he is too injured and their season will end without their goals having been met. They both had tears in their eyes coming off of the ice after they withdrew.

 

[cholla]

DeMougeot/Bigot

You just created a new French team Bigot is another Théo but his partner is Dania Mouaden and they are juniors from ASGC Châlons. Loïcia Demougeot and Théo Le Mercier are seniors from Villard de Lans. Loïcia and Théo Bigot would make an odd couple as she is much taller than him, almost +10 cm/0,4'

 

[Bill Trenary]

I’m listening to the NBC recap and I find it very surprising how negative gabi was about Zingas/kolesnik, called them simple and unoriginal multiple times. Yet was over the top positive about chock/bates. Said how difficult their free dance is, and how great they’re doing it already.

Right?! My lord, I was like, "Did they kick her dog?" She was way too negative. I enjoyed them, and then she smashed my enjoyment into the ground. Didn't she make a quip about their costumes, too?

 

[peibeck]

Right?! My lord, I was like, "Did they kick her dog?" She was way too negative. I enjoyed them, and then she smashed my enjoyment into the ground. Didn't she make a quip about their costumes, too?

Sigh, she said they skated very well and even noted how they have improved since last season. She just felt the whole idea of doing "Romeo and Juliet" and the choreography are unoriginal. It was more a dig at B E N O I T than the skaters.

She did say she didn't understand the all black costumes; and although I think Emilia's dress is elegant, I kind of agree. I don't understand it for R&J either.

 

[Tinycities]

Sigh, she said they skated very well and even noted how they have improved since last season. She just felt the whole idea of doing "Romeo and Juliet" and the choreography are unoriginal. It was more a dig at B E N O I T than the skaters.

She did say she didn't understand the all black costumes; and although I think Emilia's dress is elegant, I kind of agree. I don't understand it for R&J either.

They’re using the cuts of dance of the knights and Juliet’s death. I thought it was fairly obvious they’re focusing on the tragedy of R+J instead of the romance. The heartbeat opening pose and the heart stabbing ending pose+ flopping over. Hence the black.

 

[peibeck]

Embracing the tragedy and wearing black goes right along with what Papadakis was saying about being unoriginal. Like fake stabbing yourself and dropping dead at the end of a R&J program.

I quite like this team, and even singled out their diagonal step patern as my favorite portion of any dance at Cup of China, but groundbreaking this program isn't.

 

[Tinycities]

Embracing the tragedy and wearing black goes right along with what Papadakis was saying about being unoriginal. Like fake stabbing yourself and dropping dead at the end of a R&J program.

I quite like this team, and even singled out their diagonal step patern as my favorite portion of any dance at Cup of China, but groundbreaking this program isn't.

I wasn’t commenting on whether it was original or not, I was mentioning that I didn’t find the black out of place.

 

[her grace]

You just created a new French team Bigot is another Théo but his partner is Dania Mouaden and they are juniors from ASGC Châlons. Loïcia Demougeot and Théo Le Mercier are seniors from Villard de Lans. Loïcia and Théo Bigot would make an odd couple as she is much taller than him, almost +10 cm/0,4'

Oops. Too much sleep deprivation got me!

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Sigh, she said they skated very well and even noted how they have improved since last season. She just felt the whole idea of doing "Romeo and Juliet" and the choreography are unoriginal. It was more a dig at B E N O I T than the skaters.

She did say she didn't understand the all black costumes; and although I think Emilia's dress is elegant, I kind of agree. I don't understand it for R&J either.

But the way she repeatedly said “this program won’t be remembered” is also a dig at the skaters’ performance of it. They are the ones creating the moment. The way she said it came across very dismissive and almost like she was laughing while she said. I’m glad Johnny stepped in and pointed out the quality of the performance at least.

I don’t think Gabi is ready for Olympics primetime commentary, so I hope they’ll consider going in another direction (please bring Ben back!) She’s too inexperienced which leads to stumbling over words, repeating herself, and not providing much of substance. With so many eyes on the Olympics they need a dance expert who can articulate much better.

 

[skategal]

But the way she repeatedly said “this program won’t be remembered” is also a dig at the skaters’ performance of it. They are the ones creating the moment. The way she said it came across very dismissive and almost like she was laughing while she said. I’m glad Johnny stepped in and pointed out the quality of the performance at least.

I don’t think Gabi is ready for Olympics primetime commentary, so I hope they’ll consider going in another direction (please bring Ben back!) She’s too inexperienced which leads to stumbling over words, repeating herself, and not providing much of substance. With so many eyes on the Olympics they need a dance expert who can articulate much better.

Which is pretty funny considering it is the FD that is sticking in my head so far this season.

I loved it.

It’s early days but I think Z/K are a very special team exactly in the way that V/M, D/W, and P/C were.