News and updates à la Française, part quatre

[ice coverage]

Cross-posting from Pairs thread:

New pair representing France ??: Megan Wessenberg and Denys Strekalin.

@wessenberg_strekalin on Instagram: "Hi everyone! We are very excited to announce the start of our partnership representing France⛸️🇫🇷 We will be training in France @asgapatinageartistique with @bruno_massot and in the US @foxvalleyicearena with @iam

1,303 likes, 66 comments - wessenberg_strekalin on June 18, 2025: "Hi everyone! We are very excited to announce the start of our partnership representing France⛸️🇫🇷 We will be training in France @asgapatinageartistique with @bruno_massot and in the US @foxvalleyicearena with @iamstefaniaberton...

www.instagram.com

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Cross-posting from Pairs thread:

New pair representing France ??: Megan Wessenberg and Denys Strekalin.​

​

@wessenberg_strekalin on Instagram: "Hi everyone! We are very excited to announce the start of our partnership representing France⛸️🇫🇷 We will be training in France @asgapatinageartistique with @bruno_massot and in the US @foxvalleyicearena with @iam

1,303 likes, 66 comments - wessenberg_strekalin on June 18, 2025: "Hi everyone! We are very excited to announce the start of our partnership representing France⛸️🇫🇷 We will be training in France @asgapatinageartistique with @bruno_massot and in the US @foxvalleyicearena with @iamstefaniaberton...

www.instagram.com

Was she briefly in a US Pairs team last season?

 

[Karen-W]

Was she briefly in a US Pairs team last season?

Her last partner was Edoardo Caputo. They WD from 2024 Nats and were still together last September but didn't compete in any NQS events, so they had no chance of qualifying for 2025 Nats.

 

[MsZem]

Geographically, it's more like Bruno moved to them, as he left Caen for Angers ?

Is there any exciting story behind that?

 

[cholla]

Is there any exciting story behind that?

Besides the fact that Bruno was offered many more $$$$$ than in Caen, not that I know of. The skating club of Caen has had serious financial troubles.

 

[Karen-W]

French Masters initial entry list has been published by the FFSG -

https://www.ffsportsdeglace.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LISTE-PATINEURS-SELECTIONNES-MASTERS-2025.pdf

 

[Karen-W]

Sounds like the FFSG held their JGP selection test event this weekend. There doesn't appear to be any competition results that I can find, so I'm thinking the skaters just showed their programs & were informally judged. I've seen posts from both Ehrhard/Pellegris and Telemaque/Coulon about it, and Jean Medard mentioned traveling to it on Friday.

 

[clairecloutier]

Apparently Isabella Flores has teamed up with Linus Colmor Jepsen, and they will compete for France (see LPIDI entry link below):

https://x.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1947677871679672829/photo/3

 

[Karen-W]

Apparently Isabella Flores has teamed up with Linus Colmor Jepsen, and they will compete for France (see LPIDI entry link below):

https://x.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1947677871679672829/photo/3

Well, this is more like confirmation of a long-running rumor, lol.

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

The French senior ice dance field is very crowded and deep these days. Isabella and Linus are both firecrackers and should be a lot of fun to watch even if the opportunities will be limited.

 

[ginsengtea]

Loïcia and Théo are fundraising €20,000 to cover their training expenses for the season.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1949511655928238291

 

[Nmsis]

Here is a little work of mine I've been doing for some time (imperfect but I'll never be satisfied with it anyway).

Maps of 20 years of Arribert's programs (mostly by obskure young dancers) : themes, music (music repeats can be counted on the fingers of 1 hand across 150 programs) & costumes (low quality screenshots from Youtube but they are zoomable enough to see cuts and patterns, which were one of the reasons I did that map) as she picks, draws or control them all.
Around 75 FDs and 75 ODs/SDs/RDs.

Reinventing the developmental curriculum and thematic structure of ice-dance with a bunch of obskure youngsters is an achievement. Everyone has been studying and copying bits of her work, from young Hurtado/Diaz taking Blanc/Bouquet's signature lifts as theirs, to Zhulin's surprising taste in music around and after 2010 to Shpilband/Zoueva's Bollywood to Péchalat/Bourzat to Haguenauer, to WADA (Ramalama by McNamara/Carpenter in 2012-2013 and Hugues Le Bars by Tkachenko/Kiliakov in 2018-2019 for zombie programs ? Déjà vu ?), to the whole junior competition, to costume design, especially the dresses last season.
Even Benoit Richaud choreographing on Mona Ki Ngi Xica for Yihan Wang had me checking those maps.