Sparks
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Read The Second Mark. All of it is there.
Read The Second Mark. All of it is there.
Here's an article:I remember the fluff piece was about her getting the blade in the head on a side by side camel from a previous partner, and her long uncertain recovery.
I really liked B/K's Riverdance free dance. I loved the energy and the steps. I guess I'm not as well-educated in ice dance to know why it wasn't deemed medal worthy at the Olympics...but I obviously know it wasn't as good as K/O and A/P...(or higher than a bronze at Worlds that year). I also need someone to provide an analysis on why G/P's free program in 1998 was so great...I couldn't stand that music to begin with. Anyway, sorry for going off topic.
I think you'll find not many will disagree with you now, but I bet during the ice dance fan wars of the late 90s, there was a whole more "discussion" about G/P and their attributes, especially from people who were really convinced B/K should have won gold or something. Hell, I still remember posters saying how FP/M deserved their World title and were serious.
That almost absolutely had to do with the North American media trying to shove B/K down our throats and the ‘free’ dance really being just that— when you don’t know what exactly to look for, the audience reaction and the user-friendly program are going to get the most buzz and somehow == the best in some peoples’ eyes. At least back then.
I think a lot people didn't take to G/P's "Memorial" because it didn't seem like a dance program (dance on the floor) and it seemed more like a skating program where they just skated around doing tricks (I don't mean they didn't do anything extremely difficult but it didn't seem like they were dancing). I remember some commentator's reations to P&S's tango and saying they really hope ice dance goes in that direction. So it seems, some people (mostly North Americans?) were sort of itching for that. I think something like you see on So You Think You Can Dance?/Dancing with the Stars/and ballroom. Of course, we also have people who LOVE that sort of deviation away from dance floor routines and G/P can be described as more dance for the stage (not quite but close).
That almost absolutely had to do with the North American media trying to shove B/K down our throats and the ‘free’ dance really being just that— when you don’t know what exactly to look for, the audience reaction and the user-friendly program are going to get the most buzz and somehow == the best in some peoples’ eyes. At least back then.
For sure. The way I generally look at it, content and quality of skating should be stressed over everything else (although other aspects shouldn't be completely ignored of course). So whether or not people disliked the music of Memorial Requiem or her awful costume or her fake hair or her crazy personality, these are all pretty much irrelevant. The choreography of Memorial Requiem was insane in terms of program construction and how it demonstrated G&P's skating abilities. If it was based solely on whether or not one 'liked' the program or not, they should get rid of first set of marks and make ice dance into an exhibition-type of event where audience members can cast votes.
(((young Maurizio))) my god I totally forgot how pretty he was
is there a way to send hyacinth a nice wine basket?
I really liked B/K's Riverdance free dance. I loved the energy and the steps. I guess I'm not as well-educated in ice dance to know why it wasn't deemed medal worthy at the Olympics...but I obviously know it wasn't as good as K/O and A/P...(or higher than a bronze at Worlds that year).
Dude, he was SO EFFIN' PRETTY. I swear, Russia gave us ALL the handsome men in the late 90s.
Riverdance was well-received at the Olympics; B/K finished 3rd in the free dance segment. Bourne/Kraatz's problem was their CDs, particularly the Golden Waltz, and to a lesser extent their OD. They dug a huge hole for themselves with their 5th place Golden Waltz. Check out B/K's golden waltz v. 4th place CD Lobacheva/Averbukh's golden waltz and you'll see the difference in quality, which contributed mightily to B/K's 4th place overall finish.
I was a gigantic B&K fan back in the day (and for the newbies here who think I'm some sort of V&M troll, if push came to shove, I would probably still say B&K are my favourite dance team of all time even though I know that V&M were/are obviously better skaters), and I think High Society was their best FD. Some of their Tarasova/Morozov programs had more content, but I was not overly pleased with the "Faux Russian"-izing of their style post 2000, so 97/98 will always be their best program that really represented their style to me.I effing LOVED that High Society free dance in 1997. I still have it memorized.
As for them not being able to handle programs with a lot of technical content, I think their 02/03 waltz OD disproves that (as does the 02/03 FD to a certain extent).
Just because DenStav had more content that season, it doesn’t mean B&K’s programs (esp. the OD) didn’t have substantial content. The point I was arguing wasn’t that they ever had the highest or hardest content of the field, but that they did demonstrate more than once that they could handle programs with substantial content without looking slow and/or laboured. I would also argue that even if DenStav’s OD had more content that season (and I would have to go back and watch it to decide, as I don’t remember it at all), B&K’s waltz was, overall, the class of the field.Their OD and FD that season were good but hardly exceptional. The level of content in both of their programs badly paled in comparison to Denkova & Staviski's programs that year. I vaguely recall Tracy Wilson admitting in the CTV telecast that D&S had the most difficult OD that season.
Just because DenStav had more content that season, it doesn’t mean B&K’s programs (esp. the OD) didn’t have substantial content. The point I was arguing wasn’t that they ever had the highest or hardest content of the field, but that they did demonstrate more than once that they could handle programs with substantial content without looking slow and/or laboured. I would also argue that even if DenStav’s OD had more content that season (and I would have to go back and watch it to decide, as I don’t remember it at all), B&K’s waltz was, overall, the class of the field.