2026 Europeans - Free Dance - "Sheffield Whinesday"

[MsZem]

Agree regarding Picasso FD but I think that is often the case with the first of its kind. The very fact that that FD is still so memorable all this time later by a team like that really was a sign of things to come.

It also fit the skaters perfectly - it's not just a flowy lyrical program, there's a lot of thought and care that went into it and Hurtado/Diaz performed it extrenely well. Their skating skills weren't as strong as those of some competitors, but it was beautifully expressive throughout.

A pity that partnership ended badly.

 

[Bunny Hop]

Congratulations to the Israeli team for making me enjoy an Exogenesis program. The Kerrs still did it best, but I really liked this one.
And thanks to Soucise anf Firus for reminding people that there are other parts of the Riverdance soundtrack – probably should have used more of that and skipped Reel Around the Sun (which I like as a piece of music but the only skater who can keep time to it is Jason Brown).
German team were good too – liked their green costumes.
In fact the whole first group was pretty good, although I’m giving serious side eye to the scores for the Fun Finns. Yes, they’re fun and entertaining and I like them but first group is the right place for them technically and even then that program did not come off well in comparison to the other skaters in the group. And I’m over the rolling on the ice – was amusing once.

Group 2: And now I’m Exogenesised out again.
Hungarian lady seems to have borrowed a costume from Stepanova’s chiffon bustle era. The problem with Joker programs is that I feel like they never make sense unless you’ve seen the film – which I haven’t.
WTF is that scarf on Italy #2? It actually distracted me from watching them skate.
And the Swedes save Group 2. Amazed how well he has taken to ice dance. Should not be behind the the Finns.
Bekker/Hernandez RandJ looked slow after the Swedish team, but good job.

Smart and Dieck really need to find a way to get better at the Rhythm Dance if they want to place higher. Love both their Dunes, they just fly by. That opening lift is a stunner amongst many highlights.
Taschlers in ye olde standard Matrix costumes. Seemed a bit messy.
I seem to be out of step with others re France #3 – I was bored.
Turkkila/Versluis – I love this program and am very happy to see it again. Masterpiece of a tango (apart from the twizzle error of course).
Davis/Smolkin also excellent.

Lopareva/Brissaud – they have really grown on me as a team these last couple of years and glad they have pulled up a spot here. Hope they stay in competition for another year or so and continue being different.
Lithuania – I enjoy watching them but feel like they were out of place in this group, particularly following immediately after Lopareva/Brissaud. I think they were lucky to stay in the top 5 (also not convinced they should be top 5 in the first place, but Tony has covered that). Also, they need a deduction for obnoxious voiceovers.
Guignard/Fabbri – lovely! This is such a better free dance for them and beautifully performed (his twizzles aside – that kicked up a lot of ice).
Fear/Gibson – As exciting to watch as ever but that error on the twizzles should have pushed them behind Lopareva/Brissaud in the free. Relying on GOE over levels should be riskier than it currently is in the judging. I’m a fan but I still sometimes struggle to get on board with their scoring.
Fournier-Beaudry/Cizeron – Exquisite skating. Well deserved win.

 

[Kaz7714]

Back home now. I understand the personal bias one can have for FB/C (I have it as well as) but having seen them live their skating quality was so far above everyone else here. I love their style and this LP but that's a taste thing.
I always root for G/F but they are skating against time. Which is understandable .I hope they have a great outing in Milano and was happy they pulled it off here .
F/G were fun, but nervy and well .... F/G.Good for them and it was great to soak in the atmosphere.
I love L/B and their masterpiece of an LP . I would have seen them higher cough .
Dune is wonderful .

 

[Private Citizen]

FWIW I like F-B&C’s free dance. It was miles better than anything else in Sheffield and a step above their own rhythm dance. The elements flow seamlessly and work together as a choreographic whole in a way I have rarely seen since the introduction of COP. So many of the other teams had telegraphed movements that were even more obvious in person — Fear and Gibson in particular. Their twizzle entry is like a Tonia Kwiatkowski “back the car out of the driveway” triple lutz.

I still think the program is over-scored, both technically and in PCS: the big unison break in the twizzles did not seem to be reflected, and the holds and choreo sequences are simpler than other teams. Speed is only moderate. I don’t think it’s unbeatable by any means.

Style wise I think the audience reacted honestly. To me it’s a piece of “art” that everyone feels like they need to say they like, but few actually do. I’m sure those who like it believe it is esoteric and reflective of their superior taste. I find it rather highfalutin and pretentious. I’ll acknowledge the quality skating, but I don’t feel compelled to stand for a program other people like.

 

[PRlady]

Me: Subtle and nuanced, abstract and cerebral
@Private Citizen : highfalutin and pretentious

there’s a big overlap in meaning there but one of us is trying hard to be respectful.

 

[her grace]

Spots for next season

3 spots: FRA [GBR was so close with 14 points]
2 spots: ITA, GBR, LTU, GEO, ESP, FIN, CZE

On a cursory glance of JGP standings, I don’t see any juniors who have to move up next season who I think would have a solid chance of making these country’s Euro teams. I expect most of the teams who are jr and sr eligible to stay junior.

 

[marbri]

So in the interview Guillaume mentions Lambiel skating to this music and he being in tears watching him skate it. I don't recall it from competition so must have been a show program. Has anyone seen it and have a link to it? I love the music and would love to see what Lambiel did with it.

 

[Karen-W]

Me: Subtle and nuanced, abstract and cerebral
@Private Citizen : highfalutin and pretentious

there’s a big overlap in meaning there but one of us is trying hard to be respectful.

True enough, but you both are correct and the point I'm arguing is not that the Fun Finns should win because they are entertaining, but that the top teams should be encouraged to look to what has the general public & audience in the arena on their feet hootin' & hollerin' when creating their programs.

Esoteric. Cerebral. Subtle & nuanced... those type of programs have a limited appeal & I would argue the ISU has had that segment of the populace in its pocket for the last decade thanks to PapCiz and Hanyu. There is a similar cultural snobbery within the fandom toward Ilia's rap programs, and we see the same cultural snobbery against Elvis programs and other "low-brow" & plebian choices that have far more widespread, commercial appeal than the abstract, pretentious ones. It's not lost on me that many of the same people who LOVE FBCiz's FD hated Kagiyama's Imagine Dragons SP from a couple of seasons ago. It wasn't because his skating skills were suddenly undeserving of high PCS - it was purely a matter of taste. For me, that was one of Kagiyama's best programs because the music WAS accessible and fun for the average viewer who bops along to Billboard Hot 100 songs on their daily commute or has kids who listen to that music.

And, as I pointed out yesterday, when the FD has 60-75% of programs that are in a similar, somewhat abstract & esoteric vein, that's not doing anything to expand the market nor is it going to necessarily increase engagement from existing fans.

I don't know what the answer is but I am positive that these skaters & teams who are copying the esoteric, subtle, nuanced formula that was born with Hurtado/Diaz's Picasso and then perfected by subsequent PapCiz programs isn't the answer, and not especially with Cizeron 2.0 given the very split opinion of that new partnership both before & after the publication of Papadakis' memoir. People may be able to recognize the skill & athleticism but that doesn't mean they'll be compelled to become an engaged figure skating fan because of it.

 

[PRlady]

Well. My taste in classical music is really mainstream. For example, now that the Kennedy Center is off-limits, we are schlepping to Baltimore in March for Saint-Saens, Debussy, Ravel. I’m sure people with really deep understanding of classical music would categorize me as a lightweight.

But the NSO always includes some new or obscure music in their accessible, popular programs and sometimes we really like it. It’s their task to broaden our horizons, right?

A good mixture is what I like. Bjork is too way-out for me but fine, I’m appreciating L/B’s program. Not every program should be Florence and the Machine (but there should be at least one a season!) There are warhorses aplenty. And Chock/Bates and Gilles/Poirier along with lower-ranked teams almost always have very accessible FDs.

Guillame can stay in his wheelhouse and we can be ecstatic or meh. I doubt he’s going to stick around long if they win Olys or Worlds.

 

[BittyBug]

So in the interview Guillaume mentions Lambiel skating to this music and he being in tears watching him skate it. I don't recall it from competition so must have been a show program. Has anyone seen it and have a link to it? I love the music and would love to see what Lambiel did with it.

Here you go:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Seeing this, F-B/C’s program is at the least inspired by Lambiel if not quite derivative.

It’s interesting how polarizing this program seems to be. Putting aside how people’s feelings about the skaters may impact their perceptions of the program, the score itself has been criticized as being “unrelentlessly bombastic,” and it seems like some posters share that assessment. But like it or hate it, the music is intentionally emotionally charged so I guess it’s not surprising that it elicits strong reactions (and yes, despite claims to the contrary, the score uses the ocean as a metaphor).

Simonsen admitted that "The Whale was an opportunity to paint a pretty bold canvas, but also to feature quiet moments to make the intensity really stand out." While watching the rough edit of the film without temp music, Simonsen was able to imagine different ideas. One of them being an overtone flute having "an ethereal, otherworldly, hollow, but also very large sound" that contributed to the nautical elements present in the film, which was influenced through its sound design and production design, referencing about a "man lost at sea, on the sea of their own emotions. Simonsen listened to sea shanties and Mormon songs and chants to explore the nautical texture.

Anyway, I said this early on, but as much as I wanted to hate this program because of both team members’ responses to the Sørensen situation, I love it, but my taste tends to run towards modern, moody dance so it’s very much in my wheelhouse.

 

[marbri]

@BittyBug Thank you for finding that! Will watch it after but just wanted to mention that they did work with Lambiel on the FD so not surprised it is heavily influenced by his program.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

Ermm...
I recall some 30 years ago I coined the term of "beautiful couple beautifully skates to beautiful music".
Both "pretentious" and "cerebral" are interpretations of what we were told about the "meaning" of the FD. If we forget the Big and Deep story about whales and other nonsense, it all boils down to how well a couple moves to the given music and does the elements. The Big and Deep stories are utter bs 99% of the time, I would say FBC are not an exception. This is a competitive program, if it has any underlying meaning, it is going to be limited to some posing on the choreo steps.

The question is whether or not BFC beautifully skate to beautiful music. They do.

 

[fsfann]

Just watched Fear/Gibson. No idea how they are even considered to be Top 5 in the world. Slow, empty programs other than some 'highlight' moves. Can anyone explain this to me? I know they do upbeat pieces to draw the crowd in but man....the level of skating skills is just so much lower than the other teams...

 

[marbri]

Just watched Fear/Gibson. No idea how they are even considered to be Top 5 in the world. Slow, empty programs other than some 'highlight' moves. Can anyone explain this to me? I know they do upbeat pieces to draw the crowd in but man....the level of skating skills is just so much lower than the other teams...

 

[MsZem]

I am positive that these skaters & teams who are copying the esoteric, subtle, nuanced formula that was born with Hurtado/Diaz's Picasso and then perfected by subsequent PapCiz programs isn't the answer...

Picasso was subtle? I thought it was pretty clear in what it was trying to do and the Estrella Morente part was not exactly lyrical snot (still Trankov's greatest contribution to skating).

If skaters want to skate to Elvis or Michael Jackson or Beyonce, have at it and be entertaining! P/C had that Fame R/D which was hardly highbrow. But I don't think weaker skating should be rewarded just because people in the audience can clap along to your music.

Also: having survived all the Ricky Martins during the RD, I can't imagine how skaters could train "entertaining" programs nonstop without getting sick of them.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

Idk, have you watched "Picasso" recently?
With the exception of music and costumes, and maybe an occasional pose on a lift, for 3 minutes out of 4 it's exactly the same program everyone else were doing. Obviously I loved it because I happened to like the music, love the skaters, and even these poses on a lift is more than can be said about the rest of the field, so I'll take it. But common.

If I dig deep and try to find programs that actually do some deep idea for the entire skate, I can't come out with anything more recent than Torvill/Dean 1984 OPD. Using today's rules for ice-dance, it would be literally impossible to do anything similar, no matter how talented the skaters and the choreographer are. It's even more obvious for other disciplines, where the elements are even less compatible with any story. We consider ourselves lucky if there are at least some elements or movements that maybe resemble something associated with the theme (flamenco poses, tango moves, all that). I think Chaplin themed programs are the only ones that kind of carry something more abstract, or at least these are the only ones that come to mind - Petr Barna, Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze....

So let's not dive too deep into the story. I'm happy if the music is not too overused, there's some change in rhythm and some moves that are correctly accentuated, and maybe a pose or two that look suitable. We rarely get even that. Both versions of Cizeron do exactly that and nothing more, only they do it extremely well due to technical proficiency.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Thank you to the in-arena people who are posting about their impressions of FB/C’s FD.

 

[MsZem]

If I dig deep and try to find programs that actually do some deep idea for the entire skate, I can't come out with anything more recent than Torvill/Dean 1984 OPD. Using today's rules for ice-dance, it would be literally impossible to do anything similar, no matter how talented the skaters and the choreographer are.

The Duchesnays did some cool stuff, and also Rahkamo and Kokko. Also some of the French teams, both higher and lower ranked.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

The Duchesnays did some cool stuff, and also Rahkamo and Kokko. Also some of the French teams, both higher and lower ranked.

Yes, I considered exactly them
Duchesnays did some amazing choreo (badly), but if you watch it without knowing what Dean said it's all about, you wouldn't really know. And for R&K I considered the "Swan Lake" program, but there the characterization was also limited to intermissions mostly.
But yeah, there are and were some beautiful programs in all disciplines. I just don't think they really convey some deep idea or story, or even know there is some deep idea or story, unless you read Scali's libretto.

 

[Cachoo]

FWIW I like F-B&C’s free dance. It was miles better than anything else in Sheffield and a step above their own rhythm dance. The elements flow seamlessly and work together as a choreographic whole in a way I have rarely seen since the introduction of COP. So many of the other teams had telegraphed movements that were even more obvious in person — Fear and Gibson in particular. Their twizzle entry is like a Tonia Kwiatkowski “back the car out of the driveway” triple lutz.

I still think the program is over-scored, both technically and in PCS: the big unison break in the twizzles did not seem to be reflected, and the holds and choreo sequences are simpler than other teams. Speed is only moderate. I don’t think it’s unbeatable by any means.

Style wise I think the audience reacted honestly. To me it’s a piece of “art” that everyone feels like they need to say they like, but few actually do. I’m sure those who like it believe it is esoteric and reflective of their superior taste. I find it rather highfalutin and pretentious. I’ll acknowledge the quality skating, but I don’t feel compelled to stand for a program other people like.

“Back the car out of the driveway triple lutz” I think that phrase will stay with me through every competition now. You can’t unsee it.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I think that Delobel/Schoenfelder’s Merlin, Carnival in Venice, and Pink Floyd programs, Pechelat (as much as I despise her)/Bourzat’s Le Petit Prince, most of what Rakhamo/Kokko touched, and Zhiganshina/Gazsi’s Zombie program are just a few of the FD’s that took a point of view and stuck to it, aside from the obvious character ones — Chaplin, La Strada — and ones that took a traditional dance and integrated at least most the elements seamlessly, like Turkkila/Versluis, Weaver/Poje’s, and Gilles/Poirier’s Tango and Grunberg/Rand’s Waltz programs.

Classical ballet is all “everyone doing the same elements” — Petipa often enough told dancers to “do that thing you did in[other ballet]” — but it’s a matter of how they are arranged, the music, and how they are expressed.

 

[MacMadame]

Eight of the 20 FDs today could easily fall into the modern/lyrical/contemporary category set to either vanilla movie soundtracks; soft, flowy modern music; or classical music - Fournier-Beaudry/Cizeron, Guignard/Fabbri, Lopareva/Brissaud, Davis/Smolkin, Val/Kazimov, Matthaei/Liebers, Manni/Roethlisberger & Ichilov/Nosovitskiy.

And then you have the techno-adjacent programs which aren't far off from the modern contemporary dances - four of those with Reed/Ambrulevicius, Demougeot/le Mercier, Taschlerova/Taschler and Ignateva/Szemko (maybe, their program is just weird & not great, lol).

R/A's programs are nothing like those in the first category. D/leM maybe. The rest, I can't remember 5 minutes after they are over tbh. And when I think techno-adjacent, I definitely don't think contemporary/lyrical/modern. So I don't agree that 60-75% of FDs are the same/too similar.

Figure skating in general has an issue that a lot of teams have forgettable programs and that a lot of programs all look alike even if they aren't using the same music. Like how the majority of Pairs skaters start with the twist. If a guy does 1 or 2 quads, they start with them then do other elements. Many skaters front-load their SPs and then relax and do all the spins and footwork. Some skaters have essentially the same scoring elements in the same order in their FS every year. Some pair and dance teams do the same lifts season after season.

Outstanding, memorable programs are few and far between. Is the answer to reward accessible programs more than less-accessible ones? I would say no. Others may disagree.

WTF is that scarf on Italy #2? It actually distracted me from watching them skate.

I wanted to snark on it but I figured if I did that, someone would tell me that the scarf was a gift from his late grandmother who he was really close to and died the week before their first comp. Because that stuff happens to me.

Fear/Gibson – As exciting to watch as ever but that error on the twizzles should have pushed them behind Lopareva/Brissaud in the free.

Yes!

 

[Kateri]

I got the impression Marco was letting the referee know there might be something left on the ice from his boot mishap (boot clasp/strap that fell off maybe) and maybe the ref blew him off or didn’t understand? Didn’t the first French team have to restart their program because there was something on the ice?

Explanation from Evgeniia in the mixed zone:

Evgeniia: Apparently something happened to Marco during the warm up and there were blowing the whistle because there was a hole in the ice. I don’t know how they saw it, someone pointed and I found it somehow. We were stopped and and shown where it was. We didn’t even know whether the whistle was from the fan or the judges we’ve never been in such the situation. It didn’t throw me off, I felt even more dedicated if anything.

 

[TAHbKA]

I ended up coming to every ice dance practice I could this week. When FB/Cizeron skate their FD the whole place goes silent and you can hear their blades during the quieter parts of the music. I hope someone recorded their skate in the practice area on Friday - in my books that was the best - a small rink with horrible lights and these two creating a true magic. The competition version was much more stiff and less emotional.

There were surprisingly a lot of very decent dances even in the lower groups. While there were your usual trashy OES (HUN, UKR). I did not expect (obviously I had no idea what to expect at all from Ichilov/Nosovitski and I liked their programme, think it lacked the speed a bit), Becker, Demogeout, Davis. After last year's disaster Guinar/Fabbri are back with their stylish stuff. Somehow Fear/Gibson and Reed/Ambrulevichus did their same old 'fun disco dancy something' and as usual liked and enjoyed the Lithuanians (and agree with their placement) and still baffled why are the brits in top 5.
Am not sure which programme (except for the FB/Cizeron) do I like more - Turkkilla's or Lopareva's and Becker is somewhere not too far.
All and all out of 20 programmes I watched probably 17 and enjoyed 14. Quite a record for the Europeans

 

[SidelineSkater]

This discussion of too high brow vs accessible in skating has me thinking.

In a way, it truly is art. Not everyone will appreciate or understand it. But that doesn’t make it bad or wrong. While I may not understand a painting or an ice dance program, I can attempt to appreciate what the artist or team is trying to convey.

The problem I have, are the ‘critics’ who say something is too artsy fartsy and not easily appreciated by the masses…and therefore it is bad.

I’m drawing political and critical thinking parallels here. Some people take pride in ignorance and refuse to unlock the potential of trying to understand something that makes them uncomfortable. Then they complain about being alienated. Read into that as you will with regard to certain cult followers or those who refuse to accept any other alternative for fear of supporting progressive thinking.

Personally, I like to be entertained with the guilty pleasure programs as much as I like to be moved emotionally by artiste programs. The variety is what makes things interesting.

As any good coach or choreographer would advise - you play to your strengths. Especially in an Olympic year. If a certain style is in your wheelhouse, that’s where you go.

 

[Karen-W]

This discussion of too high brow vs accessible in skating has me thinking.

In a way, it truly is art. Not everyone will appreciate or understand it. But that doesn’t make it bad or wrong. While I may not understand a painting or an ice dance program, I can attempt to appreciate what the artist or team is trying to convey.

The problem I have, are the ‘critics’ who say something is too artsy fartsy and not easily appreciated by the masses…and therefore it is bad.

I’m drawing political and critical thinking parallels here. Some people take pride in ignorance and refuse to unlock the potential of trying to understand something that makes them uncomfortable. Then they complain about being alienated. Read into that as you will with regard to certain cult followers or those who refuse to accept any other alternative for fear of supporting progressive thinking.

Personally, I like to be entertained with the guilty pleasure programs as much as I like to be moved emotionally by artiste programs. The variety is what makes things interesting.

As any good coach or choreographer would advise - you play to your strengths. Especially in an Olympic year. If a certain style is in your wheelhouse, that’s where you go.

Inherently, it isn't bad. It IS bad, though, if you (meaning the ISU) are trying to expand the appeal of the sport because they've already cornered the market of people who enjoy and appreciate "artsy fartsy" programs. That segment of the market is already much smaller than what appeals to the masses and any portion of the "artsy farsty" segment left to discover figure skating is going to be much smaller than the segment of the population that aren't attracted to those type of programs or who, while they don't mind a few here and there, are turned off by 40-50% of the programs being that particular style.

I like the variety too but the variety needs a better balance than what currently exists in ice dancing.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Until the pandemic, I saw modern and post-modern dance in NYC for decades starting in the 70's, and a lot of it in Seattle since the mid-'90's thanks to a friend.

There is nothing in Ice Dance that is as close to the pretentiousness of dance choreographers explaining their vision, insight, philosophy, take on any -ism, or political stance. Not even B E N O I T.

 

[Karen-W]

Until the pandemic, I saw modern and post-modern dance in NYC for decades starting in the 70's, and a lot of it in Seattle since the mid-'90's thanks to a friend.

There is nothing in Ice Dance that is as close to the pretentiousness of dance choreographers explaining their vision, insight, philosophy, take on any -ism, or political stance. Not even B E N O I T.

B E N O I T seems to save his pretentiousness for singles - see Adam, Nina, and Bradie.

 

[allezfred]

I was in the arena and thought the audience was plenty supportive of Fournier Beaudry/Cizeron. There were some people standing at the end as well. Obviously the Brits got the biggest cheers, but I would say after that the gold medallists were the second favourites of the crowd.

Worth bearing in mind that most of the people who come to watch are not terminally online like us here.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I do not like the IAM monopoloy, but it's hard not to look at a team like the Taschlers who have program after program that don't fit them and wonder if IAM would be able to figure out a better style/approach for them.

I think there are plenty of IAM teams that have program after program that don't fit them. Hubbell and Donahue were an example. I think Lajoie and Lagha are currently having a similar problem. Teams that do well in Montreal are often teams that understand their own identity. I don't think finding a team's identity is a strength in Montreal.

I wonder if the Kerrs are in Sheffield watching.

They're probably wondering where all the gifts getting handed out were when they were skating.