Canadian Ice Dance 2016-17 season news & updates

[cocotaffy]

That comment on the FD video... The kid is 13 and is most likely going to see it. Maybe we could lay off the body shaming until they're adults at least?

But I really love this team and I hope they somehow stay together when he ages out.

It's the same youtube troll who was spewing her stupid comments under Hubbell/Donohue SD and FD at the International Comp. But to say that about a 13yr old is just plain irresponsable. Let's hope this nice skater already knows better than read youtube comments.
This girl is very mature for her age, they did quite good there. Happy they get to compete in another comp.

 

[bluebonnets]

Fabbri/Pietrantonio are my favourites among the juniors this year (in Canada anyhow), and she's especially charming, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of their season pans out. Happy to hear they'll be given a second JGP assignment.

 

[kittysk8ts]

Piper and Paul @ Nebelhorn. Hahaha! FABULOUS!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nllrlh2yg-A

 

[VGThuy]

Honestly, when was the last time we saw ANY male skater with a mustache but no beard, goatee, etc.? He's awesome just for that.

 

[kittysk8ts]

Honestly, when was the last time we saw ANY male skater with a mustache but no beard, goatee, etc.? He's awesome just for that.

Haha. He is awesome. 100% commitment

 

[princeton123]

Honestly, when was the last time we saw ANY male skater with a mustache but no beard, goatee, etc.? He's awesome just for that.

Charlie Bilodeau circa 2015?

 

[ichiro]

Wow Gp, amazing fun a coherent SD. If WP don't bring their A game I feel they may get passed in the SD portion. Let's see what Morozov can do.

FABBRI is amazing ice dancer especially for her age. Hopefully the online trolls don't get to her

 

[chantilly]

Speaking of the junior team of F and P;
She's lovely.
He moves lightly but I fear his lack of stature and muscle mass will be an issue for them in the future.
Not sure how much bigger he could get.
If I were her I would be looking for a new partner.
She's only 13.
Plenty of time to develop through Juniors and into Seniors.
He's 19 and just not as good maybe as he should be to move up to seniors.
Sad there's such a lack of male ice dancers.
Kinda surprising given V and M legacy not to mention D and L and B and K.

 

[barbarafan]

Fabbri/Pietrantonio are my favourites among the juniors this year (in Canada anyhow), and she's especially charming, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of their season pans out. Happy to hear they'll be given a second JGP assignment.

I really like them but also like Hannah Whitley and Elliot...diff.style but really good.

 

[Rock2]

I know absolutely nothing about dance other than have an awesome program and get your levels. So I'm talking out my tookas more than usual here. Nevertheless...

When it comes to G/P, I liked their short a lot although the color of their costumes stood out as the biggest positive to me. Love their packaging.

The FD made me sort of scratch my head at first, wondering if this was to come off dated, and feeling like such a departure from the 'out there' choices of the past. Also, it risked looking like any year's SD, which could make it hard to stand out. But after about 10 seconds and until the end of the program, these 3 thoughts were what went through my brain:

1. I didn't know if Piper could pull this off but looks like she can.
2. This program is really well trained already at this time of the year. Will just need to move across the ice a bit better as the season goes and work on expression. Natural improvements you'd want to make with any program.
3. This is a very 'dance' program and not because of the music choice necessarily. I was completely struck by how little side by side skating is happening here and how close they are together and in closed holds for so much of the program. Not the things that I tend to pick out, but...there ya go. Lots of hidden difficulty in this program, mostly caused by their close proximity to each other throughout.

So it's completely justified to me that that their marks progress because their skating has.

W/P - you're up.

 

[aftershocks]

Frankly, after watching the ice dance at Nebelhorn, I feel that Paul and Piper should have won. I mean they had the best SD in my opinion. It was lots of fun and they were in sync with the music and their characters. I found Cappellini/Lanotte's SD and FD fairly boring. While Chock/Bates have tried to switch up their approach this season, trying for something more edgy, I do not think they were overall better than Paul and Piper in either SD or FD. Madison looks really great in her SD and FD costumes and Evan has great technique but not a very exciting personality on the ice. Evan and Mad did not really get deep into the moves of their SD and bring out all the nuances of their music. The hip hop style looked like something they were trying on for size, and not something that came naturally to them, whereas Paul and Piper were right out of the 1970s and they were much more engaged and entertaining.

Both G/P and C/B are trying to switch up expectations a bit and take some chances with their FDs. They each still have a lot of work to do with fine-tuning their FDs, but once again, I find Paul and Piper much more in tune with each other and with the audience. Cap/Lan's FD is neither fresh nor interesting.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I think G/P have my favorite set of programs of any Canadian Dance team that I can remember. The FD is exquisite. Their unison and match is remarkable.

 

[Alilou]

I've always loved G/P's quirkiness/originality, but I'm completely blown away by them this season and think they should have beaten both C/L and definitely C/B.

 

[shan]

I've always loved G/P's quirkiness/originality, but I'm completely blown away by them this season and think they should have beaten both C/L and definitely C/B.

I think both G/P and C/B should have beaten C/L.

 

[Alilou]

I think both G/P and C/B should have beaten C/L.

Don't want to create too much thread drift, but I can never warm up to C/B - they are so miss-matched, and skate thru the music rather than to it, and flail a lot. I watched their FD twice and still felt nothing, plus awful music cuts. OTOH C/L were safe, but pleasant and at least seem connected to the music. G/P totally blew me away in both SD and FD. Loved them. She has improved so much.

 

[breathesgelatin]

I think I'm finally sold on G/P.

 

[sammyott]

Don't want to create too much thread drift, but I can never warm up to C/B - they are so miss-matched, and skate thru the music rather than to it, and flail a lot. I watched their FD twice and still felt nothing, plus awful music cuts. OTOH C/L were safe, but pleasant and at least seem connected to the music. G/P totally blew me away in both SD and FD. Loved them. She has improved so much.

I totally agree with the C/B statement. Something about him just doesn't connect with me or the audience I feel. Apparently it connects with the judges though. Also agree that G/P knocked it out of the park. I think these programs could land them closer to (if not on) the podium at worlds.

 

[aftershocks]

^^ Yeah, I don't know. Madi and Evan are great people, and are clearly talented. Evan has excellent skating skills, and Madi is very sexy and her skills have improved. I give them kudos for attempting to switch things up this season. I don't know what it is exactly, but I am not drawn to them as a team. They have had some good programs in the past, and they are competent but they don't seem to genuinely and authentically connect in the way that other teams do such as Hubbell/Donahue. Even other perhaps less technically talented U.S. teams such as Cannuscio/McManus have a more engaging, authentic vibe than C/B. I get what people say about a sense that C/B are not well-matched. That may be true, but I think it is more something about them not giving off a sense of a genuine connection. Ice dance is often over-dramatic in any case, but whatever it is maybe sometimes it seems they are trying too hard. This season at least they seem to have attempted to be more relaxed and edgier. It works to a degree, but again their vibe does not seem fully authentic for some elusive reason. I like C/B's exhibition a lot, so good for them once again for trying. I just still don't feel fully pulled in and engaged by their personalities.

Dave and Drew on TSL were saying that what Hub/Don need to do to gain better respect from judges is perhaps to increase their speed since they are so good in everything else, especially connection and charisma. It is so difficult to break out of the mold judges set for teams though, especially when you are perceived as the third team in your country.

Unfortunately, that mold setting situation is likely what controlled the judges marks for G/P. I don't see any other reason why they weren't in first place at Nebelhorn. Cap/Lan are competent at what they do, and they are a cute, pleasant team. But their programs this season don't break any new ground at all. Too safe and similar to what they have done in the past. The FD Chaplin music/theme has been done to death before in many incarnations in both pairs and singles, and maybe even in ice dance. I'm not interested in seeing Cap/Lan skate to their FD again this season! And even their costumes seem similar to what they wore (in terms of color and style) last season. The competition was in Europe and C/L are a beloved and respected team with good ice dance skills, so they were given the superior marks. IMO, G/P first; C/B second; Cap/Lan third at Nebelhorn. It is early yet in the season, but I am stoked for G/P, and I hope the judges will fairly reward them going forward.

I have a soft spot for Weaver/Poje, and I'm interested to see their new programs. They are a good-looking, appealing team who were very strong at times last season. But when the opportunity to prevail over their competition arose at 4CCs in February, they faltered and never recovered. I think they have been hard done by in the past to some degree, but they have hurt themselves on occasion too. The difficulty for WeavPo now is with Virtue/Moir coming back and once again most likely pushing them to 2nd place Canadians. And with G/P coming on strong too, it will be a battle unless the judges go for usual status quo. Training mates V/M and P/C is gonna be an interesting battle too.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Great photo tweeted by Paul Poirier from Nebelhorn:
https://twitter.com/PaulDPoirier/status/779973021570310144

 

[lauravvv]

And even their costumes seem similar to what they wore (in terms of color and style) last season.

This seems like such an insignificant part to quote from your long and detailed post (not to mention, off-topic on this thread). It's just that I happen to agree with everything you wrote except this. Cappellini/Lanotte's costumes last season were very different from those they wore at Nebelhorn, especially Anna's. Her dresses were very glamorous. The FD dress was very feminine, black, glittery and strapless (the only part it had in common with the Nebelhorn SD costume is the white underskirt which probably was the same one), the first SD dress was a dark pink, frilly creation and the second white dress was one of the most glamorous dresses I have seen in ice dancing (and, in any case, it was very different from Anna's costumes at Nebelhorn, except probably the shape of the skirt/bottim part). You need to look them up again. As for Luca's costumes, the costumes of those male ice dancers who always wear something traditional without ever veering off to more modern, extravagant and/or original looks often look very similar.

Also, the costumes that C/L were wearing at Nebelhorn are definitely just placeholders for the real costumes which were obviously not ready yet, since for the SD Anna was wearing her skirt from the 2013/2014 season SD, just with a few different details, and for the FD she was wearing the same or practically identical skirt in a more greyish color, just without an underskirt + the blouse from the 2013/2014 season SD. Luca was definitely wearing the same suite both for the SD and the FD with some slight changes which also happened to be the same suit he wore for the 2013/.2014 season SD. That's why those costumes looked so familiar and mutually similar to you and some other people.


Sorry for the off-topic. "Thanks" to this long off-topic post I now don't have time anymore to write on the real topic of this thread .

 

[Sylvia]

Sorry for the off-topic

The non-Canadian teams discussion could always continue in the "The Dance Hall--Ice Dance Fans 2016-17" thread in the Trash Can, you know. (I don't mean to single you out, lauravvv.)

SENIOR
Aya Takai / Dominic Barthe (new)

JUNIOR
Moriah Chiang / Édouard Tremblay (new)

Both teams have split since the summer. U.S. ice dancer Takai, age 19 (who has dual Japanese citizenship) and Tremblay, 18, are both listed on IPS.

 

[vireo]

Both teams have split since the summer. U.S. ice dancer Takai, age 19 (who has dual Japanese citizenship) and Tremblay, 18, are both listed on IPS.

I'm sorry to hear this about Aya and Dominic. I really enjoy Aya's skating.

 

[aftershocks]

Thanks @lauravvv for the correction on sartorial matters concerning Cap/Lan. They are a nice team, but again I don't find what they are wearing or dancing to this season at all interesting. ITA, I do recall Anna wearing a pretty, frilly black and white dress in one of her programs last season. The overall impression I have though is that their costume colors have been similar, if not strictly the same style. Guess it goes to show this is a team I don't find very memorable. Anyway, long story short, what Cap/Lan are bringing this season is not fresh or exciting, and I find their costumes to be rather dull too.

Back to Canadian ice dance!

 

[barbarafan]

Does anyone know why Kaitlin and Andrew have withdrawn from Finlandia Trophy?

 

[bluebonnets]

I can only speculate, but my guess would be that they are reworking programs (possibly following comments after HPC, though I don't recall hearing anything at the time), and those programs won't be ready in time for competition.

 

[supergirl573]

Maybe they don't want throw off their schedule by flying to Finland.

 

[lauravvv]

Maybe they don't want throw off their schedule by flying to Finland.

They were in Moscow just yesterday, and seems that most likely they are still there - https://www.instagram.com/p/BK33QJDB0QW/. So it would not have been like flying to Finland from US. Probably the programs are not competition ready yet/what bluebonnets wrote, or it's some minor injury.

 

[Bellanca]

or it's some minor injury

Hope not.

 

[overedge]

Don't want to create too much thread drift, but I can never warm up to C/B - they are so miss-matched, and skate thru the music rather than to it, and flail a lot. I watched their FD twice and still felt nothing, plus awful music cuts. OTOH C/L were safe, but pleasant and at least seem connected to the music. G/P totally blew me away in both SD and FD. Loved them. She has improved so much.

I had high hopes for C/B this year, but...Maddie is using the same facial expressions in both programs, i.e. snarly/fierce. That especially doesn't work for 'Under Pressure', which is a song about being stressed and fearful. And the edit of "Uptown Funk" in the SP is horrific. It's a very well-known song and a lot of people are going to notice how chopped-up it is.

I was at Poirier's SP costume. He looks like one of the kids in the Brady Bunch when they had that awful variety show: http://hunguponretro.blogspot.ca/2013/06/freaky-friday-stop-brady-time.html

 

[sap5]

I was at Poirier's SP costume. He looks like one of the kids in the Brady Bunch when they had that awful variety show: http://hunguponretro.blogspot.ca/2013/06/freaky-friday-stop-brady-time.html

But that's what makes it awesome!