Canadian Ice Dance 2019/2020 season: News and Updates

[Scrufflet]

After the travails of the past three weekends, three competitions this weekend and Canadian ice dance teams did (or are looking to do) well in all of them.

Nadiia Bashynska / Peter Beaumont (CAN) | Ice Dance Free Dance | Chelyabinsk 2019

Visit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. ICE DANCE FREE DANCE SKATE ORDER 10:45:00 - 10:50:...

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Irina Galiyanova / Grayson Lochhead (CAN) | Ice Dance Free Dance | Chelyabinsk 2019

Visit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. ICE DANCE FREE DANCE SKATE ORDER 10:45:00 - 10:50:...

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The pewter curse is definitively broken! Both because Nadiia & Peter won bronze and Irina & Grayson dropped an ordinal and didn't finish fourth (despite being fourth in both programs, heh).

• A big win for Nadiia & Peter, obviously, though ironically they did it with lower scores than any of the fourth-place teams (though all in a fairly tight range, so with scoring variation, etc., it's not much of a gap). Much as at their domestic events, their PCS isn't presently being marked akin to the more well-known junior teams.
• Their stationary lift got called as a Level 3, which cost them about a point, so that's something to look at before Croatia.
• Irina and Grayson, much better than last time, and definitely the most fluid this program has looked. I still don't think the middle section is as good as the opening or ending, though.

From the Autumn Classic:

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier - 2019 Autumn Classic International RD

September 13, 2019 Autumn Classic International. Music: "Movies Were Movies", "Look What Happened to Mabel", "Tap Your Troubles Away" (Mack and Mabel) Score:...

www.youtube.com

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier - 2019 Autumn Classic International FD

Score: 122.88.

www.youtube.com

• Piper & Paul's new programs were both skated well. The RD is more out-of-the-box successful than the FD, in my opinion.
• Several judges think the FD doesn't meet the tempo requirement, so that may need to be changed, but it's probably a fairly straightforward alteration to make the opening "happy" part faster.

Carolane Soucisse & Shane Firus - 2019 Autumn Classic International RD

September 13, 2019 Autumn Classic International. Music: "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)", "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (Jersey Boys) Score: 72.70.

www.youtube.com

Carolane Soucisse & Shane Firus - 2019 Autumn Classic International FD

Score: 100.20.

www.youtube.com

• For some reason, YouTube is allowing "It's Not Unusual" now, so I could post Carolane & Shane's RD.
• A real shame about the fall, the FD is a lot of fun in my opinion. I hope this doesn't spiral like things did for them last year.

From Lombardia:

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen - 2019 Lombardia Trophy RD

Score: 79.11.

www.youtube.com

• Now this was a bit of an earthquake, scores-wise. They almost bearded the lion in its den here, and they did beat Guignard/Fabbri in TES. That's a straight-up declaration of war both domestically (vis a vis Gilles/Poirier) and internationally.
• Fantastic program (and amusingly, the Gadbois choreographers evidently had the same idea for twizzles as Carol Lane did).

Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha - 2019 Lombardia Trophy RD

Score: 67.94.

www.youtube.com

• I wouldn't have guessed West Side Story for Marjorie and Zach, but that went well as a debut.
• Zach seems to be performing a lot more than he did in juniors, especially in the opening parts.

Thank you for all of the above! This season is starting out beautifully!

 

[puglover]

I have watched Piper and Paul's "Both Sides Now" quite a few times. I love the concept, really think it is unique and special, I just don't love the orchestra in the background. Not trying to be contrary, but the orchestra sounds to me like they are tuning their instruments and come across as more annoying to me then contributing to the highs and lows of the piece. I don't have any suggestions of what would be better but, for me, and I am a huge fan of Piper and Paul, they sound distracting.

 

[Colonel Green]

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen - 2019 Lombardia Trophy FD

Score: 110.25.

www.youtube.com

Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha - 2019 Lombardia Trophy FD

Score: 97.77.

www.youtube.com

Both our dance teams had some issues in the free. I'm sure particularly disappointing for Laurence and Nikolaj (I do wonder if they were surprised to be so close to Charlene and Marco and that affected them; I doubt they came here thinking they'd be basically tied after the RD), but a silver medal is still a great way to start the season. Call it room to improve in the FD going forward.

 

[barbarafan]

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen - 2019 Lombardia Trophy FD

Score: 110.25.

www.youtube.com

Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha - 2019 Lombardia Trophy FD

Score: 97.77.

www.youtube.com

Both our dance teams had some issues in the free. I'm sure particularly disappointing for Laurence and Nikolaj (I do wonder if they were surprised to be so close to Charlene and Marco and that affected them; I doubt they came here thinking they'd be basically tied after the RD), but a silver medal is still a great way to start the season. Call it room to improve in the FD going forward.

Just looking at the entries for salt lake......Wondering why Lanaghan/Razgulajevs were sent but not Fabbri/Ayer.
both have competed once this yr.
Lanaghan/Razgulajevs...north york...64.11 78.65...total 142.76
Fabbri/Ayer,, PQ Championets 62.51...100.88 total 163.39

 

[Dobre]

Lanaghan/Razgulajevs...north york...64.11 78.65...total 142.76

Lanaghan & Razgulajevs competed at least twice this summer. They had 150.37 at Lake Placid International.

 

[danafan]

There's still the Warsaw Cup listed on the Skate Canada assignments page. It's still possible for Fabbri/Ayer to get an assignment.

 

[barbarafan]

There's still the Warsaw Cup listed on the Skate Canada assignments page. It's still possible for Fabbri/Ayer to get an assignment.

I truly hope so

 

[Colonel Green]

Makita/Gunara, after two events, notched scores of 149.63 (Lake Placid) and 154.11 (Gdansk), for a combined total of 303.74. Of the four teams contending, they are the only ones to have completed their events. Two of the remaining three kick off their second RD in a few hours. Some benchmarks:

1. Bashynska/Beaumont - scored 149.05 at Chelyabinsk, score of 154.70 needed in Zagreb to move ahead of M/G;
2. Bronsard/Bouaraguia - scored 151.36 at Courchevel, score of 152.39 needed in Zagreb to move ahead of M/G;
3. D'Alessandro/Waddell - scored 152.12 in Riga, score of 151.63 needed in Egna to move ahead of M/G.

 

[nimi]

I was watching yesterday's JGP FD today and noticed that Bashynska/Beaumont didn't get credit for their choreo slide in Croatia (protocol), which cost them around 2-3 points; they got 2.88 points for than element in Chelyabinsk (protocol) and now in Croatia they lost the bronze to Bro/Bou by a 2.90 point margin... Ouch!

Did anybody notice what they did different in Croatia, or is this one those times when different tech panels just interpret things differently?

 

[barbarafan]

I was watching yesterday's JGP FD today and noticed that Bashynska/Beaumont didn't get credit for their choreo slide in Croatia (protocol), which cost them around 2-3 points; they got 2.88 points for than element in Chelyabinsk (protocol) and now in Croatia they lost the bronze to Bro/Bou by a 2.90 point margin... Ouch!

Did anybody notice what they did different in Croatia, or is this one those times when different tech panels just interpret things differently?

They did a slide as they finished their stationary lift and they were marked on a choreo slide move. Then after the twizzles they did a choreo slide move again which came up on the board as choreo slide move...base value zero..GOE zero. I guess if you duplicate a move the first one counts. They only got marks on the first one. The question is did they do the first one at Chelyabinsk as well. And if so how was it handled? If it was not in the program could it have been a balance loss turned into a slide at Croatia? note: They also changed their lifts at Croatia and instead of having the double lift they put one at the beginning and one at the end.

 

[barbarafan]

I was watching yesterday's JGP FD today and noticed that Bashynska/Beaumont didn't get credit for their choreo slide in Croatia (protocol), which cost them around 2-3 points; they got 2.88 points for than element in Chelyabinsk (protocol) and now in Croatia they lost the bronze to Bro/Bou by a 2.90 point margin... Ouch!

Did anybody notice what they did different in Croatia, or is this one those times when different tech panels just interpret things differently?

watch the end of the first lift.

 

[Alvyne]

Interview with Laurence and Nikolaj

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen: September 2019

Canadian national bronze medalists Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen share their thoughts on last season and their first year representing Canad...

www.youtube.com

 

[Dobre]

Makita/Gunara, after two events, notched scores of 149.63 (Lake Placid) and 154.11 (Gdansk), for a combined total of 303.74. Of the four teams contending, they are the only ones to have completed their events. Two of the remaining three kick off their second RD in a few hours. Some benchmarks:

1. Bashynska/Beaumont - scored 149.05 at Chelyabinsk, score of 154.70 needed in Zagreb to move ahead of M/G;
2. Bronsard/Bouaraguia - scored 151.36 at Courchevel, score of 152.39 needed in Zagreb to move ahead of M/G;

Makita & Gunara have the hightest total among these three teams. It's very interesting, as Canada now has M&G with the highest total and the other two with JGP medals. D'Alessandro & Waddell have a very good set-up headed into Italy and may manage both a medal & the score; but still . . . these other three teams at a minimum are going to head into the second half of the season with conflicting arguments (swapped scores and swapped head-to-head placements).

My first question would be whether all these teams are interested in going to the Youth Olympics, despite the proximity to Nationals?

And, if yes, has SC officially stated that they intend to use JGP score totals? JGP scores exclusively & not summer event scores?

I love M&G and their material this season. I would be happy if they get to go. Considering how close these three teams are, however, I still think a late-season head-to-head at Skate Canada Challenge would make the most sense.

 

[Colonel Green]

My first question would be whether all these teams are interested in going to the Youth Olympics, despite the proximity to Nationals?

And, if yes, has SC officially stated that they intend to use JGP score totals? JGP scores exclusively & not summer event scores?

Natalie & Bruce and Emmy & Aissa both expressly stated they wanted to go to the Youth Olympics; I haven't seen Miku & Tyler or Nadiia & Peter being asked about it, but I would bet that they do, since it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (and based on how the age-eligible teams on the JGP have performed, both Canadian teams would be very well-positioned there, which would probably be especially nice for Miku & Tyler who didn't get a JGP medal).

Skated Canada published its Youth Olympics selection criteria a while ago (the doc is downloadable from the NextGen page). They listed:

Athlete Selection Criteria
The Skate Canada High Performance Development Committee will then base its athlete selection to the YOG on the following criteria (in no particular order of importance):
• Best international scores achieved at junior international events in the 2019-2010 skating season
• Qualifying for the 2019 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final

Nobody meets the second criterion, so it's down to the first.

It's unclear whether "best international scores" means highest one-event scores or combined scores across events. If it's the former, then it's already decided, because Natalie & Bruce's first event score is the second-highest. If the latter, then in theory Natalie & Bruce could still drop behind Emmy & Aissa, but that'd require a poor showing in Egna.

 

[Dobre]

Gotcha. Then Makita & Gunara's 154.11 from Poland or their combined score of 303.74 should get them in as one of the top two regardless.

 

[Dobre]

Canadian Junior Dance scores from this year's JGP:
(Just let me know if you see any errors).

154.11 Makita & Gunara-Poland
152.76 D'Allessandro & Waddell-Italy
152.12 D'Allessandro & Waddell-Latvia
151.36 Bronsard & Bouaraguia-France
149.97 Bronsard & Bouaraguia-Croatia
149.63 Makita & Gunara-USA
149.05 Bashynska & Beaumont-Russia
147.34 Galiyanova & Lochhead-Russia
147.07 Bashynska & Beaumont-Croatia
133.78 McIsaac & Circelli-France
129.87 Li & Richmond-Poland
126.03 McIsaac & Circelli-Italy
122.95 Galiyanova & Lochhead-USA
121.83 McQuilkin & Portz-Latvia

Total Scores for Teams That Competed 2 Events:
304.88 D'Allessandro & Waddell
303.74 Makita & Gunara
301.33 Bronsard & Bouaraguia
296.12 Bashynska & Beaumont
270.29 Galiyanova & Lochhead
259.81 McIsaac & Circelli

So this was fun! I really enjoyed all the movement and unpredictability among the teams just below the top at last year's Skate Canada Challenge and Canadian Junior Nationals. Has been fun to see how those athletes have evolved since last season, how some have stepped up, and also how each has dealt with the varying challenges, opportunities, and expectations that have come with the new season.

 

[barbarafan]

There's still the Warsaw Cup listed on the Skate Canada assignments page. It's still possible for Fabbri/Ayer to get an assignment.

Fabbri/Ayer said on instagram they were told they were going to Poland which would be their first senior international.

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

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[barbarafan]

Does anyone have a vid of Marjorie Lajoie and Zack's RD at Finlandia???pretty please...I got up late and didn't see it.

 

[Colonel Green]

Does anyone have a vid of Marjorie Lajoie and Zack's RD at Finlandia???pretty please...I got up late and didn't see it.

Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha - 2019 Finlandia Trophy RD

October 12, 2019 Finlandia Trophy. Music: Swing: "Prologue"; Quickstep: "Dance at the Gym"; Swing: "America" (from "West Side Story") by Leonard Bernstein; c...

www.youtube.com

 

[barbarafan]

Does anyone have a vid of Marjorie Lajoie and Zack's RD at Finlandia???pretty please...I got up late and didn't see it.

wow!! and just like magic....tks

 

[barbarafan]

Available in Canada only...don't know if VPN works.....practice RD. starting nows..group ...Russians not there. USA only..
Group 2 is Cdns Britain and spain.
Men will follow.

2019 Skate Canada International Practices - video Dailymotion

Live streaming of practices from 2019 Skate Canada International, October 24-26 in Kelowna, BC. Please visit SkateCanada.ca for schedule information. Available to viewers in Canada only

www.dailymotion.com

 

[Colonel Green]

Well, that was quite the day for Piper & Paul. After so many "almost got it" moments for them through the seasons, part of me thought it would never happen, but they've got their first Grand Prix gold together (Paul obviously won SCI with Vanessa many a year ago).

I'm quite impressed also with how Marjorie & Zach skated on a technical level in the free dance, even if the actual program still isn't doing much for them in my view. They would have beaten Hurtado/Khaliavin in the free if not for the extended lift deduction.

EDIT: Also, Piper got a Level 4 one-foot step!

 

[Sylvia]

#SCI19 / #IPC19: Gilles/Poirier (Gold/Or-Ice Dance/Danse sur glace)

www.youtube.com

Skate Canada Inside Edge | Digital Host Elladj Baldé & Kevin Reynolds are joined by ice dancer winners Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier at #SCI19! / À l’animateur de contenu numérique... | By Skate Canada / Patinage CanadaFacebook

Digital Host Elladj Baldé & Kevin Reynolds are joined by ice dancer winners Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier at #SCI19! / À l’animateur de contenu numérique...

www.facebook.com

ETA:

VIDEO

Figure Skating | VIDEO

www.tsn.ca

 

[overedge]

I have watched Piper and Paul's "Both Sides Now" quite a few times. I love the concept, really think it is unique and special, I just don't love the orchestra in the background. Not trying to be contrary, but the orchestra sounds to me like they are tuning their instruments and come across as more annoying to me then contributing to the highs and lows of the piece. I don't have any suggestions of what would be better but, for me, and I am a huge fan of Piper and Paul, they sound distracting.

I agree. I wish they would have chosen one of the earlier versions of the song, not the one that Mitchell recorded after she ruined her voice with cigarettes and had to have an orchestra to carry her.

 

[The Observer]

I agree. I wish they would have chosen one of the earlier versions of the song, not the one that Mitchell recorded after she ruined her voice with cigarettes and had to have an orchestra to carry her.

But as Piper & Paul explained in their interviews above, that's part of the reason why they are using the later rendition -- Mitchell had lived more years of life at that point and there was a different sense of life at an older age than to a younger one.

And it reminds P2 of the ups & downs they have gone through in their own lives (eg. Paul's serious injury in 2013, the death of Piper's Mom last year, etc.)

 

[Sylvia]

Article by John Chidley-Hill for The Canadian Press:

Gilles and Poirier send message to figure skating world with Skate Canada win

Winning the gold medal in ice dancing at Skate Canada wasn't just a confidence boost for Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, it was a way of changing how the skating world perceives them.Gilles and . . .

www.tricitynews.com

Excerpt:

Poirier thinks their success in Kelowna was because of a productive off-season where both were completely healthy and able to fully commit to their training. Between Skate Canada and the Autumn Classic in Oakville, Ont., — which they won on Sept. 14 — they worked on some technical issues with their lift.
Now the aim is to keep building as they prepare for the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, Nov. 15-17.
“Leading up to each competition we give ourselves a goal of ‘these are the things we want to focus on’ while we’re doing our run-throughs,” said Poirier. “If you just repeat mindlessly you won’t actually do anything better. You’ll get in better shape, but you won’t improve.”

ETA:

Check out this fan blog conversation with Piper that's posted in the G/P cheer thread: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/gilles-and-poirier-cheer-thread.91915/page-11#post-5672878

 

[Sylvia]

Marine Pouliot is newly listed on IPS and now based in Montreal (Gadbois): http://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=6686

 

[Colonel Green]

Laurence & Nikolaj had some minor issues here and there at Cup of China, but they walked away with their second bronze nonetheless, so that's a very successful Grand Prix for them. Now nothing to do but get ready for Nationals.

Elsewhere, checking in with the juniors, Ontario Sectionals on the weekend had four of the six more notable dance teams present (though honestly, and unfortunately, putting McIsaac/Circelli in that echelon increasingly feels like a stretch).

The final results:

1. D'Alessandro/Waddell - 166.80
2. Bashynska/Beaumont - 161.70
3. Galiyanova/Lochhead - 149.96
4. McIsaac/Circelli - 140.96

• Natalie has a new red dress for the free dance, looked nice. Their (more her) twizzles remain their weakest point; this is where I continue to wish they'd just focus on dance, because more time spent drilling those weaker points would help. But everything else is really good, and the judges are with them.
• Nadiia & Peter got almost perfect levels in the free dance, including a level 4 step sequence; only the one-foot step wasn't a level 4 (2 for her, three for him). They got almost 100 points in the free, a big boost, and they've no doubt got an eye to vying for the national junior title, since I'm sure Carol would love to have both the senior and junior champs this year. I didn't notice anything particularly different here compared to the JGP, other than maybe the opening FD lift looking a bit different. This team is one of those who are kind of at a disadvantage under the post-2018 system, since they pretty consistent whip their rivals on levels but aren't getting the big advantage you once would have gotten for that.
• Irina & Grayson made a number of changes to the RD. In particular, something I'd previously been suggesting, they changed their opening lift to something more impressive-looking, which definitely helps. They had a level issue or two in the FD, but more and more I think that program is just kind of a bust; there's lots of cool individual moments, but it never adds up to anything, and clearly the judges aren't connecting with it.

 

[4rkidz]

Congrats Piper & Paul for qualifying for the GP final. Is this a first for them? Someone floated an idea about bringing back Vincent for the Olympic year and I agree!

 

[Colonel Green]

Congrats Piper & Paul for qualifying for the GP final. Is this a first for them?

No, though a lot of people have forgotten that they made the Final in 2014-15 (which was, in terms of placements, their best season until this year).