Came back from the test skates, just some thoughts to share
Ice Dance
- in terms of actual skating skills, speed and power SinKats were in the league of their own here. That been said, I’m not sure what to think about this FD. Lurved the first part of it, but the second is too dramatic and doesn’t suit them/the main idea. Nice first lift, great stationary lift ( keeping it from Last year).
- Great and innovative lifts and spins from P/M and S/S. Interesting and captivating programs. But I’m not sure if I like their
skating. Betina and Sergei looked a little bit heavy and slow at some moments.
- There’s a common problem with almost all Zhuk’s girls - their knees are too stiff and just don’t work in a right way. It bothers me a lot. Probably that’s why I usually can’t really enjoy S/B and S/S.
- S/B blues is an ok program. Not bad, but not great either. I had a feeling that they wanted to be sexy and sentual like Maddie/Zach, but they are not.
Men:
- Kolyada has the best set of programs. Didn’d expect anything good from him in the free, but he was great and actually felt the music. His hands often live in their own world, but here he was sharp and hit most of the music accents. And he has the best skating skills among all Russian single skaters.
- I don’t understand why Rukavitsin gave Aliev two almost similar programs. I like this style for him, he looks good in it, but booooring

Have to say, after Samarin and Lazukin he skated like a god (or like Patrick after Boyang

)
- actually quite enjoyed first half of Samarin’s program. Looks like they worked on his skating skills a lot. But he is too stiff for this program
- Voronov was ok. Kudos to him for trying and jumping 4Lo, but other than that kind of
