Gold on Gold: Lajoie & Lagha Cheer thread!

Finally got a chance to sit down and catch up with everything after a lot of traveling. Beautiful skate from Marjorie and Zach in the FD. I really love all the upgraded and new elements, standouts to me are the ChSp, the twizzles, and the new dance spin (her positions are sooo stunning, best in the business for me). Shame about the ! in the choreo steps again, that’s probably around 7-8 points in TES they lost across the entire competition on choreographic elements, but anyways I’m sure they will work on it before Skate America.

Also anyone know why they got the lower levels on the twizzles and dance spin? I was scratching my head at that.
 
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ginsengtea said:
Finally got a chance to sit down and catch up with everything after a lot of traveling. Beautiful skate from Marjorie and Zach in the FD. I really love all the upgraded and new elements, standouts to me are the ChSp, the twizzles, and the new dance spin (her positions are sooo stunning, best in the business for me). Shame about the ! in the choreo steps again, that’s probably around 7-8 points in TES they lost across the entire competition on choreographic elements, but anyways I’m sure they will work on it before Skate America.

Also anyone know why they got the lower levels on the twizzles and dance spin? I was scratching my head at that.
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the twizzle was a mystery to me as well, i thought they might pirouetted in one of the sets but the first one looked really good to me with lots of coverage, and the entry was really difficult
 
almiranara said:
the twizzle was a mystery to me as well, i thought they might pirouetted in one of the sets but the first one looked really good to me with lots of coverage, and the entry was really difficult
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That might be it, though to me it’s kind of a harsh call if it was. I guess we’ll see at Skate America if they make changes with the spin.
 
Such an interesting (and long) interview! A lot about classical music/piano, his mother's background as a pianist, and appreciation of Russian composers, literature, etc.

Some new skating bits that stood out to me (take with slight grain of salt on phrasing because Google Translate):
  • He says they “didn’t really progress” last year and that this must change. He hates the idea of waiting in ice dance and doesn’t want to move up only when others retire. For him it’s “now or never” to break into the elite, and with the field so strong with teams returning, making the GPF this year feels like an Olympic-level fight.
  • Says young Russian ice dance teams are strong (K/N and K/N), that Russian junior field of ice dancers are excellent skaters, stronger than Canadian field in some ways, though questionable choreography.
  • They have plans to eventually skate to something he'd play himself on the piano, like a concerto, but knows he'd need 2 years to prepare it. Maybe Rachmaninoff because it works better for skating than something like Chopin, where the musical phrasing is more repetitive. Says coaches might not like it because Rach gets used too much in ice dance.
  • Wants the compulsories back because he feels there's currently too much emphasis on elements and not pure skating quality, and that it would partially solve the music copyright issues.
  • For him the golden age of ice dance was 2010-2022. Top male ice dancers are Guillaume, Nikita, Scott, Charlie, and Jean-Luc. Outside Marjorie, he sees Madison Hubbell as the best female ice dancer and technically flawless, also praises Laurence and Vasilisa, says the latter's partner is a stronger skater than her but that she's interesting.
  • Became seriously interested in figure skating at age 12 after watching Yulia Lipnitskaia at Junior Worlds and wanted to be just like her. Seeing Nikita skate the blues at Marina Zoueva's rink made him want to commit to ice dance.
  • Worlds 2024 in Montreal was far more stressful for him than the Olympics. He was at an emotional low point because of Marjorie’s injury and personal issues and trained intensely on his own so he’d be ready to push them forward when she returned.
 
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Seeing the placements and protocols first thing this morning was… an experience. What a harsh panel, this time with the head of the IDTC himself at the helm. Happy to see them in second, I enjoyed their program the most I have this season. Excellent speed and attack.

I didn’t hear it myself since I don’t have Peacock, but apparently Gabriella Papadakis called them "ballet dancers on crack" in her commentary. Here’s hoping they keep that energy up in the free.
 
Congratulations to LaLa on their silver medal! :cheer:
I'm glad their score went up despite the tough callers.

One question though, does anyone know why they both got level 2 twizzles?
 
shan said:
Congratulations to LaLa on their silver medal! :cheer:
I'm glad their score went up despite the tough callers.

One question though, does anyone know why they both got level 2 twizzles?
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So glad to see them look pleased with their score! Zach was one of only two skaters across the entire ID event to get a level 3 step 😭

Re twizzles, I noticed that between the first and second twizzles they took out Zach’s half-loop/Euler and the connection where he takes Marjorie’s leg. I’m guessing because they got feedback at Skate Canada that there were too many steps in between the two sets? The rules usually specify how many steps are allowed in between sets each season, and then you get into the weeds of what exactly counts as a step.

Honestly for this comp I’m not sure, their twizzles were initially called as level 4 but were downgraded to just level 2 for both on review. I hope it’s not because of the loop jump entry, I love it visually and would hate to see it go away because of these rules.
 
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honestly the calls were kinda inconsistent too, there w
ginsengtea said:
The rules usually specify how many steps are allowed in between sets each season, and then you get into the weeds of what exactly counts as a step.
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i googled ice dance technical book to check lol and yes it said "At least two twizzles for each partner, with a minimum of 2 steps and up to 4 steps between 1st and 2nd twizzles (each push, including
scooter push, and/or transfer of weight while on two feet between twizzles is considered as a step)." so that might be it! (because i didn't see any pirouette or balance check from them)
 
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