McNamara & Carpenter Fan Thread: Desde el Alma

[chameleonster]

Really gutted for these two and their season. I was really worried about them changing FDs for Nationals after what happened with the Parsons(and Soucisse/Firus for the matter) last season and the same thing happened. Losing twice in a row to Green/Parsons is just generally suboptimal. Still I hope they don't get too discouraged. They have grown beautifully at the senior level and I want badly to see them keep developing.

 

[Wyliefan]

Yeah, as soon as I heard they were doing that, I wanted to say, "Go ask S/F if that's a good idea." I have to say, though, it was a beautiful and expressive dance.

 

[georgiana08]

I'll be interested to see if they keep this most recent free dance for next season, or re-group and try to come up with something new.

 

[RoseRed]

I'll be interested to see if they keep this most recent free dance for next season, or re-group and try to come up with something new.

I feel they should probably try to come up with something new, since they did use this for a whole season already (and not very many people repeat programs in dance which I like). And they have plenty of time now to come up with a new program and polish it.

I don't really get why they changed back to this program for Nationals anyways. Although I guess I like it better than their first FD, I didn't think their problem was the program. They missed time with the injury so things were a little rough, but I would have thought that just focusing on cleaning that up would have made more sense. And really, it's not like it helped the Parsons last season, so I was surprised their coaches had another one of their teams switching a program for Nationals. Kind of felt like they should have learned from that.

Hopefully next season they can stay healthy and things will go better for them.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Lorraine and Quinn have so much talent, and I'd love to see what a fresh perspective from a different coaching team could do for them. Being together so long under the same coaches has given them stability, but I think at this point in their career they may need to switch it up to maximize their talent. It's certainly helped Madi and Evan.

 

[Dobre]

I think it was 6 of 12 half dozen of another. The results all season were stronger in the RD and the levels kept dropping in the FD. So by Golden Spin, the FD score dropped below Green & Parsons; and at that point, the question becomes do you have time to get the new program where it needs to be or can you stop the bleeding & give yourself a real chance with an older program that was polished. I was surprised that they went back to the tango rather than last year's FD, as all the post-Olympic changes mean that two-year-old programs have a lot of new mandates that then have to be changed anyway. Maybe they were hearing that this year's FD was too much like last year's so they felt they needed to switch away from the lyrical. Or maybe his wrist injury was a factor, as the lifts from last season were much more acrobatic than the ones in the tango.

Anyway, in the end it has been very much a learning experience. I hope they take a deep breath, let this season go, be there for each other, and find their own amazing path forward. Much .

 

[georgiana08]

Lorraine and Quinn have so much talent, and I'd love to see what a fresh perspective from a different coaching team could do for them. Being together so long under the same coaches has given them stability, but I think at this point in their career they may need to switch it up to maximize their talent. It's certainly helped Madi and Evan.

I agree that a coaching change probably wouldn't hurt and I'd be interested to see where they chose to go. I'd even be happy if they just brought in an outside choreographer to work with them at Wheaton.

 

[Cayuse]

Where would they possibly go? Not to overcrowded Gadbois or Shpilband! Wheaton is finding their way in the senior division and so are Lorraine and Quinn. Getting on the podium of ice dance in the US is as difficult as the podium for ladies in Russia. I thought I read that Lorraine and Quinn did have someone help with the choreography last year and maybe this year also. Wheaton teaches excellent basics. It would be fun to see what some input from Shae Lynn could do for them. Isn't it time Shae Lynn tried working with a dance team instead of just singles? At least, I think everyone now understands that lyrical is not the way to go for them.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

At least, I think everyone now understands that lyrical is not the way to go for them.

Their lyrical FD last season was my favorite program they've ever done, and I thought they received a great response from the judges for it. I just thought it was a mistake to do lyrical again this season when this year's FD didn't quite live up to last year's.

Marina doesn't have a lot of dance teams on her hands at the moment....

 

[Dobre]

Marina doesn't have a lot of dance teams on her hands at the moment....

They aren't a very Marina team. Hawayek & Baker are the Marina-style team.

I could see M&C go to Barbara. She was at Wheaton one year with her young team--the year M/C won Junior Worlds. And she will need a new number one team when Guignard & Fabbri retire. Plus, she's been getting the job done technically as a coach, which I think a team like McNamara & Carpenter would require. But that's a huge culture shift, moving to Europe. And also probably very expensive. For a team that I assume has lived at home their entire careers.

(Of course, Barbara's taste in material probably would not please the posters who dislike M/Cs programs either. It would be an environment with high senior-level competition, a coach that has some experience navigating the political challenges of the discipline, and one that has proven she can help pick apart a pattern and bring in the levels. You win some; you lose some. No matter where you go. It depends on the best fit for the specific team).

I'm really a fan of both McNamara & Carpenter and Wheaton Academy. I would genuinely like to see both succeed. I don't know if they will break through together. It's quite common to see a coach's initial stars go elsewhere. When skaters have a lot of talent and break through with lesser known coaches, the conversation is always that they should go somewhere else. Or those athletes need expertise that comes from experience, and young talented coaches don't always have that aspect of professionalism yet at their disposal. I could always picture M/C and the Parsons moving on, but the Greens breaking through. Just because at that point the coaches would be more experienced. Obviously, that is not how things will play out. This is a very deep ice dance field, and all of the teams are giving pretty much everything they've got to get to the top.

Anyway, I think it's always best to make these kind of decisions based upon opportunities. Not desperation. M/C had a rough go in 2017 and came back strong the following season. They may stay and come back fighting. Or they may decide themselves that they need a different environment to really push them. I don't know. I just really believe that they have the goods as a team.

I'd even be happy if they just brought in an outside choreographer to work with them at Wheaton.

They've worked with outside choreographers from the world of dance both last season and this season. (Their outside choreographic expertise is pretty impressive actually, if you look up the background of said choreographers). I think the fact that a lot of posters don't know this about McNamara & Carpenter's material is probably more reflective of the fact that they don't have as much PR as some of the other U.S. dance teams.

Note: I thought this year's programs were coming along and looking sharp at Nepela. The injury did seem to come at exactly the wrong time and derail their season.

 

[shan]

They aren't a very Marina team. Hawayek & Baker are the Marina-style team.

I could see M&C go to Barbara. She was at Wheaton one year with her young team--the year M/C won Junior Worlds. And she will need a new number one team when Guignard & Fabbri retire. Plus, she's been getting the job done technically as a coach, which I think a team like McNamara & Carpenter would require. But that's a huge culture shift, moving to Europe. And also probably very expensive. For a team that I assume has lived at home their entire careers.

(Of course, Barbara's taste in material probably would not please the posters who dislike M/Cs programs either. It would be a environment with high senior-level competition, a coach that has some experience navigating the political challenges of the discipline, and one that has proven she can help pick apart a pattern and bring in the levels. You win some; you lose some. No matter where you go. It depends on the best fit for the specific team).

I'm really a fan of both McNamara & Carpenter and Wheaton Academy. I would genuinely like to see both succeed. I don't know if they will break through together. It's quite common to see a coach's initial stars go elsewhere. When skaters have a lot of talent and break through with lesser known coaches, the conversation is always that they should go somewhere else. Or those athletes need expertise that comes from experience, and young talented coaches don't always have that aspect of professionalism yet at their disposal. I could always picture M/C and the Parsons moving on, but the Greens breaking through. Just because at that point the coaches would be more experienced. Obviously, that is not how things will play out. This is a very deep ice dance field, and all of the teams are giving pretty much everything they've got to get to the top.

Anyway, I think it's always best to make these kind of decisions based upon opportunities. Not desperation. M/C had a rough go in 2017 and came back strong the following season. They may work through this and come back fighting. Or they may decide themselves that they need a different environment to really push them. I don't know. I just really believe that they have the goods as a team.



They've worked with outside choreographers from the world of dance both last season and this season. (Their outside choreographic expertise is pretty impressive actually, if you look up the background of said choreographers). I think the fact that a lot of posters don't know this about McNamara & Carpenter's material is probably more reflective of the fact that they don't have as much PR as some of the other U.S. dance teams.

Note: I thought this year's programs were coming along and looking sharp at Nepela. The injury did seem to come at exactly the wrong time and derail their season.

I think you make good point about not having as much PR. I didn't realize that they had worked so much with outside choreographers.

I've always enjoyed M/C going back to their young junior days when they skated to that Kaboom song. And I think Lorraine had red boot covers. They were so cute! It really was rotten luck this season combined with a not so great FD choice. I look forward to seeing what they choose for next season. Maybe they should go for a character driven piece? I do hope they can rebound. It was sad to see their frustration/disappointment in the kiss and cry.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Marina is great at packaging and bringing out the artistry in her teams. I think M/C could benefit from that. Meryl and Charlie were similar to M/C in that they'd skated together for so long, and Marina helped them develop more chemistry and really refine their movements. Those are some of the things I think M/C could also improve on. Meryl and Charlie did powerful, passionate programs, not just soft and lyrical which people always associate with Marina.

 

[georgiana08]

I think the fact that a lot of posters don't know this about McNamara & Carpenter's material is probably more reflective of the fact that they don't have as much PR as some of the other U.S. dance teams.

I'll 100% agree with that. I'm not sure I saw any individual press for Lorraine and Quinn last weekend, despite being reigning pewter medalists. And watching Ice Desk it was obvious that there is so much hype around C/P compared to that of M/C and G/P. I hope Wheaton figures out a way to hustle for their teams a little harder because they're certainly deserving of it.

 

[VGThuy]

If McNamara/Carpenter go to Marina, she’ll give them the other M/C treatment...Meryl/Charlie.

 

[RoseRed]

I mean, if they are going to change coaches, I'd be interested in seeing another good senior team with Carole Lane. I know that Piper and Paul would be her top priority still (though they may retire after 2022 anyways), but her top junior team Bashynska/Beaumont have been doing well this season, including on the pattern levels and things. And I really like their programs, but they aren't the same thing as Piper and Paul. And Toronto wouldn't be as big a move as going to Italy with Barbara.

But we'll see what they do next season.