The Dance Hall 10: The Saitama Samba 2022-2023

[VGThuy]

Carreira probably doesn`t get her citizenship in time for the olympics and her chances go down 50% more if a republican takes the white house next year the GOP already controls the house and if they gain the senate as well forget it, things aren`t looking good for grandpa Biden behind in the polls against a twice impeached indicted former president that is how bad he screwed up.

Now I know who’s going to win [re]election in 2024.

 

[Gris]

noemi on Instagram: "Hi everybody :) We are super excited to announce our partnership. We will be competing for team Italy ! 🇮🇹"

600 likes, 75 comments - noemi.tali on April 17, 2023: "Hi everybody :) We are super excited to announce our partnership. We will be competing for team Italy ! 🇮🇹".

www.instagram.com

Noemi Tali (previously skated for Italy with Stefano Frasca) and Noah Lafornara (previously skated for USA with Romy Malcolm) have teamed up and will skate for Italy.

 

[Andora]

I’m surprised by how many people seem to have written off Hawayek & Baker already. Sure, they took half a season off, but they started with some nice momentum last fall. It seems they’re back on the ice together now, based on social media. And the big gap in score between 5th & 6th at worlds had big, “Don’t worry, we saved you a seat at the table!” energy IMO. Yes, a lot will depend on how ready and motivated they really are to come back - but if they show up strong next season, I don’t think for a second they won’t be able to pick up where they left off.

To be fair, I’m an H&B stan who will probably hold out hope for total world domination until the day they retire. (I’ll try to refrain from posting unhinged rants with no punctuation where I invent OTT criticisms about every other team and cite political and pop cultural events that have nothing to do with ice dance, though.)


I agree they’ve been on the most obvious trajectory. If we end up with a scenario where P&C don’t come back and all the top four over-30 teams from Worlds are out by then (which, we’ll see, but it’s certainly possible), my feeling is that F&G are looking like the clear favorites right now based on scoring. Beyond that, I’d guess Lajoie & Lagha (who I do think will move up fast when they’re CAN#1), Hawayek & Baker or Green & Parsons (I can’t imagine both on the podium), and maybe the Taschlers are potential medal contenders. But I can also imagine Guignard & Fabbri still being in the mix - stranger things have happened.

Agreed - H&B may have stepped back during the season, but they had excellent results before they did. I think if they come back healthy, with good programs, I don't think they'll have lost much ground. I guess if Gr/Par improve dramatically, that could be a factor but... I don't think they'll catch H&B so quickly. (I'm not a H&B stan, but a big fan and also hold out hope they dominate until they retire)

It will be interesting to see how H&B and La&La are scored early next season as both teams missed worlds, though certainly for different reasons.

I do think it would be unwise to write Hawayek & Baker off now, but it would also be wise for them if they are serious about 2026, to get back ASAP and fully motivated. Since that this is already casually happening on a site like this, is a sign of how people think. We see how Gilles & Poirier dropped from the clear favorites to worlds to #3 team two outings in a row now, largely just due to a brief absence, changing momentum and pereception of the top contenders, how important momentum and keeping yourself out there is. I do respect her feeling the need for her mental health struggles, and they have some lingering injuries too, so missing worlds was probably the right choice, but they also need to get themselves back out there soon if they are going to be contenders.

Did G&P go from 1st at the GPF to 3rd just because they missed events? Or because they came out strong while other teams struggled slightly? If C&B had the same issues with their programs and performance at Worlds & WTT, I'm sure G&P would have scored much closer to them.

G&F should have always placed above G&P, but their FD wasn't as judge-friendly as the lackluster Evita, if we're being honest. I loved it, but I'm definitely not a skating judge.

 

[VGThuy]

That’s a very good question. The only thing I can add to answering any of that is just to say Gilles/Poirier were much stronger in the Fall season before her major injury and recovery time. You can see it in their performances.

 

[Dobre]

Did G&P go from 1st at the GPF to 3rd just because they missed events?

A scattering of thoughts on this:

A. I really wouldn't read too much into the score separations between the top three teams at Worlds or WTT. I think what we saw this season in results shows that the separation has more to do with the scoring system these days than with any great distance between these top three teams.

B. Obviously, the biggest difference from the beginning of the season & the end of the season was Chock & Bates' readiness level, particularly in the FD. Not so much the readiness level of the other teams.

C. Yes, I do think Gilles & Poirier's ability to train at the end of the season did affect their ability to compete & confidence level at the end of the season.

D. Also, I think their levels at the GPF showed that the judges went overboard there. G&P had the lowest levels of the whole event in the RD but the highest scores. That should not have happened, IMO.

F. I also think Guignard & Fabbri's RD took all season to hone & came a long way. Same thing happened last season so it wasn't a surprise to me, but it is another shift that happened as we watched this season play out. (And it's one we should count on happening because G&F often bring those levels in).

 

[Tesla]

I think C/B would've won Worlds but G/P's scores would've been closer.

 

[guignardfabbri]

Agreed - H&B may have stepped back during the season, but they had excellent results before they did. I think if they come back healthy, with good programs, I don't think they'll have lost much ground. I guess if Gr/Par improve dramatically, that could be a factor but... I don't think they'll catch H&B so quickly. (I'm not a H&B stan, but a big fan and also hold out hope they dominate until they retire)

It will be interesting to see how H&B and La&La are scored early next season as both teams missed worlds, though certainly for different reasons.


Did G&P go from 1st at the GPF to 3rd just because they missed events? Or because they came out strong while other teams struggled slightly? If C&B had the same issues with their programs and performance at Worlds & WTT, I'm sure G&P would have scored much closer to them.

G&F should have always placed above G&P, but their FD wasn't as judge-friendly as the lackluster Evita, if we're being honest. I loved it, but I'm definitely not a skating judge.

I agreed with G&P's placings of 3rd at the WTT and worlds. I am just saying the momentum was really on their side before the brief time off, to the point many were surprised at the scores they were getting for some of their skates, and they seemed to really be judges favorites, and I think the way dance judging works they would not have dropped to 3rd most likely. I don't see them dropping behind G&F most likely anymore, regardless that G&F beating them was fully merited (and I agree should have happened more often), and Chock & Bates don't have such an easy rise to 1st and their meteroic scores either IMO.

 

[PRlady]

Agreed - H&B may have stepped back during the season, but they had excellent results before they did. I think if they come back healthy, with good programs, I don't think they'll have lost much ground. I guess if Gr/Par improve dramatically, that could be a factor but... I don't think they'll catch H&B so quickly. (I'm not a H&B stan, but a big fan and also hold out hope they dominate until they retire)

It will be interesting to see how H&B and La&La are scored early next season as both teams missed worlds, though certainly for different reasons.


Did G&P go from 1st at the GPF to 3rd just because they missed events? Or because they came out strong while other teams struggled slightly? If C&B had the same issues with their programs and performance at Worlds & WTT, I'm sure G&P would have scored much closer to them.

G&F should have always placed above G&P, but their FD wasn't as judge-friendly as the lackluster Evita, if we're being honest. I loved it, but I'm definitely not a skating judge.

I’m another who thinks H/B, their sterling skating skills and mature performance ability will keep them ahead of LaLa and GrePar. Both younger teams have great potential but three out of four of those skaters have still only skated Senior for 2-3 years, interrupted by pandemic.

 

[Wyliefan]

Earlier in the thread we discussed starting a new Dance Hall thread after WTT, and settled on a thread title, so I'll go ahead and start the new one and ask the mods to close this one.