The Dance Hall 10: The Saitama Samba 2022-2023

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Sylvia said:
Smart/Dieck for Germany, apparently:
www.sport1.de

Eistanz: Olivia Smart wird neue Partnerin von Tim Dieck

Der zweimalige deutsche Eistanz-Meister Tim Dieck hat eine neue Partnerin. Olivia Smart ist Nachfolgerin von Katharina Müller.
www.sport1.de www.sport1.de

"From April 2023, Smart/Dieck want to prepare for the 2023/24 season in Montreal."
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Well, no, the article doesn't state which country they intend on representing. It just states that Smart/Dieck have partnered and will train in Montreal.
 
Sylvia said:
I've heard (unofficial hearsay ;)) that the plan is to represent Germany... we shall see.
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Interesting. Sounds like Spain and Germany are trading releases then, lol. Smart for Kazimov. I'd say Germany might be getting the better side of that trade.
 
Also (not exhaustive),
  • Isabelle Tobias, who competed for Georgia with Japaridze, Lithuania with Stagniunas, and Tkachenko for Israel.
  • Tim Koleto, who competed for Norway with Rabe, Korea with Min, and now Japan with Komatsubara
  • Mervin Tran, who competed for the US with Castelli and Serafini, Purich for Canada, and Takahashi for Japan (not Dance, I know)
 
Interesting.

In any case, it's a logical partnership. He's the right age--not so young that this would mean forfeiting an Olympics or two. He has experience--he's been to Europeans, the Olympics, events on the GP, and won German Nationals. He's competed at the senior level since 2015-16. I think he was the stronger skater within his previous partnership. (Better edges). There will be the whole challenge of starting over for both of them, but as new partnerships go, this one seems plausible.

We'll see what happens with the citizenship challenge. Perhaps there would be better support for them if they skate for Germany. Or perhaps it would not be so easy for an athlete to get citizenship in Spain via a partner who obtained her own citizenship via skating with someone else. Or perhaps the release timetables are different. There are a lot of aspects to the challenge. It's become more difficult during recent years for athletes to obtain German citizenship than it used to be, but not impossible. At any rate, these two have enough options, I'd think they will find a workable pathway.
 
Dobre said:
Interesting.

In any case, it's a logical partnership. He's the right age--not so young that this would mean forfeiting an Olympics or two. He has experience--he's been to Europeans, the Olympics, events on the GP, and won German Nationals. He's competed at the senior level since 2015-16. I think he was the stronger skater within his previous partnership. (Better edges). There will be the whole challenge of starting over for both of them, but as new partnerships go, this one seems plausible.

We'll see what happens with the citizenship challenge. Perhaps there would be better support for them if they skate for Germany. Or perhaps it would not be so easy for an athlete to get citizenship in Spain via a partner who obtained her own citizenship via skating with someone else. Or perhaps the release timetables are different. There are a lot of aspects to the challenge. It's become more difficult during recent years for athletes to obtain German citizenship than it used to be, but not impossible. At any rate, these two have enough options, I'd think they will find a workable pathway.
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I think they’ll be a really interesting pair - plus he’s a bit taller than Adrian which is cool because Olivia is pretty strong in lifts so they might be able to pull some good ones off.

Mostly intrigued to see what their chemistry is like - I think we’ll see some out of the box but crowd pleasing programmes from them.
 
An article from Hielo Espanol containing a comment from Olivia about the new partnership: https://www.hieloespanol.es/1/olivia_smart_formara_pareja_con_tim_dieck_3284218.html

A Google translated extract with the quote from Olivia:
The creation of this duo was intended to be managed away from public opinion because first it was necessary to decide which country they would represent (Spain or Germany). A key aspect that, as Olivia Smart explains to HIELO ESPAÑOL, has not yet been resolved. “We are going to skate together, but we still have to confirm and talk to both federations (Spanish and German) under which flag we will do it. The announcement will be made at the beginning of the year. We wanted to keep this matter low-key, but somehow it has leaked to the press."
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@Stephanie posted the 2023 Bavarian Open initial entries link in GSD and I've since created a competition thread in Kiss & Cry (scroll down to page 5 for dance): https://bev-eissport.de/v2/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EntriesBO2023-2.pdf
Dance events (Novice-Senior) are scheduled for Feb. 2-5, 2023 in Oberstdorf.

USA's Livvy Shilling has teamed up with Belgium's Léo Baeten - they are based in Novi, MI and are listed to make their debut in the Senior. I came across these 3 clips of them from last month - "In This Shirt": https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPAgzXjeAT/
Familiar music: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmjnHf4jwQe/
Carol of the Bells: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmuBelLDvsj/

Baeten competed last season (Oct. 2021 in Nice FRA) with Adrienne Carhart (she and Oleksandr Kolosovskiy are also listed in the same event for AZE).

ETA:

Listed to make their debut for Azerbaijan in the Junior Dance event at the Bavarian Open are Anna O'Brien/Steven Wei (qualified for U.S. Nationals in Junior but have since WD). They are coached by Kristen Fraser-Lukanin and Igor Lukanin in New Jersey.
 
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Gotta say, this might change my hard "no" answer about whether an L&L defeat of F-B&S at Nationals could earn a spot at Worlds. A national title is quite a big deal. Might at least earn a face-off at 4CCs.

(Not that I'm expecting L&L to defeat F-B&S at Nationals by any means. Just saying that a national title is usually a big deal).
 
Dobre said:
Gotta say, this might change my hard "no" answer about whether an L&L defeat of F-B&S at Nationals could earn a spot at Worlds. A national title is quite a big deal. Might at least earn a face-off at 4CCs.

(Not that I'm expecting L&L to defeat F-B&S at Nationals by any means. Just saying that a national title is usually a big deal).
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Agreed. To be fair to FB&S, it would be much less L&L winning, than FB&S losing the title if they have a showing like the GPF. Canadians will be interesting with G&P away. A title on the line can bring out the best and worst in competitors.
 
I`m sensing a push for Lala honestly the canadanes have dissapointed at the major events or Nick Sorensen has, alot of excuses like injuries but I think the mistake at gpf was unforgivable they had a chance to make a huge statement and they blew it. LALA is Canada`s best chance to get back on the olympic podium in 2026 can skate canada afford missing them a worlds this quad.
 
yurokis40 said:
I`m sensing a push for Lala honestly the canadanes have dissapointed at the major events or Nick Sorensen has, alot of excuses like injuries but I think the mistake at gpf was unforgivable they had a chance to make a huge statement and they blew it. LALA is Canada`s best chance to get back on the olympic podium in 2026 can skate canada afford missing them a worlds this quad.
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Yes. Their GP gold medal ahead of Chock & Bates was horrifically disappointing. FB&S should be flogged for that one.
 
Habs said:
Yes. Their GP gold medal ahead of Chock & Bates was horrifically disappointing. FB&S should be flogged for that one.
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Yes Nik is a weak link, but I don't think C/B are the soup either. C/B have and continue to struggle with twizzles. F/B is just one of the many female dancers over the years that have lesser skilled partners and he's not very confident in his ability to match her skills.
 
Throw me in the boat of hoping L/L challenge for the title here, and I don’t think anything is set in stone yet either.

Chock and Bates had (and IMO, not the judges opinions, still have) problems with their programs this season and the NHK win for FB/S was well-earned, but I don’t believe for one minute that it boosted them into the top tier of skaters.

L/L have two dynamically different programs this season, both of which I thought I’d be cringing over, but I find myself really WTFing in a good way in a season of really terrible programs in the segment, and the FD flies by for me. FB/S FD in particular is nothing new and I do feel that he’s very much not as strong as the other three skaters.

I think, if they really want a certain result, we will see a push in the rhythm dance to separate the teams. But I hope it’s competitive.
 
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