The Dance Hall 11: Movin' On Up 2023-2024

[angi]

It's the second week in a row of beyond questionable ice dance judging, if this trend continues this will be an interesting (and more frustrating than usual) season...

Make it three weeks in a row. How anyone watched Davis/Smolkin and deemed that RD was worth over 77 points is a mystery to me.
I also tend to think Lajoie/Lagha are injured (at least she is), their speed was lacking, their lift is their go-to junior rotational lift (they have way better lifts in their arsenal), and this RD fell flat to me and they are a team that always manages to create excitement and perform.
And while I originally had a lot of criticism towards Fear/Gibson's programs, the changes they made to both their programs are making both of them stronger and more cohesive. They are only one of the very few teams that seem to have gotten the assignment.

 

[layman]

Make it three weeks in a row. How anyone watched Davis/Smolkin and deemed that RD was worth over 77 points is a mystery to me.
I also tend to think Lajoie/Lagha are injured (at least she is), their speed was lacking, their lift is their go-to junior rotational lift (they have way better lifts in their arsenal), and this RD fell flat to me and they are a team that always manages to create excitement and perform.
And while I originally had a lot of criticism towards Fear/Gibson's programs, the changes they made to both their programs are making both of them stronger and more cohesive. They are only one of the very few teams that seem to have gotten the assignment.

Davis/Smolkin got a nepotism bonus of at least 10 points (possibly more).

 

[Bigbird]

Davis/Smolkin got a nepotism bonus of at least 10 points (possibly more).

I thought Zin/Kol were actually 2nd but their middle section needs a bit if smoothing. OTOH Ms Davis has poor skating skills Gleb is just pulling her around..but what a fine team we have in Zin/Kol..they have really improved. The backroom dealings by the judges make watching comps ridiculous now.

 

[rhapsody]

For reference:

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Nik: any hole, any time.

 

[her grace]

Somerville, sigh, needs yet another partner.

Who would you suggest for Somerville? I agree that he's better than Bratti, but she's physically a good match and they get along. She might just need some time like the Gilles/Poirier partnership to catch up.

 

[PRlady]

Who would you suggest for Somerville? I agree that he's better than Bratti, but she's physically a good match and they get along. She might just need some time like the Gilles/Poirier partnership to catch up.

Well I’m the diehard what-happened-to-Avonley club but realize that’s a lost cause.

I’m not a big fan of sibling teams so break one of them up for a smallish partner for him.

 

[Andrea82]

Did Demougeot/Le Mercier have some issues this summer?
I see they only competed in the RD at Masters de France this week. Are they behind in the preparations or the withdrawal is due to some last-minute issue?

 

[Wyliefan]

No idea. They looked fine in their RD.

 

[litenkyckling]

Did Demougeot/Le Mercier have some issues this summer?
I see they only competed in the RD at Masters de France this week. Are they behind in the preparations or the withdrawal is due to some last-minute issue?

not sure but I didn't think they had their usual amount of confidence and attack in the RD yesterday

 

[Nmsis]

Did Demougeot/Le Mercier have some issues this summer?

No real info.
But 5-6 weeks ago, Loicia left a cryptic message on her instagram about having to tolerate a rose's thorns.
Thomas Nabais replied with emojis : sigh, bandaged head, bandaged head
I've been wondering since then.

 

[layman]

OMG...we have just seen more Nepotism Scoring in action. Diana Davis completely sat down (on the ice)...completely fell out of a twizzle (and onto her butt)...yet the team still got points for that element??? It was a total fail and should have gotten no points at all. How do you skate slow...and tentative...and sloppy...with stumbles...and falls (in both portions of the event) and still come in second???? The judging here was a total joke!

The more I see the Rocky program skated side by side with better programs, the more I realize what a cover up it is. In the Rocky program, Fear/Gibson don't have to worry about stretching and turning out, extending their line or creating beautiful positions (presumably because it does not fit the theme of the program). Never mind that Fear/Gibson never do any of that anyway, in any program (ever)...the Rocky program cleverly disguises their lack of polish...only it doesn't in my book...it makes it stand out even more...it's glaring! Plus, they skated the program with lots of stumbles (she fell out of a twizzle) and just overall sloppiness. There is no way that (long) program should have been judged the best of the bunch! Once again, the judging at the Nepela Trophy (in the Ice Dance portion of the event) was a total joke!

Meanwhile, Zingas/Kolesnick and Lagha/Lajoie were wonderful! They skated their programs with class, total ice coverage, musical sensitivity, awareness of and perfection of body line (and toe-point) and total commitment to the themes of their respective programs. It was wonderful to see. These teams were robbed!

 

[tony]

OMG...we have just seen more Nepotism Scoring in action. Diana Davis completely sat down (on the ice)...completely fell out of a twizzle (and onto her butt)...yet the team still got points for that element??? It was a total fail and should have gotten no points at all. How do you skate slow...and tentative...and sloppy...with stumbles...and falls (in both portions of the event) and still come in second???? The judging here was a total joke!

Because the rules (I'm gently reminding... available to everyone) say this:

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/id-handbooks-faq/related-communications-1/31742-isu-communication-2569-1/file

Rule 1.5.1.4

4. If a Fall or interruption occurs during the Set of Twizzles and fulfils the requirement for Basic Level, the Set of Twizzles shall be identified and given a level according to the requirements met before the Fall or interruption.

 

[Debbie S]

Well I’m the diehard what-happened-to-Avonley club

A sophomore pre-med at William & Mary.

 

[layman]

Because the rules (I'm gently reminding... available to everyone) say this:

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/id-handbooks-faq/related-communications-1/31742-isu-communication-2569-1/file

Rule 1.5.1.4

They should have at least gotten deducted levels and grades of execution on the element then. After the fall...Diana looked dazed and the team stumbled around for another 15 seconds before they regained their footing. They skated the rest of the program extremely slowly and tentatively. All that should have been deducted.

 

[tony]

They should have at least gotten deducted levels and grades of execution on the element then. After the fall...Diana looked dazed and the team stumbled around for another 15 seconds before they regained their footing. They skated the rest of the program extremely slowly and tentatively. All that should have been deducted.

She did get a deducted level (2) on the element, and the GOEs were -3 and -4, which is also within the guidelines of marking the element.

 

[layman]

She did get a deducted level (2) on the element, and the GOEs were -3 and -4, which is also within the guidelines of marking the element.

There should have been more deductions and lower GOEs on the rest of the program after the fall...which was skated as if the team was skating on molasses.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

A sophomore pre-med at William & Mary.

With any luck she'll be able to see Glenn Close Class of 1974 during Homecoming Weekend Oct. 19-21.

 

[Bigbird]

what a travesty of a FD for Zin/Kol...please send them to the IAM immediately... IS has lost all his mojo. OTOH, absolutely love that FD of L/L.
Placements don't matter really. Ice dance isn't really a sport...

 

[Wyliefan]

After I got over my surprise at the costumes and concept, I really liked Z/K's free. Abstract Beauty and the Beast is something different, and it worked well for them.

 

[Rukia]

After I got over my surprise at the costumes and concept, I really liked Z/K's free. Abstract Beauty and the Beast is something different, and it worked well for them.

I think the music choices were good and avoided sounding too junior which I was was concerned about, but they really could have been skating to anything choreography-wise (which I blame solely on Igor).

 

[Nmsis]

Did Demougeot/Le Mercier have some issues this summer?

Info from Arribert per cholla :
Loïcia has had a contracture in her back for several weeks.
That impaired her quite a lot during the RD.



On the Villard front, soon in Espoo,
Dupayage/Nabais SD and FD

 

[Bigbird]

I think the music choices were good and avoided sounding too junior which I was was concerned about, but they really could have been skating to anything choreography-wise (which I blame solely on Igor).

I cannot stand it. Is that the best Igor could really do?

 

[Karen-W]

I think the music choices were good and avoided sounding too junior which I was was concerned about, but they really could have been skating to anything choreography-wise (which I blame solely on Igor).

I agree about the choreography being mostly generic. There were a couple of nice, unique moments - like her assisted jump right before/into the dance spin - but, overall, I didn't feel like there was any storytelling or point of view to the choreography beyond "pretty skating to REALLY beautiful music" with the music doing the heavy lifting of the program.

I felt the same, to be honest, about their RD, and fail to understand how it or DavSmo scored so high beyond Michael Jackson being really accessible music.

The less said about DavSmo's FD, the better. It is wrong for them, stylistically, in just about every way imaginable.

As far as Euros bronze, I think it's ReedAmbru's to lose - and not just because Euros is in Lithuania this year. I can't see IAM sitting back and letting that bronze slip through their fingers. Plus, ReedAmbru's FD score is a couple points higher than anything any of the other teams have posted yet - they're around 116, while LopBri, TurkVers, the Taschlers and Dav Smo are hovering around 111-114.

 

[flatfoot]

My take from this weekend is that I really enjoyed the Spanish couple Sofia Val and Asaf Kazimov. Firstly as they did a top gun SD which I have been waiting for all season and secondly their free dance was so pretty.

 

[Dobre]

Deepest thought I have after watching the RDs at Nepela is that Orihara makes a better run at Madonna than Holly Harris by quite a ways, and also actually a better run at 80's icondom than Lagha, Kolesnik, or Smolkin.

 

[topaz]

So much Michael Jackson music used this season. Goodness me. I can't believe these coaches who lived through the 80s are using only the 'popular' music of the 80s. So much pop. It's disappointing to me.

There is so much more dance friendly music in the 1980s. R&B, New Wave, Alternative, Synthpop, rock.

 

[Debbie S]

So much Michael Jackson music used this season. Goodness me. I can't believe these coaches who lived through the 80s are using only the 'popular' music of the 80s. So much pop. It's disappointing to me.

There is so much more dance friendly music in the 1980s. R&B, New Wave, Alternative, Synthpop, rock.

I suspect the coaches are operating with the assumption that the judges aren't familiar with music from those genres and will only recognize the pop stuff. Or the tech committee communicated to the coaches that pop was what they were looking for.

 

[taz'smum]

So much Michael Jackson music used this season. Goodness me. I can't believe these coaches who lived through the 80s are using only the 'popular' music of the 80s. So much pop. It's disappointing to me.

There is so much more dance friendly music in the 1980s. R&B, New Wave, Alternative, Synthpop, rock.

Turning Japanese by the Vapors release date 1980

Have there been any RDs with tracks by the Police? for example Every little things she does is magic

These are real 80s pop songs

 

[litenkyckling]

No Bronski Beat. No Clash. No Soft Cell. No Human League. This list can obviously go on and on - but I’m not sure why I’m so disappointed in ice dance choices when they are consistently underwhelming every year!

 

[taz'smum]

No Bronski Beat. No Clash. No Soft Cell. No Human League. This list can obviously go on and on - but I’m not sure why I’m so disappointed in ice dance choices when they are consistently underwhelming every year!

Max Rahier and his new partner are skating to Bronski Beat.