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

[Andrea82]

I'm sure the Brazilian senior team will get the Worlds RD min they need, lol.

There are also the Armenians to be pushed up in the RD.

Meanwhile, judges at GP France: 6 from the 6 countries with entries + Germany, Hungary (Szilard Toth who was active in the 90s and took parte to 1994 Olympics with Eniko Berkes) and ever-present new entry of the year: the judge from Monaco.

 

[Colonel Green]

Since we've now seen almost everybody (with the notable exception of Hawayek & Baker), my favourite RDs for this season are Lajoie & Lagha's "Thriller" and Lopareva & Brissaud's Mylene Farmer medley.

 

[Andrea82]

Mezzaluna Cup confirms its reputation of giving good levels on the steps. Well, Kika was on the panel again.

The raise of TES minimum for Worlds (to 35 in RD and 52 in the FD) impacted, among others (from countries with other options), the following teams:

Both teams representing Azerbjian (both missing the new RD minimum)
Shilling/Baeten (Belgium) (missing the new minimums in both segments)
Nauryzova/Datiev (Kazakhstan) (missing the new RD minimum)
Ippolito/Russell (Latvia)(missing the new RD minimum)
Ramanauskaite/Kizala (Lithuania)(missing the new minimums in both segments)
Both Dutch teams (both missing the new RD minimum)

Jakucs/Galli (Netherlands) scored 36.36 in Mezzaluna Cup. So Netherlands is in.
Compared to last season, Sweden also got over the minimums with newcomer Reitan/Majorov.

Denis Ten Memorial got Azerbaijan in as Carhart/Kolosovskyi have now the whole set.
Last week, at Swiss Ice Open, Sassi/Morini achieved the FS minimum. They still need the RD one.

 

[skategal]

Since we've now seen almost everybody (with the notable exception of Hawayek & Baker), my favourite RDs for this season are Lajoie & Lagha's "Thriller" and Lopareva & Brissaud's Mylene Farmer medley.

Those 2 are also on favorites list along with Piper and Paul’s RD.

 

[Rhumba d’Amour]

Since we've now seen almost everybody (with the notable exception of Hawayek & Baker), my favourite RDs for this season are Lajoie & Lagha's "Thriller" and Lopareva & Brissaud's Mylene Farmer medley.

Agree that L/B lead the pack in creativity, and that the LaLa’s is very well constructed, but my favorite is Reed/Ambrulevicius’ Guns & Roses—never knew they had that in them

 

[Andrea82]

Judy Blumberg alert
She is the technical specialist at Cup of China. TS2 is Marie-Louise Gijtenbeek (JGP Bangkok, Nebelhorn, Finlandia, Denis Ten). Chris Buchanan is the controller.
The panel of judges includes the 6 countries with original entries (including Czech Republic) + Australia, Hungary and Poland (Halina GP).
Referee is Canadian.

 

[coralline]

If anyone is interested, here are the morning RD run-throughs from Cup of China today:

Piper & Paul (They changed outfit!)
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966469684101162

Lala
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966468148985943

Green & Parsons
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966468941447213

Maria KAZAKOVA & Giorgi REVIA
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966466781642789

Loicia DEMOUGEOT & Theo le MERCIER
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966467477897274

Eva PATE & Logan BYE
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966459235827758

Emily BRATTI & Ian SOMERVILLE
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966458355023910

Chen & Xing
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966457818152983

Shi & Wu
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4966457444859929

 

[Colonel Green]

Looking at the remainder of the Grand Prix, with both Reed & Ambrulevicius and Turkkila & Versluis at NHK, we may get a real bronze medal battle there (and a Euros preview), seeing as the latter are probably the favourites for the bronze in Espoo the week before.

Speaking of championship bronze medals, Lajoie & Lagha's result at COC could make the Four Continents bronze interesting rather than a foregone conclusion for Fournier Beaudry & Sorensen.

 

[lauravvv]

Speaking of championship bronze medals, Lajoie & Lagha's result at COC could make the Four Continents bronze interesting rather than a foregone conclusion for Fournier Beaudry & Sorensen.

Not to mention silver at the Canadian Nationals, although, of course, the canadian judges are more likely to go with the established order unless F-B/S make a serious mistake(s) again.

 

[Colonel Green]

Not to mention silver at the Canadian Nationals, although, of course, the canadian judges are more likely to go with the established order unless F-B/S make a serious mistake(s) again.

As far as the politics of it, the Grand Prix Final matchup will obviously set the stage here; if they were to actually beat them, or keep it close, I think national judges might be okay with it. Lajoie & Lagha are universally acknowledged as The Future for Canadian ice dance (and really, Canadian skating in general, they're the country's flagship competitors of their age group). Them moving up to national #2 is a logical enough progression and would help set the stage for whenever Gilles & Poirier eventually depart.

 

[Andrea82]

Callers this week

GP: Ingrid Wolter (Germany) from ISU Tech Committee, Philipp Rey (USA) and Joanna Bunder (Poland). Hilary Selby is the Referee.
Wolter was among the callers at Nebelhorn Trophy and JGP Linz this season. She was the Referee at 2018 Olympics (and a judge at 2014 Olympics)

Warsaw Cup: Marcin Kozubek (Poland) is the Technical controller. Technical specialists are Slavka Grincova (Slovakia) and Kristy Balkwill (Canada). Halina is the Referee
Kozubek was the TC ad JGP Gadnsk. Grincova (the TS at Olympics 2018) served at JGP Yerevan and Denis Ten Memorial this season. Balkwill was on the Autumn Classic panel.

NRW Throphy: Technical controller is Christine Hurth (France). Technical specialists are Olga Akimova (Ukraine) and Marisa Gravino (Canada). Referee is Roland Mader of Switzerland.
Gravino (who was one of the earlier partners of Lauzon in Juniors) served at Lake Placid International. Akimova was at JGP Gdansk and Swiss Ice Skating Open. Hurth was the TC at Skate America.

It looks they have a shortage of judges in Dortmund, at least for Novice categories. They unretired Yuri Balkov for the occasion.

 

[Belsornia]

It looks they have a shortage of judges in Dortmund, at least for Novice categories. They unretired Yuri Balkov for the occasion.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I’m just gonna say it, Piper and Paul I think have the best chance of becoming world champions this year

 

[Dobre]

Note to Chock & Bates about this FD:

A character. Abstract is not you. There are plenty of characters from the era you are doing. Dig some up.

About the rhythm dance:

That dance movement was much sharper than at SA. Better than most of what we're seeing. Kudos for that.

 

[Belsornia]

Three more new teams for IAM: Nette/Westwood (moving from real London to fake London), Anderson/Anderson (not a sibling team!) and Corneil/Emery (I don't know anything about them).

I.AM on Instagram: "⭐ NEW COUPLES ALERT! ⭐ The London campus is very excited to announce the arrival of 3 new couples at I.AM. Please join us to welcome: Representing Australia 🇦🇺, India Netté & Eron Westwood. Representing Canada 🇨🇦, Charlie Ande

878 likes, 10 comments - iceacademyofmontreal on November 21, 2023: "⭐ NEW COUPLES ALERT! ⭐ The London campus is very excited to announce the arrival of 3 new couples at I.AM. Please join us to welcome: Representing Australia 🇦🇺, India Netté & Eron Westwood. Representing Canada 🇨🇦, Charlie...

www.instagram.com

By my count, this is 21 full-time and 2 part-time teams at IAM main campus, 11 teams at IAM Ontario, 5 teams in the new IAM development group, and a handful of ice dance women looking for partners.

 

[RoseRed]

Three more new teams for IAM: Nette/Westwood (moving from real London to fake London), Anderson/Anderson (not a sibling team!) and Corneil/Emery (I don't know anything about them).

I.AM on Instagram: "⭐ NEW COUPLES ALERT! ⭐ The London campus is very excited to announce the arrival of 3 new couples at I.AM. Please join us to welcome: Representing Australia 🇦🇺, India Netté & Eron Westwood. Representing Canada 🇨🇦, Charlie Ande

878 likes, 10 comments - iceacademyofmontreal on November 21, 2023: "⭐ NEW COUPLES ALERT! ⭐ The London campus is very excited to announce the arrival of 3 new couples at I.AM. Please join us to welcome: Representing Australia 🇦🇺, India Netté & Eron Westwood. Representing Canada 🇨🇦, Charlie...

www.instagram.com

By my count, this is 21 full-time and 2 part-time teams at IAM main campus, 11 teams at IAM Ontario, 5 teams in the new IAM development group, and a handful of ice dance women looking for partners.

Same as my list, except I have 20 full-time in Montreal + 3 part-time, going by their ISU bio training locations: Lopareva/Brissaud (Lyon/Montreal), the Browns (NY/Montreal), and Kishimoto/Tamura (Tokyo/Montreal).

Also Anderson/Anderson are not siblings?? Huh.

 

[Belsornia]

Same as my list, except I have 20 full-time in Montreal + 3 part-time, going by their ISU bio training locations: Lopareva/Brissaud (Lyon/Montreal), the Browns (NY/Montreal), and Kishimoto/Tamura (Tokyo/Montreal).

Ah, I didn’t have Kishimoto/Tamura as part time.

Also Anderson/Anderson are not siblings?? Huh.

Luke Anderson is from the US and used to skate with Emily Phillips for GB. They trained in Cardiff and Texas and competed a couple of times but not internationally. I know less about Charlie Anderson but she’s Canadian and has been with the Moir group for a while.

On the subject of Canadian ice dancers, I see Makita/Gunara didn’t compete in the qualifying competitions. Any news on them?

 

[Andrea82]

Callers for last GP: David Molina (France), Nakako Tsuzuki (Japan) and Monica MacDonald (Australia). They are all at their seasonal debuts.

 

[shuilee]

Is USA at risk of losing that 3rd spot for next year's Boston Worlds? It seems like a tossup on whether USA could get 13 points based on international results so far.

I see Chock/Bates finishing 2nd or 3rd.

But Green/Parsons is currently around 11th best so far this year, and Carriera/Ponomarenko around 13th based on results so far this season.

Top 6 are obvious, and then 7th thru 13th is interesting:

7. Lopareva/Brissaud
8. Turkkila/Versluis
9. Reed/Ambrulevicius
10. Davis/Smolkin

11. Green/Parsons
12. Carriera/Ponomarenko
13. Taschlerova/Taschler

3 + 11 = 14 points and USA is down to 2 spots.

It's surprising to see G&P (6th at Worlds last year) get dumped by the judges. It's also odd that we've barely seen Charlie or Tanith this year in the K&C. I wonder if that negatively affected G&P politically.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Gosh, we haven’t seen her since like September…

 

[Karen-W]

Is USA at risk of losing that 3rd spot for next year's Boston Worlds? It seems like a tossup on whether USA could get 13 points based on international results so far.

I see Chock/Bates finishing 2nd or 3rd.

But Green/Parsons is currently around 11th best so far this year, and Carriera/Ponomarenko around 13th based on results so far this season.

Top 6 are obvious, and then 7th thru 13th is interesting:

7. Lopareva/Brissaud
8. Turkkila/Versluis
9. Reed/Ambrulevicius
10. Davis/Smolkin

11. Green/Parsons
12. Carriera/Ponomarenko
13. Taschlerova/Taschler

3 + 11 = 14 points and USA is down to 2 spots.

It's surprising to see G&P (6th at Worlds last year) get dumped by the judges. It's also odd that we've barely seen Charlie or Tanith this year in the K&C. I wonder if that negatively affected G&P politically.

Someone's forgetting HawBak... additionally, I don't see the US losing the 3rd spot... ChoBat will finish no worse than 2nd and the 2nd US team will be no lower than 11th.

 

[her grace]

It’s certainly possible, but USFS politiks will kick into high-gear at Worlds. Remember all three teams were in top 10 last year.

 

[Wyliefan]

The thought has occurred to me occasionally, especially since we know so little about how Jean-Luc's recovery is going. Fingers, toes, and everything else crossed!

 

[ccpompom]

I really don't think usfsa will lose the 3 spots however they need to politick for the non-bock teams because they are nowhere scoring what they should in intl competitions. Imo I think gpa and cpom should be scoring around 78-80 in the rd and 115-120 in the free

 

[irenemulindwairen]

Erhm..... is there any place here to discuss the headscratcher that Russian Ice Dance is?

Why do they give out those types of scores? Are Stepanova and Bukin really 87+ and 128+ ice dancers? Colour me confused..

The KING and QUEEN of "ice dance". As if, (Kissing my teeth). Sorry for the rudeness.

 

[litenkyckling]

Todays sham result really has me asking why I waste my time watching this sport. The judging today was beyond a joke.

 

[marbri]

I think it's funny (because I know how some feel about both teams) but looking at their FD's piece by piece and as a whole I don't think it's some great tragedy or injustice

 

[litenkyckling]

I think it's funny (because I know how some feel about both teams) but looking at their FD's piece by piece and as a whole I don't think it's some great tragedy or injustice

Putting skating skills piece by piece I think it is a tragedy to be honest. What precedence does this set? That skating skills, deep edges and perfection are no longer important?

 

[marbri]

Putting skating skills piece by piece I think it is a tragedy to be honest. What precedence does this set? That skating skills, deep edges and perfection are no longer important?

The precedence was set years ago. Decades even. This is nothing new.

Fear/Gibson won that FD by a hair based on Lilah being the ONLY skater in the FD competition to get a L4 call on one of her step elements ( that will make her haters happy ) and the strength of their choreo elements. And let's be honest here the choreo steps and slide elements of the Italians were pedestrian at best.

But I might care next week when they are placed ahead of a team I care about

eta.. But I do wish to be a fly on the wall in the back rooms leading up to the GPF and more importantly Europeans because I can see Barbara and Maurizio partnering up again because neither of their teams look happy with the results here

 

[Karen-W]

@marbri - Babs needs to unite with more than just Maurizio if she wants to combat the force that is IAM - at both Euros and Worlds. All he has in his school are the two Finnish teams. She knows she needs more countries - it would serve her well to also unite with YGA (Czechs, Georgian #2s, Slovaks) and WISA (Georgian #1s and Israelis - presuming Tkachenko/Kiliakov are sent to Euros & Worlds). That would give them all a fighting chance against IAM. Not that I expect it to happen. For whatever reason, Babs and YGA are not aligned.