The Dance Hall 7: Tripping the Light Fantastic 2019-2020

[georgiana08]

I was disappointed by how teams went with jukebox musicals, even though I had a feeling it would happen. I know they're popular, but I mostly find them lazy.

 

[muffinplus]

Most of the RD's range from bad to terrible. P/C are the only ones who have something fresh and original, though I do like SinKats RD as well, even though I know it's less fresh and more old-fashioned (but still well skated)

I enjoyed a lot more tangos last year

 

[heartyxo]

I like P/C, G/P, H/B RDs the most I think and they're all more quirky. I quite like C/B's even though it is so generic. I don't mind the "Let's be bad" part of H/D but I HATE "My heart belongs to daddy". I would probably like S/K's more on another pair because I don't think it really suits them much. I'm still confused by the music cut in S/B's, I don't get the 1 minute of "Your song" at the end.
I'm kinda eh on pretty much everyone's really.

 

[mjb52]

I still can't believe no one skated to music from the Buffy musical episode. Missed opportunity.

 

[marbri]

Most of the RD's range from bad to terrible. P/C are the only ones who have something fresh and original, though I do like SinKats RD as well, even though I know it's less fresh and more old-fashioned (but still well skated)

I enjoyed a lot more tangos last year

I honestly don't know how you can call that Fame RD fresh and original? How is it any more fresh and original than the other RD's from Gadbois? I'd even argue it isn't amongst the top three RD's from Gadbois. Not their skating, clearly their skating skills are the best, but the concept and choreography past the pattern is all a bit weak sauce imo.

 

[Wyliefan]

I still can't believe no one skated to music from the Buffy musical episode. Missed opportunity.

Or the Psych musical episode. Or Galavant!

 

[chantilly]

Yeah I really don’t think P and C have the freshest or most original RD at all.
I think G and P, H and B and F and G are all outside the box.

As I don’t have anyone specific in the horse race of dance so far this quad I find it interesting that people had little issue blaming the judging on politics at Euros but it’s no way the case here.

I actually don’t have a strong opinion either way as I was unable to watch the events. Just think it’s interesting based on the comments/looking at the marks and looking at some of the protocols.

It seems to me based on what I’ve been able to glean is that the placements of the top three at both events were correct.

 

[MsZem]

I still can't believe no one skated to music from the Buffy musical episode. Missed opportunity.

All those secrets you've been concealing,
Say you're happy now, once more with feeling...

Paging @antmanb

 

[PRlady]

I love H/B's RD (sob, last night) but it's a built-in crowd-pleaser especially for people who lived through disco and Saturday Night Fever. Bonnie and Clyde, Danadian version, is another good one and of all the Greases I think S/D does it best. But when I saw a low-level Aussie team skate to Rocky Horror, and I think of all the good music from classic musicals ranging through some avant-garde stuff, I sob at how many went the easy route with Cole Porter et al.

 

[clairecloutier]

I also find this year's RDs to be disappointing on the whole. That's why I asked in the competition thread last night what next year's theme/pattern is, because honestly, I am already looking forward to some new RDs.

Broadway/musical/operetta sounded like it had such interesting possibilities, but I agree that too many of the dances are just very traditional quickstep/foxtrot-type things. And I think teams have to be really good to pull that style off well. Chock/Bates do quite a good job with it in their RD.

I think the programs that I'm still really enjoying out of this year's RDs would include Hawayek/Baker's Saturday Night Fever, Papadakis/Cizeron's Fame, Lajoie/Lagha's West Side Story, Hurtado/Khaliavin's Hello Dolly, Smart/Diaz's Grease, Zagorski/Guerriero's Greatest Showman, Soucisse/Firus’s Jersey Boys, and actually I liked Green/Parsons' Cry-Baby more at U.S. Natls than I had before (despite the lyrics). Carreira/Ponomarenko's RD is also kind of fun, although I wish they hadn't changed Christina's dress. I guess I'm mostly drawn to the more upbeat programs.

 

[mjb52]

I really would have liked to see a few operetta programs.

 

[muffinplus]

I honestly don't know how you can call that Fame RD fresh and original? How is it any more fresh and original than the other RD's from Gadbois? I'd even argue it isn't amongst the top three RD's from Gadbois. Not their skating, clearly their skating skills are the best, but the concept and choreography past the pattern is all a bit weak sauce imo.

I find the concept /music choice to be less stale than a lot of the others vs Chock/Bates for example ? Which of the Gadbois programs are better? Which programs do you consider original?

 

[Habs]

I honestly don't know how you can call that Fame RD fresh and original? How is it any more fresh and original than the other RD's from Gadbois? I'd even argue it isn't amongst the top three RD's from Gadbois. Not their skating, clearly their skating skills are the best, but the concept and choreography past the pattern is all a bit weak sauce imo.

I absolutely hate P&C's Fame program.

 

[clairecloutier]

I absolutely hate P&C's Fame program.

Why?

 

[mjb52]

Watching the top teams at Euros, Fame seemed heavy on posing to me. I think it could be a fun program, it just feels more like an exhibition (to me).

 

[Habs]

Why?

I don't mind cheesy programs, but it's next level cheesy. There's a lot of posing, which I don't love. They're great and they skate it well, I just don't like the program itself (I also feel this way about their FD).
Honestly, I would probably enjoy it as a gala/exhibition program, but it just doesn't work for me as a competitive program. YMMV.

 

[VGThuy]

When the ISU announced the RD theme, and really stressed creativity, originality, looking to the stage for the inspiration, etc, did anyone really picture RDs like C&B or H&D as prime examples of what they were talking about?

Their RDs feel like they could fit into the usual Quickstep/Foxtrot mish-mash OD/SD/RD we've seen other years. It doesn't feel anything like what anyone pictured or was excited about when the theme was announced. Not the ISU, not fans on twitter, not posters here on FSU. But here we are.

As a huge Broadway/theatre fan who defended the art form from posters in this thread series, I am severely disappointed in what the coaches/choreographers have come up with. I also think maybe the RD format is too stringent to really capture Broadway.

It's also clear that most of the teams, even the celebrated ones, don't really have the personality or presence to really go all the way with the theme like seasoned and trained stage actors/dancers do. I thought Madison Chock would at least, but Gadbois is toning her down which works in the FD.

I was disappointed by how teams went with jukebox musicals, even though I had a feeling it would happen. I know they're popular, but I mostly find them lazy.

I agree. Most of them are pretty lazy and only created to bank on baby boomer nostalgia since they have the most spending power. That and movie musical adaptations where they just seem like the movie scene-by-scene but added songs. The teams using jukebox musicals have taken the coward's way out, which is understandable because it's their career and they are desperate to do something to get good scores.

 

[marbri]

I find the concept /music choice to be less stale than a lot of the others ? Which of the Gadbois programs are better?

I prefer FB/S, C/B, L/L, S/D, W/L to name a few. What it comes down to for me is I don't think they really do anything outstanding in that RD and I think Smart/Diaz, Hawayek/Baker or Fear/Gibson , could sell it so much better. Aside from the pattern placement to the soundtrack at the start of the RD (and the impact never matches the initial impact) the rest is just meh... I am sure in it's genesis it seemed a really fun and unexpected concept for them to pick but I feel the end result is very flat. For a team of their caliber I shouldn't be watching an RD from them and thinking meh,,, A/B could do this so much better.
Finally, while the music choice may be less stale I don't find the concept itself any different than S/D's Grease RD or H/B's Disco RD. The moves are all just straight up pulled from the musicals themselves.

 

[Wyliefan]

Sometimes I think we're all too picky, and we should just sit back and relax and try to find things to enjoy in as many dances as we can. I would have liked more classic Broadway and operetta. I've liked quite a lot of what we got in that department. But a lot of the jukebox musical programs have had enjoyable things in them too. There could have been more range and creativity, but I don't think the situation is THAT tragic.

At least not until we get bombarded with folk and polka. Then all bets are off.

 

[Immortelle]

I really would have liked to see a few operetta programs.

Totally! I’m gutted there were no G&S or Offenbach programs.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

I don't mind cheesy programs, but it's next level cheesy.

Ha, I don't care for Fame because I think it isn't cheesy enough! I wanted it to be a lot more fun and over the top. Like @marbri, I can think of other teams who would have thrown themselves all in - Hawayek/Baker, Manta/Johnson, Gilles/Poirier. Belbin/Agosto. They wouldn't skate it as well but I think they might have sold it more.

 

[Bigbird]

Ha, I don't care for Fame because I think it isn't cheesy enough! I wanted it to be a lot more fun and over the top. Like @marbri, I can think of other teams who would have thrown themselves all in - Hawayek/Baker, Manta/Johnson, Gilles/Poirier. Belbin/Agosto. They wouldn't skate it as well but I think they might have sold it more.

My favourite SD/RDs of Finnstep progammes are V/Ms and I/K from Sochi. EI just had this rare combination of lightness and effervescence. Somehow I think these two pairs really captured the theme. For this season P/C need to just skate it all out with more abandon and speed. It's hard to do though when you know the Russian Federation is looking for every opportunity to give the win to S/K. Hopefully the doping scandal and ban et al. will give a handy assist, to level things out eventually. I found most other RDs this season, clumsily put together with the exception of FB/S, S/D and S/K. S/K skate it well though but lack that something intangible that Kurt Browning had to make it exceptional. I am curious though, what is planned for the Olympic Season?

 

[Colonel Green]

I am curious though, what is planned for the Olympic Season?

Piper Gilles said in an interview a while ago that she understood it was going to be a reprise of the Midnight Blues/hip-hop theme from 2016-17 (as many here, myself included, had already speculated). So that's a rumour circulating BTS among the dance academies, at least. Piper was speaking about this in the context of her and Paul's March being the junior pattern for 2021-22.

Also, for my two cents, this has been my favourite RD since the 16/17 year. So many fun programs, and much more variety than, say, last year's exhausting tango bombardment.

 

[pat c]

Piper Gilles said in an interview a while ago that she understood it was going to be a reprise of the Midnight Blues/hip-hop theme from 2016-17 (as many here, myself included, had already speculated). So that's a rumour circulating BTS among the dance academies, at least. Piper was speaking about this in the context of her and Paul's March being the junior pattern for 2021-22.

Also, for my two cents, this has been my favourite RD since the 16/17 year. So many fun programs, and much more variety than, say, last year's exhausting tango bombardment.

Blues/Hip Hop? Well, it's been a while. It's been a while since the polka too.

I had high expectations of seeing a couple of interesting RD's. So far I remain unimpressed, but I will say it's an improvement over the 2000/01 year of dancing fool/new york new york. There has always been a worse year.

 

[Debbie S]

Looking back through recent years, it's pretty clear that judges don't like unusual, off-the-beaten path programs, esp for a prescribed theme. Like it or not, conventional gets the scores. P/C sort of took a risk/went outside the box (with both programs) but they're 4-time World champs, they've got the 'credit' to do that. Knowing what has scored well (or not) in the past, coaches are going to give their skaters RD programs that the judges are expecting.

 

[mjb52]

There have been four Russian medals in dance at Worlds in the last fourteen years out of a total of forty-two. If the Russian Federation is so all-powerful, what were they doing back then? Twiddling their thumbs? If S/K are starting to win medals now (and as yet, they only have one at worlds), when no Russian team has been able to do so consistently in the last decade and a half, is it not possible that's because they are actually good? I find this whole conversation so frustrating.

 

[Alilou]

I really would have liked to see a few operetta programs.

OMG yes. Some Gilbert&Sullivan would have been such fun! And can you imagine the costumes!

I was so disappointed in P&C costumes - conservative and boring. Pastels? Really? - like they were too scared to really embrace the Fame era fashion and go all out. Also go all out with the characters. I didn't see that either. Sigh.

 

[Bigbird]

There have been four Russian medals in dance at Worlds in the last fourteen years out of a total of forty-two. If the Russian Federation is so all-powerful, what were they doing back then? Twiddling their thumbs? If S/K are starting to win medals now (and as yet, they only have one at worlds), when no Russian team has been able to do so consistently in the last decade and a half, is it not possible that's because they are actually good? I find this whole conversation so frustrating.

If that's what you really think, well, let's just agree to disagree.

 

[Bigbird]

Looking back through recent years, it's pretty clear that judges don't like unusual, off-the-beaten path programs, esp for a prescribed theme. Like it or not, conventional gets the scores. P/C sort of took a risk/went outside the box (with both programs) but they're 4-time World champs, they've got the 'credit' to do that. Knowing what has scored well (or not) in the past, coaches are going to give their skaters RD programs that the judges are expecting.

They don't score them well FD or SD that must be so frustrating for highly creative teams.

 

[Dobre]

My favorite RDs this season:

Makita & Gunara--Hairspray
Wang & Liu--Chaplin
Galiyanova & Lochead--Bonnie & Clyde
Wolfkostin & Chen--Everything Old is New Again
Popova & Mozgov--Cabaret
Reed & Ambrulevicius--Bandstand
Orihara & Pirinen--Trip a Little Light Fantastic