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

[Dobre]

@DobreI guess the battle between W/P and C/L for bronze was interesting and it was nice to see W/P end their season on a high note and also sad to see C/L not medal at their home country.

Yes, for me the battle for the bronze was the most interesting part of the competition. I like both W&P and C&L, but I was rooting for C&L in Italy. Both teams skated well, though, and I am glad that Cappellini & Lanotte had that experience at the end of their competitive career.

*Provided it is the end of their competitive career. They look to have happily moved on to me, though I don't think they ever officially announced a retirement & I'm always a bit wary about assuming athletes are done when they come from small countries like Italy.

Of course Worlds did have the hot mess of a battle with Hawayek & Baker splatting and Kaliszek & Spodyriev getting hammered by Judy and Soucisse & Firus dropping down to reality in a deep international field, but everyone must start somewhere.

 

[Tila]

Hommage to the Bolero by Torvil and Dean, very moving…

Mass Bolero - A Tribute To Torvill & Dean

Featuring cameo appearances by Chris and Jayne themselves, this short film, Mass Bolero, was conceived and directed by Fiona Buffini, Associate Director of N...

www.youtube.com

 

[Ka3sha]

Listened to Lilah Fear podcast with Madi Hubbell yesterday.
Madi mentioned a 2008 JGP in South Africa for few times (she met both Zach and Adrian there for the first time). So I decided to check the results and entries lists:

1. Hubbell/Hubbell
2. Gilles/Donohue
3. Monko/Khaliavin

And Hurtado/Diaz were also there, they placed last in both segments

ISU JGP Skate Safari - Junior Ice Dance

Things turned out in a bit odd way in the end

 

[Colonel Green]

Piper & Paul met for the first time at JGP Taiwan in 2006, where Paul & Vanessa were fifth and Piper & Timothy were sixth.

 

[Ka3sha]

IFS interview with Drobiazko/Vanagas (thanks @Eislauffan )

Account Suspended

 

[Wyliefan]

Christina Carreira did an AMA today. Someone asked her which skaters had the worst sportsmanship. She refused to answer , but she did name some of the skaters with the best sportsmanship: Lorraine McNamara, Michael Parsons, Caroline Green, Yura Min, and Livvy Shilling.

She also said that she and Anthony have their FD music for next season but didn't say what it was!

 

[Ka3sha]

Europe On Ice on Twitter

“According to the latest ISU communication, a decision on whether to hold 2020 #WorldFigure in some shape or form will be made over the coming weeks. In addition, the pattern dances for 2020/2021 will remain the same as 2019/2020. ? https://t.co/sCPICbHwmf”

twitter.com

In addition, the pattern dances for 2020/2021 will remain the same as 2019/2020.

 

[Colonel Green]

If that's the case, I'm guess you're going to see a lot of teams come up with new choreo anyway just to stand out, though this obviously saves them having to spend a lot of time on the pattern (which would be especially difficult since it's impossible to hold seminars right now).

 

[georgiana08]

This makes total sense, but there's a small part of me that's sad we won't be seeing yankee polka next year.

 

[clairecloutier]

This makes total sense, but there's a small part of me that's sad we won't be seeing yankee polka next year.

I'm also sorry that we won't see new SDs. Mainly because I was not, in the end, a big fan of this year's theme. But, it is what it is, and this was the right thing to do.

 

[mjb52]

That's how I feel too - it's the right decision but will miss seeing new SDs a little. On the bright side, folk can be great but can also go very wrong and I got the impression there were some nerves about it from an interview I read with a top North American team, so maybe this will make things easier.

 

[Peepsquick]

That's how I feel too - it's the right decision but will miss seeing new SDs a little. On the bright side, folk can be great but can also go very wrong and I got the impression there were some nerves about it from an interview I read with a top North American team, so maybe this will make things easier.

Yes, I feel that way too ... do you improve on your "old" RD with the risk of people getting bored or do you do something totally different? That's a conundrum ...

 

[Debbie S]

I wonder if teams will reuse their RDs from this year or get new ones. Generally, in dance, you don't reuse a program, but it won't be a normal off-season or season. Or maybe some teams whose programs got lukewarm reactions will change and others will keep.

I wonder if this will impact any Junior teams' decisions to move up to Senior. They would still have to learn a new dance so staying Junior would make things easier. Are there any top Junior teams definitely aging out?

 

[Colonel Green]

Are there any top Junior teams definitely aging out?

The Georgians have to move up. Nguyen/Kolesnik were the major team that were on the bubble as far as moving up or staying junior went. None of the major Russian teams were considering likely to do so.

 

[mjb52]

Kazakova/Reviya have already trained the senior pattern right, since they competed at senior Euros iirc and planned to compete at Senior Worlds?

 

[Andora]

I wonder if teams will reuse their RDs from this year or get new ones. Generally, in dance, you don't reuse a program, but it won't be a normal off-season or season. Or maybe some teams whose programs got lukewarm reactions will change and others will keep.

I'd love for most teams to keep their RD's and nail them. Okay, I'm mostly talking about P&C with Fame. But there were plenty of teams with great programs that could still grow (Danadians, etc).

Saying that, I'd be okay with the top two US teams changing their programs.

 

[escaflowne9282]

I'm also sorry that we won't see new SDs. Mainly because I was not, in the end, a big fan of this year's theme. But, it is what it is, and this was the right thing to do.

I understand them making this decision. It's just , as a fan , I wish there were a way they could keep the pattern ,but change the theme or at least encourage different programs and music. I also am not a fan of this past season's theme. I found most of this year's RDs to be very kitsch and camp, which can be fun, but I really don't need to see those same RDs 2 years in a row. The RDs that weren't campy just came across as very generic to me.

I guess I just found this to be a weak year for Ice Dance in general as far as choreography goes.

 

[dancing_on_ice]

I hope that H/D change their rhythm dance. 'Daddy' is something I never want to hear again. As for C/B, I'm on the fence. It's a nice rhythm dance, but it's nothing spectacular, and I'd probably prefer a change, but I'd be fine if they didn't change it either.
I'm wondering if keeping the same pattern will factor into N/K's decision on going senior. I'm still of the opinion that they should move up next season, as they've already proven they're the class of the junior field, and it would be much worse politically if they stayed junior and didn't win everything compared to moving senior and having weak results. It might depend on how soon they can get back on the ice to perfect the finnstep.

 

[Colonel Green]

As far as staying junior versus going senior goes, it seems unlikely to me there's going to be a Junior Grand Prix at this rate, even if they do manage to hold some of the senior fall events later.

 

[chameleonster]

I imagine a lot of it is going to come down to exactly when everyone can get back on the ice, and how much of a season we end up having. This is really unfortunate for teams heading into their last season of junior eligibility, because if the senior GP is in danger of being cancelled there's little hope for the JGP. For Nguyen/Kolesnik, as far as I am aware they aren't even sheltering in place in the same state currently.

It would have been nice to see new programs, but I like the Finnstep, and at this point I think I'll be grateful to have any amount of skating next season, regardless of what people show up with.

 

[casken]

H&D and C&B absolutely could do better with their RDs, but why bother when they get the scores that they do?

I would send G&F back to the drawing board. The Grease RD got decent marks at Euros, but they need to go above and beyond.

 

[heartyxo]

I imagine pretty much every team will keep their RDs, as much as I don’t want to see Daddy again. C/Bs RD is fine, I like it even if it isn’t their best program ever. There wasn’t ever anything wrong with the choreography, they just couldn’t Finnstep until the GPF. They deservedly got a good score at 4CC when they were clean.

I think there’ll be a lot of recycled FDs too, especially if they can’t skate for ages and I’m fine with that. But if there is some time I’m sure most will prioritise a new FD over a new RD when the theme is the exact same.

 

[VGThuy]

I have a feeling teams will keep their RDs at first but then they and the judges will get bored and they may want to make changes, if not to the choreography so much than to the music at least. Kind of like what Gilles/Poirier did right before the 2016 Worlds which resulted in a “surprise” top 5 finish and a slot in the final group.

 

[mjb52]

I am so torn about Sin/Kats since they already have such a well-received RD. It makes sense perhaps to keep it but pump it up with some new highlight moves? I think it is hard since we don't really know when the season will start again. If it is going to be truncated, like Nov. to Mar. that's different than if things get rolling again in June or July.

 

[Ka3sha]

I am still a bit sad no one chose operettas last season. And I don’t even dare to hope that someone will seek that opportunity now..

 

[taz'smum]

Romain H. always used to say it takes 10 weeks to get programs up and running to start competing.
So if skaters can get back on the ice by July, then theoretically they should be ready for the GPs.

However, Romain was talking about normal times then, not when skaters have been off the ice for 3+ months.
Also, queues for choreographers would be long, adding to the preparation time.

So either we will see GPs with last years programs or very raw new programs.

If however the skaters are not back on the ice until August or September, I can't see the season beginning much before the end of the year.

I hope Tiff and Jon have the time to change their RD, I'd be quite happy for them to go back to their original idea of Chicago.

 

[clairecloutier]

A nice silver lining to this is that we might get more chances to see the Danadians’ programs from last season. Their Bonnie & Clyde SD was so celebrated. And I personally was a big fan of their FD and would love to see it again. I was sad when their season ended prematurely, just because I wanted to see those programs again!

I do think Hubbell/Donohue should move heaven & earth if necessary to somehow get a new FD that will be better liked by fans and judges. Sadly, their FD last year was like an anchor on them competitively. If they can’t get a brand new FD, I would even consider going back to a previous FD instead, much as that tends to feel like an admission of defeat.

 

[PRlady]

Hubbell and Donahue have a huge opportunity to do an FD that matches the public mood. I always thought James/Cipres’ Sound of Silence was partially so successful because it matched the ominous feeling so many people had that year. If H/D can come up with something both sad and hopeful, nothing as literal as Shallow, it would help them a lot.

 

[Regretla]

If skaters start training in July , hosting Worlds in October is theoretically possible.I somehow don't see the GP happening in its usual form.It will be practically impossible to hop on a plane and do side by side events under travel restrictions if these are still applicable by then.Maybe they could get the NA skaters compete in SA and SC and the European teams in Europe, Japanese skaters in Japan and so on?I don't forget it's the ISU we're talking about.
I somehow think most big federations are already thinking of alternatives and that there

 

[taz'smum]

I somehow don't see the GP happening in its usual form.It will be practically impossible to hop on a plane and do side by side events under travel restrictions if these are still applicable by then.Maybe they could get the NA skaters compete in SA and SC and the European teams in Europe, Japanese skaters in Japan and so on?I don't forget it's the ISU we're talking about.
I somehow think most big federations are already thinking of alternatives and that there

Good point, travel restrictions will impact all international competitions for probably at least a 1 year.
National competitions could well gain in stature as a result, no bad thing IMO.