The Shibutanis Thread 4: Ready for Paradise

About this time, two seasons ago, people thought the Shibs would be dumped by the judges. It's amazing how they turned things around for themselves.

It really is unprecedented is it? My ice dance knowledge doesn’t go that far back in history (I mean, basically it goes back to 2010 lol), but people keep saying teams just don’t come back to the top after falling in the rankings for 5 years. Has any other ice dance team made this type of comeback in the rankings before?
 
About this time, two seasons ago, people thought the Shibs would be dumped by the judges. It's amazing how they turned things around for themselves.
I’m confused and I have a terrible memory. Why did people think they would get dumped in the season of Fix You?
 
The receipts: http://www.kraso.sk/wp-content/uploads/sutaze/2015_2016/20151001_ont/SEG008.HTM
http://www.kraso.sk/wp-content/uploads/sutaze/2015_2016/20151001_ont/CAT004RS.HTM

FWIW, it might have been the spark that lead to that triumph season, just like Worlds last year lit them for this season.

Speaking of which, while I admire the Shibs for rising from that unfortunate placement, I actually feel bad for both teams who beat them at that competition. Coomes and Buckland has had serious bad luck with injury and freak falls and Gilles and Poirier keep getting beat by teams they used to beat easily, including at this GP.
 
Oh, OK. Hard to remember now that that season was anything but pure triumph.

And Sinitsina/Katsalapov were scoring well in the GP and were sharing Marina and people thought Marina would put more energy into them rather than the Shibs. Also, the Shibs scored well for Fix You at Skate Canada, but people may have thought it wouldn't last for the rest of the season. NHK sort of changed that narrative somewhat, but GPF happened though it sort of revved up the narrative that the Shibs were overdue for success in some quarters.
 
That must have been when VGT started having conniptions about their levels. :D They did great in PCS.

I had them since the 2012-2013 season when I started paying attention to TES and levels and wondering why the Shibs were scoring so low when they looked like they had clean-ish performances. ;)

Although it’s worse now because the Shibs are winning things and levels matter so much these days.
 
I had them since the 2012-2013 season when I started paying attention to TES and levels and wondering why the Shibs were scoring so low when they looked like they had clean-ish performances. ;)

Although it’s worse now because the Shibs are winning things and levels matter so much these days.
In retrospect does it seem odd or noteworthy that their PC was high despite the levels issues? Because in this system that is not always a given. So often the PCS just mirror the TES, at least in singles.
 
I thought their PCS was pretty low even back then actually. I also thought the program fell way short of my expectations there. :shuffle: That’s why Skate Canada was such a revelation, you could see it in Alex and Maia’s reaction there too. It was the validation they sorely needed at that particular point in time because otherwise they would have felt they were in for another lower top ten placement. This is also why I harp so much on doing Senior Bs because for the past two seasons I feared another Nepela 2015 situation. But I think I don’t have to worry so much now though 2017 Worlds gave me some pause.
 
I agree. I also think it really affected his ability to move and dance as well. Watching that video, it’s clear that Maia seriously improved as there were times she had to catch up with Alex and they didn’t have the same intricacy or timing that they have now.
 
Definitely. A lot of the criticisms of them were much more valid in 2012-2013.

To be fair to Maia, I think a big part of her struggles, as far as matching Alex, was her changing body/growth spurt. I think people forget she was only 16 when she won that bronze medal. Alex's back injury sort of made things even more complex cause not only was he injured, he had a heavier and curvier sister to boot.

ETA: Not to mention Alex's growth spurt toward the end of Juniors. It was like 2009 there was nice balance (when he was 17 and she was 14). But then Alex started getting taller and she wasn't growing fast enough! And then they got a break that debut senior season cause she had grown a little bit and caught up. But then Maia started growing even more... It's no wonder it took a few years to establish equilibrium.
 
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Also VGT, stop stuffing the ballot box in the SD poll. ;)

Just kidding. Delighted to see the Shibs lead so far...not sure it will last, but nice to know people appreciated it.
 
It amuses me how business-like they are in the K&C. Maia saying “Good job” to Alex when their scores come up makes me chuckle because it’s such a different reaction than the other teams. That’s usually something a coach would say, not your partner let alone your sister partner :D
 
Isn't it amazing to think that they got "a great score" at Skate Canada in 2015 when in fact it was only 102 and change? I remember being ecstatic about that score, and now two seasons later 112 would be considered a low score for them :D
 
It amuses me how business-like they are in the K&C. Maia saying “Good job” to Alex when their scores come up makes me chuckle because it’s such a different reaction than the other teams. That’s usually something a coach would say, not your partner let alone your sister partner :D

Right. Although I also heard Vanessa James telling Morgan Cipres "Good job, Morgan," in the K&C at one of their GP events. I think that was in regard to a specific element that Morgan did well. Anyhow, it's kind of cute & funny in both cases. :)
 
Isn't it amazing to think that they got "a great score" at Skate Canada in 2015 when in fact it was only 102 and change? I remember being ecstatic about that score, and now two seasons later 112 would be considered a low score for them :D

FWIW, 102 was pretty high for the field at the time. :)

I guess the base value of all elements of Sochi have gone up, hence the way higher scores relative to the last Olympic quad? I know in the SD the addition of Partial step instead of pattern drove up scores there.
 
So I was thinking about the Shibs' costumes and here's how I see the significance of the colours: The Fix You dress was black but with just a bit of red. The way I see it is that it represented their early career success with black representing the unknown and the red representing a glimpse of greatness in 2011. Then the blue of Evolution would be the years up to Fix You; how they slogged on, probably quite literally feeling blue up until the Fix You season but still growing/evolving all along. Then the full-on red this season - of which we had a glimpse in Fix You - represents their artistic fulfillment, independence and ultimate success. As though the red that was trying to come out early was kept back throughout their growth/evolution and now finally has a chance to "bloom", conquering the black. I know I'm mixing my metaphors something awful here but you get my meaning I'm sure :D
 
So I talked about this already elsewhere, but @Kultakissu with their amazing interpretation of the Shibs’ “Colors Trilogy” (title credit to VGT) inspired me to put my own spin on it here too!

So, the correct sequence is Black-Blue-Red but for my purposes I’m using Purple-Blue-Red because I’m equating warm and cool colors to different types of emotions.

Purple (Fix You): a mix of cool and warm emotions, with a solemn and sorrowful beginning leading into an exciting and uplifting breakthrough

Blue (Evolution): characterized by “cool” emotions; cerebral, abstract, elegant, and serene

Red (Paradise): “warm” emotions predominate; feelings of hope, triumph, and jubilation leaving the strongest impact

Just another fun take on this cool trilogy :)
 
Everyone should ask around to see if anyone they know has video editing skills that would like to devote their time to this. It could be our present to the Shibs going into the Olympics.
 
They re-arranged the last half a bit. Now their diagonal footwork goes in the opposite direction
Thanks God, I was having a difficult time with that final step seq starting in the right side, that great triumphant step sequences usually start at the left side, but my problem was only esthetic, I wonder if that was their reason to change it.

It is spectacular (rotational lift). Ooh, I hope they get the level 4 because every time I have seen them do that lift, the crowd stands up!
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As we have noticed that lately the judges prefer simpler lifts, I had my doubts with the GOEs that they could get, but seeing it live is even more spectacular and I thought it was good idea to do it even if It did not get good GOE, because the important thing is to catch and impress people, we have already talked about that, when an element is liked by people, it is difficult for judges to ignore it and it can improve other aspects of the protocol as well, such as PCS, but I'm glad they actually scored very well on that element (6.3 perfect score).


I have loved the last three short dances from the Shibs (Coppelia, That's Life, and Perez). (Maia slapping Alex in Coppelia, the Blades of Glory reference in That's Life, and now the twizzles countdown in the Latin SD). The twizzles countdown is about as close as the Shibs come to figuratively thumbing their noses at the judging panel as if to say "go ahead; we dare you to lowball us." :kickass:

Oh man they were amazing. The twizzles count is a boss move. The audience explosion when they finished them was gratifying. So much respect for how on point their twizzles always are when so many other teams struggle with them so much. Congrats on the PB! I agree what Mrs. P said a few pages ago — having the tough caller here just made them rise to the occasion.

Same as I thought about the rotational lift, even if their twizzles in the SD don´t get the maximum score, they must keep them because the positive reaction of people toward their twizzles is undeniable, I mean, it is great if people like or love their program, but for people who don´t love it, it is very important to have eye catcher elements, and their twizzles are truly a highlight of their programs. Judges are nor rewarding them as a perfect element yet, unfortunately, but it is almost there, and when teams like H/D or P/C got more points sometimes in their twizzles, Shibs twizzles are definitely more reliable. And it's not because they do not take risks, because doing a set of 8 twizzles in the SD and doing a fourth set of twizzles in the FD is very risky (By the way, I think only the Shibs and Alla/Pavel are doing 4 sets of twizzles in seniors). But it's that Maia and Alex seem to communicate telepathically to each other, I do not even think they train their twizzles much more than other teams, that's just a talent they have.

Also the +GOE? It's not that much less than what V/M got at NHK Trophy or Skate Canada, FWIW.
Before looking carefully at the GOE, I was thinking how each element has improved, really, people can criticize that their spin is the same as last season, but it is pure perfection, what I have read more is some people criticizing his straight line lift, but even that lift looks great, and I think it looked better in practice than in the competition, then it can definitely get better, and it goes very well with that part of the song.

I follow to Fumie only in instagram but I don´t remember her praising a program or skater, though she said some really nice words about Mao, so she being appreciative about Mao and Shibs... I love her!! although it seemed a bit strange to me that she praised Maia for not being over naked, because she posed for a book, half naked, haha

Chapis, cinematographer extraordinaire! But why no pictures of you and your mom?
well, I am not very photogenic, you're not missing anything interesting, but indeed, I took very few pictures, I was too much excited watching the competition, and no pictures with the Shibs because there were always many people and honestly to say just congratulations with my poor English, I did not think it was worth it. But I'll tell you something, during the ice dance victory ceremony, my mom wanted to take pictures of me, I let her take two but she insisted that she wanted to take me more, and I was like, ¨mom, stop it, I do not want more photos, I want to see the ceremony¨, and shortly after I saw to Shibs parents a few rows behind us, I told her to my mom, ¨oh, look, those are their parents¨, then their dad came down the stairs to take pictures of them, and he took them like a million pictures, and they smiling and posing for him, and then he gives them the US flag and he continues to take pictures of them and they keep posing just for him, then my mom told me, ¨look, they let their dad take all the photos he wants, they are good children, yes, they are definitely good kids, that is why they have come so far. You could learn a thing or two from them¨, followed by a 20-minute lecture on how I should try to be like them, actually, everything she was saying made sense, but I was like, ¨Is she really comparing me to the Shibs?:huh:, The Shibs made me look bad before my mom?:revenge: :rofl:¨ I was about to defend myself by telling her, ¨I'll tell you something about your perfect Shibs... they skate slow and small, they have skated Coldplay the last three seasons in a row and Maia has been checked 6 times for doping just this year, super suspicious situation if you ask me¨, but instead of that I just had to accept that I am not the best daughter :shuffle: .

Was that your mom who yelled WOO when they glided by? :)
No, my mom was too much focused recording them, that was the screamer girl next to us, she was really excited too.
 
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I love your report chapis, and how cute your mom lectured you about being like the Shibs. I'm sure my overbearing Viet mom would probably compare me to them too... :)
I have to say your mom is pretty cool for going to a skating event with you -- is she much of a skating fan?
 
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You must be a writer. What an adorable story about you, your mom and the Shibpops. I so want Maia and Alex to read your post!! They would be cracking up. They really are almost too perfect, it is hardly thinkable let alone possible. When did they have their adolescent rebellion? They were too busy medalling at Worlds.
 
I love your report chapis, and how cute your mom lectured you about being like the Shibs. I'm sure my overbearing Viet mom would probably compare me to them too... :)
I have to say your mom is pretty cool for going to a skating event with you -- is she much of a skating fan?

no, she is only casual fan.
 

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