U.S. Ice Dance 2019-20 season news & updates

VGThuy said:
I agree that N/K are a special team. Their potential is boundless IMO. I am also glad to admit I was wrong about their Rach 2 in the beginning. It turned out to be the right choice for them and they surprised me with how they were able to rise up to the challenge of their music. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such an organic program from Igor’s camp. Sure Camerlengo had a lot to do with it looking less acrobatic Chock/Bates style in their version and gave it more depth.
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Camerlengo is a great choreographer. I think him and Igor will make a good team.
 
VGThuy said:
I was just thinking how exciting that the SD and FD had some real shift and gave the competition a real feeling of a competition beyond top 2 teams. We haven’t had that in the seniors since 2015 Worlds honestly.
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What is your definition of a real shift in this reference?

16 out of 20 senior dance teams changed places between the RD and FD at this year's European Championships.
13 out of 16 senior dance teams changed places between the RD and FD at this year's Four Continents Championships.
4 of 6 senior dance teams changed places between the RD and FD at this year's GPF.
16 of 20 senior dance teams changed places at last year's World Championships.

Are you saying that teams need to move a certain number of spots in order to meet your definition?
 
Check out Avonley's stories to see Vadym having a total dork moment when they tried to do a jump photo with their medals. :rofl:

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Dobre said:
What is your definition of a real shift in this reference?

16 out of 20 senior dance teams changed places between the RD and FD at this year's European Championships.
13 out of 16 senior dance teams changed places between the RD and FD at this year's Four Continents Championships.
4 of 6 senior dance teams changed places between the RD and FD at this year's GPF.
16 of 20 senior dance teams changed places at last year's World Championships.

Are you saying that teams need to move a certain number of spots in order to meet your definition?
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I think I was just excited that a team came from third to win an ice dance competition so I exaggerated. I haven’t been paying close attention to whole competitions this season due to personal reasons so I stand corrected. There you go.
 
semogal said:
Congrats to Avonley NGUYEN / Vadym KOLESNIK!!
Here is their winning FD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k133TDKM31w
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That was lovely! GREAT ice coverage, no jarring awkwardness or missteps. They have a light, airy, gentle quality to their skating – incredibly smooth. Chemistry is undeniable.

I appreciate their costumes very much. Beautiful clean lines, a pretty, feminine, elegant dress, and basic black – it works. Less is more.

Well done.
 
I really wanted to see C&B's Snake Charmer dance live. Hate that they don't get to perform that program at Worlds.

OTOH, a lucky break maybe for Hubbell & Donohue because they can ditch their crap programs from this season and hopefully come up with something great that suits them next year. :D
 
They might keep the FD. Or chuck it & bring it back for the Olympic season. We'll see.

Considering the track record under pressure for Sinitsina & Katsalapov, Chock & Bates, Hubbell & Donohue, and Gilles & Poirier, I really wasn't placing bets on how the results were going to unfold among the top 7 at Worlds. But I was looking forward to the event, and I am sad that we will miss that battle.
 
I'm so happy for Avonley & Vadym that their hard work and dedication paid off this season. It surely means a lot to continue to persevere with confident self-belief in the face of obstacles and setbacks to being able to win when they performed so well at GPF. And then, coming back from an unexpected third place in the RD to secure a championship victory at Junior Worlds this year is huge for them. It's not as if they weren't always the ones to beat though, despite the competitive, evolving talent of other young teams this season.

Kudos to Avonley, Vadym, their coaches and their families! :encore:
 
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Dobre said:
They might keep the FD. Or chuck it & bring it back for the Olympic season.
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I would like to see Chock/Bates bring back their last season's FD for 2020-21, because that romantic program did not get used for an entire season. Their spectacular 'snake-themed' FD would be wonderful to bring back for the Olympic season, IMHO. :)

However, C/B and their coaching team may well come up with another unique and engaging winner of an FD for this coming season. M-F Dubreuil & Patch definitely seem inspired by C/B's personalities, skills, and dynamic as a couple on and off the ice.

heartyxo said:
I feel so bad for C/B. Ugh, they were gonna get back on the world podium after everything they’d been through!
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Maddie & Evan are tough survivors and resilient champions. They have weathered a great deal over the years. They are surely taking this disappointment re Worlds cancellation, in stride. As are most of the athletes, apparently. Also, let's not forget that C/B are GPF silver medalists, they regained their U.S. national championship, and they repeated as 4CCs champions, in addition to winning GP medals. All-in-all it has been a productive, utterly charming, and exciting season for them! :respec:

mtnskater said:
OTOH, a lucky break maybe for Hubbell & Donohue because they can ditch their crap programs from this season and hopefully come up with something great that suits them next year. :D
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True. (y)

Probably both C/B and H/D are pausing a moment to reflect and to take stock of their emotions altogether. All of these athletes have lives and family relationships off-the-ice that can be affecting them as well at this time. Although training and competition is their major focus, they don't live life in a vacuum. Being a champion athlete involves maintaining a delicate balancing act.

Ultimately, both teams will likely be feeling upbeat and positive about what went well for them this season, albeit that more went well for one team than the other. ;) Being a competitive figure skating athlete is always a grind, and it's probably important to take things as they come, enjoy and celebrate the good moments for what they are, and not allow the downside moments to overwhelm. In the end, every athlete/ partnership team must release what happened yesterday, take what they've learned, and get back in the saddle to apply those lessons.
 
PRlady said:
Given H/D’s taste in FDs, next year he’ll be the Coronavirus and she’ll be the biologist that finds the cure. :rolleyes: And I’m a fan of theirs!
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Matt Damon & Gwyneth Paltrow's characters in Contagion. It's got a pretty good theme, maybe a little repetitive.

 
The bat to pig to human connection is how the 1918 flu pandemic happened in a small town in Kansas, and rapidly spread due to WW1... Let's try to avoid going down that Yellow Brick Road.

Certainly Hub/Don aren't going there! A Dorothy & the Wizard of Oz program just don't suit them! Neither does a Dorothy & Tin Man, or Dorothy & Cowardly Lion, or Dorothy & Scarecrow.

Plus, on paper Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio seemed like a good fit. Their programs weren't that bad. It's just that they weren't choreographically well-conceived and they had to rework them, and the whole motivation for the original concept ultimately didn't work well for them/ got lost in the initial translation, and only improved a little post the repair process.

What do people really want to see from H/D going forward, seriously now? No more silly asides please!
 
aftershocks said:
Kudos to Avonley, Vadym, their coaches and their families!
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BTW, Avonley looks to me like she has grown a few inches, right?

ETA:
Oh, I just had a thought: a Dorothy & Tin Man or a Dorothy & Scarecrow program might work for Avonley & Vadym! :D

Ease on Down the Road
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aftershocks said:
BTW, Avonley looks to me like she has grown a few inches, right?

ETA:
Oh, I just had a thought: a Dorothy & Tin Man or a Dorothy & Scarecrow program might work for Avonley & Vadym! :D

Ease on Down the Road
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Michael Jackson ft. Diana Ross - Ease On Down The Road (The Wiz) | (GMJHD)

Thank you for watching, be sure to leave feedback!Subscribe:GMJHD ➜ https://www.youtube.com/gmjhdGMJ2 ➜ https://www.youtube.com/greatDebbyRyanPersonal Channe...
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If Avonley has grown a few inches that is good since smaller teams like H/B don't look as impressive on the ice as taller teams do. Of course if you skate fast and with power that can make up for a lack of height and N/K seem to be really fast whereas H/B don't.
 
Jammers said:
If Avonley has grown a few inches that is good since smaller teams like H/B don't look as impressive on the ice as taller teams do. Of course if you skate fast and with power that can make up for a lack of height and N/K seem to be really fast whereas H/B don't.
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Of course. She looks good with a bit of extra height, as long as her ratio with Vadym's height remains good. I just noticed that it seemed she'd grown slightly, which isn't anything unusual. They're still so lovely together. :)
 
aftershocks said:
The bat to pig to human connection is how the 1918 flu pandemic happened in a small town in Kansas, and rapidly spread due to WW1... Let's try to avoid going down that Yellow Brick Road.

Certainly Hub/Don aren't going there! A Dorothy & the Wizard of Oz program just don't suit them! Neither does a Dorothy & Tin Man, or Dorothy & Cowardly Lion, or Dorothy & Scarecrow.

Plus, on paper Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio seemed like a good fit. Their programs weren't that bad. It's just that they weren't choreographically well-conceived and they had to rework them, and the whole motivation for the original concept ultimately didn't work well for them/ got lost in the initial translation, and only improved a little post the repair process.

What do people really want to see from H/D going forward, seriously now? No more silly asides please!
Click to expand...

I think H/D have the right idea, fundamentally, in trying to separate themselves from the pack by taking advantage of the fact that they're more... adult, I guess, than some of their competitors. They're tall, they're visibly older than a large portion of the field, and, at their best, they're good at doing sultry programs without feeling forced. Their Olympic FD and their Hallelujah SD are some of the best examples of that.

It comes down, I think, to execution and to not taking advantage of their concepts and music. Their RD this season, for instance, got mocked a lot for the "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" section, and like it or not, I suspect it was hard for some to get past the cringey, dated lyrics and "acting"; a full-length Smash program could have had the same Marilyn-and-Joe characters but without the distraction of the first half music. Their FD, on paper, sounded great: modern romance, a big, emotional, hit song, etc. But again, they added too many weird cuts and didn't take advantage of "Shallow"'s big musical moments, so it landed weirdly.

Going forward, I don't mind more of the same concepts they've been doing, but they absolutely must get the details right, rather than ignoring feedback or hastily reworking. They're capable of having a very distinctive presence on the ice - it's what took them from the solid #3 domestically to Olympic medal contenders - but it feels like the details are getting lost the last season or two.
 
H/D really need to do a few Senior Bs before the Grand Prix season. I think they were hurt by that this year. Also, since they're prolly not doing SkAm, they'll have more time to make changes to programs between the Senior B and their first Grand Prix based on the feedback from judges and the audience. Yet, it's hard to regain momentum after losing so much of it, so H/D need to come back stronger than ever.
I wonder if C/B really lost their golden opportunity to get back on the worlds podium, and they need yet another showstopping program to keep this momentum going. However, I have faith in the Gadbois team to find a program that fits C/B, since it feels like they've really been able to play to the strengths of C/B.
 
It is a shame, they had such a good 2018-19 season and could have risen to #3 this year but injuries happened and they couldn’t be back at their best by nationals. I wish them both all the best!

With C/P and N/K having citizenship issues, it seems the 3rd 2022 spot is down to Hawayek/Baker and Green/Parsons now.
 
I don't know why, but I'm somehow not shocked that Quinn is retiring. Michael Parsons posted a picture of some of the Wheaton skaters a few days ago and Quinn wasn't it. It could have been nothing, but it did make me think.

I'm sad for Lorraine though, they've been together for something like 15 years. Best of luck to her moving forward!
 
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