U.S. Ice Dance 2021-22 season news & updates

[thvu]

Here’s H&D’s overhead lift from today’s run-through.

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[skatingguy]

Here’s H&D’s overhead lift from today’s run-through.

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His arms look bent to me. It's particularly clear with the left arm once Madison is in air, but the draping costume, and the fact that both of their costumes are of similar a colour make it difficult to clearly see that his arms are bent.

 

[A.H.Black]

It happened right in front of us. His arms are slightly bent but they are way high in the air. We all said "is that legal?" For me, the problem is that it looks like a pair lift. I guess we will see soon enough.

I'm just glad there is discussion about it.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

t's clearly not a pairs lift and I just wish the technical committee could give teams more choices and more difficulty.

TBH it looks just like a platter lift. In @thvu ’s clip on Instagram it’s pretty indistinguishable from a pairs lift, so I don’t get how creative it’s supposed to be.

 

[her grace]

But pairs don’t do simple platter lifts anymore. May as well let ice dance have it.

 

[gkelly]

Pair lifts also need to rotate between 1 and 3.5 rotations in the pair lift position. This lift rotates 0 times in the extended position and ~6 times in the later positions that would not count as legal pair lifts. No judge or tech specialist would mistake it for a pair lift.

The only question is whether the position of his arms is legal under current dance lift rules.

 

[yeslek]

Pair lifts also need to rotate between 1 and 3.5 rotations in the pair lift position. This lift rotates 0 times in the extended position and ~6 times in the later positions that would not count as legal pair lifts. No judge or tech specialist would mistake it for a pair lift.

The only question is whether the position of his arms is legal under current dance lift rules.

I don’t think they are saying the judges would mistake it for one? I think they are saying it’s not that innovative as they are making it seem.

 

[litenkyckling]

But for a team like H/D this is innovative - their height makes lifts like this so much more difficult to achieve and yet they've pushed themselves to do so. I honestly don't think this discussion would be the same if it was another team.

 

[yeslek]

But for a team like H/D this is innovative - their height makes lifts like this so much more difficult to achieve and yet they've pushed themselves to do so. I honestly don't think this discussion would be the same if it was another team.

Which seems a little unfair to the other teams?? The smaller teams are constantly referred to as slow or not filling out the ice as much as HD.

 

[BittyBug]

Really looking forward to seeing Green and Parsons at Skate Canada this week!

 

[thvu]

Which seems a little unfair to the other teams?? The smaller teams are constantly referred to as slow or not filling out the ice as much as HD.

If H&D had shit skating skills, they’d be slow too. The speed they get out of turn exits is not because they’re tall.

 

[layman]

Really looking forward to seeing Green and Parsons at Skate Canada this week!

Their freedance this season is a work of (modern) art. I love the way the dance incorporates innovative movement (the kind that's usually reserved for the stage). I love it when Ice Dancers innovate (like Green and Parsons) and expand the vocabulary of movement on ice.

 

[yeslek]

If H&D had shit skating skills, they’d be slow too. The speed they get out of turn exits is not because they’re tall.

I agree. And that’s also not what stops their lifts from not being as good as others…

 

[Sylvia]

Fan Zone article on Carreira/Ponomarenko by Megan Sauer (Oct. 26) ahead of their GP debut in Vancouver:

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko Enter Skate Canada with New Perspective - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko will represent Team USA this weekend at Skate Canada International — but new choreography won't be the only update to

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

 

[Sylvia]

Two Fan Zone articles before the Gran Premio d'Italia Grand Prix:

Green/Parsons by @clairecloutier:

Green and Parsons: Moving Out of Their Comfort Zone - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Caroline Green and Michael Parsons saw early success when they teamed up in 2019. They won two Challenger Series medals in their first season and placed in the top

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Excerpts:

Green and Parsons' free dance this year is inspired by the modern dance of Martha Graham and draws on Graham's specific technique for dance. The creative process began when Elena Novak, one of their head coaches, suggested music by composer Ezio Bosso.
"Elena said: 'Just try moving to this music, and see if you connect with it,'" Green recalled. "And we took to it quickly. Then it turned into experimentation--moving with each other, on our own, with the music, without. The program was born out of that."
"We took our time to really listen to the music and think, 'How do we want to move with this?'" Parsons added.

The couple had learned about the Martha Graham style of modern dance from their off-ice dance coach, Meredith Jones. Parsons describes the style as featuring "a lot of contraction, where we put a lot of emotion into almost sparse movements." The Martha Graham technique is characterized by its use of contraction (gathering energy in the body), followed by release (of energy). Another aspect is using purposeful hand movements to express emotion. [...]
"We tried to translate that whole style of movement into a program on the ice," said Parsons. "It's about having sustained movements--while moving, and making it look effortless."
"One thing that we drew from [Graham's] work is how, even through moments of stillness, there can be so much power and depth. Transferring that to the ice, while we still have to be powerful and have a lot of speed, has been a challenge. But it's one that we are fully capable of tackling," Green added.

Parsons looks forward to competing at Gran Premio d'Italia in Torino, site of the 2006 Winter Olympics. "It will be incredible being in Torino," he said. "When I was little, one of the people at the rink went to the Torino Olympics and brought me back the tickets to the ice dance event there. I still have those tickets on my wall."
Green and Parsons hope to qualify for the 2022 Olympic team.
"I realize that we are definitely longshots for these Olympic Games," Parsons said candidly. "But I couldn't be more proud of what we're doing right now. And as our performances grow, I think our scores will follow. If we keep along this trajectory, we'll be fighting for it."

Hubbell/Donohue by Darci Miller (also posted in their fan/cheer thread):

After Final Skate America® Title, Hubbell and Donohue Set Sights on Larger Goals - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

When Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue headed to Las Vegas for 2021 Guaranteed Rate Skate America, they knew it would be their last one.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

 

[olympic]

Predictably, the US is #3 and #4 on the international scene so far this season. It might drop 1 slot when S/K skate next week -

3. H/D - 209.54
4. C/B - 208.31

12. G/P - 188.43 (ACI)

19. C/P - 178.27 (Finlandia)

I imagine H/B will crack the top #20, maybe top #10 when they skate

 

[Sylvia]

@clairecloutier just posted this press release in the GP Assignments thread:

Hawayek/Baker out of NHK:

Hawayek and Baker Withdraw from 2021 NHK Trophy | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

"Hawayek is recovering from a concussion sustained while training earlier this season."


Their 2nd GP is the last one, Rostelecom Cup in Sochi, Nov. 26-28.

 

[Karen-W]

Oh no! I hope she is able to recover in time for Rostelecom.

 

[litenkyckling]

This quad really hasn't been the one for them injury wise

 

[shan]

 

[Sylvia]

...
12. G/P - 188.43 (ACI)

19. C/P - 178.27 (Finlandia)

Green/Parsons this season internationally:

2021 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, Norwood Boston, MA - 1st (174.98)
CS Autumn Classic International 2021, Pierrefonds Montreal, QC - 3rd (188.43)
GP Skate Canada International 2021, Vancouver, BC - 4th (186.51)
GP Gran Premio D'Italia 2021, Torino - 5th (178.26)
CS Warsaw Cup, Nov. 18-21, 2021

ETA:

Carreira/Ponomarenko:

CS Lombardia Trophy 2021, Bergamo- 4th (172.78)
CS Finlandia Trophy 2021, Espoo - 8th (178.27)
GP Skate Canada International 2021, Vancouver, BC - 8th (168.76 )
GP Internationaux de France, Grenoble, Nov. 19-21, 2021

 

[Lacey]

WOW for Green/Parsons internationally this season so far!

 

[georgiana08]

How awful for Kaitlin and Jean-Luc. I'm pretty sure he had concussion issues a couple of years ago, too. I wonder if they'll make it to Rostelecom.

 

[Jammers]

G/P could have really made it hard on H/B if they had skated in Italy like they did in SC. if you want to make the Olympic team you can't make mistakes like they had yesterday.

 

[Karen-W]

G/P could have really made it hard on H/B if they had skated in Italy like they did in SC. if you want to make the Olympic team you can't make mistakes like they had yesterday.

Without trying to sound too cynical, the wording of the press release makes it sound like this is not a new injury so it's possible that the USFS knew prior to SCI that H/B might not be in top condition before Nationals - there was some sort of injury that kept them out of US Classic in September - so this rather meteoric rise for G/P might just be the USFS politicking to ensure our next best team that is eligible for the Olympics is set up well to place in the top 10-12 at the Olympics.

 

[litenkyckling]

Without trying to sound too cynical, the wording of the press release makes it sound like this is not a new injury so it's possible that the USFS knew prior to SCI that H/B might not be in top condition before Nationals - there was some sort of injury that kept them out of US Classic in September - so this rather meteoric rise for G/P might just be the USFS politicking to ensure our next best team that is eligible for the Olympics is set up well to place in the top 10-12 at the Olympics.

I would agree with this - thats not to say that Gr/P don't deserve the support from the judges, but there were also rumours of a knee injury for Kaitlin too.

 

[litenkyckling]

How awful for Kaitlin and Jean-Luc. I'm pretty sure he had concussion issues a couple of years ago, too. I wonder if they'll make it to Rostelecom.

Kaitlin posted on instagram during the week about being excited to go to Japan so hopefully they just needed an extra couple of weeks

 

[Karen-W]

Kaitlin posted on instagram during the week about being excited to go to Japan so hopefully they just needed an extra couple of weeks

Yes, I saw that, which makes it doubly surprising and sad that they won't be able to compete this week.

 

[clairecloutier]

It's worth noting that Green/Parsons earned a 187.10 at Golden Spin in 2019, which was the last time they really competed internationally until this fall: https://puls-hosting.com/gs2019/CAT008RS.HTM

Last season, G/P had a 178.05 at Skate America (arguably more of a domestic than international event last year): https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2020/29710/CAT004SEG008.html

So I'm not sure I would label this year's results as a meteoric rise. They've shown evidence before of being able to score in this range. And they medaled at both their international events in fall 2019, despite it being their first season.

Also of note: Hawayek/Baker's top score last season at Worlds was 188.51. https://results.isu.org/isujsstat/sb2020-21/sbtsdto.htm

 

[Debbie S]

I don't think USFS (or any fed really) cares that much where their #3 team places. Any politicking would be reserved for the top 2 teams that actually have a shot at medaling. But USFS isn't really known for their politicking anyway, even for their top skaters.