U.S. Ice Dance 2023-24 news & updates

[Ena Grins]

At the beginning of the season I would've bet good money that Chock/Bates would go to until the 2026 Olympics. Something about their swagger skating to Another One Bites the Dust. But plans and mindsets can change, and that's okay.

I also would put Bratti/Somerville on the Worlds team after this week - they were so on, so crisp and smooth and while US ice dance is chaos, they are one of those teams who have too much potential not to reward when they put out a definitive performance. Who knows exactly what their ceiling can be?

And I say this as another Green/Parsons fan. Their ceiling is also very high, but they have not skated up to it this season.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I just can’t see one bronze medal on the GP being enough BOW to get the third worlds spot over the people who beat you fair and square at nats. It’s not like Green and Parsons were the ones with the flu.

However, they did finish top 10 at words last year. And USFSA often uses BOW in a way I wouldn’t.

I imagine neither team will get too much lobbying from their coaches since they have the same coach

 

[carriecmu0503]

I just can’t see one bronze medal on the GP being enough BOW to get the third worlds spot over the people who beat you fair and square at nats. It’s not like Green and Parsons were the ones with the flu.

However, they did finish top 10 at words last year. And USFSA often uses BOW in a way I wouldn’t.

I imagine neither team will get too much lobbying from their coaches since they have the same coach

USFS released the Worlds lineup for women and dance. Bratti and Somerville were named to the team.

U.S. Figure Skating Names Women's and Ice Dance World Team Roster | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

 

[Karen-W]

I wonder if this is the death knell between Green/Parsons + MIDA.

Agreed - but where do they go? IAM? YGA? Babs? Maurizio? Karine Arribert?

 

[Rukia]

Agreed - but where do they go? IAM? YGA? Babs? Maurizio? Karine Arribert?

ok but babs might be kind of fun for them

 

[Karen-W]

ok but babs might be kind of fun for them

Maybe? I kind of think Arribert would be a really interesting choice for them.

 

[skatfan]

Does Ben Agosto take high level dance teams?

 

[Ena Grins]

ok but babs might be kind of fun for them

In all seriousness - I do feel like she could get their lifts in better shape.

 

[Karen-W]

Does Ben Agosto take high level dance teams?

I'm not sure, but I suppose WASA would be an option - they have FlorDes and NesMark. I'm just not sure that GreenP would do any better there than at any of the other US-based training centers. They might be better off going back to WISA, especially since DavSmo wound up skating for Georgia rather than the USA. Or they go overseas.

One thing I want to circle back to - I'm not sure where or who said they didn't think MIDA was ready for the big time. I don't quite agree. Now, they're certainly not ready to compete with IAM, but no one really has shown they've got those kind of chops yet, but I do think they're doing pretty well with BraSom, WolfTsar and PedChen. They seem to have a much better grasp of the identities and personalities of those teams and are giving them material that works. For whatever reason, they just don't seem to "get" GreenP in the same way - or maybe how to showcase their avant-garde/modern dance style. Of all the top level or near-the-top coaching teams, the more I think about it, the more I think someone like Arribert would understand and know how to package them.

 

[Wyliefan]

Does Arribert even take non-French teams?

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Don`t know so much about dance. But, Sommerville looked like Cizeron type talent. The fire, the extension, the speed and assurance. And, he`s so young, no? I watched him, not his partner.

 

[PRlady]

Don`t know so much about dance. But, Sommerville looked like Cizeron type talent. The fire, the extension, the speed and assurance. And, he`s so young, no? I watched him, not his partner.

I listened to the press conference and he sure sounds young, “like” every other word. He’s 23. Fantastic skater but definitely not a mature guy yet.

 

[skategal]

GreenP need to go to IAM especially if there are openings there next season.

I think they could do great work there.

 

[Firedancer]

GreenP need to go to IAM especially if there are openings there next season.

I think they could do great work there.

I was thinking they should go to IAM too. Unfortunately, it appears they will have an opening if H/B are really done.

 

[Carolla5501]

Didn’t Green and Parsons just moved to Charlie and Tanith . And now we want them to move again? Let’s see every two years change coaches that will end well? Seems to me like it’s almost too many voices in their heads, telling them what to do.

 

[Nmsis]

Does Arribert even take non-French teams?

She had and has non-french teams. Belgium, Hungary, Spain, UK (Lou KOCH / Alexander BUCHHOLDT)
Usually her long-time girls getting a european partner but not only. She had Sofia Val with Nikita Vitryanyuk skating for Spain last season.

 

[Nmsis]

Didn’t Green and Parsons just moved to Charlie and Tanith . And now we want them to move again? Let’s see every two years change coaches that will end well? Seems to me like it’s almost too many voices in their heads, telling them what to do.

Isn't it their second year with their current coaches ?
My general opinion about changing center is that the first season owes 75% to the previous center, while the second season owes 75% to the new.

 

[honey]

Yes, they are relatively new to Charlie
and Tanith, but in the two seasons with them I feel their material is weaker than it was before and now on top of that, they aren’t skating as well.

I don’t know what the answer is for them, but looking at this situation from the outside, I would say something needs to change. Their season is done after next week and they will have some time to figure out what they want to do.

 

[Spiralgraph]

About Green and Parsons... I think they skated very well the last two seasons, even with last season't Rhapsody in Blue I thought the music was a bland choice but they skated it very well, it was well choreographed and they placed 6th place at worlds.

This year I think their FD music was monotonous and especially I thought their lifts were overly complex and difficult. Their connection seems to have regressed from last year. I am not suggesting they move from Tanith, Charlie and Greg, just that they need more time to grow and develop their own style.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I said this in the competition thread. I agree with @Karen-W that the issue isn’t that MIDA can’t handle a high-level team. The issue is that they are not the right training center for Green and Parsons. Last year, I certainly had the thought that they might not be ready for a team at Green and Parsons level, but looking at Bratti and Somerville, I just don’t think that that’s a reasonable conclusion.

Even last year, both teams had fairly classic free dances, and it didn’t work very well on Green and Parsons, but it was excellent on Bratti and Somerville

 

[Cayuse]

Why is everyone so quick to have a team change coaches? Highs and lows are to be expected from a relatively new team (Gr/Pa have only 4 seasons together). MIDA is on a learning curve too. Hopefully MIDA and Caroline and Michael will reach out to outside sources for help with developing better lifts (high lifts don't look good on them so far and she has exceptional ab muscles and flexibility to utilize.) I liked the music this year and their modern style of dance. They did change the choreo steps to the long axis which was an improvement, but the program still never came together with impact. The Shibs found some outside help with their dance moves and Gr/Pa may have to do something similiar. I think the coaches at MIDA are smart enough to evaluate what worked well this year and what didn't for some of their teams and make changes for all to improve next year.

Anthony and Christina have reached the magical number of 10 years together, and I was thrilled to see them skate their programs so well this year. Ian and Emily had two terrific skates in their young partnership and hopefully will repeat those great skates at worlds. "Under Pressure" is always a theme at Worlds. There are so many good teams!

 

[Rukia]

I agree that MIDA needs to looks for outside choreography for Green/Parsons. I think if they find someone who can click with their style it would be huge. But also I feel like their confidence may be shook a little at this point. However, I know they can overcome this. They just need to find the right programs and go from there.

 

[kwanfan1818]

When teams leave their training center because someone else moves into it, or because of a bad result, or because they stayed in it too long, their choice isn’t isn’t always based on long-term thinking,and their options might be less because of timing. That doesn’t mean they don’t get something out of the move: B/A could have chosen randomly and gotten better programs, but Belbin went from the Shpilband starvation regimen to Karsanapov, who helped her become strong and healthy.

Choosing MIDA was a risk, just like choosing IAM was in the beginning. It may still work out, unless something is fundamentally not working in the partnership, if MIDA is able to learn and grow as much as their teams, which is what Dubreiul and Lauzon did to make IAM successful.

White knows what it is to be like to chase and surpass a team that was ahead of them, like B/S. Belbin knows what it’s like to be chased after being successful, if on a different scale than G/P.

I agree that G/P might benefit from a talk with the Shibs, who started so high and took a long time to get back.

 

[Tinycities]

I find it unlikely they’ll switch coaches again, but I am curious about their future. Their post performance quotes to goldenskate were very interesting. I also didn’t realize Michael is turning 29 this year.

Now that the season is done for most of the US Field I’m interested to see what off season changes happen. I have a (very unlikely to happen) hope that Zingas/kolesnik also switch coaches. Won’t happen, but can dream.

 

[Allskate]

I find it unlikely they’ll switch coaches again, but I am curious about their future. Their post performance quotes to goldenskate were very interesting.

What did they say?

 

[Tinycities]

What did they say?

https://x.com/goldenskate/status/1751358166506311689?s=46&t=2WKTjse4gFCAAjWokePtKQ

Caroline Green and Michael Parsons were displeased with the unexpected errors on their free dance at #PrevagenUSChamps set to “Denmark" by Portland Cello Project and Gideon Freudmann and "Wind and Snow" by Annalisa Tornfelt, Gideon Freudmann and Portland Cello Project. They earned a score of 112.92.
“That was a disappointing skate,” Michael said. “To put it very bluntly, we know that we can do a lot better than that. And unfortunately, that just wasn't our day. So, now it's just about resetting and working as hard as we can for China, because we'll be able to put out a much better skate there. I think we'll do a bit of a debrief afterwards and really think about it but it just felt like an off day. Things just weren't working like we're used to.”
“To be better,” Caroline said of her goals next week at Four Continents Championships.

 

[AYS]

There are very different considerations for G/P for short-term (ie, aiming for Milan) vs longer-term goals (ie, does Caroline at just 20 now want a long career like Madisons Chock and Hubbell, Piper Gilles, or Charlene Guignard, who has been at this as long or longer than C/B and is finally attaining great success. One has to believe the consideration in teaming with Michael was Milan at the latest. And they're still very much in that shorter-term conversation, this rough Nationals and up and down season notwithstanding.

 

[layman]

At the beginning of the season I would've bet good money that Chock/Bates would go to until the 2026 Olympics. Something about their swagger skating to Another One Bites the Dust. But plans and mindsets can change, and that's okay.

I also would put Bratti/Somerville on the Worlds team after this week - they were so on, so crisp and smooth and while US ice dance is chaos, they are one of those teams who have too much potential not to reward when they put out a definitive performance. Who knows exactly what their ceiling can be?

And I say this as another Green/Parsons fan. Their ceiling is also very high, but they have not skated up to it this season.

I don't think US Ice Dance is in chaos but I do think that the judging at these Nationals was chaos (and not just in Ice Dance).

Green/Parsons had an off night but so did Chock/Bates and they were held up. Green/Parsons are evenly matched (ability-wise). As much as I admire the improvements that Bratti/Somerville have made, I cannot honestly say that they are evenly matched. Tanith herself boasted that she was so happy to work with a dancer as talented as Ian Somerville (but made no mention of Emily Bratti). If even their own coaches can see they are not evenly matched and are open about this with the Skating Press, then how on Earth are the rest of us supposed to not see it?

I think if the coaches are aware that one partner is not up to the level of the other, it's their job to bring up the skillset of the weaker partner (as we saw at IAM in the partnership of Papadakis/Cizeron). If the Whites are not going to make that a priority then Ian Somerville should move over to solo dance.

If nothing else, the choice to send Bratti/Somerville to Worlds over Green/Parsons just proves what a load of B.S. the whole Body of Work guidelines actually are. After all, when was the last time Bratti/Somerville medalled at a Grand Prix, won Four Continents or placed sixth in their World's debut? When it came to Green/Parsons, BOW was thrown completely out of the window. As Johnny Weir pointed out in his commentary, Ice Dance (especially in the US) is just political.

 

[jlai]

I don't think US Ice Dance is in chaos but I do think that the judging at these Nationals was chaos (and not just in Ice Dance).

Green/Parsons had an off night but so did Chock/Bates and they were held up. Green/Parsons are evenly matched (ability-wise). As much as I admire the improvements that Bratti/Somerville have made, I cannot honestly say that they are evenly matched. Tanith herself boasted that she was so happy to work with a dancer as talented as Ian Somerville (but made no mention of Emily Bratti). If even their own coaches can see they are not evenly matched and are open about this with the Skating Press, then how on Earth are the rest of us supposed to not see it?

I think if the coaches are aware that one partner is not up to the level of the other, it's their job to bring up the skillset of the weaker partner (as we saw at IAM in the partnership of Papadakis/Cizeron). If the Whites are not going to make that a priority then Ian Somerville should move over to solo dance.

If nothing else, the choice to send Bratti/Somerville to Worlds over Green/Parsons just proves what a load of B.S. the whole Body of Work guidelines actually are. After all, when was the last time Bratti/Somerville medalled at a Grand Prix, won Four Continents or placed sixth in their World's debut? When it came to Green/Parsons, BOW was thrown completely out of the window. As Johnny Weir pointed out in his commentary, Ice Dance (especially in the US) is just political.

Why are you dumping on Ian and Emily? Let his fans be happy for a day. (I am not a particular fan btw)

The majority of teams do have disparity on skills at some level. Remember Zach and Maddie? He improved all of a sudden after several years and then they were the same level.

Christina also worked hard to bring up her level. So did other partners in other teams.

And the fed doesn’t do much bow for world selection in a non Olympic year.
There is nothing out of the norm

Give g/p and b/s time. I can’t wait to see how it plays out

 

[georgiana08]

Give g/p and b/s time. I can’t wait to see how it plays out

How much time does Michael realistically have? He's already 28 and will be 30 by the next Olympics. That's a long time to hang around just to struggle to make US#3.