O.M.G! I think if I checked the weather in Antarctica, it would be warmer that Louisville, KY - especially with the lack of ozone, that's got to let way more warmth from the sun in. It's 9'F here and it's going to stay that way all day. The ice rink was warmer this morning.
At the cozy warm ice rink my coach told me she watched a junior moves test with the new moves Sunday. The poor kid failed and she said my loops were about the same this person's. Such inspiring words to kick off the lesson! My loops are the same as a preteen who didn't pass the test!
Anyway, here are notes to myself to jog my memory for the next practice. Perhaps they help others someday:
Outside forward rockers - great shoulders and edge quality going into turn. Must remember an outside rocker creates a new circle. When you complete a 3-turn, you are staying on the same circle, a rocker puts you into the pattern of a new circle. Remember rise up through the pinky toe on the outside edge during the turn. Then think of aiming heel towards the boards and shifting shoulders into facing outside of the new circle. Also - IMPORTANT - think of this new circle as going into a back outside pivot right after the turn so the free leg tucks behind the skating foot which opens the free hip. When I do this right, it really feels like my skating leg keeps pushing out, as opposed to focusing on my free leg getting behind me. The skating leg works best when the shoulders are correct. It's all connected, one false move makes that horrible, annoying flat out of the turn.
Inside forward rockers - this is just for the left side, keep your edge during the turn by bending the ankle and putting pressure on the big toe. After the turn with pressure still on the big toe think of pushing rib cage outside of the circle.
Straight line footwork - friggin' do this without the twizzles and work on twizzles separately. When you are 30-something, this helps immensely and makes it look like you can do amazing Daisuke Takahashi footwork. Now that the twizzle-free sequence is executed much faster and more powerfully, gradually add in a twizzle a section at a time. Unless you are either Meryl Davis or Charlie White, I recommend this to skaters of any age when first working on this move.
Outside loops - it's all about the rhythm between the shoulders and hips. Remember, when pulling arm back while transitioning from an inside to outside edge to begin the loop, keep your ribcage out. Otherwise, you lean way to far back which can pull your weight from the front of the blade where it should be to the back of blade which is wrong. Remember doing back loops in patch - you looked under your armpit at the tracing, not over the shoulder. You looked under the armpits because the weight needs to be on the front of the blade, by the ball of your foot. When you lean back too far and start to rock to the back of your blade while executing the loop, you look like a preteen who failed the junior moves by making giant loop patterns!
Showing posts with label Davis and White. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Davis and White. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
When Art Worlds Collide
It's an embarrassment of riches for skating fans this weekend with sectionals occuring coast to coast and competitors arriving in Portland to skate.... in America!
While you're planning your viewing schedule between IceNetwork, Universal Sports and Skate Buzz on top of checking blogs, take a few minutes to watch this gem from the mid-90s. My "Today In History" iPad app says today was the day sculptor Auguste Rodin was born back in 1840. Why do I bring this up? Gordeeva and Grinkov skated a program in the year after their 2nd Olympic win that was inspired by Rodin's sculpture, The Kiss. Art inspiring art. The program was choreographed by Marina Zoueva, who is one of the coaches for ice dancers Davis & White who you can see tangoing away at Skate America this weekend.
Enjoy!
While you're planning your viewing schedule between IceNetwork, Universal Sports and Skate Buzz on top of checking blogs, take a few minutes to watch this gem from the mid-90s. My "Today In History" iPad app says today was the day sculptor Auguste Rodin was born back in 1840. Why do I bring this up? Gordeeva and Grinkov skated a program in the year after their 2nd Olympic win that was inspired by Rodin's sculpture, The Kiss. Art inspiring art. The program was choreographed by Marina Zoueva, who is one of the coaches for ice dancers Davis & White who you can see tangoing away at Skate America this weekend.
Enjoy!
Monday, August 30, 2010
The buzz from Champs Camp
Lynn Rutherford's tweets (@LynnRutherford) from the USFSA's Champs Camp are making me dream of crisp fall weather and way early mornings watching skating on the other side of world via IceNetwork. It's the post-Olympic season and anything's possible!
Alissa Czisny has spanking new programs and she reports new coach Yuka Sato has changed her jump technique. I thought Brian Boitano and Linda Leaver had been doing that, but it's the dawn of a new season! Anything can happen! This may be the year Alissa knocks out those superb spins with jumps!
Speaking of Sato students, Jeremy Abbott showed off his new-fangled long program to the powers that be at US Figure Skating and included a fancy quad!
The rest of the Detroit crew in attendance represent the ice dancing discipline. Samuelson and Bates are working are becoming speed demons in Canton, MI while their training pals Davis and White are skating to, wait for it.... Amelie! The Amelie soundtrack is exceptional skating music in my humble opinion. Plus, their coaches, have charted Amelie territory in Belbin and Agosto's post-Torino season and it's one of my fave Belbin and Agosto programs! I can't wait to see this one with the speed and athleticism of Davis and White!
It's going to be a great year for skating and this is only the American side of it! The info out of Canada, Japan, and Russia will start flowing soon too.
Alissa Czisny has spanking new programs and she reports new coach Yuka Sato has changed her jump technique. I thought Brian Boitano and Linda Leaver had been doing that, but it's the dawn of a new season! Anything can happen! This may be the year Alissa knocks out those superb spins with jumps!
Speaking of Sato students, Jeremy Abbott showed off his new-fangled long program to the powers that be at US Figure Skating and included a fancy quad!
The rest of the Detroit crew in attendance represent the ice dancing discipline. Samuelson and Bates are working are becoming speed demons in Canton, MI while their training pals Davis and White are skating to, wait for it.... Amelie! The Amelie soundtrack is exceptional skating music in my humble opinion. Plus, their coaches, have charted Amelie territory in Belbin and Agosto's post-Torino season and it's one of my fave Belbin and Agosto programs! I can't wait to see this one with the speed and athleticism of Davis and White!
It's going to be a great year for skating and this is only the American side of it! The info out of Canada, Japan, and Russia will start flowing soon too.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Past 24 Hours In Skating
About this time last night, Evan Lysacek made his DWTS debut with a Viennese Waltz. Watching him, I was reminded that he's never been that artistic of a skater, and his on artistry mostly consists of arms up, arms out straight and jazz hands around the face. I thought he looked a tiny bit nervous and stiff but overall he did a good job. He's in 2nd with the judges marks, but we'll see how the audience reacts a week from today.
During the rehearsal piece prior to his performance, he mentioned he was spinning the wrong way in the dance. I don't know if viewers picked up on that. In ice skating, skaters typically spin in a counter-clockwise direction. Perimeter skating is generally done counter-clockwise as well. Skaters who spin and rotate their jumps clockwise are often referred to as "opposite skaters". I would say for Evan, it's somewhat like driving on the right side of the road and then driving on the left side in Great Britain for a few days. It's executing similar movements to what moves are done everyday, but it feels way different. So different it makes you hesitate and hyper-aware of the awkwardness.
After enjoying the rest of DWTS, I nestled into bed until my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I stretched and found myself so at peace in dark and quiet with my dog and husband snuggled up to me. My brain hasn't felt that clear for awhile, I've been over thinking project plans at home and work so it was nice. Unfortunately, I kept too much of that quiet stillness with me at the rink. I could never really get warmed up so I ditched my plan to emulate the lovely Shae-Lynn Bourne with her ice dancer's Axel.
I got frustrated with the outside rockers in my junior moves instead. After checking the rocker, the hips are supposed to rotate underneath the shoulders to deepen the edge and cross in front. I've created an exercise of simply gliding on a back outside edge and rotating my hips. It's a good exercise for double loops too. I always feel a little stuck after the check - that my check isn't a true check, just a person stuck! I'm either good at rotating the hips or good at maintaining speed, I can't seem to combine both.
Much better skaters than I took to the ice in Torino, Italy today. I didn't get to watch any of the skaters who can properly check and skate with outside rockers. I followed the event via Twitter. (Most of the tweets related to the compulsory dance were "Woohoo! I skated my last compulsory!" I'll be so sad if the ISU votes compulsories out. That's another post.)
The ice dance event followed the Olympic results pretty closely. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are leading Meryl Davis and Charlie White. The Italians are in 3rd.
The US skaters did great in the short program, earning season's best scores. The leaders are Pang & Tong, Kavaguti & Smirnov and Savchenko & Szolkowy.
During the rehearsal piece prior to his performance, he mentioned he was spinning the wrong way in the dance. I don't know if viewers picked up on that. In ice skating, skaters typically spin in a counter-clockwise direction. Perimeter skating is generally done counter-clockwise as well. Skaters who spin and rotate their jumps clockwise are often referred to as "opposite skaters". I would say for Evan, it's somewhat like driving on the right side of the road and then driving on the left side in Great Britain for a few days. It's executing similar movements to what moves are done everyday, but it feels way different. So different it makes you hesitate and hyper-aware of the awkwardness.
After enjoying the rest of DWTS, I nestled into bed until my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I stretched and found myself so at peace in dark and quiet with my dog and husband snuggled up to me. My brain hasn't felt that clear for awhile, I've been over thinking project plans at home and work so it was nice. Unfortunately, I kept too much of that quiet stillness with me at the rink. I could never really get warmed up so I ditched my plan to emulate the lovely Shae-Lynn Bourne with her ice dancer's Axel.
I got frustrated with the outside rockers in my junior moves instead. After checking the rocker, the hips are supposed to rotate underneath the shoulders to deepen the edge and cross in front. I've created an exercise of simply gliding on a back outside edge and rotating my hips. It's a good exercise for double loops too. I always feel a little stuck after the check - that my check isn't a true check, just a person stuck! I'm either good at rotating the hips or good at maintaining speed, I can't seem to combine both.
Much better skaters than I took to the ice in Torino, Italy today. I didn't get to watch any of the skaters who can properly check and skate with outside rockers. I followed the event via Twitter. (Most of the tweets related to the compulsory dance were "Woohoo! I skated my last compulsory!" I'll be so sad if the ISU votes compulsories out. That's another post.)
The ice dance event followed the Olympic results pretty closely. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are leading Meryl Davis and Charlie White. The Italians are in 3rd.
The US skaters did great in the short program, earning season's best scores. The leaders are Pang & Tong, Kavaguti & Smirnov and Savchenko & Szolkowy.
World Championship Ice Dance Preview
The compulsory dance gets started tomorrow in Torino, Italy. I'll try to catch some of it after my skating practice as a live stream starts on Universal Sports at 7 a.m. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are commentating; they've got to have some unique insight into the skaters and the event.
This season has been a game changer in the ice dancing world with the dominating teams coming from North America. I hope Meryl and Charlie can pull off a victory over their training mates and newly crowned Olympic champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. I also excited to see who will skate away with the bronze. The Kerrs are bringing back the kilt with a Scottish themed original dance. The Italians will have homefield advantage on top of their lovely free dance called, "The Immigrants" to Nino Rota's Godfather music.
Here are further previews:
Ice-Dance.com
Aaron's Axels, Loops and Spins
Golden Skate
This season has been a game changer in the ice dancing world with the dominating teams coming from North America. I hope Meryl and Charlie can pull off a victory over their training mates and newly crowned Olympic champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. I also excited to see who will skate away with the bronze. The Kerrs are bringing back the kilt with a Scottish themed original dance. The Italians will have homefield advantage on top of their lovely free dance called, "The Immigrants" to Nino Rota's Godfather music.
Here are further previews:
Ice-Dance.com
Aaron's Axels, Loops and Spins
Golden Skate
Sunday, February 21, 2010
North Americans 1-2-4
Meryl Davis and Charlie White completed their best Bollywood boogie of the year. They skated with such speed and precision. Excellent twizzles with Indian-inspired arm movements. They were ahead until Tessa and Scott skated to a 2 point lead.
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto closed out the evening with their Moldavian themed dance. New costumes and lots of energy, but after Tessa and Scott the audience took a break. They didn't seem as into it unfortunately. Still, Tanith and Ben are in a close fourth place right behind the Russians, Domnina and Shabalin.
That makes three North American teams in the top five. I can not say that has ever happened in my 30 year existence. What amazing days we live in!
The Global Dance Party Is Under Way
Alright, NBC showed the originaly dance of American's Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates. They look thrilled to be skating at the Olympics. After 23 tangos Friday, here's a reminder of the theme for the original dance if you missed my earlier post:
Delobel & Schoenfelder will be representing France with a Can Can. From practice notes, it looks to be fun. I'm not sure how they'll end up on the podium, but this a team I'm rooting for. After skating together 18 years, they received their first ever world medal and it was gold! They put together the most lovely free skate to music from The Piano soundtrack and integrated sign language into their arm movements as well as the patterns on the ice. Last season, they started strong winning everything but then Isabelle injured her shoulder and got a bun in the oven during her recovery. They are my sentimental favorites for skating together for 20 years and skating four months after giving birth to a son. The NY Times has a great article on them and the pregnancy.
The Kerrs - The brother and sister team skate to Johnny Cash tonight. Too bad they didn't bring back their Scottish OD from the first time the ISU had the folk theme two seasons back. John looks great in a kilt!
Domnina & Shabalin - skate to an aboriginal theme, representing aboriginal people of the world. Rumor has it they have new outfits for this evening. They've been practicing in black all week and a blogger with IceNetwork said the dance actually looks like a great, modern dance in the black. We'll see what they're wearing tonight.
Davis & White - Bollywood comes to Vancouver as they take the ice. They've had huge scores and a bigger reception with this OD, be sure to watch.
The Zaretskys - the other brother and sister team of the evening skate to a traditional Jewish song. I heard the Israeli federation actually chose the music for them. This is a team that has done well over the season and they may make a move in the standings.
Virtue & Moir - I hope they checked the bolts on the roof and BC Place. I expect when this team takes the home ice, the roof will be near blowing off. They skate to a flamenco and have received high scores for the program all season. Risk factor - Tessa skates in this crazy long dress. It looks pretty and flamenco-y but there are times that it looks like it's getting caught between her legs or too much in Scott's face.
Belbin & Agosto - Tanith and Ben close out the evening with their Moldavian dance. I have not enjoyed this dance to much which is too bad as I really like Tanith and Ben. I want them to leave this Olympics with the best souvenir possible, an Olympic medal. I just don't think this program will help them unless one of the top three has a major booboo tonight.
I've got to travel for work this week so I've got to get up early Monday - Thursday. I can't stay up too late, so I'll be catching the blogs and watching the snippets of performances. I'm also missing my skating practice again. I'm going to have to work hard in March to take my Junior MITF test in April. I'm so inspired watching the skaters, there's choreography I'm dying to imitate. I'll have to wait until the weekend and weave through the crowd.
Any type of folk/country dance music or typical dance of the country can be used. For the chosen type, there are no restrictions onHere's what to look for tonight:
the number of musical selections. Although the dance may consist of different musical selections – fast and/or slow- there must be a
consistent theme based on a specific country or region.
The arrangement of the chosen music should give a genuine feel for folk/country dance. It should be very distant from the feeling of
the Grand Ballroom.
Same examples: Village, Square, Street, Barn dance, Hoedown, Mazurka, Polka, Tarantella, Hula, Hora, Csardas, Kalinka, Gapak,
Syrtaky, Scottish, Irish, Jig, Reel, Guajira, Cumbia, Jarabe, Fandango, Aborigines Dance, Chinese dances, Lesginka, Country
Waltz, Flamenco, etc.
Delobel & Schoenfelder will be representing France with a Can Can. From practice notes, it looks to be fun. I'm not sure how they'll end up on the podium, but this a team I'm rooting for. After skating together 18 years, they received their first ever world medal and it was gold! They put together the most lovely free skate to music from The Piano soundtrack and integrated sign language into their arm movements as well as the patterns on the ice. Last season, they started strong winning everything but then Isabelle injured her shoulder and got a bun in the oven during her recovery. They are my sentimental favorites for skating together for 20 years and skating four months after giving birth to a son. The NY Times has a great article on them and the pregnancy.
The Kerrs - The brother and sister team skate to Johnny Cash tonight. Too bad they didn't bring back their Scottish OD from the first time the ISU had the folk theme two seasons back. John looks great in a kilt!
Domnina & Shabalin - skate to an aboriginal theme, representing aboriginal people of the world. Rumor has it they have new outfits for this evening. They've been practicing in black all week and a blogger with IceNetwork said the dance actually looks like a great, modern dance in the black. We'll see what they're wearing tonight.
Davis & White - Bollywood comes to Vancouver as they take the ice. They've had huge scores and a bigger reception with this OD, be sure to watch.
The Zaretskys - the other brother and sister team of the evening skate to a traditional Jewish song. I heard the Israeli federation actually chose the music for them. This is a team that has done well over the season and they may make a move in the standings.
Virtue & Moir - I hope they checked the bolts on the roof and BC Place. I expect when this team takes the home ice, the roof will be near blowing off. They skate to a flamenco and have received high scores for the program all season. Risk factor - Tessa skates in this crazy long dress. It looks pretty and flamenco-y but there are times that it looks like it's getting caught between her legs or too much in Scott's face.
Belbin & Agosto - Tanith and Ben close out the evening with their Moldavian dance. I have not enjoyed this dance to much which is too bad as I really like Tanith and Ben. I want them to leave this Olympics with the best souvenir possible, an Olympic medal. I just don't think this program will help them unless one of the top three has a major booboo tonight.
I've got to travel for work this week so I've got to get up early Monday - Thursday. I can't stay up too late, so I'll be catching the blogs and watching the snippets of performances. I'm also missing my skating practice again. I'm going to have to work hard in March to take my Junior MITF test in April. I'm so inspired watching the skaters, there's choreography I'm dying to imitate. I'll have to wait until the weekend and weave through the crowd.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Dancing Around the World
The Original Dance
The second phase of the ice dance competition is an original dance. The ISU traditionally selects a rhythm for the season. The skaters then create their own dance to this set rhythm.
This season the ISU selected more of a theme of folk or country dance as opposed to a set rhythm of music style. This selection was intended for skaters to skate to music representing their country for the Olympics. Great idea, however, the ISU used folk music for the 2007-2008 season and most skaters used music from their country. Instead of rehashing the same music and creating a similar program, the teams have created some distinct dances for the season from around the world. This season has included some dance creations from regions that do not have a rich skating tradition such as Brasil, India and Australia.
The latter two have brought attention to the sport from those areas not as familiar with or competitive in ice dance.
Bollywood On Ice
Meryl Davis & Charlie White have won throughout the season with their Indian-themed dance. They also scored a viral hit with over 2,100,000 views of their OD on YouTube. One of their coaches, Marina Zoueva was inspired to create the program after coming across beautiful Indian scarves shopping in the spring. Davis & White loved the idea and went about consulting with an area Indian dancer and researching Indian dance moves. They modified original Indian clothes for their competitive outfits. Their research shows in this fun and authentic dance. It's like Bollywood on ice.
Aborigines Dances
While Davis & White have been praised for their Indian dance, Domnina & Shabalin of Russia have been questioned for choosing to portray an Aboriginal Dance. Their coach, Natalia Linichuk, has said the dance is not Australian and simply follows the ISU guidelines for "Aborigines Dances." However, Australian Aboriginal groups have decried the dance as offensive to the Aboriginal people of Australia.
Domnina & Shabalin have skated this program twice this season at Russian Nationals and Europeans. They skate in dark nude unitards with white designs similar to Australian Aboriginal art and eucalyptus leaves. (Is it the missing koala bear that makes this NOT Australian, Natalia?)
The controversy has ranged from their portrayal of a ceremonial dance to the dark tone of the nude in their outfits. Maxim was originally wearing dark makeup on this face at Russian Nationals as well. Others have remarked that the controversy stems from skating politics and trying to knock down Domnina & Shabalin before the Olympic event begins.
I think overall the program is not well skated, and they are clomping around the ice. They are both tall skaters and the tango theme last night really exhibited their strengths. They are crouched down in several moves in the program and it just doesn't fit them. In contrast to Davis & White, they weave Indian moves into pure skating and stroking on the ice. They glide in and out of every move and complete quick turns on their blades.
Either way, both dances have brought some attention to this event and it should be fascinating to compare these two dances. It's back to comparing apples to oranges, pears and bananas for the rest of the ice dancing event.
The second phase of the ice dance competition is an original dance. The ISU traditionally selects a rhythm for the season. The skaters then create their own dance to this set rhythm.
This season the ISU selected more of a theme of folk or country dance as opposed to a set rhythm of music style. This selection was intended for skaters to skate to music representing their country for the Olympics. Great idea, however, the ISU used folk music for the 2007-2008 season and most skaters used music from their country. Instead of rehashing the same music and creating a similar program, the teams have created some distinct dances for the season from around the world. This season has included some dance creations from regions that do not have a rich skating tradition such as Brasil, India and Australia.
The latter two have brought attention to the sport from those areas not as familiar with or competitive in ice dance.
Bollywood On Ice
Aborigines Dances
Domnina & Shabalin have skated this program twice this season at Russian Nationals and Europeans. They skate in dark nude unitards with white designs similar to Australian Aboriginal art and eucalyptus leaves. (Is it the missing koala bear that makes this NOT Australian, Natalia?)
The controversy has ranged from their portrayal of a ceremonial dance to the dark tone of the nude in their outfits. Maxim was originally wearing dark makeup on this face at Russian Nationals as well. Others have remarked that the controversy stems from skating politics and trying to knock down Domnina & Shabalin before the Olympic event begins.
I think overall the program is not well skated, and they are clomping around the ice. They are both tall skaters and the tango theme last night really exhibited their strengths. They are crouched down in several moves in the program and it just doesn't fit them. In contrast to Davis & White, they weave Indian moves into pure skating and stroking on the ice. They glide in and out of every move and complete quick turns on their blades.
Either way, both dances have brought some attention to this event and it should be fascinating to compare these two dances. It's back to comparing apples to oranges, pears and bananas for the rest of the ice dancing event.
Compulsory Dance Roundup
The teams that garnered the top 3 Tango Romantica scores season, set new scoring heights last night.
Belbin & Agosto are sitting in 4th with 40.83 points. While they are probably disappointed being in 4th, those are great scores for them. Too bad they don't award points for tassels. She had like four on her outfit. I think she's been rooming with Johnny too long... he only had one.
How about Delobel & Schoenfelder competing after a year away? Pretty nice. They looked a bit stiff, but good for them to come back after injuries and Isabelle giving birth just 3 months ago!
Complete results here.
- Domnina & Shabalin - 43.76
- Virtue & Moir - 42.74
- Davis & White - 41.47
Belbin & Agosto are sitting in 4th with 40.83 points. While they are probably disappointed being in 4th, those are great scores for them. Too bad they don't award points for tassels. She had like four on her outfit. I think she's been rooming with Johnny too long... he only had one.
How about Delobel & Schoenfelder competing after a year away? Pretty nice. They looked a bit stiff, but good for them to come back after injuries and Isabelle giving birth just 3 months ago!
Complete results here.
Friday, February 19, 2010
A North American Podium?
Ice Dancing, like pairs, has traditionally been dominated by Soviet/Russian skaters. Ice Dancing has only been an Olympic sport since 1976, but since then all but two of the gold medals have gone to Soviet or Russian teams.
This quadrennium, for the first time ever, North American teams have been competitive and stood on the podium at each worlds since Torino. Vancouver will be the first Olympic ice dance competition where North American ice dancers could sweep the podium.
This quadrennium, for the first time ever, North American teams have been competitive and stood on the podium at each worlds since Torino. Vancouver will be the first Olympic ice dance competition where North American ice dancers could sweep the podium.
US Teams
US Nationals - Belbin & Agosto 2nd, Davis & White 1st
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto earned the silver in Torino and immediately followed that up with back to back bronze at the World Championships. They seemed primed to be the next great ice dancing champions, however the past four seasons have also been filled with mid-season program changes, mid-season injuries and a coaching change. They ended last season with a close 2nd place finish at Worlds.
Meryl Davis and Charlie White moved up from the junior ranks after the Olympic season in Belbin & Agosto's shadow. Over the past two years they've become equal competitors and Davis & White defeated them at the US Nationals this year. This team has had success on the fall Grand Prix circuit and have been undefeated this season. Yet they been shut out at Worlds the past few seasons.
Canadian Team
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir
Canada has one team that has been competitive internationally and also have medaled at Worlds, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. They actually train with Davis & White in the Detroit area. They are the culprits who have edged out Davis & White at Worlds.
One of the coaches that they share with Davis and White is Marina Zoueva who recently mused on how much Virtue and Moir remind her of the pair skating legends, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. Zoueva choreographed for G & G and I'm beginning to find Virtue & Moir's programs to be a dance version of G & G's programs. They're original dance flamenco music is the same cut of G & G's '93-'94 short program. Ice dancing is supposed to be ballroom dancing on ice, but I find Virtue & Moir skate adagio more often than ballroom. Even doing mirror movements common in adagio dancing, they still have beautiful and appealing programs with fascinating dance lifts.
Tango Romantica
Triple Skates, Not Triple Jumps
The ice dancing event consists of three events. The first event is called the compulsory dance, where each team skates the same dance pattern to similar music. To the casual spectator, the compulsory dance can seem monotonous as each couple repeats the same dance. It's not broadcast often other than showing the top three placements aftterwards. If it's shown live, it's generally just to show the favorites. If anything is broadcast, the compulsory dance is a good event to watch because both the casual and fanatic spectator gets to compare apples to apples in this event. When everyone skates the same steps with the same required dance holds, you can distinguish who skates with more speed, who has better edge quality, and who can "dance" the dance the best. I also enjoy it as every summer I would work towards passing a dance test. Dance tests are nothing but compulsory dances, so I also enjoy watching this part of the event. It takes me back to those summers in Aspen and Lexington and skating all day.
Luck of the Draw
The ISU selects 2 - 3 CDs for each season. This year's compulsories are the Golden Waltz and Tango Romantica. One of those dances will be used as the CD during competition and it is generally announced a couple of weeks prior to each competition which CD has been drawn. For the Olympics, the dance is supposed to be selected one week prior to the first official practice at the Olympics. The compulsory dance drawn for the Olympics is the Tango Romantica.
While it's supposed to be the luck of the draw, there has been buzz all season long that the Tango Romantica would most likely be the CD. It's shorter than the Golden Waltz. Perhaps NBC and the other broadcasters will squeeze in a few more performances.
Tango Romantica
This dance was invented by Ludmilla Pakhomova, Alexander Gorshkov and Elena Tchaikovskaya and first performend in Moscow in 1974. The ISU guidelines say:
Man's Pattern
This was the CD at a few events this season:
Skater Advantages
The top three scoring teams over the season have been:
Domnina & Shabalin's CD at Europeans:
Take a gander at Virtue & Moir at Skate Canada:
Dark Horses in the CD
Belbin & Agosto have skated the Golden Waltz at all of their events this season. They train with Domnina & Shabalin and their CDs have dramatically improved since switching coaches two seasons ago. I expect they will earn a score in the 38-42 range as well.
Delobel & Schoenfelder have been out all season. They skated the Tango Romantica the last season it was used at the 2006 European Championships. Their edges were deep and expression smooth, but Olivier fell. Questionable how rusty they will be Friday.
Luck of the Draw
The ISU selects 2 - 3 CDs for each season. This year's compulsories are the Golden Waltz and Tango Romantica. One of those dances will be used as the CD during competition and it is generally announced a couple of weeks prior to each competition which CD has been drawn. For the Olympics, the dance is supposed to be selected one week prior to the first official practice at the Olympics. The compulsory dance drawn for the Olympics is the Tango Romantica. Tango Romantica
This dance was invented by Ludmilla Pakhomova, Alexander Gorshkov and Elena Tchaikovskaya and first performend in Moscow in 1974. The ISU guidelines say:
This is a romantic sinuous dance which expresses the soft, lyrical interpretive characteristics of the Tango. It must be skated with deep edges. Foot and body movements must be deliberate and convey a sense of dignity approaching arrogance. Very erect carriage, precise timing, and continuous flow must be maintained. The difficulty of the steps should not be revealed in awkward or stressed upper body positions. Finally, coordination of free leg movements is essential to avoid a tangled, confused effect.
Music - Tango 4/4Ladies Pattern
Temp - 28 measures of 4 beats per minute; 112 beats per minute
Pattern - Optional
Duration - The time required to skate 2 sequences is 1:43 min
Man's Pattern
This was the CD at a few events this season:
- Nebelhorn Trophy
- Rostelecom Cup
- NHK Trophy
- Skate Canada
- Europeans
Skater Advantages
The top three scoring teams over the season have been:
- Domnina & Shabalin 42.78 - Europeans
- Virtue & Moir 40.69 - Skate Canada
- Davis & White 38.09 - NHK Trophy
Domnina & Shabalin's CD at Europeans:
Take a gander at Virtue & Moir at Skate Canada:
Dark Horses in the CD
Belbin & Agosto have skated the Golden Waltz at all of their events this season. They train with Domnina & Shabalin and their CDs have dramatically improved since switching coaches two seasons ago. I expect they will earn a score in the 38-42 range as well.
Delobel & Schoenfelder have been out all season. They skated the Tango Romantica the last season it was used at the 2006 European Championships. Their edges were deep and expression smooth, but Olivier fell. Questionable how rusty they will be Friday.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Grand Prix Original Dance Quickies
Finished breakfast and getting ready for work. Catching the end of the Original Dance in Tokyo:
64.01 for Viture & Moir, new season's best! Still love the flamenco music and program, but I think Tessa dress hides a few flaws in twizzles. The dress length also adds a layer of intrigue to their already exciting program; I'm always wondering if it will get caught in a blade and down they go. The back-flip entrance into their lift continues to amaze me. Good job!
Davis & White... 65.80!!!!!!!!! Another new season's best and first place! Rock out! Their Bollywood inspired skate has been my favorite all season. The music is great and the moves are so authentic. It's also just a great DANCE. So much of ice dancing has become pairs without triple jumps. Davis & White dance with intricate footwork and difficult holds through out. Clearly, the are the class of the field. Awesome.
64.01 for Viture & Moir, new season's best! Still love the flamenco music and program, but I think Tessa dress hides a few flaws in twizzles. The dress length also adds a layer of intrigue to their already exciting program; I'm always wondering if it will get caught in a blade and down they go. The back-flip entrance into their lift continues to amaze me. Good job!
Davis & White... 65.80!!!!!!!!! Another new season's best and first place! Rock out! Their Bollywood inspired skate has been my favorite all season. The music is great and the moves are so authentic. It's also just a great DANCE. So much of ice dancing has become pairs without triple jumps. Davis & White dance with intricate footwork and difficult holds through out. Clearly, the are the class of the field. Awesome.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
A New Storyline Begins, But Is It Wise?
Monday I read several "tweets" from some of the competitive skaters I follow that involved either packing for Tokyo or traveling to Tokyo for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Tweets from Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Joannie Rochette, Johnny Weir, Jeremy Abbott and Ashley Wagner. I liked Meryl's tweet, "It seems fitting that we're leaving for the land of the rising sun around dawn..."
The Grand Prix Series consists of 6 competitions across 3 continents that take place October through November for senior level skaters. Competitors earn points for their placements in the series. Winners of the event earn 12 points and go home with a snazzy gold medal, second place finishers earn 9 points and so on. The top six in the point standings after the 6 competitions end go on to the Grand Prix Final.
Skaters are selected to compete at the various competitions by their national governing body of the sport. (e.g., the USFSA in the States, Skate Canada in Canada, etc.). Competitors are allowed to compete in 2 of the six events where they earn points. Typically, winning a Grand Prix event gets you into the Final. The other competitors who make it are consistent in placing in the top three in their events.
The Final is the cream of the crop in the fall skating season. Performances and placements here are generally a good precursor to the World Championship standings. In an Olympic season, it's an excellent chance to make a statement that you're medal worthy. Plus, by reviewing the judges' marks and how skaters stack up against the narrow field, gives each skater exceptional feedback on what needs to be tweaked before the big championships later in the winter. Especially for those Olympics.
It would seem that all skaters would be honored to make it to the Grand Prix Final and want to skate their best. Recent seasons have shown a lot of skaters skipping the stay home and practice.Well, those skaters aren't completely "skipping" there is usually an injury involved. However, several blogs and message boards have been lit up this past week if the injuries are for real. Regardless, the big story leading into the Final is who's not here.
Brian Joubert experienced an awkward landing on a triple lutz last week. He ended up cutting his right foot with this blade. It so bad, he needed surgery to repair a ligament! According to his coach, the surgery went well and a good prognosis is expected. Difficult set back not only effecting the Final, but going into the French nationals and possibly Europeans.
The ice dancing event would have been a great match up of North American ice dancers, Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto and Meryl Davis & Charlie White represent the US. While Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir sing "O Canada." Ice dance has been a sport dominated by former Soviet countries. Over the past decade that domination is swinging to North America in part by former Soviet coaches who have relocated to the North America. Amazingly, all three of the teams making the Final have been coached by Igor Sphilband at one point in their careers. Each team won all of their Grand Prix events. None of the teams actually had a head to head match up through out the season.
Belbin & Agosto had to withdraw due to Tanith having an impacted wisdom tooth that got infected. I had once of those...ouch! My whole right side of my head from my temple to just below the jaw would throb in the days leading up to the extraction. I feel for her, but I wonder a little about the doctor's orders to stay off the ice for a week. Hopefully, she'll get the time to rejuvenate and then take advantage of not having to travel and compete in Tokyo. Belbin & Agosto's scores were lower in both their Grand Prix wins to the scores of both Virture & Moir and Davis & White.
Finally, there are several players not attending the Final simply because they didn't either didn't compete in more than one event or simply skipped the Grand Prix. Evgeny Plushenko only competed in Rostelecom Cup and neither Sasha Cohen or Stephane Lambiel competed. They may be a factor in Olympic placements.
The streaming times for the Final start Thursday, I think I'll be able to watch a bit over coffee.
The Grand Prix Series consists of 6 competitions across 3 continents that take place October through November for senior level skaters. Competitors earn points for their placements in the series. Winners of the event earn 12 points and go home with a snazzy gold medal, second place finishers earn 9 points and so on. The top six in the point standings after the 6 competitions end go on to the Grand Prix Final.
Skaters are selected to compete at the various competitions by their national governing body of the sport. (e.g., the USFSA in the States, Skate Canada in Canada, etc.). Competitors are allowed to compete in 2 of the six events where they earn points. Typically, winning a Grand Prix event gets you into the Final. The other competitors who make it are consistent in placing in the top three in their events.
The Final is the cream of the crop in the fall skating season. Performances and placements here are generally a good precursor to the World Championship standings. In an Olympic season, it's an excellent chance to make a statement that you're medal worthy. Plus, by reviewing the judges' marks and how skaters stack up against the narrow field, gives each skater exceptional feedback on what needs to be tweaked before the big championships later in the winter. Especially for those Olympics.
It would seem that all skaters would be honored to make it to the Grand Prix Final and want to skate their best. Recent seasons have shown a lot of skaters skipping the stay home and practice.Well, those skaters aren't completely "skipping" there is usually an injury involved. However, several blogs and message boards have been lit up this past week if the injuries are for real. Regardless, the big story leading into the Final is who's not here.
Brian Joubert experienced an awkward landing on a triple lutz last week. He ended up cutting his right foot with this blade. It so bad, he needed surgery to repair a ligament! According to his coach, the surgery went well and a good prognosis is expected. Difficult set back not only effecting the Final, but going into the French nationals and possibly Europeans.
The ice dancing event would have been a great match up of North American ice dancers, Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto and Meryl Davis & Charlie White represent the US. While Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir sing "O Canada." Ice dance has been a sport dominated by former Soviet countries. Over the past decade that domination is swinging to North America in part by former Soviet coaches who have relocated to the North America. Amazingly, all three of the teams making the Final have been coached by Igor Sphilband at one point in their careers. Each team won all of their Grand Prix events. None of the teams actually had a head to head match up through out the season.
Belbin & Agosto had to withdraw due to Tanith having an impacted wisdom tooth that got infected. I had once of those...ouch! My whole right side of my head from my temple to just below the jaw would throb in the days leading up to the extraction. I feel for her, but I wonder a little about the doctor's orders to stay off the ice for a week. Hopefully, she'll get the time to rejuvenate and then take advantage of not having to travel and compete in Tokyo. Belbin & Agosto's scores were lower in both their Grand Prix wins to the scores of both Virture & Moir and Davis & White.
Finally, there are several players not attending the Final simply because they didn't either didn't compete in more than one event or simply skipped the Grand Prix. Evgeny Plushenko only competed in Rostelecom Cup and neither Sasha Cohen or Stephane Lambiel competed. They may be a factor in Olympic placements.
The streaming times for the Final start Thursday, I think I'll be able to watch a bit over coffee.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Romping through the Far East and Midwest
A couple of weekends ago, I got up early and let the dog out. Then I plopped in front of my laptop to watch bits of the men's and pairs' competition at Cup of China. Crazy time differences, I was seeing their evening performances in my slippers over the live feed.
Cup of China was a "comeback" comp for Shen & Zhao and comeback they did. I enjoyed the free program, it was easy to watch. The side-by-side jumps were probably a bit too far apart, but overall an excellent skate.
Cup of China was the debut of some of North America's Olympic medal contenders. Belbin & Agosto won the ice dance event, Evan Lysacek medaled in the men's event, and Mirai Nagasu & Rachel Flatt had nice outings in the front of the judges and their international competition. Joannie Rochette of Canada had a disappointing short but bounced back with her superior freeskate to Saint-Saens "Sampson & Delilah."
I must say I was a tad disappointed in the Americans. Evan Lysacek skated well, he was downgraded on a jump in each program, but the programs looked good. While the music was new, his programs have come to have a predictable pattern. I was slightly distracted from that pattern watching the short. He's skating to "Firebird" and has a black outfit, with long black feathers at the end of the sleeves. It kept giving me an image of Edward Scissorhands... all in black with these big, dangling, useless hands... except with feathers. Lose the feathers Evan!
I caught the ladies short and was thrilled that Mirai Nagasu had a good skate. She managed first which was a big improvement over everything last season. I expected more from Rachel Flatt with her "Sing, Sing, Sing" short. The YouTube clip of her performance at a summer competition gave me hope that she added some pizzazz to her consistency. However, the program just didn't seem to fill the big arena their in Beijing. She somehow appeared to be skating on ice twice as big as her competitors.
Belbin & Agosto chose a Moldovian theme for their original folk dance. Then they skated to a version of Ava Maria. The Ava Maria program is beautiful and features interesting lifts, however, I thought it was an odd choice for them. Since changing coaches prior to last season, I feel they have become more confident in their technical skill which especially has helped them in the compulsory portion of the competition. However, I their programs seem like they are coming straight out the Soviet School of Ice Dancing. I don't feel they are really offering anything new to the sport. Of course, skating passionately to Ava Maria is rite of passage in skating and Soviet/Russian ice dancers have demonstrated a winning formula of angst-ridden performances. I just Belbin & Agosto could be legendary with their talent by creating something entirely new. They're playing it conservative to win, while I think if they went outside of the box, not only would they win, they would blow everyone away.
I really think Meryl Davis and Charlie White are skating outside of the box this year with their Bollywood-inspired original dance. Watching Belbin & Agosto and then Davis & White in back to back competitions proves really brings that home to me. Davis and White have excellent technique and speed and I think their originality in their programs demonstrates those skills.
Davis and White completely left their competitors in the dust at the NHK Trophy. I was in Chicago over the weekend. I got to enjoy the weather for a weekend holiday shopping spree but the hotel didn't have free wifi so I missed my morning ritual of watching the live feed from Asia.
So glad to catch up on the NHK Trophy mid-week after work. Brian Joubert is back! He looked Yagudin-like out there. There was such command of the ice and energy in his performances. I haven't really seen that from him for awhile.
Johnny Weir actually put together two solid skates in the same competition. He earned a silver souvenir for that accomplishment. Jeremy Abbott debuted his programs for the season. Love the short, "Day in a Life" awesomeness. Jeremy, note to self, ice shavings are very apparent on black outfits so don't fall on every jump in the long! Daisuke Takahashi was back after injury last season. Wow, I missed him, he's programs fill the arena. Hope those jumps make a complete recovery after injury too.
Enjoyed the Kerrs free dance to Krwling too.
I've been getting the hang of choctaws and my rockers are back to what I could do well 10 years ago. I think I may pass my junior MITF by February!
Cup of China was a "comeback" comp for Shen & Zhao and comeback they did. I enjoyed the free program, it was easy to watch. The side-by-side jumps were probably a bit too far apart, but overall an excellent skate.
Cup of China was the debut of some of North America's Olympic medal contenders. Belbin & Agosto won the ice dance event, Evan Lysacek medaled in the men's event, and Mirai Nagasu & Rachel Flatt had nice outings in the front of the judges and their international competition. Joannie Rochette of Canada had a disappointing short but bounced back with her superior freeskate to Saint-Saens "Sampson & Delilah."
I must say I was a tad disappointed in the Americans. Evan Lysacek skated well, he was downgraded on a jump in each program, but the programs looked good. While the music was new, his programs have come to have a predictable pattern. I was slightly distracted from that pattern watching the short. He's skating to "Firebird" and has a black outfit, with long black feathers at the end of the sleeves. It kept giving me an image of Edward Scissorhands... all in black with these big, dangling, useless hands... except with feathers. Lose the feathers Evan!
I caught the ladies short and was thrilled that Mirai Nagasu had a good skate. She managed first which was a big improvement over everything last season. I expected more from Rachel Flatt with her "Sing, Sing, Sing" short. The YouTube clip of her performance at a summer competition gave me hope that she added some pizzazz to her consistency. However, the program just didn't seem to fill the big arena their in Beijing. She somehow appeared to be skating on ice twice as big as her competitors.
Belbin & Agosto chose a Moldovian theme for their original folk dance. Then they skated to a version of Ava Maria. The Ava Maria program is beautiful and features interesting lifts, however, I thought it was an odd choice for them. Since changing coaches prior to last season, I feel they have become more confident in their technical skill which especially has helped them in the compulsory portion of the competition. However, I their programs seem like they are coming straight out the Soviet School of Ice Dancing. I don't feel they are really offering anything new to the sport. Of course, skating passionately to Ava Maria is rite of passage in skating and Soviet/Russian ice dancers have demonstrated a winning formula of angst-ridden performances. I just Belbin & Agosto could be legendary with their talent by creating something entirely new. They're playing it conservative to win, while I think if they went outside of the box, not only would they win, they would blow everyone away.
I really think Meryl Davis and Charlie White are skating outside of the box this year with their Bollywood-inspired original dance. Watching Belbin & Agosto and then Davis & White in back to back competitions proves really brings that home to me. Davis and White have excellent technique and speed and I think their originality in their programs demonstrates those skills.
Davis and White completely left their competitors in the dust at the NHK Trophy. I was in Chicago over the weekend. I got to enjoy the weather for a weekend holiday shopping spree but the hotel didn't have free wifi so I missed my morning ritual of watching the live feed from Asia.
So glad to catch up on the NHK Trophy mid-week after work. Brian Joubert is back! He looked Yagudin-like out there. There was such command of the ice and energy in his performances. I haven't really seen that from him for awhile.
Johnny Weir actually put together two solid skates in the same competition. He earned a silver souvenir for that accomplishment. Jeremy Abbott debuted his programs for the season. Love the short, "Day in a Life" awesomeness. Jeremy, note to self, ice shavings are very apparent on black outfits so don't fall on every jump in the long! Daisuke Takahashi was back after injury last season. Wow, I missed him, he's programs fill the arena. Hope those jumps make a complete recovery after injury too.
Enjoyed the Kerrs free dance to Krwling too.
I've been getting the hang of choctaws and my rockers are back to what I could do well 10 years ago. I think I may pass my junior MITF by February!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Anticipation for the 2009-2010 season
With the Nebelhorn Trophy under way, here are the people and events I'm most looking forward too this season:
Who will have the most Micheal Jordan-like comeback ala coming back to play basketball for Bulls comeback after playing baseball versus coming back to play for the Wizards after a first retirement.
The 2006 Olympic men's champ, Evengy Plushenko, will be competing again after four years of touring in Russia, dabbling in Russian politics, getting divorced and married again. Will he still have the jumps, especially the quad? Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov worked with him on his programs.
Stephane Lambiel, the silver medalist in 2006, is also coming back. He is coming out of his 2nd retirement since the last Olympics. Plushy's last competition was the Olympics. Lambiel followed his silver by winning the world title after the games. He was entered in a few Grand Prix events the following season. Mid-season he said his heart wasn't in it anymore and retired. He found some passion later and ended up with a couple more medals at worlds, but no titles. Last year, he retired after some injuries were not healing as quickly as he would of liked. His biggest obstacle comes this week in working to gain Switzerland a spot for a man in the Olympic competition at the Nebelhorn. If he assists in earning that spot, I'll be interested to see if he keeps his interest in competing.
Sasha Cohen, the ladies silver medalist in 2006, has decided to return to competition as well after attempting an acting career in between touring with Stars on Ice. Looking forward to seeing the spins and spirals she's known for in competitive programs. I hope see found some consistency and focus through having to perform almost nightly on tour for stretches at a time.
Isabel Delobel and her partner Olivier Schoenfelder will have a comeback of sorts. Isabel is due to deliver her first child soon. This working mom will be a skater, I love it!
Beyond comebacks I'm looking forward too:
Watching and comparing the seasons of Belbin & Agosto and Davis & White before the US Nationals. Then seeing the battle for first at Nationals. I have a feeling Davis & White could overtake Belbin & Agosto this year in a head to head match up.
Johnny Weir's programs choreographed by David Wilson.
The ladies competition at Nationals with two spots to the O's and worlds.
Seeing how skaters who changed coaches in the off season fare:
Mirai Nagasu and Carolina Kostner to Frank Carroll, should give them some confidence and better preparation.
Jeremy Abbott with Yuka Sato after parting with his coach of many years, Tom Zakarasjc.
Caroline Zhang after swtiching coaches and then going back.
Brian Joubert made a change over the summer in his quest for Olympic gold and gaining 2nd last year at worlds.
Finally, I'll be interested to see the continuing saga/answer of that burning question, "to quad or not to quad?" Particulary in the case of Brian Joubert.
Who will have the most Micheal Jordan-like comeback ala coming back to play basketball for Bulls comeback after playing baseball versus coming back to play for the Wizards after a first retirement.
The 2006 Olympic men's champ, Evengy Plushenko, will be competing again after four years of touring in Russia, dabbling in Russian politics, getting divorced and married again. Will he still have the jumps, especially the quad? Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov worked with him on his programs.
Stephane Lambiel, the silver medalist in 2006, is also coming back. He is coming out of his 2nd retirement since the last Olympics. Plushy's last competition was the Olympics. Lambiel followed his silver by winning the world title after the games. He was entered in a few Grand Prix events the following season. Mid-season he said his heart wasn't in it anymore and retired. He found some passion later and ended up with a couple more medals at worlds, but no titles. Last year, he retired after some injuries were not healing as quickly as he would of liked. His biggest obstacle comes this week in working to gain Switzerland a spot for a man in the Olympic competition at the Nebelhorn. If he assists in earning that spot, I'll be interested to see if he keeps his interest in competing.
Sasha Cohen, the ladies silver medalist in 2006, has decided to return to competition as well after attempting an acting career in between touring with Stars on Ice. Looking forward to seeing the spins and spirals she's known for in competitive programs. I hope see found some consistency and focus through having to perform almost nightly on tour for stretches at a time.
Isabel Delobel and her partner Olivier Schoenfelder will have a comeback of sorts. Isabel is due to deliver her first child soon. This working mom will be a skater, I love it!
Beyond comebacks I'm looking forward too:
Watching and comparing the seasons of Belbin & Agosto and Davis & White before the US Nationals. Then seeing the battle for first at Nationals. I have a feeling Davis & White could overtake Belbin & Agosto this year in a head to head match up.
Johnny Weir's programs choreographed by David Wilson.
The ladies competition at Nationals with two spots to the O's and worlds.
Seeing how skaters who changed coaches in the off season fare:
Mirai Nagasu and Carolina Kostner to Frank Carroll, should give them some confidence and better preparation.
Jeremy Abbott with Yuka Sato after parting with his coach of many years, Tom Zakarasjc.
Caroline Zhang after swtiching coaches and then going back.
Brian Joubert made a change over the summer in his quest for Olympic gold and gaining 2nd last year at worlds.
Finally, I'll be interested to see the continuing saga/answer of that burning question, "to quad or not to quad?" Particulary in the case of Brian Joubert.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The season begins: Nebelhorn Trophy this week!
The first major senior event of the season gets underway this week in Oberstdorf, Germany at the Nebelhorn Trophy. The Nebelhorn serves as an official Olympic qualifier for countries to fill the remaining slots available for the Olympics. There are a few countries who were unable to qualify skaters in certain disciplines due to their skaters' low placements at the 2009 World Championships.
The remaining slots are generally filled by some of the smaller countries such as Azerbijan, Luxembourg, or New Zealand. Generally there are bigger countries that traditionally supports skaters that just missed qualifying in a discipline. Switzerland falls into this category. Their current champion, Jamal Othman, finished 26th at Worlds. I don't believe he even qualified to continue the freeskate after his short. Switzerland is without a spot for the Olympics in the men's competition from his 26th place finish. What makes this pursuit interesting this year is the return of a two-time World champion and Olympic silver medalist: Stephane Lambiel.
Lambiel is the Swiss Brett Favre, perpetually going in and out of retirement. I'm anxious to see if this Favre can still prove himself. (He would instantly lose the Favre-title if he doesn't succeed, right?) I'm looking forward to catching his skate on YouTube... come on European fans, get your camera phones ready, it's Stephane Lambiel making a comeback (for the 2nd time!)
Ah, catching skating on YouTube. There was a stir on a message board that NBC's Universal Sports would be televising Nebelhorn. Alas, they just posted upcoming skating competitions on the calendar on their figure skating site. Hopefully, some info on the event will show up there. I've heard the US Olympic Committee has something in their bylaws that anything deemed an "Olympic Trials" comes under their jurisdiction which I think usually extends to broadcasting rights. NBC is so big into promoting Olympic Trials they usually will cover and promote those events. It would make sense to have some coverage of an international Olympic Trial, even if it's just a webcast or posting updates. Online coverage counts these days.
Beyond searching for Stephane Lambiel's skates, I'll also be searching for the six American skaters competing. The US can't qualify anymore slots for the games, they were set at Worlds (3 men, 3 dance teams, 2 pair teams, and 2 ladies). This is an international competition debut to test drive programs before the Grand Prix season. Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley, Brooke Casitle & Ben Okolski and Meryl Davis & Charlie White will be there. I'll be searching for Davis & White's new programs for sure. I've heard the original dance is a mix of Bollywood music. Ryan Bradley and Alissa Czisny always do well early in the season and I hope that trend continues and gives them confidence for the rest of the season. I've not seen Castile & Okolski too much, but I think the last time they competed here, they did well and ended up winning the US Champs later that year. Here's hoping to a great competition for all!
The remaining slots are generally filled by some of the smaller countries such as Azerbijan, Luxembourg, or New Zealand. Generally there are bigger countries that traditionally supports skaters that just missed qualifying in a discipline. Switzerland falls into this category. Their current champion, Jamal Othman, finished 26th at Worlds. I don't believe he even qualified to continue the freeskate after his short. Switzerland is without a spot for the Olympics in the men's competition from his 26th place finish. What makes this pursuit interesting this year is the return of a two-time World champion and Olympic silver medalist: Stephane Lambiel.
Lambiel is the Swiss Brett Favre, perpetually going in and out of retirement. I'm anxious to see if this Favre can still prove himself. (He would instantly lose the Favre-title if he doesn't succeed, right?) I'm looking forward to catching his skate on YouTube... come on European fans, get your camera phones ready, it's Stephane Lambiel making a comeback (for the 2nd time!)
Ah, catching skating on YouTube. There was a stir on a message board that NBC's Universal Sports would be televising Nebelhorn. Alas, they just posted upcoming skating competitions on the calendar on their figure skating site. Hopefully, some info on the event will show up there. I've heard the US Olympic Committee has something in their bylaws that anything deemed an "Olympic Trials" comes under their jurisdiction which I think usually extends to broadcasting rights. NBC is so big into promoting Olympic Trials they usually will cover and promote those events. It would make sense to have some coverage of an international Olympic Trial, even if it's just a webcast or posting updates. Online coverage counts these days.
Beyond searching for Stephane Lambiel's skates, I'll also be searching for the six American skaters competing. The US can't qualify anymore slots for the games, they were set at Worlds (3 men, 3 dance teams, 2 pair teams, and 2 ladies). This is an international competition debut to test drive programs before the Grand Prix season. Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley, Brooke Casitle & Ben Okolski and Meryl Davis & Charlie White will be there. I'll be searching for Davis & White's new programs for sure. I've heard the original dance is a mix of Bollywood music. Ryan Bradley and Alissa Czisny always do well early in the season and I hope that trend continues and gives them confidence for the rest of the season. I've not seen Castile & Okolski too much, but I think the last time they competed here, they did well and ended up winning the US Champs later that year. Here's hoping to a great competition for all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)