World Championships 2017 review: ice dance
The last part of my review is about ice dance. This time it’s not because I’ve saved it for dessert, but because I don’t have much to say.
I saw a storm of indignation about judgment, scores and placement. Well, as I said in my first review: ice dance stopped being a sport long ago. So you either accept it and continue watching or you don’t accept and stop watching.
I agree that judgment was disgusting in some cases, but I can’t agree that it was only about the top-three. Actually, I have no questions about placement in the top-three, but scores could have been less generous.
Virtue and Moir should win the short dance if skating skills, purity of steps and ability to dance of both partners still mean something in ice dance.
If Papadakis – Cizeron want to win the Olympics, they should start working hard on their basic skills and steps just right now (especially she). They lost the SD not for the first time, it happened before and Virtue – Moir wasn’t the only one to whom they were losing it. Just this season great free dance wasn’t enough to win overall. Unfortunately for Gabriella and Guillaume, Scott almost fell not on the element.
Maia and Alex should try their best to find some nerve, some spark and bring it to their skating. Yes, they won a well deserved bronze but it wasn’t easy, I’d say it was a warning call.
At this Worlds we had two main dramas in ice dance: American and Russian.
You may say that Americans won the bronze, so there’s no drama. But looking at the results of two other pairs…it’s cleat that it’s not the result they’ve expected. I think a lot of fans would gladly see Chock-Bates as US pair No.1, but unfortunately they’re not consistent.
The fact that I liked about judgment at Worlds, that they didn’t hold back Hubbell and Donohue in the short dance regardless their standing in the national team. I really hoped they will skate their beautiful free dance well and hold the bronze. Ah, Zach, you broke my heart(
Another Russian campaing for spots failed. Stepanova-Bukin triumphantly broke into the top ten. Fantastic result :) According to the judges their tango was almost good as Gilles-Poirier’s. Nice try judges, I’ve almost believed it))
According to the same judges, Bobrova-Soloviev‘s free dance is almost a masterpiece and only ice dancing gods have better free dances. Guess we imagined a bunch of ridiculous movements and terrible mix of Chopin and Vivaldi.
I feel extremely sorry for Piper and Paul, Anna and Luca that their beautiful free dances were so undermarked! I hope, at least they know that viewers loved them and it was a pleasure to watch their performances.
And the three spots were so close! Only 0.75 points separated Russian ice dance from the victory and triumph. Only one pair standed on the way…..almost written-off Canadian pair, who trains in Russia with a Russian coach. Ah what an irony)
Well, Mr. Morozov, now all hopes on you. You will have to rescue Russian ice dance. Whether with your wife, or with your daughter)
The end.
Related topics: Alexandra Stepanova Ivan Bukin, Anna Cappellini Luca Lanotte, Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev, Gabriella Papadakis Guillaume Cizeron, ice dance, Madison Chock Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell Zachary Donohue, Maia Shibutani Alex Shibutani, Piper Gilles Paul Poirier, Tessa Virtue Scott Moir, world championship
VIRTUE/MOIR:
Before the event began, I knew Tessa and Scott would win. The judges love them, and why shouldn’t they? They have the best skills in the world and the short dance is divinely sassy. The free dance still fails to capture my attention, and a 116 with Scott’s mistake in the footwork still makes me laugh, but that’s how the world works.
PAPADAKIS/CIZERON:
Skating fans are going to kill me for this, but Gabriella and Guillaume’s Mozart FD didn’t actually impress me so much. My favorite program of theirs is by far “A Home to Build” – for me there was more feeling in it. This season’s FD is okay, but I don’t have the desire to keep watching it over and over. On a good note, they skated it very well here. But the SD set them too far behind to give them any shot at the gold.
SHIBUTANI/SHIBUTANI:
I like these two, I do. But their performances at Worlds didn’t capture my attention like they did last year. It felt so mechanical! I watched their “Fix You” FD again and it is much better than this year’s.
WEAVER/POJE:
These two impressed me the most out of all the ice dancers. Andrew finally got his twizzles, and they deserve a medal simply for being the most attractive couple around. The SD puts me in a good mood and the FD is simply to die for. In my opinion, that should’ve been the bronze medal. Anyway, it was a good outing for them and it shows that not all hope is lost for a WeaPo comeback.
BOBROVA/SOLOVIEV:
Ekaterina Bobrova unleashed her inner diva in that short dance, it’s true. Apparently long legs and a sexy black dress must go under your PCS, because their scores were rather ridiculous here. Their lifts are cool and unique, but their basic skating needs help.
CAPPELLINI/LANOTTE:
These two are such a joy to watch. Sure, they’ve pretty much skated the same programs for 5 years in a row, but I don’t know, I still like their style. And props to them for that hilarious gala number.
CHOCK/BATES:
Obviously Madison Chock is a goddess. I would hate to be her poor parents, worrying about what kind of guy she might catch. She dominated that SD like no other. Bonus: I watched with my mom and she was tapping her foot along with the music all the way.
Perhaps having such a gorgeous lady next to him messed up poor Evan’s concentration on the twizzles. I’m still not a fan of the music, but now I’m more worried about their La La Land.
GILLES/POIRIER:
Well, Gilles/Poirier made it through the big event without a major failure. I’m not so sure about their SD but the FD is very nice. I love their costumes – they remind me of Volosozhar/Trankov’s Masquerade Waltz costumes from 2014.
HUBBELL/DONOHUE:
First of all, I think the judges must’ve been drinking when they gave the SD scores for these two. With all that jarring music, they managed to beat Chock/Bates and the Shibutanis? I can’t fathom that. Then Zach wiped out on a twizzle in the FD and everything was set back in order – Shibutanis, Chock/Bates, Hubbell/Donohue. As always. Because ice dance always manages to be set back in a certain strange order.
I guess my favorite programs of Gabriella and Guillaume are still Paso doble and Mozart. The next one haven’t impressed me that much.
As for the Shibs, they’re great dancers and technicians but I wish I were more emotionally involved into their skating. It worked with Fix you, but not quite worked with this season’s FD. Alex of course draws my attention, but it’s not a solo dance, so guess it’s not enough to be really impressed by a pair….
Actually Bobrova/Soloviev have good basic skating skills and tech of steps. One of the best in the world now to be honest. But again that’s not enough if they can’t show all their strengths properly, they terribly lack packaging.
“I’m still not a fan of the music, but now I’m more worried about their La La Land.”
In my opinion it’s a huge mistake. Yes it’s new and trendy, but not all new is good for Olympics! Moreover, they’re not the most dancing team. Impressive acrobatic lifts – yes, dancing – I’m not so sure. And I don’t see them playing this characters. Madison is so bright. confident and hot, it’s not about Mia from La La Land.
“With all that jarring music, they managed to beat Chock/Bates and the Shibutanis?”
By tech. They beat them all simply with tech and quality of execution. Which is quite fare for the short dance.
I liked Gabriella and Guillaume’s paso doble too. Well-executed and with style.
I miss Fix You more than anything, and I agree that they need to add that emotionality to the programs.
Bobrova and Soloviev are cool, unique, and I see nothing wrong with them per se. I really want to see how they could be packaged. Less miming, more dancing.
I’m worried for Madison and Evan because in my opinion, they should be doing something acrobatic that shows off their cool transitions. Maybe something like a contemporary dance. Not some chick flick musical. So I’m a little worried.
I understand Hubbell/Donohue got all their levels, but for me that SD was overscored in PCS.
When chait/sakhovski won bronze in 2002 worlds major skaters sent protests and while they were not successful in taking away their bronze their careers were over. Where is the protests over b/s finish? Why won’t c/l g/p all teams send letters of outrage and seek to disqualify b/S from 5th place? If This is such a disgusting outrage and one of the worst results in ice dance history where are the protests?
I think no one protested because it wasn’t about medals((
The Papadakis/Cizeron FD has grown on me so much. I went from “meh” to “it’s actually pretty good” to “completely obsessed with this masterpiece”. As far as emotions go, they were the clear winners. At least to me.
Their FD was the best at Worlds, just it wasn’t enough this time…