Pairs
After their top Chinese rivals had a great showing at Skate
America (and their Russian rivals bombed), our World Champions rose to the
occasion and proved they were ready to defend their title. Meagan Duhamel and
Eric Radford are never going to be snob favorites. Their extreme height
difference gives them weird lines, and they are not the most naturally
expressive or artistic skaters. However, they are extremely gifted athletes who
are pushing the technical limits of the sport and forcing their competitors to
innovate to keep up with them. While everyone else is struggling with
side-by-side triple toes, this team is nailing lutzes. Their throw quad salchow
has become very consistent, and they have a throw quad lutz to add to the mix
later in the season. They may not be
artists, but they do have performance quality, and their program components are
(deservedly or not) very high. Most importantly, you can count on this team to
deliver when it counts. They are difficult to beat.
Meagan Duhamel is an intense girl who feeds off of pressure
and loves to win. She does not hide her intense workout regimen, and she was in
amazing shape at Skate Canada. Eric is much more serene. It’s clear who is
running the show. “Hometown Glory” is a great vehicle for them. They could both
give it a little more emotion, but it’s early in the season. I wish they didn’t
spend so much time setting up the throws, but it’s hard to do transitions into
a throw quad anything. I am always rooting for Meagan and Eric, and I think
this is going to be another great season for them.
Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov won the silver medal
here with solid but uninspired performances. They have the classic Russian
lines, good throws, and a triple twist that goes straight to the ceiling. I don’t
understand why they’re not doing a quad. I am kind of obsessed with Evgenia’s
perfect posture and flexibility. This girl doesn’t know how to hit a bad
position. There is not a lot of expression happening here. If you’re going to
do “Lord of the Dance,” you need to be giving me Jason Brown performance
quality or else it falls very flat. I don’t understand why Vladimir is wearing
pleather pants in an Irish themed program. The long program packaging is a bit
too on the nose for me. He is a conductor and she is the music, as evidenced by
the bedazzled treble clef on her dress. He waves his invisible baton a few
times, but otherwise the theme is not conveyed through the rest of the
choreography. They look a hell of a lot better than Stolbova/Klimov did last weekend
at Skate America, so their spot on the Worlds team looks secure. This is a team
with World medalist talent, but something isn’t clicking. Nina Mozer is a great
technical coach, but there is a level of taste missing. This is a woman whose
top teams skated to Jesus Christ
Superstar and The Addams Family
at the Olympics in Russia. Her camp needs an intervention.
I was happy to see Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro
pull out the bronze medal here. Last year was a rough first season for this
team, and it’s nice to see things finally coming together. Kirsten is one of my
favorite pair girls, and I love her grit. You know she is going to land those
throws no matter how they look in the air, and she is going to give you a good
landing position. She has been doing power yoga with Meagan Duhamel, and she is
also in amazing shape. Her partner is a bit whatever, but he at least no longer
looks out of his depth. He did completely miss a lift in the long program, and
I fear for his psychological safety as Kirsten is kind of a scary girl. The
long program costumes have to go. They’re doing music from the Leo DiCaprio Romeo+Juliet in purple fairy tale
prince and princess costumes. They should do something more modern. I’m
optimistic about this team for the first time, and I think they have a great
shot at making it to Worlds in a crowded Canadian pairs' field.
Skate Canada was a mixed bag for Marissa Castelli and Mervin
Tran. The field was weaker than Skate America’s last weekend, and this team
really could have used a podium finish to assert themselves firmly as the 2nd
best American pair. Marissa and Mervin have excellent individual skating
skills, and they are engaging performers. I am not 100% on board with the
Journey medley in the long program, but they sell it. I even love the part
where they literally “drift apart” during “Open Arms.” Marissa has the
refinement that is missing from many of the top U.S. pair girls. She hits some
gorgeous lift positions. Side-by-side jumps are an issue. Their throw triple
salchow is good, but they need a better second throw. The throw double axel is
not going to cut it, and the execution was pretty poor here anyway. I’m rooting
for them, but they need to step it up technically.
Vera Bazarova and Andrei Deputat continue to ride the
struggle bus after a rough first season together. Vera really is everything you
want in a female pairs’ skater minus the jumps. Her triple toe somehow gets
worse every season. Does it even leave the ice? Her new partner is more
attractive than the last one, but he isn’t strong enough to give her the
foundation she needs to hit those fabulous lift positions. I don’t know what
about the Beatles screams short shorts and bare midriffs, but no one asked me.
I was devastated that my girl Valentina Marchei had to
withdraw from the long program due to her partner’s injury. The short program
did not go well for the Italians, but apparently Ondrej Hotarek sustained a
concussion in practice and no one knew about it. I was a huge fan of Valentina
when she was a solo competitor, and I am living for her second career as a pair
girl. She is a star. Sending all my best wishes for a speedy recovery and a
quick return to the ice!
Ice Dance
To the surprise of no one (because ice dance), the winners
here were reigning World Bronze Medalists and Canadian National Champions
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. I always feel like I’m walking on eggshells
when I talk about this team. There are people who passionately love them and
legitimately believe they should have won the last two World Championships. I
am not one of those people. This is a quality team. Their skating skills are
strong, and they do more close, difficult dance holds than many other top dance
teams. They’re just kind of basic.
The compulsory pattern is a waltz, and you show up with a
program to “The Blue Danube.” How original. The free dance is allegedly about a
girl recovering from drug addiction, but I don’t really get it from their presentation. They literally
do the same free dance lifts every season. The only thing different is the
music. This team has had some great programs in the past, but they’ve gone very
conservative lately. Nothing about this team screams World Champion to me.
Kaitlyn especially doesn’t give it enough. This is ice dance. She needs to do
her homework and watch hours of Pasha Grishuk and Maya Usova giving us the
drama in the ‘90s. While this team is admirable, they’re always going to be
vulnerable to a team with more X-factor. It happened last year at Worlds versus
the French and the Americans, and it could happen again.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really would have
given the win to Maia and Alex Shibutani. Our favorite overachieving
Asian-American siblings have a new lease on life this season. They always bring
the technical ability (their twizzles are second to none in the current
international dance field), but their packaging is usually wrong. It’s either
too corny (Michael Jackson two years ago) or too boring (“The Blue Danube” last
year). The “Coppelia” short dance veers a little too cutesy for me, but it
works. Maia is not a naturally expressive skater, so she is well cast as a
wooden doll come to life. The Coldplay free dance is gorgeous. I feel like it
tells the story of the peaks and valleys of their oftentimes difficult career.
It’s the first time I can remember getting genuine emotion from them. They’re
really going to create a moment for themselves at Nationals and Worlds. They
actually beat the Canadians on the technical mark in both programs. I firmly believe
they should have been ahead on program components as well. I don’t think
Nationals will be a cake walk for Chock/Bates this year, and the Shibutanis
could conceivably make a run at the World podium.
This was a disappointing comeback for Ekaterina Bobrova and
Dmitri Soloviev, who missed last season due to injury. They skated fine, but
they finished behind two teams they were regularly beating in the Olympic
season. That kind of loss of rank is dangerous and difficult to reverse in the
world of ice dance. If you followed my Olympic coverage in 2014, you’ll know
that this team is not my favorite. They are very fast and powerful, but they
tend to be sloppy. Her posture in particular has always been unsatisfactory,
though I saw improvements this weekend. The programs don’t do them many favors.
Dick Button would be throwing a fit over their interpretation of “Masquerade
Waltz.” It’s a piece about a husband murdering his wife in a jealous rage, and
they were treating it like a traditional ballroom waltz. The Anna Karenina free dance is more
effective, but lacking in real moments. Their lifts are difficult, but they
never create beautiful pictures. The judges weren’t particularly kind to them. With
only two spots for Russia in ice dance at Worlds, Katia and Dmitri have some
work to do if they even want a place at the table, and it will be an uphill
battle for them to contend for World medals again.
I’m always kind of rooting for Charlene Guignard and Marco
Fabbri, if only because I am obsessed with their coach. Barbara Fusar-Poli is
truly one of the all-time great ice dance divas, and I want her to be
successful in her coaching career. There is certainly a level of taste missing.
Schindler’s List is not off-limits in
the skating world, but I think it’s in poor taste to dress up as concentration
camp survivors. Still, the 2nd-ranked Italians skated well and look
ready to climb the standings at Worlds.
Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam could be a really strong team
with different packaging. They’re evenly matched and very attractive. It’s all
very pretty, but not particularly memorable. The inspiration is clearly Tessa
Virtue and Scott Moir, but without the extra spark that made them amazing. It’s
the Crystal Lite version. Also, I didn’t realize Yentl was such popular skating music these days. Still, the
interpretation is all wrong here. Too much lovey-dovey faux romance, not enough
desire to dress in drag and become a rabbi.
It was a pretty dire ice dance event beyond these five. This
discipline needs a jolt of life to become as exciting as it was during the
Olympics. The depth isn’t what it used to be.
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