Thursday, March 27 - Ice Dance Original Dance
Memories of a Grand Afternoon
Well, again I would be dancing the afternoon away, and totally humming the melody of My Sweet and Tender Beast as it seemed many teams skated to this selection at some point. It is a somewhat grabbing and catchy piece, so it was easy to get stuck in the head.
I had a great seat. I returned to the section near Kiss & Cry, and I sat very near the wall of the Kiss & Cry. So, I just looked right over to my left and could see everything that went on there. Kieran and I found each other there, and were sitting about four or five rows back from the front. Kieran expressed that he enjoyed the women of ice dance because of their maturity and refined looks. Also, the dresses worn are more like real dresses versus the leotard type outfits of the jumps oriented disciplines.
I have no notes for the first three teams. I must have been getting settled or not focusing on writing during that time.
Marina Timofeieva and Evgeni Striganov of Estonia - Waltz (Allegro)/Polka/Waltz (Allegro): She wore a purple dress with teal streaks and a neckline of sewn material flowers. He wore a tux jacket and charcoal pants.
cool first lift
ending lift - slow
They finished a few seconds off the music. She has a lovely smile and exotically shaped eyes.
Tech: 2.9-3.8
Pres: 3.0-4.0
Tatiana Siniaver and Tornike Tukvadze of Georgia - Waltz (Parisian Masquerade)/Polka (La Premiere Polka): They wore sky blue costumes. The only notes I have is that the spin was slow.
Tech: 3.0-3.6
Pres: 3.2-3.8
Jessica Huot and Juha Valkama of Finland - Galop (Moskva Cheriomushki)/Waltz 2 (Jazz Suite No. 2)/Galop (Moskva Cheriomushki): She was in a lovely, off the shoulder, red dress with soft pink lace on the lining of the back and white trim. I'm not sure they were on beat throughout the dance.
Tech: 3.4-4.1
Pres: 3.6-4.2
Roxanne Petetin and Mathieu Jost of France - March/Waltz: She was in white, and he in military blue as they began with a march. At the end of the performance, she pumped her fist and laid her head on his chest.
Tech: 3.9-4.3
Pres: 3.9-4.5
Clover Mory Zatzman and Aurimas Radisauskas of Lithuania - Polka/Waltz (Waltz of the Flowers): She wore a sea blue dress with a black wrap. I used to play this piece on the piano - Waltz of the Flowers. Don't you love my technique commentary?
Tech: 2.8-3.7
Pres: 2.8-3.7
Anastasia Grebenkina and Vazgen Azrojan of Armenia - March/Waltz (Fruhlingsstimmen): She was in a red, satin dress with a completely red bodice, and red and orange laced skirt. The waltz music is the same as the opera music Bourne and Kraatz use. They started right off with the straight line footwork, and she fell in the middle of it. He nearly lost his balance in the process of helping her up. She maintained a smile through the remaining elements. He kissed her on the side of her head at the end of the performance.
Tech: 2.7-4.0
Pres: 3.1-4.2
Natalia Gudina and Alexei Beletski of Israel - Waltz (Drinking Song from La Traviata)/Galop (Petersburger Galop): She wore a lime green dress with a 'V' shaped back. He wore a black suit with a lime green matching collar.
Tech: 4.4-4.8
Pres: 4.5-5.1
Kristin Fraser and Igor Lukanin of Azerbaijan - Waltz (Emperor Franz Josef l)/Polka (Postillion D'Amour op. 317): She was in a bright peach dress with pinkish fringes, and he in a tux.
Tech: 4.5-5.0
Pres: 4.5-5.1
Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali of Italy - Waltz/Galop/Waltz (Die Fledermaus): She wore a multicolored, predominantly orange and pink dress, and he a black tux. They were very happy in Kiss & Cry. He kissed her on the cheek.
Tech: 4.8-5.2
Pres: 5.0-5.4
Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe of Canada - Waltz (Rosen aus dem Suden)/Polka (Unter Donner und Blitz): She wore a gold dress, and he a tux. Their polka selection was also a popular music choice.
nice dance spin where he holds her foot
death spiral like move
lift
polka begins
straight line
lift
Tech: 4.4-5.1
Pres: 4.5-5.2
Veronika Moravkova and Jiri Prochazka of Czech Republic - Waltz (Blue Danube)/Polka: She was in a white top and blue billowy skirt, while he had a matching blue tie and vest. They had a slip and scratchy blades as they scurried along in the circular sequence.
Tech: 4.3-4.8
Pres: 4.4-5.0
Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia - Polka/Waltz: She wore a long sleeve lavender dress. Their dance begins with posing.
Tech: 4.3-5.0
Pres: 4.4-5.0
Nora Hoffmann and Attila Elek of Hungary - Waltz (My Sweet and Tender Beast)/Polka (Tritsch Tratsch Polka op. 214): She wore a nice maroon dress with straps. This is the first and my favorite of the Beasts music. The straight line step sequence was done with the partners close together. Nora shrugged her shoulders in the Kiss & Cry area on the way to kiss the coaches.
Tech: 4.2-4.7
Pres: 4.3-4.8
Nozomi Watanabe and Akiyuki Kido of Japan - Waltz/Polka (Unter Donner und Blitz): They wore black and white costumes. Two of Linichuk's teams, Lobacheva and Averbukh and Watanabe and Kido used this popular polka music selection. About one minute into their original dance, Kido's bootstrap came undone. He bent down to fix it, and they skated over to the referee who allowed them to begin where they left off.
they feel for raindrops in the opening hand motions
dance spin with changes of position
circular footwork
lift
polka began
straight line - variety of steps, good
upside down lift
dip back into the closing pose
Nozomi dabbed sweat from Akiyuki's neck in Kiss & Cry.
Tech: 3.8-4.6
Pres: 3.9-4.8
Weina Zhang and Xianming Cao of China - Waltz (Blue Danube)/Galop (Grande Vitesse Galop op. 146)/Waltz (Blue Danube): She wore a pink dress, and he a tux. A voice yelled out, 'Go Weina (WEE-NUH)! Go Cao (CHOW)!' as they took their starting positions.
forward swinging lift
good speed
she was having a good time
ultra slow version of Blue Danube breaks out to close
Tech: 4.1-4.6
Pres: 4.2-4.7
Julia Golovina and Oleg Voiko of Ukraine - March (Radetzky March op. 228)/Waltz (My Sweet and Tender Beast): Gray dress for her. They began directly with the straight line step sequence. They gave each other a kiss at the end.
Tech: 4.0-4.4
Pres: 3.8-4.6
Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz of Canada - Waltz (Fruhlingsstimmen)/Polka (Unter Donner und Blitz): White dress with lime green trim for her. Interesting opera music choice for them.
low hydroblade type move from the top
other hydroblade type moves with a lean
lift
spin
polka - same music as Lobacheva and Averbukh, should be interesting to compare
straight line - unison off at the end
lift
Not sure if hydroblade type moves are waltzy. They received a standing ovation. Some ladies sitting near us commented that Victor's face looked visibly disappointed on the way to and in Kiss & Cry even before the reading of the marks. We deduced it was about the straight line sequence.
Tech: 5.6-5.8
Pres: 5.7-5.9
Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon of Canada - Waltz (At the Ball)/Polka (Furioso Polka): She wore a yellow tank sleeve ballroom dress, and he a black suit with gold trim. They like to select unique music for their original dances. A very good dance overall. At the Ball is nice because it has a defining beat provided by the bass string instrument. Marie-France and Patrice have good ability to skate to the rhythm. And very waltzy feel with the 1-2-3 beat accompanied by deep, swinging knees. Somewhere in the section transitioning to the polka, they had a slight slip and seemed a little more cautious than practice. They should let it all shine.
opening pose - he asks her to dance
spin
he dipped her backward
she made a hole while holding her blade in a spiral position that he loops his head through
lift where he holds onto her knee
lots of nice pirouettes and turns - good knee bend
he did lunges with one knee to the ice
dance spin into energetic polka
straight line
lift
marching and turns into the final dip
Tech: 4.9-5.3
Pres: 5.1-5.4
Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine - Waltz (Blue Danube)/Polka: She wore a blue and white dress, and he wore all white. This is my favorite Blue Danube.
dance spin
spin with him in a low glide
lift
straight line with both heel and toe steps
circular footwork
lift
Tech: 5.3-5.5
Pres: 5.4-5.7
Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh of Russia - Waltz (Blue Danube)/Polka (Unter Donner und Blitz: A colorful dress for Irina.
stationary pose for first eight seconds of the music
spin
lift
polka began
straight line - unison problems toward the end
rotational lift
Ilia was still giving excellent happy go lucky expression and energy throughout. He pumped his fist in Kiss & Cry once they realized they were in first place. There was a marks screen on the floor in front of Kiss & Cry where the skaters would look to read marks. They could generally see the marks a few seconds before the display on the Jumbotron. Also, on the floor in front of the Kiss & Cry bench, was a visible microphone for the skaters to say greetings and the like. So, that's how they do it.
Tech: 5.5-5.9
Pres: 5.7-5.9
Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski of Israel - March (Radetzky March op. 228)/Waltz/Polka (Bartered Bride):
spin
circular footwork with pirouettes
spin
lift
polka began
straight line
rotational lift
They were fast, brisk and a bit rough, but it works for them.
Tech: 5.2-5.5
Pres: 5.3-5.7
Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia - Waltz (My Sweet and Tender Beast)/March: Tatiana wore a bright orange dress.
he was swinging her by the foot - choreography
began a little slow
she slipped in the circular - right in front of judges
back to back lift
spin
march began
straight line
neat lift where he swung her around with a hand on each of her hips
Tatiana stood watching the replays of their skate on a small TV in the Kiss & Cry area before she sat down.
Tech: 5.3-5.6
Pres: 5.4-5.8
Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski of Bulgaria - March (Turkish Ceremonies)/Waltz (Dance of the Witches): They wore maroon costumes with pink lining. Their baroque original dance reminds me of a dance sequence in the movie, The Scarlet Pimpernel.
spin
rockingchair steps
mirror step sequence- may have been slightly off
candelabra lift where she curves her leg backward and holds her arm upward
posing
choral music began
lift with her knee against his waist
Overall a good original dance, with the change of pace baroque theme.
Tech: 5.4-5.7
Pres: 5.3-5.8
Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France - Waltz (1000 und eine Nacht)/Polka: She was in a magenta dress, and he in a tux. This is really a classically styled original dance.
good flow in the waltz
lift
spin - she turning detached from his arms, with her leg extended behind her
polka began
circular footwork
straight line
lift
Tech: 4.9-5.3
Pres: 5.0-5.4
Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev of U.S.A.- Waltz (My Sweet and Tender Beast)/Polka: Interesting that the American teams were next to last and last in the skate order.
lift
spin
straight line - Naomi tentative, Peter ahead of her at the end
lift
slow finish
Naomi pumped her fist at the end of the performance. After their bow, she put a hand to her ear like 'Let me hear you' and motioned to raise the noise level. This action was shown later on the Jumbotron replays while they sat in Kiss & Cry. Naomi laughed.
Tech: 5.0-5.6
Pres: 5.2-5.7
Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of U.S.A. - Waltz (La Traviata "Drinking Song")/Polka (Jolly Robbers): Their waltz is an opera piece.
circular footwork
lift with her leg extended upward and resting on his shoulder
individual spin by Tanith
straight line - good unison
lift
spin - good extension by her
Tanith is sheer perk. The original dance is their strength of their programs this year. High presentation marks. About four pieces of Tanith's costume became detached at different times during their dance. Her dress had a red and white feather trim, and the feathers kept falling off, like in practice.
Tech: 5.2-5.7
Pres: 5.3-5.8
So, on further tally, I guess the big musical hits of the day were Blue Danube, Unter Donner und Blitz, and My Sweet and Tender Beast. I was humming My Sweet and Tender Beast (amidst Kieran's laughs) in the hallway after the original dance and commenting that it seemed we had listened to it ten times. A lady walking in front of us, who I didn't realize had overheard, turned back and said, 'At least!' (Ten times.)
Backing up to when we thought it was time to exit the original dance event, we discovered the set up of a ceremony on the far end of the ice where the medal podiums had been. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame Induction was beginning. They honored Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko of ice dance fame. This pleasantly surprised me to see Klimova and Ponomarenko at my trip to Worlds, and they are very deserving. They are one of my favorite retired ice dance teams. They had an effortless elegance and soft romanticism to their skating. Sergei has grown his hair out, like the remaining ice dance man trend. They looked very happy.
Also honored were Dorothy Hamill, Janet Lynn, Frank Carroll and Ron Ludington. I believe many of the inductees made brief comments to the audience after they were called forth. It was a nice ceremony to have, but many people in the area were commenting that it should have been done after one of the evening events for better exposure and attendance.
At the beginning of the induction ceremony, commentator Susie Wynne left the ABC media booth and came from backstage down to the swinging door of the Kiss & Cry area to watch. She glanced over into the stands and saw me sitting at the Kiss & Cry wall. We mouthed 'hi' to each other at the same time and smiled.
Kieran informed me he had heard of a Penn Camera shop where I could find 800 speed film before I exited the MCI Center. I went over and asked someone at the hotel the specific location of the store and was unable to find it as I walked back and forth between the alphabetical letter and number of the streets that corresponded with the address. I couldn't find the store. I did find Massimo Scali and some others walking down the sidewalk away from the MCI Center with tote bag in tow. He still looked ecstatic about their original dance result. They must have been on the way to the skaters' hotel. Which, by the way, I never even looked for or stumbled upon the skaters' official hotel.
I eventually gave up on the camera store and headed back past the MCI Center on the way to the hotel to regroup before the Men final. Walking directly in front of me a few yards, I spotted a man that looked like Povilas Vanagas. 'Could that be him?' I thought. I walked faster to get a better look. He was walking with a woman a few inches taller than him, and they were engrossed in conversation. The woman had dark hair with a tint of red, and its length was a few inches past the shoulders. She glanced back at me, as I was about to pass them on the sidewalk. It was Margarita Drobiazko, but I totally hadn't recognized her until then. I waved, and she smiled, and I kept walking past them.
Wow, this had really turned out as a place to see skaters past and present, which I hadn't known initially when I planned to come here. Earlier that afternoon, before the original dance, I saw Todd Eldredge posing for pictures and signing autographs in the hallway of the MCI Center.
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