Skate America 2016 - High Quality Dancing (Ice Dance Final)
The Shibutani siblings are on a roll after the extraordinary season they had in 2015/2016. They're leading the ice dance competition here at Skate America, with co-nationals Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue hot on their heels. On second, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, whom I'm happy to see back in competition. It's bound to be tough tonight with this three going head to head, so let's get on with it.
Yura Min & Alex Gamelin start us off. Having seen Cinema Paradiso recently, I can tell you the love story is not as dramatic as the music might imply, but they present the angst well enough. The twizzles are slightly wobbly, but altogether not bad. The stationary lift is my favourite element from this. Their score: 85.25. Overall: 141.50.
Kana Muramoto & Chris Reed skate to music by Vincente Amigo. I really like the flamenco details they added to the spin, and the lifts are all innovative. Again, his twizzles are a bit shaky. They get 91.18 points. Overall: 147.37.
Isabella Tobias & Ilia Tkachenko have a balletic presence on the ice as they skate to The Nutcracker, but I don't see a lot of actual ballet nuances in the choreography. I do appreciate the costumes though, which are indeed similar to those you would usually see in this ballet, albeit much simpler. Their score: 98.66. Overall: 161.99.
Time for a newbie couple from the US - Elliana Pogrebinsky & Alex Benoit. I'm really impressed with these two, especially with their lifts, which are original, clever and at one point jaw-dropping. Unique twizzles too and gorgeous costumes. They get 93.58 points. Overall: 151.76.
Alisa Agafonova & Alper Ucar bring Near Light and Beethoven's Five Secrets on the ice. The concept is quite abstract, which is why I'm struggling to connect with it at the moment. It doesn't mean theirs is a bad performance though. Their score: 87.12. Overall: 146.10.
I am quite confused and slightly disappointed with Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri's costumes for The Nutcracker. I was looking forward to some exquisite balletic costumes, but their approach to this programme seems to be to interpret the music rather than follow the story. Anyway, I'm sure I'll get used to it. Their twizzles, by the way, are fantastic, especially the prolonged transition between the first and second position. They get 100.65 points. Overall: 165.44.
What Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin meant by skating to Slumdog Millionaire is that they'll do a Bollywood routine, not that they'll tell the story of the film. This is an ambitious theme with superb costumes, but it just doesn't seem to have a lot of substance at this point. Their score: 98.56. Overall: 165.16.
Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev do classical with a twist. The music is The Four Seasons by Nigel Kennedy. The approach is quite straightforward and not at all flashy, which is a little unusual for them, but not bad. Their rotational lift is the coolest I've seen here so far. They get 105.85 points. Overall: 174.77.
Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue skate to covers by Bootsrap and Ingrid Michaelson of hits like I Wanna Dance with Somebody. These two are just so good at coming up with contemporary themes and re-purposing songs you think you've seen one too many times! Their score: 106.99. Overall: 175.77.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani because the title of their music simply says Evolution. Now that I've seen it, I'll be honest - it does not have the wow factor that their last free dance had. However, it is lyrical, which seems to be the trend nowadays in ice dance, and the quality of their elements is as high as ever. They get 112.71 points. Overall: 185.75.
Thus ends Skate America 2016. This final turned out to be less tough than I had expected due to the Shibutani siblings taking the lead effortlessly. That being said, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue achieved no small feat by finishing second, ahead of Russian powerhouses Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev. Congrats to everyone for a night of great performances.
If you want to see more commentaries from Skate America 2016, check out my posts about the final of the boys and the girls, here: http://crystalskate.blogspot.co.uk/.
Yura Min & Alex Gamelin start us off. Having seen Cinema Paradiso recently, I can tell you the love story is not as dramatic as the music might imply, but they present the angst well enough. The twizzles are slightly wobbly, but altogether not bad. The stationary lift is my favourite element from this. Their score: 85.25. Overall: 141.50.
Kana Muramoto & Chris Reed skate to music by Vincente Amigo. I really like the flamenco details they added to the spin, and the lifts are all innovative. Again, his twizzles are a bit shaky. They get 91.18 points. Overall: 147.37.
Isabella Tobias & Ilia Tkachenko have a balletic presence on the ice as they skate to The Nutcracker, but I don't see a lot of actual ballet nuances in the choreography. I do appreciate the costumes though, which are indeed similar to those you would usually see in this ballet, albeit much simpler. Their score: 98.66. Overall: 161.99.
Time for a newbie couple from the US - Elliana Pogrebinsky & Alex Benoit. I'm really impressed with these two, especially with their lifts, which are original, clever and at one point jaw-dropping. Unique twizzles too and gorgeous costumes. They get 93.58 points. Overall: 151.76.
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| Maia and Alex suited up for the short dance Photograph: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images N America |
I am quite confused and slightly disappointed with Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri's costumes for The Nutcracker. I was looking forward to some exquisite balletic costumes, but their approach to this programme seems to be to interpret the music rather than follow the story. Anyway, I'm sure I'll get used to it. Their twizzles, by the way, are fantastic, especially the prolonged transition between the first and second position. They get 100.65 points. Overall: 165.44.
What Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin meant by skating to Slumdog Millionaire is that they'll do a Bollywood routine, not that they'll tell the story of the film. This is an ambitious theme with superb costumes, but it just doesn't seem to have a lot of substance at this point. Their score: 98.56. Overall: 165.16.
Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev do classical with a twist. The music is The Four Seasons by Nigel Kennedy. The approach is quite straightforward and not at all flashy, which is a little unusual for them, but not bad. Their rotational lift is the coolest I've seen here so far. They get 105.85 points. Overall: 174.77.
Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue skate to covers by Bootsrap and Ingrid Michaelson of hits like I Wanna Dance with Somebody. These two are just so good at coming up with contemporary themes and re-purposing songs you think you've seen one too many times! Their score: 106.99. Overall: 175.77.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani because the title of their music simply says Evolution. Now that I've seen it, I'll be honest - it does not have the wow factor that their last free dance had. However, it is lyrical, which seems to be the trend nowadays in ice dance, and the quality of their elements is as high as ever. They get 112.71 points. Overall: 185.75.
Thus ends Skate America 2016. This final turned out to be less tough than I had expected due to the Shibutani siblings taking the lead effortlessly. That being said, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue achieved no small feat by finishing second, ahead of Russian powerhouses Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev. Congrats to everyone for a night of great performances.
If you want to see more commentaries from Skate America 2016, check out my posts about the final of the boys and the girls, here: http://crystalskate.blogspot.co.uk/.
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