The Dance Hall 11: Movin' On Up 2023-2024

[Former Lurve Goddess]

I know they won’t but I wish they’d stipulate some actual rhythms: rock and roll, jive, disco, etc. Of course, I’d love to see a 1960s Go-Go Dance RD.

Mark just announced on the FD stream that next season the RD theme will be 50s, 60s & 70s! Thank goodness the IDTC tightened up the "Dance Party 20th Century" into something a bit more cohesive.

 

[Karen-W]

I know they won’t but I wish they’d stipulate some actual rhythms: rock and roll, jive, disco, etc. Of course, I’d love to see a 1960s Go-Go Dance RD.

Mark said later on during the first warm-up group when he was talking about the RD announcement that they did stipulate dance styles - I think jive, the twist and disco were all suggested rhythms.

What he didn't specify was whether there would be a pattern dance. I'm wondering how a paso (which was the rumored pattern section when the original 20th cent dance party info was leaked) would fit with that - maybe the IDTC changed that part too. We'll just have to wait for the rest of the info to leak.

 

[litenkyckling]

I know they won’t but I wish they’d stipulate some actual rhythms: rock and roll, jive, disco, etc. Of course, I’d love to see a 1960s Go-Go Dance RD.

they did specify 'social dances' which I guess is some parameters at least

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Mark said later on during the first warm-up group when he was talking about the RD announcement that they did stipulate dance styles - I think jive, the twist and disco were all suggested rhythms.

Excellent!

 

[kwanfan1818]

I’m not sure how much the Lithuanian government cares about having an Olympic spot in Ice Dance. They’ve already felt burned by Isabel Tobias, who ditched that citizenship to team up with Tkachenko to skate for Israel, after Tobias became fluent in Lithuanian and did her citizenship interview in it, and after several years of volunteer work with the Lithuanian-American community in Detroit.

As far as I know Reed has never had a connection to the Lithuanian community, and the Lithuanian government would have to become a lot more lenient towards sports-based citizenship.

 

[Karen-W]

I’m not sure how much the Lithuanian government cares about having an Olympic spot in Ice Dance. They’ve already felt burned by Isabel Tobias, who ditched that citizenship to team up with Tkachenko to skate for Israel, after Tobias became fluent in Lithuanian and did her citizenship interview in it, and after several years of volunteer work with the Lithuanian-American community in Detroit.

As far as I know Reed has never had a connection to the Lithuanian community, and the Lithuanian government would have to become a lot more lenient towards sports-based citizenship.

I thought there was some mention in the last year or two that Allison actually does have Lithuanian heritage on her mom's side of the family but I could be misremembering.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I think it would be more likely on her dad’s side, because Reed’s mother is Japanese, and I’m not sure how many Japanese people have some Lithuanian ancestry, but unless it qualifies her for a passport through ancestry, it would mean a huge shift in thinking by the Lithuanian government - not impossible, since the people may be different — especially after Tobias.

 

[Karen-W]

I think it would be more likely on her dad’s side, because Reed’s mother is Japanese, and I’m not sure how many Japanese people have some Lithuanian ancestry, but unless it qualifies her for a passport through ancestry, it would mean a huge shift in thinking by the Lithuanian government - not impossible, since the people may be different — especially after Tobias.

My bad. Of course you're right, lol. I'm not sure how far back the ancestry goes or if it really does exist. And even if it does exist it might be too far back, generationally, for her to qualify for Lithuanian citizenship through ancestry.

 

[Nmsis]

In all seriousness, Lady, Mouaden/Bigot will be in their early 20s in 2030. Talk about 2034 and 2038 maybe.

I'm with @PRlady about Mouaden/Bigot.
2030 is their horizon. They have the goods for that and so has their coach.

Villard still has some things to solve on their way to 2030, mainly the size of their coaching team and their travel ability, tied to money.
Their core team is 2 coaches and a dance teacher. They are stretched thin during the busiest part of the season. This season, they had an additional coach (Tiffany Zahorski) from september to january. I don't know how they would have done otherwise and they can't afford more.
And it's the first season where they really (want to) go outside of Europe, which underline their growing ambition but keep them longer away from their rink and weighs on their budget. (plus their rink is 47yo old and sometimes it shows, like when a piece of concrete from the ceiling fell on the ice in 2020).
I hope their results will draw enough money for them to have a slightly enlarged team while remaining very cost-control and family-friendly.
Their future results may depend on Arribert's capacity to solve that equation.

Zanni is another one whose future results may depend on how he will solve his own equation.
His teams are all atheticism. They need a more "dancy", nuanced input (and please, correct Karerina Mrazovka's posture / upper body). External help ? Addition to his team ? He needs to find solutions. If he does, his teams might go very far.

OTOH, Montreal remains the most ready-to-go place. They have everything.
But what they don't have are :

• the vision (and the passion) of ice-dance that Arribert has built over the years.
• the strategic vision of Barbara Piton (Mouaden/Bigot's coach) who has capitalized

1/ on old french specificities : an ice-dance school that is almost independant from figure skating (kids may start ice dance as early as they start to skate), a big solo ice-dance competitive pool (which has helped to keep many kids involved and to upscale the technical level), the influence of ballet on ice (Mouaden and Bigot also do ballet on ice, at a lesser level than Villard)
2/ on her family's dedication to ice-dance : her father is the club's head, her brother is at the same time the club's treasurer, her assistant on his spare time (he's often seen with her in comps) and probably the enabler of her project as he has many connexions (when he stopped ice-dance, he was an executive at Eurosport, then in a sport communication agency, then he became a high-level civil servant; he worked at high level in many regions and Prefectures ; while at the Interior Ministry, he was once in charge of the security aspects of the Tour de France, then in charge of the Gendarmerie communication; he tried to oust Gailhaguet from the FFSG's presidency in 2010, not to avail). On a well-rounded project, he is in position to gather the structural and financial help needed.
3/ the regular competition of Villard as a model / counter-model. Villard has helped to create a french ice-dance, a school that is a whole, complex-free, who doesn't look on models to draw inspiration, neither the russians, nor the brits ... nor Montreal. And it has sunk into the majority of the french coachs' head, including Piton who was creating mini-Gwendals and mini-Marina-Tessa-mix 10 years ago. She is not Arribert, but her choreos have become more modern, fun and fresh, age-appropriate.
4/ her development skills which she has honed for 15 years in pre-novice, before the path became clear with the death of Lyon and Gailhaguet's departure and she decided to get into the light.
On a tiny scale, Barbara Piton has been able to gather the advantages of Montreal while capitalizing on advantages they don't have.
And that, IMHO, is an unstoppable bullet train toward 2030-2034.

 

[Nmsis]

Talking about Chalons and Barbara Piton,
Here is a new couple, paired 3 months ago (novice french champion) : Louise Cohas-Bogey and Daniil Grishin (the video won't probably last).
I expect them to enter the JGP next season.

 

[litenkyckling]

Trying to have a think about how this RD theme works and what people will go for.

Would Zorba the Greek count? Because it's from the 60s and a social dance is associated with it.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Trying to have a think about how this RD theme works and what people will go for.

Would Zorba the Greek count? Because it's from the 60s and a social dance is associated with it.

What about the dances from the Sound of Music? The film is set in 1938 but came out in 1965. Or Caberet made in the 70s but set in the 1930s.

 

[Karen-W]

If the rules are like they were this year then the music used in the program needs to have been released in the '50s, '60s or '70s. None of those Glee covers, GuiFab! If you're gonna skate to "Don't Rain on My Parade" it's gonna need to be the original Babs version.

 

[Karen-W]

Don't be too quick to write off Piper and Paul. If this interview can be believed, and they weren't just swept away by the emotion of the moment, winning silver may have just made them hungrier for gold.

Worlds 2024: 'We gave everything that we could'

With a spectacular free dance that won the day, Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took another step toward the top of the podium with a silver medal finish in Montreal.

rwbrodiewrites.substack.com

I'm not sure that's the message they should be taking away from this competition, but I guess they could delude themselves into thinking they've got a shot next year at that World title or even of winning the Olympics on GuiFab's home turf.

 

[coralline]

What he didn't specify was whether there would be a pattern dance. I'm wondering how a paso (which was the rumored pattern section when the original 20th cent dance party info was leaked) would fit with that - maybe the IDTC changed that part too. We'll just have to wait for the rest of the info to leak.

Paso is still there，but in PST as rumored. Steps 8-16，26-28 are mandatory, in between you need to put in your own choreography for the level.

 

[Rukia]

Paso is still there，but in PST as rumored. Steps 8-16，26-28 are mandatory, in between you need to put in your own choreography for the level.

someone on the technical committee is really into slip steps but also I knew they were going to include that lol

on the other hand the cross rolls to swing roll are some of my favorite parts of the paso so I applaud keeping steps 26-28

 

[Karen-W]

What us no-teknik dance fans really need is for @thvu to do a tutorial video for the Paso.

 

[Wyliefan]

Would Zorba the Greek count? Because it's from the 60s and a social dance is associated with it.

OK, who do we want for this one? Fear/Gibson?

 

[Karen-W]

OK, who do we want for this one? Fear/Gibson?

Please. We all know that FearGib are going to go the most predictable route here and give us an Elvis program. Or maybe Dirty Dancing's greatest hits (minus "I've Had the Time of My Life" of course).

 

[Wyliefan]

MINUS "Time of My Life"? No way they're giving up the chance to have Lilah charge down the rink in a pink dress and leap dramatically into Lewis's arms.

 

[skatingguy]

MINUS "Time of My Life"? No way they're giving up the chance to have Lilah charge down the rink in a pink dress and leap dramatically into Lewis's arms.

It was released in 1987.

 

[Wyliefan]

Oh, right. Bummer. Guess my mind is still stuck in the '80s.

 

[Karen-W]

MINUS "Time of My Life"? No way they're giving up the chance to have Lilah charge down the rink in a pink dress and leap dramatically into Lewis's arms.

What I would not give to see this! But like @skatingguy said, it was released in 1987. That's why I tend to think they'll be uber-predictable and go with Elvis. And, honestly, of all the ice dance men, I really don't know that I want to see anyone but Lewis trying to roll their hips as naturally and convincingly as the King of Rock and Roll himself. Maybe Zach has the swagger to pull that off without seeming utterly hokey and cringe. But who else is there that wouldn't cause the skating fandom to collectively clutch our pearls in dismay?

 

[Dobre]

Me chatting away about the international origins of ice dancers to the two women nearby who arrived with guest tickets for the free dance:

During the warm-ups of the following:

Soucisse & Firus: "They're Canadian."
(The women find this fascinating).

Harris & Chan: "He's also Canadian."
(They are surprised at yet another example).

Lim & Quan: "They are also Canadian."
(The women are starting to believe that every ice dancer on the planet is Canadian).

Carreira & Ponomarenko: "She's also Canadian."
(They are now quite convinced).

Fournier-Beaudry & Soerensen: "He's Danish."

Gilles & Poirier: "She's American."

 

[Karen-W]

Me chatting away about the international origins of ice dancers to the two women nearby who arrived with guest tickets for the free dance:

During the warm-ups of the following:

Soucisse & Firus: "They're Canadian."
(The women find this fascinating).

Harris & Chan: "He's also Canadian."
(They are surprised at yet another example).

Lim & Quan: "They are also Canadian."
(The women are starting to believe that every ice dancer on the planet is Canadian).

Carreira & Ponomarenko: "She's also Canadian."
(They are now quite convinced).

Fournier-Beaudry & Soerensen: "He's Danish."

Gilles & Poirier: "She's American."

Well, now, you REALLY missed an opportunity with Reed & Ambrulevicius!

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

What I would not give to see this! But like @skatingguy said, it was released in 1987. That's why I tend to think they'll be uber-predictable and go with Elvis. And, honestly, of all the ice dance men, I really don't know that I want to see anyone but Lewis trying to roll their hips as naturally and convincingly as the King of Rock and Roll himself. Maybe Zach has the swagger to pull that off without seeming utterly hokey and cringe. But who else is there that wouldn't cause the skating fandom to collectively clutch our pearls in dismay?

C'mon we all know that Lilah and Lewis are going to do a tribute to Skary Babe and Porny Maurizio's "I Will Survive" using the proper 1970s Gloria Gaynor version.

 

[Debbie S]

C'mon we all know that Lilah and Lewis are going to do a tribute to Skary Babe and Porny Maurizio's "I Will Survive" using the proper 1970s Gloria Gaynor version.

They had a disco FD the first year (2019) they started moving up the ranks. That was a great program for them, made me a fan. I'm sure they will do disco next year.

 

[PRlady]

They had a disco FD the first year (2019) they started moving up the ranks. That was a great program for them, made me a fan. I'm sure they will do disco next year.

The ‘60s were the best decade for music (fight me.) I’d like to see F/G do either Brit invasion or Motown, that would be fun.

 

[manhn]

We will get 18 billion RDs of Grease and we will have to deal.

 

[Karen-W]

We will get 18 billion RDs of Grease and we will have to deal.

Maybe someone will be slightly original and do an RD to Bye Bye Birdie instead!