Vanessa James | Morgan Cipres

[Mad for Skating]

After seeing that Paul has returned to 1970s porn he is now active husband number 1. Cipres is my weekend husband and I have Matteo for holidays.

I can put Fedor on layaway for a month, max 2.

Okay, sounds like a plan! Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to return Fedor in good condition

Jeeee, in my time it was at least 5 or 6 You're all too shy (or not greedy enough) young people

Lol I’m bi, I’m allowed 3 husbands and 3 wives

 

[cholla]

Lol I’m bi, I’m allowed 3 husbands and 3 wives

Then you have to allow gays and heteros to have 6 each too or it's just too unfair

 

[Sylvia]

Elladj Baldé interviewed Morgan and Vanessa after yesterday's Skate Canada SP in English and French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl2f6EFsxJg

 

[Mad for Skating]

Then you have to allow gays and heteros to have 6 each too or it's just too unfair

All right, all right, I can accept these terms. 6 spots, just like the GPF.

Back on the topic of Vanessa and Morgan, what an epic performance for them in the free! Beautiful!

 

[cocotaffy]

What a start to the season !!! Boy, they are ready to capitalize on that 3rd spot at World last season. I'm so happy they decided to stay. It's obvious they're skating from a great place, just for the pleasure and reaching for new heights.

 

[Cachoo]

I love them. Love, love, love, love, love! Congrats on the win.

 

[geoskate]

They have reached a whole different level this year. They must have put in an incredible amount of work to get there - and the interview that Sylvia linked gives a bit of insight into how they have gone about it.

Wonderful skating.

 

[chantilly]

Really enjoy this team.
They’ve improved from last year quite a bit.
I love that they are different, athletic and explosive and very mature.
I do hope they work on their connection to each other and the music a little more.
Wicked Game is about a twisted and broken relationship.
And I would like a little better toe point and line from her.
But like I said, love their dynamics and power and will trade their lack of line in spots over the perfect lines of a team like T and M who have no connection to each other or the music at all IMO.
They are also so nice to look at.

 

[Mad for Skating]

I’m just here for that gorgeous move in the middle where she’s upside down like “look ma, no hands!”

 

[Sylvia]

James/Cipres article in The Royal Gazette, Bermuda's only daily newspaper: James secures skating glory in Canada

James, whose father Kevin is Bermudian, was born in Ontario, Canada but lived in Bermuda until the age of ten when her family moved to Virginia.

During her time on the island she attended Mount St Agnes. Her twin sister Melissa is also a figure skater.

(Her twin spells her first name Melyssa.)

 

[Sylvia]

Message from Vanessa to their fans, posted yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp0p_7Gnw5V/

 

[Orm Irian]

Message from Vanessa to their fans, posted yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp0p_7Gnw5V/

I saw that yesterday via Twitter. Good for Vanessa!

 

[Mad for Skating]

Message from Vanessa to their fans, posted yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp0p_7Gnw5V/

This is so beautiful! I think so many pairs are told to “act like you’re in love”, but the truth is, there are so many kinds of love other than romantic/sexual. You can be two beautiful people who love each other but it can be platonic. Good for Vanessa for bringing awareness to this issue!

 

[laviemn]

This is an adorable and interesting interview from TSL. Who knew Ingo Steuer tried to break them up to pair Vanessa with Bruno Massot?!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7Z8q78xOE&feature=youtu.be

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

This is an adorable and interesting interview from TSL. Who knew Ingo Steuer tried to break them up to pair Vanessa with Bruno Massot?!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7Z8q78xOE&feature=youtu.be

To be fair to Ingo, he saw Bruno's huge potential early on and was trying to get him a better partner for a while. A James-Massot partnership would have been very interesting.

 

[libecha]

That would have been. . .interesting. Not least because in remembering interviews with Aljona about the early stages of the partnership, Bruno really did not like Ingo, didn’t get along with him, and was the one who pointed out to her what an expletive he was being and that they should find a different coach. She was too enmeshed at that point to realize how bad the atmosphere was.

 

[starrynight]

That would have been. . .interesting. Not least because in remembering interviews with Aljona about the early stages of the partnership, Bruno really did not like Ingo, didn’t get along with him, and was the one who pointed out to her what an expletive he was being and that they should find a different coach. She was too enmeshed at that point to realize how bad the atmosphere was.

I'm interested to read these interviews. Do you know where I would find them? Weren't Ingo and Aljona a couple at one point?

I love Bruno A LOT but I feel like Vanessa and Morgan are very very well matched. I think each partnership worked out for the best in the end.

As much as I would have liked Bruno Massot to have a few more seasons as a top skater (as his career, while very well decorated, was quite short in the top levels )

 

[aftershocks]

Message from Vanessa to their fans, posted yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp0p_7Gnw5V/

Vanessa:
"We don’t have to show or PRETEND we have a connection, because we do! The greatest indication of LOVE and RESPECT is allowing someone to be happy and to fulfill their dreams! We are who we are and we are where we are today, because we have THAT love and respect for each other. ... For those of you who love us for our journey that has molded us into the people and TEAM we are today... we thank you from the bottom of our hearts; for your love and support both on and off the ice! We love you!"

Loving you both back V&M! So very, very much! Your connection is so palpable, special, in-the-moment, and one-of-a-kind. The way you skate and who you both are individually and inseparably lights up the ice and gives us so much joy and happiness. Thank you for being yourselves, and praise God for bringing you two together, and helping you to always shine and to eventually find your way to Florida to make the most beautiful magic with JZ, Silvia, and Jeremy!!! Shout out to JKerr, Guillaume and Charlie W too!

You continue to make it real and so very exciting. Congratulations, and many continued blessings to you both!

 

[aftershocks]

A James-Massot partnership would have been very interesting.

There's not even any need to start what if'ing. That was never going to happen anyway. Most likely when Vanessa began looking for a new French partner, Bruno was already skating pairs (probably with Anne-Laure Letscher) and thus Vanessa wouldn't have considered him. Bruno also skated with Camille Foucher and later with Daria Popova.

It was Vanessa herself who noticed and contacted Morgan Cipres. He was a singles skater at the time, and Vanessa asked him to tryout with her for pairs, post 2010-Olympics after her former partner, Yannick Bonheur, retired. The rest is history. Vanessa knew what she was looking for in a partner, and having set eyes on Morgan, she did not need to look any further.

V&M were raw and hot from the beginning. They still had much to learn and to fine-tune, but they were clearly made for each other, hugely talented, and heart-grabbingly exciting from the very beginning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKp47mM8tRg 2010 exhibition in St.-Ouen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IV5wrXEQw 2011 TEB sp (their GP debut) Eurosport guys give great praise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPKs3N7nXZM not as much audio interference as above, but the picture isn't as sharp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrC9qzKaf5M Ah, they were always so good together; they just had to keep proving it over and over again, and never giving up -- the way of things in this freakin' sport!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYujUB8IxDA Ted Flett's Blade Boys interview at TEB 2015

This is an adorable and interesting interview from TSL. Who knew Ingo Steuer tried to break them up to pair Vanessa with Bruno Massot?!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7Z8q78xOE&feature=youtu.be

Ah, I see now how this topic arose, but I haven't checked out that interview. As much as I love V&M, I wish they knew enough about DL and his nastiness to decline being interviewed by him. Oh well, DL keeps trying hard, and he's got enough visibility and people who are enabling him, to continue hanging on.

By the point in time that Ingo might have been trying to manuever such a split and switch, there was never any chance that Vanessa would leave her friend and skating partner Morgan. Contrary to the perception someone expressed earlier in this thread, the connection between Morgan and Vanessa is very deep, magnetic and special. They're so hot together that they had to stop seeing each other romantically off the ice, in order to keep it together on the ice.

I love Bruno A LOT but I feel like Vanessa and Morgan are very very well matched. I think each partnership worked out for the best in the end.

Totally agree!

 

[Orm Irian]

That would have been. . .interesting. Not least because in remembering interviews with Aljona about the early stages of the partnership, Bruno really did not like Ingo, didn’t get along with him, and was the one who pointed out to her what an expletive he was being and that they should find a different coach. She was too enmeshed at that point to realize how bad the atmosphere was.

Bruno does seem to be a very good judge of character! It's interesting to hypothesise about what he and Vanessa would have been like as a pair - I think they could have been quite spectacular eventually - but I like the reality where Bruno found his perfect match with Aljona and Vanessa and Morgon kept working until they fulfilled their true potential together better.

Another thing I found interesting in that interview was Vanessa talking about how they more or less fumbled their way into pairs skating from singles and so there was a lot that they weren't taught - I guess because their coaches assumed they already knew it! But there were things Vanessa didn't learn while she was skating with Yannick Bonheur, perhaps because he already knew them well enough to compensate for her lack of knowledge, and then when he retired it's clear that she and Morgan could tell something was missing from their work but didn't know how to identify it or address it. And their coaches were no help - Oh, what you're doing isn't working, but let's just keep on with more of the same! Vanessa approaching John Zimmerman was absolutely a stroke of genius because he had the knowledge to see what they needed and the ability to teach it, and so fast, too!

So I can see their argument about it being best to come to pairs after skating singles at senior level due to the physical demands of the discipline for both boys and girls, but it's clear there are also some partnering skills that it's good to learn early and well (the sort of things ice dance teams who've been together from childhood like Gabi and Guillaume learn too). A conundrum for pairs coaches to work on, perhaps?

 

[kittysk8ts]

I’ve made no secret about my feelings over in the TSL thread. I don't enjoy mocking of skaters. But they do have some decent interviews and I did watch Vanessa and Morgan and they were lovely. They are quite down to earth and super cute and despite the fact that they were open and honest I found them both to be a bit shy as well!

While I’m here, their SC performances were excellent and it was wonderful to see them so happy. Vanessa said the time deduction didn’t matter because it was worth the point(s) to see Morgan so happy.

Vanessa and Morgan for World Gold. It’s their time.

 

[libecha]

I'm interested to read these interviews. Do you know where I would find them? Weren't Ingo and Aljona a couple at one point?

I love Bruno A LOT but I feel like Vanessa and Morgan are very very well matched. I think each partnership worked out for the best in the end.

As much as I would have liked Bruno Massot to have a few more seasons as a top skater (as his career, while very well decorated, was quite short in the top levels )

There was this interview translated right here on FSU: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ts-not-about-the-winning-but-competing.98350/

And I'm almost positive another long one in German after the Olympic gold but my Google-fu across languages is spotty.

 

[aftershocks]

^^ Please do take your above post answering @starrynight regarding the aliona interviews, to the Savchenko/Massot thread @libecha. You will notice that I took my response to your comments about S/M to their thread. Thank you.

Meanwhile, here's the post by Vanessa on Instagram (SC medal podium) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpg4vynHjD1/, which had elicited some comments from a few clueless posters trying to tell them how to act on the ice with each other, and that's what Vanessa was later referencing in her message to fans, accompanied by that gorgeous posted close-up pic of her and Morgan. They are so lovely! All we need to do is watch, support, and enjoy. Being themselves is one of the keys to J/C's success! https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpd9Su3H2IC/

And this shot with other skaters is fun: https://www.instagram.com/p/BphGjjlHRXS/


Here's a gift of a new montage for the New Season:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ij-Uu4c3s

 

[Mad for Skating]

This is an adorable and interesting interview from TSL. Who knew Ingo Steuer tried to break them up to pair Vanessa with Bruno Massot?!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7Z8q78xOE&feature=youtu.be

That would've been very interesting and awesome to watch! But I really like the way things turned out - Savchenko/Massot and James/Cipres.

Vanessa:
"We don’t have to show or PRETEND we have a connection, because we do! The greatest indication of LOVE and RESPECT is allowing someone to be happy and to fulfill their dreams! We are who we are and we are where we are today, because we have THAT love and respect for each other. ... For those of you who love us for our journey that has molded us into the people and TEAM we are today... we thank you from the bottom of our hearts; for your love and support both on and off the ice! We love you!"

Loving you both back V&M! So very, very much! Your connection is so palpable, special, in-the-moment, and one-of-a-kind. The way you skate and who you both are individually and inseparably lights up the ice and gives us so much joy and happiness. Thank you for being yourselves, and praise God for bringing you two together, and helping you to always shine and to eventually find your way to Florida to make the most beautiful magic with JZ, Silvia, and Jeremy!!! Shout out to JKerr, Guillaume and Charlie W too!

You continue to make it real and so very exciting. Congratulations, and many continued blessings to you both!

Vanessa writes so beautifully! I'm so glad she brought this up; I can't stand people in skating who try to make a relationship look like something that it's not.

 

[EYGH]

That would've been very interesting and awesome to watch! But I really like the way things turned out - Savchenko/Massot and James/Cipres.

I totally agree. Both S/M and J/C are remarquable with each pair its unique personality and qualities. But boy, are Vanessa and Morgan gorgeous looking, each and together. They really do have the sexy thing going. With Aliona and Bruno the chemistry which is totally great, is of another order.

I love both teams for different reasons. Both teams have something mesmerizing.

 

[Mad for Skating]

I totally agree. Both S/M and J/C are remarquable with each pair its unique personality and qualities. But boy, are Vanessa and Morgan gorgeous looking, each and together. They really do have the sexy thing going. With Aliona and Bruno the chemistry which is totally great, is of another order.

I love both teams for different reasons. Both teams have something mesmerizing.

Agree 100%! I love how in pairs, everyone has their own vibe and style. It’s really refreshing!

 

[Spun Silver]

World's cutest video (some extremely dedicated fans of Vanessa and Morgan):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqBVExiBT1Z/

 

[Mad for Skating]

World's cutest video (some extremely dedicated fans of Vanessa and Morgan):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqBVExiBT1Z/

This was literally the highlight of my weekend

 

[aftershocks]

^^ That's really so sweet. I think these youngsters may be Vanessa's nieces, but I'm not certain. They could also be the daughters of family friends. They were both in the audience rooting for Vanessa & Morgan at Skate Canada, along with Vanessa's mother!

Below is another lovely Instagram post with a gorgeous pic of Vanessa & Morgan, taken after one of their fps last season (they're wearing those lovely, gorgeous gray Say Something costumes). I really enjoy reading the interaction between Vanessa and her fans. So many new and increasing fans of J/C imagine and desire for them to be in a romantic relationship. Vanessa reiterates what she mentioned in the interview a few years ago with Ted Flett, that she and Morgan are the best of friends (and that it's quite often hard to be partners on and off-the-ice). I admire them for making the decision to accept the difficulty of nurturing an intimate relationship off the ice. They chose to focus on putting their skating first, and nurturing their on-ice partnership and their friendship, which is obviously very meaningful and special to them both. Coming to that decision surely wasn't easy for either of them. But making that personal sacrifice has likely helped them grow as athletes and mature as young people. There is such genuine sweetness and trusting innocence that comes across in both of their personalities, along with steadfast desire and determination to accomplish their goals.

They make me believe in hope and in good things coming to fruition!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp8MfPqAjTh/

 

[Mad for Skating]

^^ That's really so sweet. I think these youngsters may be Vanessa's nieces, but I'm not certain. They could also be the daughters of family friends. They were both in the audience rooting for Vanessa & Morgan at Skate Canada, along with Vanessa's mother!

Below is another lovely Instagram post with a gorgeous pic of Vanessa & Morgan, taken after one of their fps last season (they're wearing those lovely, gorgeous gray Say Something costumes). I really enjoy reading the interaction between Vanessa and her fans. So many new and increasing fans of J/C imagine and desire for them to be in a romantic relationship. Vanessa reiterates what she mentioned in the interview a few years ago with Ted Flett, that she and Morgan are the best of friends (and that it's quite often hard to be partners on and off-the-ice). I admire them for making the decision to accept the difficulty of nurturing an intimate relationship off the ice. They chose to focus on putting their skating first, and nurturing their on-ice partnership and their friendship, which is obviously very meaningful and special to them both. Coming to that decision surely wasn't easy for either of them. But making that personal sacrifice has likely helped them grow as athletes and mature as young people. There is such genuine sweetness and trusting innocence that comes across in both of their personalities, along with steadfast desire and determination to accomplish their goals.

They make me believe in hope and in good things coming to fruition!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp8MfPqAjTh/

I love how honest she is about their relationship! It’s not easy to tell all like that, but she handles it so well.