Thursday, August 8, 2013


"Every year they make the twizzles more difficult. It's not just the jumps, but the holds and twists right before they enter them. No other team can manage it."
(Davis White fan, rolling up sleeves and pluckily tackling the technical case for Davis White's wins over Virtue and Moir.)
Set aside that this defender has merely pulled this statement out of their hind end. Let's look at DW's post Vancouver twizzles.
 
Davis White 2011 twizzles:

Look at those twists and holds!
One thing for sure, no other dancers could pull off this hustle.

Virtue Moir 2011:


Now that is certainly different from the twizzles these two performed in Vancouver. If Davis White ever tried a circular twizzle pass followed by a sbs twizzle pass, they'd both end up face-planted in the parking lot and never find their way back to the ice.

Twists and holds - 2012!!!!


How waltz-like. Bear in mind that Meryl and Charlie are pulling in that extra GOE for executing twizzles "in the style of the music". Boy, their twizzles are versatile. 2011 was a tango, and 2012 was a waltz, yet the same twizzles done the same way - no stylistic modifications in the performance of the twizzles themselves - are deemed to be in the character of any music DW are using. Waltz, tango, ballet - doesn't matter. They get the GOE for style of the music doing two straight-on bombs away twizzle passes styled identically season to season, sd to fd.

Here's Funny Face's twizzles (2012). How do VM keep getting way with repeating themselves like this? It makes me so mad they beat Die Fleudermaus in 2012!!

Oh wait.
Here's the Notre Dame (2013 twizzles) - part of the program that outscored Carmen at every meeting. One thing for sure, those twizzles are certainly in the style of music describing a tragic romance of epic dimensions marked by angst and yearning, not to mention they certainly showcase Meryl and Charlie's newly discovered connection.

Hop, drag and leap. A little swervy and uncontrolled in the traveling part.
What kind of music style was Notre Dame, so I can decide if these are in the style of the music?

Here's Carmen's twizzles:


By the way, after two of these twizzles, VM transition into their dance spin. Another element.

So, DW fans have decided to defend their faves on technical merit, but by making it up.

I believe a DW defender also claims that DW are better waltzers than VM. Are they referring to the Golden Waltz pattern dance? Because really - does anyone want a gif stand-off on that one?

Or do they believe because Die Fleudermaus was waltz music, DW must have waltzed in it. They did not. They did no dance of any kind except a weird polka/two step quote in the part of the choreography where they grabbed the kitchen sink, added some limbs and head flails, and started throwing it all at the audience while modeling applause-beseeching gesticulation.

I would like the "twists" part of technique explained to me in skating terms, and also how that impacts the difficulty of a twizzle. That is if DW were twisting and holding. Let's just pretend. Their fans are.

I put this up because DW fans are following the DW playbook. They think SAYING DW do something is exactly the same as DW doing it.

P.S. - Today Nick McCarvale of NBC claims Virtue Moir merely "squeaked" by DW in the 2010 Olympics, although the victory margin was, I believe, in the neighborhood of five points (Lysacek beat Plushenko by something like four tenths of a point). But of course, when DW are awarded Worlds gold in 2013 by a margin of about 4.5, they SMITE their rivals. "Smite" means "firm blow" or "defeat or conquer". It doesn't mean squeak by.

This is typical.

58 comments:

  1. What "holds and twists right before they enter" their twizzles? That attempt to justify D/W's scores is just sad.

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    1. I especially love this part of that opening quote from the DW fan: "No other team can manage it."

      The self-delusions are strong in that uber group.

      Delete
  2. This is so weird and defensive. This entire site is weird and defensive.

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    1. This comment lacks conviction.

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    2. Yup, there it is.

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    3. Countering an assertion with proof as to why it's false is being weird and defensive, is it?

      Can't have the skating actually critiqued. No, no. That would be rude.

      Perhaps you could enlighten us on what "holds and twists" (I love that) Meryl and Charlie do when entering their twizzles that no other team can manage? I see the EXACT SAME entrance in each FD shown here.

      Delete
    4. You people are so creepy.

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    5. So that would be a no to the question, then? LOL. That's what I figured.

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    6. LOL. LOL. LOL. So creepy. LOL. LOL.

      Delete
    7. When you're done tossing around your pathetic attempt at insults, let me know. But don't worry, I'm not rushing you. Go ahead and get 'em all out. In the meantime, I'll keep waiting on an answer to the question.

      Delete
    8. Seriously, take a step back. This entire site is crazy. I'm just seriously confused. Why so quick to start fights? Why the hostility?

      By the way, this is the Internet. You can quit the posturing. I'm ignoring the oh so important question because I'm basically trolling you and it's not that important to me. You're welcome!

      Delete
    9. Ah, this is the internet. Thanks for that clarification. I see we've come to the passive-aggressive portion of this exchange when the person who admits to trolling and making ad hominem attacks asks "why the hostility?"

      Try again if you'd like. If not, thanks for dropping by.

      Delete
    10. lol do you even know what trolling is?

      Delete
  3. This is what D/W's programs could look like, minus all the hopping, skipping, jumping, shallow edges, and clutching-for-dear-life-lifts; notice how the twizzles and lifts look oh-so-familiar, but better?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV1Kg77gRLM

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  4. Virtue and Moir's Carmen twizzles used the music to a spectacular degree. They were so effective at building tension and suspense, and so risky because they had to end them at exactly the right moment on an exact beat, or they would have fallen flat.

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    1. Not just Carmen - the timing on those twizzles, as well as the exit to the twizzles - was a tour de force - but Funny face uses the music precisely. DW just blast through the music.

      Delete
  5. Somehow I forgot that the "goofy walking section" in FF immediately went into the twizzles. Holy. If only they were twisting and holding.

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    Replies
    1. I think these D/W ubers are probably latching onto the fact that in both programs this year D/W did add "a something" directly before the twizzles, giving themselves less setup time. Thing is V/M always do that...AND they do different twizzles....so what is the point that's supposed to have been scored here? I'm honestly so confused.

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    2. In the walking section VM are actually skating. It's their upper bodies that mimic marching; their feet are skating. One DW fan once dismissed this part as "walking" because they apparently relied on DW's imitation of this move. IOW, DW walked and didn't skate while imitating VM. Kind of ironic.

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  6. What is with that ridiculous hop that D/W do before every single set of twizzles? Very ugly and distracting. I assume that is to build momentum?

    The fact that shit beat Carmen is nothing short of a travesty.

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    1. Just read the comments for the previous post and oc answered my question about the hop. Now if only we could figure out how this crap beat VM.

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    2. Yeah, the hop ADDS difficulty per the rulebook. We all know that jumping into a rotation just makes the rotation super hard, not to mention, it's much harder than achieving rotational and traveling speed off an edge. This is why so many singles elements that use rotation launch with a leap or jump. The twizzles with a hop are clearly harder - this is why Gilles & Poirier do it. With Piper in the mix, they're seizing on the hardest twizzles EVER. That's also why Andreev/Khoklova hopped into THEIR two sets of twizzles. We're talking twizzling with the greats here.

      I find it interesting that DW have never once tried something different. It's always the two sets. And what they added to give them less set up time in 2013 of course includes HOPS, not to mention Meryl and Charlie facing the same direction, Meryl putting her hands on Charlie's shoulders, which of course aids stability. It's not a "hold" per say. His arms are free. She's just bracing on his shoulders. And there's no twists. Hop hop hop hop. They constantly hop.

      Delete
  7. And the media misinformation continues...apparently, V/M "squeaked by" D/W (notice the typo).

    So winning by almost 6 points is "squeaking by"? Oye.

    http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/figure-skating-athletes-watch

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    1. Yes. Whereas Davis White CONQUERED, DOMINATED, RULED, ROLLED, SMOTE!!! Virtue Moir by 4.5 in 2013, including the 77 cheat the scales points for the short dance. It's all about the off ice politicking for Davis White. Period. The double standard just jumps up and slaps you in the face. It begs to be called out. Even the "You're mean and weird!" shit in the comments up above is classic. Are Davis and White Olympic athletes or not? Are they in a competitive sport or not? NOT. Their partisans have worked hard to rule out of bounds any criticism of their actual skating, because it's mean.

      Delete
  8. The DW ubers must be dying that this conversation is taking place here instead of FSU. They can't deploy their usual tactics of red blobs, whining in the secret forums, and trying to get the blogger banned. They'll just have to settle for masturbatory, self-congratulating nonsense posts in the fan thread where they'll be quick to say anyone who disagrees is meeeeeeean.

    You can see how every couple of weeks, when this blog gets going, the tension builds as they become frustrated with all the analysis posted here, so then one of them finally dares to post an out-of-the-blue dissertation that attempts to negate all the points here, and so the circle jerk begins as others post "Yes, I agree!" and after a while they go back to talking about DJ the dog, content that they have proven to themselves that DW's wins were deserved.

    It's insecurity, that's all. Just look at how nervous they were about Notre Dame compared to Carmen. Even they can't believe the hustle so they're trying to justify it.

    As usual they have latched on to the least relevant part of this discussion - that of DW's lack of originality. They are actually saying that if pairs teams don't have to always change their lifts, why should ice dancers? And my favorite - how is anyone supposed to have a signature move if you can't repeat elements for years? (The Goose is a signature element that was only performed 1.5 seasons).

    Nobody is addressing that VM's elements aren't just different for the sake of being original, they're ADDING DIFFICULTY. And their moves are executed with BETTER TECHNIQUE. If DW were recycling elements that happened to more difficult and cleaner than VM's new elements, then there might be an argument. They are performing junior lifts and the Andreev/Gilles twizzles every year. Please.

    They need to stop stressing and just enjoy their favorite teams undeserved scores. But no, it's not enough, they think people need to agree with them too. Hearts and minds, y'all.

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  9. Well, considering the many irrelevent things ice dance fans find revelant, of course they'll think the point is originality. Unless they're missing the point on purpose, and that can't be it.

    The point is difficulty. How have they stayed competitive doing the same elements the same way since prior to 2009, while Virtue and Moir, by any measure, have made stunning advances in every level of their skating from element to choreographic difficulty, and yet DW are still beating VM? This was what launched the DW topic on the blog in the first place, months ago. I believe the headline query was "How have DW improved?"

    It turns out they haven't, and yet somehow, by standing still, they have overtaken a team that was beating them four years ago, a team that has subsequently made the above-mentioned spectacular advances in choreographic complexity and technical difficulty.

    It's not enough to say "They must have - they're beating VM!!" Where are these improvements? Where is the added difficulty? Where does this difficulty and execution trump what VM are doing? After all, if DW fans have utter faith in how the judges deploy CoP, then they have to shut their faces about 2012 and agree Virtue and Moir deserved to kick Die Fleuder-mess's ass even with a couple of glitches. But they don't. Whine whine whine whine about that one. Why weren't the judges correct then? Are they saying the judges are biased, political, or unqualified, or other - except when judging DW to a win over VM, in which case the judges shouldn't be questioned?

    If they're going to use CoP and claim DW skate per CoP, then shouldn't they be using more specific technical terms and not "jumps (JUMPS?), twists and holds"?

    It's impossible to participate on any fan forum that has screen names without experiencing politics and bullying. Across fan forums, and not just with skating, a minority, but threatening, opinion, is always shut down, no matter how that opinion is expressed. That's why this blog's comment section is always going to favor anonymity.

    oc

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  10. Even lamer than the FSU ubers are the Icenetwork ubers:

    http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130805&content_id=55949358&vkey=ice_news


    "Considering I am basing the fact the they have been off on the past two season, I think that is fair. Maybe they will wow me this year. But they haven't in the few. They haven't had the same drive they had before. If that changes, I'll revise my opinion. Overall I prefer the way Meryl and Charlie skate."

    Basing on what fact? And how exactly have they been off? And does wowing someone who obviously doesn't understand what ice dance actually is constitute an objective assessment of what is happening ON the ice?

    But no, since they prefer the way Meryl and Charlie skate, that's really all that matters. Ridiculous.

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    1. "Off" the past TWO seasons, including when they reclaimed the World title vis a vis that DF slop?

      What constitutes "on" for DW and "off" for VM is a double standard. DW just have to stay upright - on two feet, on an edge, standing still, - hell, scratch that - only their torsos have to stay upright - knee slides are fine - clinging onto each other is fine - doesn't matter. Just make it look on purpose. Clutching their cores together to maintain stability because they can't manage anything more than two inches from mutually aligned centers of gravity is also just fine. This way they are totally competitive with VM's stunning lifts, and Tessa Virtue's ability to manage her body in space no matter how far away her center of gravity is from Scott's center of gravity. Totally competitive with Scott Moir's ability to support Tessa Virtue in space as her center of gravity is positioned away from his and as they exit Scott instantly aligns his body and his edges with hers and they come away skating as one. Because if Scott and Tessa have a hair out of place while executing any of this, why then, the team that is securely pasted together with three out of Meryl's four limbs super-glued to Charlie is the team that is "on" and deserves higher scores.

      VM are scored against themselves. Anything that falls short of their best-in-the-world standard accures to DW. How that works beats me. Even DW fans agree with this. Look at that icenetwork poster. Anything about DW? NOPE. VM. VM VM VM VM. VM are "off". Ergo, DW should win. This is a racket and so unfair.

      The standards for the two of them are completely different. The bar is set low for DW. Perfection is the bar for VM. Therefore if they are "off" or a hair off from perfect, DW should win.

      Nobody's ever going to get specific about DW in the skating world. EVER. DW's fans want to talk about VM versus VM. They never want to talk, technically, VM versus DW. There's nothing to say. It's news to me that a second-rate team is supposed to get their scores inflated every time their nearest rival is less than their individual best, a best which is many points better than anyone else. How come it doesn't work this way in other disciplines?

      oc

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    2. This icenetwork poster is in line with how VM are judged - VM are judged only against VM. Any differential is awarded to DW. It's criminal.

      Just look at the twizzles, brought up by a DW fan. VM style their twizzles differently from their short to their free dance, as well as year to year. Let's not even address the unison, speed, exit, entry, timing with the music. Just they're different. DW do the same fucking twizzle passes not just year-to-year, but in their short and their free. No matter what stylistic non-skating pastiche they flurry-up prior to the twizzle entrance, the twizzles themselves - the launch, the actual twizzles, the exit - are the same. Ignoring the music, ignoring the style of the dance. Same same same same same. One note. Giselle twizzles same as Notre Dame's.

      Furthermore, DW pick up GOE for executing twizzles in the 'style of the music'. Which is criminal. And then, VM changing twizzles year to year and short dance to free dance, becomes a club to beat them with if they're unable to be their own personal best at every outing, due to them having actually created something new instead of getting out there and doing bombastic one-note circa 2009 twizzles in their sleep, and only two sets. If DW's twizzles were "off" after doing the same ones five years straight for ten straight programs while not bothering to adjust the twizzles to the program they're skating, it would be bizarre. And even still, the twizzles are wonky. First rate twizzles are meant to be generally no more than an extended arm's length apart. You can drive an extra Meryl and Charlie through the gap between Meryl and Charlie in their twizzles, except for when Meryl makes a deep swerve and almost knocks Charlie over midway, before swerving back.

      The real question is why these twizzles are now beating Virtue Moir when these twizzles couldn't beat Virtue Moir in 2009, when Virtue Moir's twizzles were less difficult than they are now (although still beautifully executed).

      Delete
    3. The comedy on Ice Network continues:

      "Under this scoring system I think it is laughable to say what happens on the ice determines the placement. The men's event at 2013 Worlds was proof of that.

      And by seemed off there was the stop in the FD at 2013 4CC and then the problem with the twizzles in the SD at Worlds. Those are facts."

      Seriously, you cant' write this shit...oh, but you can!

      Delete
    4. There it is again - compare VM to VM and award DW the difference. VM had an imperfection (the twizzles at Worlds) in a set of twizzles that even with the glitch were more difficult as executed than Charlie and Meryl's twizzles. Even with the glitch they also showed incredible control, timing, and unison.

      This poster is demonstrating that VM are measured against themselves, not against Meryl Charlie. Tessa still has more of a sustained edge out of the twizzles than Meryl and Charlie do.

      The 4CC interruption. They interrupted their program at the 4CC's using the ISU's own rule. Which means that rule must be changed. Fascinating. I await the day the ISU notices that ice dancers who jump into their twizzles and then do only two are doing easier twizzles with an assist/crutch and they should not be level 4. Considering the worth of that element, that's a massive, enabled cheat.

      But the bottom line is, this poster is comparing VM to perfection, which is the point of a lot of this discussion. They're not comparing VM to DW. That comparison doesn't favor DW, but it's the logic DW partisans are trying to use, because it's free points to DW. Expect perfection from VM - perfection in a ferociously difficult free dance using pure dance moves as choreography and pure skating to execute the choreography. If something isn't perfect, don't measure the imperfection against something Meryl and Charlie did and see if it falls short or is still stronger/more difficult. Measure it against VM themselves, and award the differential to Meryl and Charlie who are doing the same program they've done since 2008-2009, with 2008-2009 elements. Why weren't they on top back then? They haven't changed. I guess back then they weren't being awarded any points VM left on the ice.

      The fact that this poster would cite the Worlds twizzles because Tessa put her foot down a fraction before Scott (which is standard operating procedure for Meryl and Charlie - having a step or gesture a half beat off the other while exiting, stopping, transitioning, etc.,) - Meryl and Charlie should get the nod. Don't compare it to how Meryl and Charlie twizzled or exited the twizzles. Don't allow Virtue and Moir any points for what they did accomplish in those Worlds twizzles, which is how CoP works. Nope. They were imperfect compared to their own best, and the difference between what they did and their personal best should be awarded to DW. That's how fans and apparently judges and certainly the commentariat think it should work. But only for DW. Not with any other two figure skating competitors nor in any other skating discipline.

      oc

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    5. "Tessa put her foot down a fraction before Scott (which is standard operating procedure for Meryl and Charlie - having a step or gesture a half beat off the other while exiting, stopping, transitioning, etc., is standard operating procedure for them) - so Meryl and Charlie should get the nod."

      So fucking true. But point this out to a DW fan and it will be all "I guess VM fans just can't accept how DW have ~*~improved~*~ by now."

      VM Worlds SD twizzles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t46vJL8ABrs&feature=player_detailpage&t=135

      Despite the mistake from Tessa, the rest of the twizzle is in perfect unison, with equidistant space between them throughout, and great exit on an edge.

      Watching that is so depressing. I hadn't since Worlds. *That* is the mistake that lost the World title. JFC.

      That element could still be a high scoring one for VM, and combined with their other elements, especially their extraordinary YP sequence and the skating skills mark, should have been more than enough if not to win the SD, then to be within a mark of DW. And they should have won the FD by a country mile. There's no reasonable argument otherwise...

      Delete
    6. It's just sickening that THAT was the error that cost them the world title. That error was nothing in the context of the whole program. They should have easily been able to have absorbed that mistake. Instead, it buried them.

      Delete
    7. "There's no reasonable argument otherwise..."

      No, there isn't. This is the most blatant icedance corruption I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty.

      There's no excuse for DW to EVER score in the vicinity of VM at all, let alone beat them. It's outrageous that no one is speaking out about this except the VM fans, and we're labeled mean and crazy for daring to point out the reality of what is happening ON THE ICE.

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    8. My theory is that people who care about quality ice dancing stopped caring when DW won in 2011.

      It used to be possible to have rational discussions comparing the technique of couples like Navka/K, Grushina/G, Delobel/S, Kokhlova/N, Domnina/S, Dubreiul/L, Denkova/S, Belbin/A, Chait/S, etc etc.

      You could actually point out recycled moves, poor footwork, cheated twizzles, rest stops, bland choreography, and the like without being labelled a HATAH!!!1111

      And when they won World titles, nobody said well the protocol said so and that's that. People actually talked. About the skating. Their fans even admitted their flaws, and discussions were had about what flaws were more important, how bad the flaws were, and how they fit into the program overall.

      DW fans do not want to have that conversation and we all know why.

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    9. "There's no excuse for DW to EVER score in the vicinity of VM at all, let alone beat them."

      Agreed, ice dance couples used to win with falls because their overall skating was better. I don't mind VM losing a segment by a nudge if they have major mistakes, just so they don't engender hatred and accusations of cheating. But then I guess they engendered that just by being good skaters, so fuck it.

      Delete
    10. So not only can the poster not state WHY D/W are better than V/W, she gets her panties in a twist when she is called out on her on BS:


      "Now you are just putting words in my mouth about Sochi. And completely missing the point. First you asked how they seemed off, when i told you, you completely dismissed that and then jumped to a completely different area.

      Part of making predictions and deciding on a favorite future performance relies on the observation of past performance. I obviously can't know how V/M or anyone else will do in Sochi. Nor did I ever claim to know that. I stated my preference based on past performance. However you chose to get butt hurt about that. Typical.

      Criteria laid out by COP? COP is a joke."


      Ya, COP is a fucking joke indeed, because it has been manipulated to the benefit of D/W's crap skating.

      Delete
    11. 12:34
      Yes, and this person's personal preferences are rooted in subjective things like "style" and "feeling" and "performance" instead of actual skating.

      Delete
    12. Not on the basis of skating they're not. This is something DW fans can only assert. They're unable to point out where in the actual skating DW deserve to win over VM.

      oc

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    13. The person employing every piece of internet rhetorical shade in the playbook is not pointing out why DW deserve to win OVER VM. Again and again it's only VM. The latest is pretending that the subject of how DW deserve to win over VM is BESIDE THE POINT. Which is their partisans all over.

      All they can do is assert it. "They deserve it. VM blah blah blah." But they can't say why Tessa's premature foot down out of the twizzles makes their performance overall less worthy than DW, nor can they say what it is that DW do on the ice that makes them deserve higher scores than VM.

      This is nothing but the exact same reasoning that thinks a singles skater who falls but is otherwise light years better than the runner up everywhere else should lose, even if the runner up did no combination jumps, had uncentered spins, or did easier elements across the board. Nope. The winner stumbled.

      All DW partisans want to talk about is how VM measure against their own personal best or potential personal best in a given competition, a personal best that is out of reach of possibly every single ice dancer ever born except for the two of them. They never want to talk about what it is, technically and with specificity, DW do that merits higher scores, element by element, and pcs overall, than VM.

      And then they say CoP is a joke. Why not try to unite those two opinions. CoP is a joke, but DW deserve to win.

      Oh wait, I get it. CoP is a joke because it pretends to measure what actually happened on the ice. Even though it's corrupt and how DW are scored per CoP is corrupt. Of course DW fans want to argue against CoP because CoP provides criteria we can look at and then look at the skating and measure the criteria against the actual skating. They don't even care that DW get wonky scores in CoP - they just dislike that, no matter what the judges are doing, fans can look at DW and then at CoP and know the fix is in. Therefore, CoP is a joke! Does it measure rooting value? Huh, huh?

      Rooting value - a subjective quality if ever there was one, and irrelevant in scoring an athletic event - is all DW fans have. They find DW more rootworthy.

      They want DW to deserve their wins for non-skating reasons.

      oc

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    14. DW are more rootworthy because they're underdogs. I swear, these people actually like them because they are less talented, rather than in spite of it. It's the same thought process that gets overweight football players to win Dancing with the Stars, the "improvement" arc. Anyone can do it if they just put in the hours, including all the junior teams who are doing DW's twizzles and lifts.

      One DW stan actually wrote that they liked DW's "workmanlike" quality, as if it were a compliment!

      Definition of WORKMANLIKE
      : characterized by the skill and efficiency typical of a good workman ; also : competent and skillful but not outstanding or original

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  11. OC you should also gif V/M'S dance spins

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  12. ohyeahvirtuemoirgifs made a fabulous post about v/m's twizzles http://ohyeahvirtuemoirgifs.tumblr.com/post/57887246000/tessa-virtue-scott-moir-fd-twizzles

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  13. Speaking of twizzles, check out the archived videos from the Quebec competition. One of Marina's junior teams, Giordano and Weiss, used the exact same twizzle pass that Meryl and Charlie use.

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    1. and another couple used a rotational lift of d/w

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    2. Someone should go through the twizzles of every single team at Worlds and see if anyone else does those twizzles besides DW and GP.

      Delete
    3. 9:56 and 10:23

      See? No other team can manage to do what DW do.
      Bwahahahaha

      These are junior teams. Yeah, so technically superior, they should be scoring close to 200!! They're already better than VM!!

      Delete
    4. Oh, but they don't "whip" the twizzles like DW! You have to be around a few years to master that technique. MAGICAL WIZARD HAIR. IT ADDS SO MUCH DRAMA AND EMOTION TO THE TWIZZLES. PCS WIN!

      Delete
  14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-LgTWNzkII

    New SD!!!! 76!!!

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    1. That was a phenomenal performance for this early in the season. Needs work, but I am in love with this program already!

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    2. What a stunning sd. Choreographically dense. A tour de force of changes of hold while using skating skills (edges, run of blade and deep knees) to dance on the ice. A tour de force of partnering from Scott. Fantastic music cuts. Stunning highlights - the arrested momentum coming around the corner into the Finnstep. Wonderful flow and timing not just in the choreography but from Scott and Tessa. Scott was on fire in this performance - he looked as if he were having the time of his life. And of course, new styling for the twizzles. You can take similar twizzles (as was pointed out comparing W&P's twizzles in their 2012-2013 short and free dance) and execute them in the style of the music you're doing. Meaning, the rhythm, the arms, the carriage, the timing, whether or not you are doing inside edge followed by outside followed by inside in both programs. Davis and White don't do this and yet the judges count a flourish they may make before they even enter the twizzles as part of the twizzles, and no matter what type of flourish it is - whether the traffic collision/pile up mess they did right before they went into the Giselle twizzles, or the hop hop hop swing and HOP they did before the Notre Dame twizzles, they count as being in the style of that particular music, even though of course that traffic accident before the Giselle twizzles wasn't the slightest bit balletic, nor Giselle-esque, and the huge leaps and hops they did before Notre Dame expressed that program how?

      I can't wait til Meryl and Charlie's sd. It's the Finnstep. I want to run a hop tally. In rewatching the new VM short dance, I wanted to see if they used the skipping action in the Finnstep as an excuse to skip and hop elsewhere - they did not. They skate. I enjoyed though, that in one sequence SCOTT did a pirhouette. That was funny.

      If the judges don't make real distinctions between the two teams this season the ISU will have gone a long way to undoing ice dance's credibility as a sport - credibility that only barely existed half a decade as it is.

      Delete
    3. Oh and look, they changed the arm movements in the twizzle sets, and the exit as well. Adding difficulty for the sake of difficulty. Silly V/M!

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    4. Every time I watch there's something else. At one point they're dancing in hold, break hold for separate pirhouettes done in the jazzy style of this program, btw, not just standard issue pirhouettes - and when the rotation finishes they take each other's hands without missing a beat and Tessa briefly glides in arobesque before they resume dance hold. It's stunning. Their blades never stop running.

      oc

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    5. lol d/w fans on twitter are already pulling a shitfit on twitter about the scores

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  15. not surprised this is coming from icenetwork what does she mean by unofficial? https://twitter.com/LynnRutherford/status/366277252251525121

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    1. Think she just means it hasn't been officially posted by the ISU. It's based on what people heard at the rink. This is common for these summer competitions.

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