ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Skate Canada Short Dance

1) Sarah Arnold & Justin Trojek (Canada)
     Music: Waltz

• A little out of sync on the twizzles
• The mirroring footwork is nice, but again, a bit out of sync on the twizzles
• A little slow on the rotational lift
• SD Score: 20.29 (technical) + 19.78  (presentation) = 40.07

2) Stephanie Frohber & Tim Giesen (Germany)
      Music: Waltz Tanz der Hofdamen

• Their coach Rene Lohse was a great ice dancer with partner Kati Winkler a few years back
• Its so interesting to look at the coaches of these young skaters/teams and remember them when they were competing
• I feel like they are cheating a lot of their positions in the golden waltz portion, they could be a lot deeper into their knees and the edges
• The ending rotational lift looks clunky to me
• This was an average program overall, not much of a performance and a lack of commitment to the golden waltz segment
• SD Score: 24.07 (technical) + 18.93 (presentation) = 43.00 

3) Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam (Canada)
     Music: Waltz & Tango

•  Skategate has already made this comment, but I feel that tango is a bad idea for the second dance in this new short dance format as it is so hard to blend with the golden waltz, we'll see how this team does with it
• A bit out of sync in one of the opening twizzles
• A loss of a hold there for a moment
• The shoot the duck position could have been a bit deeper
• She seems to be bobbling a lot on some simple elements
• I did nitpick them a lot, but overall it was a decent performance
• It seems to me that Canada has a lot of up and coming pair and dance teams, so we'll see who rises to the top at their nationals and makes the world team
• SD Score: 27.42 (technical) + 23.13 (presentation) = 50.55 

4) Rachel Tibbets & Collin Brubaker (USA) **
      Music: Waltz

•  This piece is very sweet, I love it very much from a presentation standpoint
• She had a nice low position in the shoot the duck but I thought her leg was a little bent
• Rotational lift was nice, but again, Rachel needs to straighten her legs
• Out of sync on ending twizzle sequence; I know twizzles are difficult to perform well, but they are required elements so ice dancers have no excuse not to do them well
• Awww Collin looks like a little Rockne
• SD Score: 18.92  (technical) +  18.92 (presentation) - 1.00 (deduction) = 36.88

5) Pernelle Carron & Lloyd Jones (France)
      Music: La Valse a Mille Temps by Brel

• These costumes remind me of the old days of ice dance where you had to ask yourself what they were thinking when they got dressed 
• When I saw them I was expecting a piece about the French Revolution
• Very out of sync on the opening twizzle sequence
• Nice fluidity in the golden waltz sequence, but a little slow moving across the ice
• I liked their rotational lift a lot
• SD Score: 28.71 (technical) + 25.72 (presentation) = 54.43 

6) Kristina Gorshkova & Vitali Butikov (Russia)
      Music: Russian waltz

•  Nice speed and fluidity across the ice in this golden waltz
• I loved the flexibility demonstrated in that rotational lift and the exit was smooth too
• These costumes are unnecessary, they are flashy to the point of being distracting
• SD Score: 27.87 (technical) + 23.69 (presentation) = 51.56

7) Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein (USA) **
      Music: Foxtrot: Milford Waltz: Padam, Padam

•  This team is moving fast, I love the speed, it makes the team all the more exciting to watch
• Beautiful deep knees and edges in the golden waltz sequence
• The first set of twizzles looked a bit off to me
• The positions on that rotation lift were fantastic and led into a very exciting ending for this shot dance
• They should easily go into 1st place
• I guess Marina is on coaching duty this weekend after Igor did NHK with Davis/White and the Shibutanis last weekend
• Madison's hair looks like a mess
• SD Score: 28.51 (technical) + 25.98 (presentation) = 54.19

8) Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier (Canada)
       Music: Fallin' by Alicia Keys

• That opening upside down lift was fantastic, and it looked so incredibly easy
• I like the mix of contemporary music with the golden waltz and the classical costuming
• Paul looks very dapper, but that costume is too tight on Vanessa for a white dress
• Normally in ice dance the man is supposed to frame and shape the woman, but I cannot take my eyes off of Paul
• The last lift was pretty, but I wanted Vanessa to point her foot harder
• The ending twizzles into the final pose were very nice
• SD Score: 34.00 (technical) + 28.95 (presentation) = 62.95

9) Sinead Kerr & John Kerr (Great Britain) **
       Music: Waltz, Quickstep

•  They have great speed and such nice long lines, probably because they are both so tall
• I thought that was a nice transition from waltz to quickstep
• I really like the choreography and the edge work on the midline step sequence
• SD Score: 31.92 (technical) + 31.94 (presentation) = 62.96