2011 US Figure Skating Championships: Senior Short Dance

Hey y'all so here we go, its about time to start the senior short dance. Look for the integration of the golden waltz compulsory dance  into free skating movement. Check back with me after each team for my thoughts on their performance and and feel free to leave me comments!

1) Alison Carey & Ryan Van Nathan

  Music: Ordinary Day/Do Your Thing

• Unison issues on the twizzles, a little too close to each other
• Her upper body is very stiff, she should loosen up a little
• The transition from Golden Waltz to free skating was a little awkward
• The straight line step sequence  is pretty good
• I liked the cartwheel ending
• SD Score: 18.49 (TES) + 15.86 (PCS) = 34.35

2) Rachel Tibbetts & Colin Brubaker

   Music: At Last/Hallelujah I Love Her So

• Here is another Brubaker Brother
• They have nice smooth edge qualities
• A very quiet lyrical couple, at least in this dance
• Her shoot the duck could have been lower and she could have had a higher leg in the attitude
• I've seen worse, but that musical transition was a bit awkward
• I would like to see more joy on their faces
• The distance between them changed on the mid-line step sequence, it should stay the same
• Slight unison issues on the twizzles
• SD Score: 20.43 (TES) + 22.43 (PCS) -1.00 = 41.86

 3) Ginna Hoptman & Pavel Filchenkov

    Music: Dark Eyes

• Twizzle in opposite directions, that was interesting to see and nice unison
• Nice speed and precision on the Golden Waltz
• This musical selection works very well
• She shows nice flexibility in the rotational lift
• Nice midline step sequence
• I like their look together on the ice
• Very crisp and clean
• They have a nice lilt to their movements
• SD Score: 26.57 (TES) + 21.80 (PCS) = 48.37

4) Katherine Pilgrim & Alexander Lorello

   Music: 

• Little loss of unison on twizzles, not super fast
• She needs to extend a lot more in her free legs
• They got very close to the boards at one point
• The waltz mixed with a tango just does not work for me
• They need to point their feet a lot harder
• They definitely ran out of steam toward the end
• SD Score: 15.43 (TES) + 17.36 (PCS) = 32.79

5) Isabella Cannuscio & Ian Lorello

   Music: Piano Man

• They improved a great deal from their first senior grand prix to their second, so we'll see if they can keep that up here
• They have a nice look on the ice, very elegant
• Unison issues in their twizzles, but they were much faster also
• The choreography works well with they music
• Nice midline step sequence, good flow
• I like that they integrate the Golden Waltz with the free skating into one piece of music
• Nice one-arm rotational lift, he makes her look so light
• I don't like when the ending poses are so involved, its just unnecessary
• I don't really get how the 
• SD Score: 28.93 (TES) + 25.50 (PCS) = 54.43

6) Madison Hubbell & Keiffer Hubbell

   Music: The Addams Family Values

• The movements are choreographed nicely to the music
• Haircutter rotational lift is a little overdone at this point
• They are nice and close together in their holds
• The Golden waltz seems a little slow
• Keiffer stumbled out of his first twizzle at the end of the step sequence
• She also lifts her leg a lot higher than he does
• SD Score: 30.64 (TES) + 27.27 (PCS) = 57.91

7) Meredith Zuber & Kyle Herring

   Music: Fallin by Alicia Keys

• They are really close in height, they look nice in holds
• Not the speed of the other teams
• Nice unison in twizzles and midline step sequences
• They look more comfortable together than most new teams do
• I know they want to show off her legs, but sometimes they looked a bit like they were flailing
• SD Score: 24.95 (TES) + 19.47 (PCS) = 44.42

8) Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein

   Music: Edith Piaf's Waltzes

• Here comes one of my favorite teams
• Madison has such great expression on her face
• This is already the best speed we've seen so far
• These Zoueva/Shpilband teams really use every not of the music
• Nice transitions between the individual waltzes
• These are the best twizzles we've seen so far
• Padam, Padam works very well for this Golden Waltz sequence
• Very smooth, speed staying basically the same throughout
• Great speed in the rotational lifts, very fast
• SD Score: 32.00 (TES) + 29.74 (PCS) = 61.74

9) Katharine Ziegler & Baxter Burbank

   Music: Hallelujah

• Love the musical selection
• Loss of unison in the twizzles
• He rocked back onto his heel of his skate and fell
• She could really stretch out her limbs more
• He seems very unstable on his feet
• They seem very slow overall
• They finish after the music
• They have a very nice look together on the ice
• SD Score: 16.15 (TES) + 17.14 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 32.29

10) Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani

     Music: The Carousel Waltz

• I love them so much!
• The Carousel waltz is one of my favorite pieces of music in the world
• Some of the best twizles in the world, they do a sequence
• This is probably my favorite short dance of the season
• PERFECT unison on the midline step sequence
• They are very well matched in terms of height
• They use their knees so well, they skate into the ice rather than on top of it
• They cover so much ice
• The curve lift is fantastic as is the rotational lift
• Nice big fist pump from Alex!
• They are so pleasant to watch, they just warm my heart
• SD Score: 38.43 (TES) + 32.04 (PCS) = 70.47

11) Kristen Nardozzi & Robert Cuthbertson

     Music: Fallin

• This is like the song of the season apparently
• They look a little choppy, they skate above the ice, not really into it
• Definitely lacking in speed a lot
• He gets tripped up in some steps in the Golden Waltz
• SD Score: 20.08 (TES) + 18.45 (PCS) = 38.53

12) Meryl Davis & Charlie White

     Music: La Boheme & La Traviata

• This is a very European looking program
• I'm glad Meryl went back to the peach dress
• Slight twizzle issue
• The weaving midline sequence is wonderful
• This program has grown so much since the debut at NHK, specifically in terms of performance and drama
• Wonderful speed and deep edges in the Golden Waltz sequence
• Gorgeous ending, and they don't lose any speed throughout
• SD Score: 38.78 (TES) + 37.26 (PCS) = 76.04

13) Shannon Wingle & Timothy McKernan

      Music: 

• Major unison issues on twizzles
• Are they really another Zoueva/Shpilband team?
• SD Score: 31.15 (TES) + 23.92 (PCS) = 55.07

14) Alissandra Aronow & Zachary Donohue

      Music:

• This blue color is like the color of the day
• Their edges aren't nearly deep enough
• Major unison issues on the twizzles, she lost her position
• This is a new team and they have a lot of room to grow
• SD Score: 19.95 (TES) + 20.89 (PCS) = 40.84

15) Lynn Kriengkrairut & Logan Giulietti-Schmitt

     Music: The Trouble With Love Is

• This is a nice team, they connect well with each other on the ice
• They have pretty nice leg lines
• They seem pretty slow today, the music is dragging them down
• SD Score: 32.08 (TES) + 26.51 (PCS) = 58.59

Standings After the Short Dance:
Davis/White                                 76.04
Shibutani/Shibutani                      70.47
Chock/Zuerlein                             61.74
Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt   58.59
Hubbell/Hubbell                            57.94
Wingle/McKernan                        55.07
Cannuscio/Lorello                         54.43
Hoptman/Filchenkov                    48.37
Zuber/Herring                               44.42
Tibbetts/Brubaker                        41.86
Aronow/Donohue                          40.84
Nardozzi/Cuthbertson                   38.53
Carey/Van Nathan                        34.35
Pilgrim/Lorello                              32.79
Ziegler/Burbank                           32.29