2011 European Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance Qualifying Round Results

This year, in order to shorten the amount of time the short program/short dance round takes, the European Championships have added a qualifying round. The Ice Dance competition has 28 entrants with the top 12 entrants (based on scores from previous ISU events this season) going directly to the short dance. The following 15 teams competed their free dance in a qualifying round this morning and the top 8 teams listed below will advance to the short dance. They will be joined by top contenders Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat, Federica Faiella & Massimo Scali, John & Sinead Kerr, and Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev among others.

1 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK
 CZE
80.54 1
2 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI
 GER
79.27 2
3 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND
 GBR
73.79 3
4 Federica TESTA / Christopher MIOR
 ITA
67.90 4
5 Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ
 ESP
67.20 5
6 Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND
 EST
66.38 6
7 Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE
 GEO
66.24 7
8 Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS
 LTU
65.36 8
9 Nikola VISNOVA / Lukas CSOLLEY
 SVK
63.92 9
10 Kira GEIL / Tobias EISENBAUER
 AUT
63.09 10
11 Zsuzsanna NAGY / Mate FEJES
 HUN
61.70 11
12 Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST
 SUI
53.50 12
13 Lesia VALADZENKAVA / Vitali VAKUNOV
 BLR
53.41 13
14 Henna LINDHOLM / Ossi KANERVO
 FIN
50.75 14
15 Kristina TREMASOVA / Dimitar LICHEV
 BUL
42.88 15

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Skate Canada Free Dance

1) Rachel Tibbetts & Collin Brubaker (USA) **
    Music: Tango Para Percusion

• Some loss of syncronization during the twizzle sequence
• She is showing great flexibility on the dance spin
• Very nice use of hydroblading technique in the low position
• Collin takes a fall in a fairly routine looking move, probably a loss of concentraion
• I like some of their lifts, but they could benefit from being held longer
• I think we are at the point in US Ice Dance where if you aren't training with Zoueva/Shpilband, you are behind the eight ball
• They look visibly disappointed in their performance
• FD Score: 33.10 (Technical) + 27.88 (presentation) - 2.00 (deduction) = 58.98
• 36.88 (SD) + 95.86 (FD) = 95.86

2) Sarah Arnold & Justin Trojek (Canada)
     Music: Amelie Poulain Soundtrack

• Well isn't this just a popular musical choice this year
• First lift was interesting, but very much "here I am and I'm hitting a pose"
• Mirroring step sequence was nice, but ended very abruptly, the choreographer/coaches should work out that transition
• I'm not sure how I feel about the costume, but they are definitely classic ice dance
• Position change in the dance spin also a bit awkward, this program could benefit a lot from some work on transitions
• The ending was also very abrupt, both in terms of choreography and musical
• FD Score: 36.08 (technical) + 31.49(presentation) = 65.57
• 40.07 (SD) + 65.57 (FD) = 107.64

3) Stefanie Frohberg & Tim Giesen (Germany)
    Music: La Maza

• I simply do not understand the obsession with spanish themed programs this year
• I think her costume looks tacky
• A good Spanish routine should be sassy, sexy, and exciting, but this one really lacks flair in my opinion
• The dance spin in the Bielman position was nice
• FD Score: 33.39 (techincal) + 28.71 (presentation) = 62.10
• 43.00 (SD) + 62.10 (FD) =  105.10

4) Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam (Canada)
    Music: As Time Goes By

• This is starting off to be a gorgeous program, from the opening strokes, they already exude grace and elegance
• They remind me of Tessa Virtue & Scott Moi so much
• If Canada sends 3 dance teams to worlds, I see this team taking that 3rd spot behind Virtue/Moir & Crone/Poirier
• They are just beautiful to watch and make everything look easy
• Their lifts show such balance and control
• Ps....is she not wearing tights?
• I would love her to point her feet a bit harder though, and really straighten out those legs
• FD Score: 45.99 (technical) + 41.68 (presentation) = 87.61
• 50.55 (SD) + 87.61 (FD) = 138.16

5) Kristina Gorshkova & Vitali Butikov (Russia)
    Music: Cha Cha, Manana de Carnaval

• How many peacocks died in the making of these costumes?
• These costumes are old-school European ice dance in a big way
• The middle part of the program is a bit slow moving
• I hate when the program comes to a standstill during a music transition; there is no reason that the skaters need to stop mid-ice
• A cha-cha should be fun and exciting, but they seemed to be concentrating too hard because there was little top no performance quality for me
• FD Score: 41.85 (technical) + 34.04 (presentation) =75.89
• 51.56 (SD) + 75.89 (FD) = 127.45

6) Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein (USA)  **
    Music: Cabaret

• I love the youthful, whimsical quality about this program & the costumes are very fitting
• Marina and Igor do a great job of pairing their teams with programs that suit them well
• I love the upside down lifts during the "Money Song"
• When skaters do musical theatre programs, it combines two of my favorite things in the world
• The musical cuts are very nice and I love the composition of this program, it built from a 1 to a 10 as the program progressed
• Not only a wonderful technical piece, but also a wonderful performance
• I see this team medaling at the US nationals this year for sure
• FD Score: 44.27 (technical) + 40.59 (presentation) = 84.86
• 54.19 (SD) + 84.86 (FD) = 139.05

7) Pernelle Carron & Lloyd Jones (France)
    Music: Paint It Black

• These costumes are flashy too but I like them better than their SD costumes 
• I like their energy and passion, but they lack the polish of some of the top teams
• The clapping sequence reminded me of a step show, ala Stomp The Yard, but I kind of loved it
• There is something about this program that I love, I just cannot put my finger on it
• FD Score: 41.52 (technical) + 40.18 (presentation) = 81.70
• 54.33 (SD) + 81.70 (FD) = 136.03

8) Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier (Canada) 
     Music: Eleanor Rigby

• I could never understand why teams take so long to create complicated opening poses when they are out of them in like a hot minute anyway
• This piece is very fast and very fluid which I love
• I thought these primary colored costumes would be distracting, but rather they are actually very streamlined and athletic
• This work was choreographed by Christopher Dean and he, along with partner Jayne Torvill were famous for their lines and polish, which I totally see here in this program
• The ending was very cool, I loved that walkover over the shoulder that happened
• FD Score: 45.74 (technical) + 45.73 (presentation) =
• 62.95 (SD) + 91.47 (FD) = 154.42

9) Sinead Kerr & John Kerr (Great Britain)  **
    Music: Exogenesis Symphony 3

• Now this opening pose makes sense because they hold it long enough for it to really resonate
• There lifts always look so interesting because of the height similarity 
• I loved that move of stroking in the low hydroblading position
• The parallel camel spin was gorgeous
• I love the story that they are telling in this program, a memory of when they were younger; a great example of an appropriate program for a brother/sister team
•  An unfortunate stumble on that lift; she seemed to have lost balance when she tried to stand up on his legs
• Even with the fall, I think this a gorgeous program and absolutely the perfect free skate to close out their competitive careers
• The closing pose was perfection
• Even with the botched lift, I found them better than Crone/Poirier
• FD Score: 39.36 (technical) + 47.48 (presentation) = 86.84
• 62.96 (SD) + (FD) = 149.80