#ice dancing
So, I’m not a sports person, but find me a more impressive feat of athleticism than pairs ice dancing. Oh, you do gymnastics? Great. Can you do it while dancing? Oh, you dance? Nice. Can you do it on ice? Oh, you skate? Cool. Can you do it while defying gravity?
The only athletes who can confidently say yes to all these questions in equal measure, are pairs ice dancers. And that’s just the athletic portion of what they have to do. They’re also expected to add artistry and tell a story through their movement; this includes gestures, and facial expressions along with precision-timed choreography to music.
It’s not enough that they’re expected to be in peak physical condition. They also have to be performers who engage the audience and judges with memorable and impressive routines.
And they do this all without protective equipment or gear. If they fall, or misstep, they can seriously injure themselves or their partner. That takes fearlessness, dedication, confidence in their skills, and trust in their partner; you’re simply not going to see anything like it from any other discipline.
Show me a more impressive sport.
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Lace Up Your Skates with the Shibutanis, Brother and Sister Ice Dancers
Follow along with Maia and Alex at @shibsibs on Instagram.
For American ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani (@shibsibs), their family bond is their greatest strength. “Skating with a sibling is unique,” says 23-year-old Maia (@maiashibutani). “But we’ve always gotten along well. Alex is an awesome big brother and now that we’re on the same team, we treat each other like equals. It’s a huge strength for us to know that we support each other unconditionally.”
Competing in their second Winter Olympics, in #Pyeongchang2018, Maia and Alex are no strangers to success in ice dancing, a ballroom dancing-influenced form of figure skating: They are three-time world medalists and two-time U.S. champions in their sport. And earlier this week, they won bronze in the team figure skating event. But being Olympic athletes — together — is their greatest triumph. “Our bond extends beyond our skating together as a team,” says 26-year-old Alex (@alexshibutani). “We’ll be best friends for the rest of our lives.”
Interesting findings looking closely at the top 7 team’s execution of step 9 of the Midnight Blues, the RBO leg tuck. As you would expect the 4 best teams when it comes to skating skills (P/C, S/K, H/D, G/F) have the correct RBO edge. However, S/K & G/F’s execution is superior. Not surprisingly the 3 weaker teams skating skills wise (S/B, G/P, C/B) all had flat RBO edge attempts. S/B actually have one of the closest Kilian holds, but Vanya’s edge attempt is actually the weakest. C/B have the weakest & furthest apart “Kilian” hold if you can even call it that.
I already explained what made S/K’s execution of step 9 excellent & frankly the best execution by any team of just specifically this step ever here. Power, deep knee bend, deep edges, close & creative hold, matching lines, controlled free legs, etc.
G/F don’t have as much personal flair as S/K, but they have the best traditional execution. Correct Wd-RFI (Charlene) & deep Wd-LBI (Marco) in step 9a. Smooth RFI-Three Turn from Charlene, clear RBO edges, close Kilian hold, matching free legs in unison on the leg tuck in step 9b.
H/D try to go for a creative variation with Madi going around Zach, but the execution is sloppy as a result. Zach cheats the Wd-LBI in step 9a. Both Madi & Zach manage a shallow RBO & close hold in step 9b, but their free legs in the leg tuck are at different heights & angles.
Gabi like Vika has very neat & controlled free leg & arm movements already in the RFI-Three Turn even before the RBO leg tuck. Gui also shows a deep Wd-LBI in step 9a unlike Zach. Like H/D they manage a shallow RBO, but their free legs are unmatched in the leg tuck in step 9b.
H/D & P/C both have the same problem of different free leg heights & angles in the leg tuck. H/D are closer in hold than P/C though. Madi & Gabi’s free legs are higher above the knee & behind the skating leg, which is a creative choice, while Zach & Gui try traditional leg tuck. Free leg is supposed to be just below the skating knee like Zach/Gui (Zach’s position should be tighter & closer to skating leg though). Teams do have creative liberty for different variations. However, both partners should either go for traditional or creative to avoid unison issues.
Sasha has correct Wd-RFI & Vanya has correct Wd-LBI in step 9a, their Kilian hold is very close, & their free legs match in the leg tuck in step 9b. However, both, especially Vanya, have very flat RBO edge attempts.
Piper’s Wd-RFI is fine, but Paul’s Wd-LBI is flat in step 9a. Both have flat RBO edge attempts in step 9b. Their free legs do match in the leg tuck, but their Kilian hold isn’t as close as S/B. It is closer & more established than C/B’s though.
Madi Wd-RFI is flat, her RFI-Three Turn is wobbly, & her RBO is flat. Since both entry & exit edge are flat, I wouldn’t even consider it a 3 turn, but simply a change of direction. Evan Wd-LBI is correct, but his RBO is flat. Their free legs in leg tuck match, but their fake one arm “hold” is the furthest apart & worst.
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S/K have the best Midnight Blues pattern of the season, one of the best Midnight Blues patterns ever, & my favorite part of it is their execution of step 9, the RBO leg tuck. Most teams do the leg tuck by lifting their free legs very lightly, but S/K choose to do it with a lot of power instead. They showcase deep knee bend, deep edges, close holds, & matching lines accompanied by a lot of personal flair.
Vika does not have to rely on Nikita at all & has complete control of her arm & free leg. She already initiates very neat free leg movement in the RFI-Three Turn before the leg tuck, while most ladies free legs are looser until the leg tuck.
Perfect Kilian hold with no space between them made more difficult by Nikita’s head resting on Vika’s arm, deep right back outside edge, & free legs matching in perfect unison on the leg tuck.
First we have 2020-2021 when back outside mohawks were still considered a difficult step, so most teams did them. Not KagaGOATs who did LFO-Cross Roll into RFO-Swing Mohawk (RFO to LBO, CCW)inFOXTROT HOLD. Even now with forward outside mohawks required, most teams choose to do it in kilian hold.
Most teams after their 1st difficult step/turn already break hold & switch to hand in hand or have no contact at all with side by side skating in their style B step sequences this quad. KagaPERFECT maintain close hold with effortless changes between waltz, foxtrot, & kilian hold.
Valeri does 4/5 of his difficult steps/turns in this section. First he does LFO-Mohawk (LFO to RBO, CW) switching from foxtrot to waltz hold.
Vasilisa does LFO-Rocker (LFO to LBO, CCW)inwaltz hold.
Valeri does RFI-Counter (RFI to RBI, CW) switching from waltz to kilian hold.
Kagapol both do LBO-Choctaw (LBO to RFI, CW) in kilian hold.
Valeri does RFO-Rocker (RFO to RBO, CW)inkilian hold.
Later in the step sequence Vasilisa also does her RBI-Counter (RBI to RFI, CCW) when switching from kilian to waltz hold.
So in conclusion, a JUNIOR team has done the best job this year of doing extended section without breaking hold & actually performing their difficult steps/turns while in hold.
Literally no ice dancers are hitting difficult & intricate positions like Kagapol anymore
“Stepanova/Bukin (physically) are similar to Virtue/Moir in that the height difference between them is so little, but how come Stepanova/Bukin are so much weaker than the former in pretty much everything? This is not hate, I am just curious. Like Tessa Scott are able to execute all these crazy lifts etc., and Stepanova/Bukin kinda struggle in comparison.”
“I always feel so bad for Stepanova/Bukin, in 6 years of seniors (including nationals), they have only won 5 times, 3 of which were just the challenger series wins. They are way more interesting than Sinitsina/Katsalapov imo. Anyways, mad props to them for continuing to skate. They have been wronged for so long.”
“I Don’t understand why Russia is pushing Sinitsina/Katsalapov instead of Stepanova/Bukin. S/B’s programs are more memorable compared to just blurs of ‘Barbie & Ken’ from S/K. As we know, TAT is behind S/B, and since S/K are always ahead of them, that just reveals how little of power TAT actually has in Russia, and how much Zhulin has way more power than we think (going a bit too far probably, but Zhulin’s ex-wife IS the current wife to the press secretary of Putin. Does that influence things? Maybe.).”
