#anastasia shpilevaya

[figureskatingcostumes]

Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov's short dance costumes at the 2016 Junior Grand Prix Final, 2017 Junior Russian Nationals and 2017 Junior Worlds.

(Sources: 1, 2, 3 and 4)

[findthatsynchronicity]

Welcome to Stationary Lift Heaven...

[figureskatingconfessions]

“Shpilevaya/Smirnov will have far better careers if they represent another country. Anastasia is originally from Ukraine. They can definitely compete with Nazarova/Nikitin and get a world spot in the near future. Otherwise, wasted talent, no chance for Championships and Olympics - which is a shame because they are one of the very few teams who do innovative elements.“

[ohtheseskaters]

(c)

[icedanceupstarts]

Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov

Age: 19/21

Country: Russia

Coach: Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk

Began skating together: 2012

Achievements: 2017 Russian Junior National Champion, 2016 Youth Olympic Champion, 2016 Junior Grand Prix Finalist, four time JGP medalists, two time Junior World competitors(5th in 2016, 4th in 2017)

Anastasia was born in Ukraine but has competed for Russia. She has a younger brother, and Grigory has a younger sister. As far as ice dance teams go Anastasia and Grigory are on the shorter side though they do have a decent height difference.

A promising junior team last quad, Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov made their Junior Grand Prix debut at the start of the 2014 JGP season in Courchevel where they captured the bronze. While they failed to medal on the JGP the season after, they rallied in the second half of the season, medaling at Russian Nationals, winning the Youth Olympics, and placing 5th in their debut at Junior Worlds. They followed that with their most successful junior season, winning silver at both of their JGP assignments, qualifying for the JGP Final, winning Russian junior nationals, and finishing 4th at Junior Worlds. Unfortunately their last junior eligible season was cut short after one JGP event due to injuries and several months off the ice, so their debut in the senior ranks is also a comeback.

Shpilevaya/Smirnov are dynamic performers who have already attempted and pulled off a wide range of styles in their programs. While they sometimes struggle to skate big enough to overcome their small size, there is never a lack of commitment to the characters they are portraying. In a field of highly watchable teams, they might have the most charisma of all. They also have a strong, versatile chemistry that shines through all their programs regardless of genre and keeps them connected no matter how much they project to the audience.

As great twizzlers, Shpilevaya/Smirnov are capable of hitting unique, difficult positions and transitioning easily between sets. While their creativity has sometimes led to level trouble in the past, they are always a pleasure to watch. Their lifts are great too, utilizing his strength and her flexibility to create eye catching lifts that are always a highlight. They are also very good at finishing all of their movements and performing their elements to the music.

Senior debuts in ice dance are tough and coming into one having missed an entire year of competitions only makes things tougher. But Shpilevaya/Smirnov are an extremely talented, fun-to-watch team, and worth paying attention to regardless of what results they might see this season. We are absolutely thrilled to have them back on the ice! Keep an eye out for them this weekend at Finlandia!

Watch List:

2014/15 SD- Samba

2014/15 FD- “Out of My Mind”

2015/16 SD- “Somewhere My Love”

2015/16 FD- Umbrellas of Cherbourg

2016/17 SD- “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Air Mail Special”

2016/17 FD- Tarantella

2017/18 SD- “Kiss”

2017/18 FD- Love Story

[wanderlustinwonderland18]

Petition for Shpilevaya/Smirnov to be the replacement at NHK. They truly deserve a spot. Despite finishing more than 8 points ahead of Evdokimova/Bazin at Finlandia, their own fed invited E/B over them... And invited Morozov/Bagin over them ☹️

[peacocksonice]

@rogonov_alex Провели свои контрольные прокаты в школе Натальи Бестемьяновой и Андрея Букина на новом катке в Домодедово. Спасибо за уникальную возможность обкатать программы!

[figureskatingfanblog]

A couple of new pairings! 

It is official - Avonley Nguyen is confirmed to now be paired with Grigory Smirnov, and the two will represent the United States.

Nguyen was previous paired with Vadym Kolesnik, with whom she won the 2020 Junior World title. Smirnov was previously paired with Anastasia Shpilevaya, with whom he was partnered for several years before an injury left her unable to practice.

Another new pairing (in Pairs this time) is that of Russian Maria Pavlova and Hungarian-born Balazs Nagy, who will be competing for Hungary. 

Nagy previously represented the US with Kate Finster.

[anewbeginningagain]

Re: Anastasia Shpilevaya... honestly the Russian response and coverage over COVID-19 has been so abysmal I actually understand why at one point she doesn't believe in the virus. It sounds crazy but I'm not surprised.

I think it’s a much bigger issue than just in Russia. For me, one of the biggest things I will take away from this pandemic is the very large anti-science movement that seems to be getting much stronger with each passing moment. It’s bad enough when health issues are being constantly politicized, I mean it’s nothing new (just look at abortion-related issues) but it’s getting much worse when now there’s a growing and vocal movement who is spreading anti-science/anti-vaccine/anti-5G/anti-climate-change related “information” which is completely dangerous and no one really seems to stop them.

I’ve been talking about critical thinking on basically any topic, it applies to the batshit struggle in the TS fandom just as it does to any other topic - when someone presents you with data with no credible source, with no collaborative evidence - the fact that so many choose to simply believe it and keep spreading it around, without doubting it and doing any of the necessary research - I truly think this is one of the next big threats to humanity.

So no, I don't give a pass to  Shpilevaya on this one, I have given a pass to Russian skaters in the past in terms of stuff like cultural appropriation and other cultural issues since those are really topics that can be viewed differently when your experience is different - but in this pandemic, the data is out there, how hard is it to know what happened in Italy and New York and what keeps happening in so many places? There’s no excuse for ignorance in this topic and while I’m glad she spoke publicly and maybe raised awareness, the comment itself shows we have a huge problem.

[figure-skating-watch-party]

Russian Cup, stage 4

I’ll try to mention some of the lesser known skaters this time. Because they are all so good but often this is not enough because this is Russia: there are countless talented skaters and only a very limited number of international spots. (I came to the conclussion that - especially in juniors - the key is not to get attached too much to one skater, one team and just appreciate everything we get to see)

Pairs

Sometimes I really can’t wrap my mind around it. They are all sooo good. First warm-up group and they are so good, second group and they are great, third group world class. 

Let me scream VIKTORIA VASILIEVA / Nikita Volodin. She was a singles skater a year ago. I saw her two years ago at JGP with my own eyes. And now? She is a pair skater. That was such an awesome debut for this new pair. I am in awe. And especially their Mickmacks FP is great. 

I also liked Maria Alchova/Sergei Bezborodko and their Peal Harbour FP. (Poor them and the death spiral though)

Karina Akopova/Nikita Rakhmanin they are speeeed. (Limelight SP and based on my very limited knowledge of cyrilic alphabet a mix of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s music with A. Bocelli’s Fall on me???) Anyway they are so quick on the ice.

I love every Memoirs of a Geisha program and of course I loved Jasmina Kadyrova/Ivan Balchenko and their SP. 

I love Boikova/Kozlovskii so so so much. And I love their SP, I’m so happy that we finally saw them. Their SP is so light, tender, classical. Their FP was good but not just that magically great as we maybe got too much used to it. It couldn’t be easy for them skating just hours after their coach’s husband passed away on top of everything else. (I absolutely didn’t know but they formed a pair in 2015 having skated only in singles prior to that.)

I have to admit I have a complicated relationship with Tarasova/Morozov. Though I liked their Adagio FP and after rewatching Bolero many times, yeah, there’s in fact nothing wrong with this program... They are just not my favourite skaters but I can still see why they are one of the best in the world. If I associate B/K with lightness, T/M are definitely power. 

Mishina/Galliamov are back. Well, they were not away, it was just one bad comp and it happened to be Russian nationals which was so unfortunate. They were oozing confidence this time. They were flawless, I loved the low death spiral and the whole Esmeralda SP and the dance lifts and creative choreo sequence in their Bohemian Rhapsody FP. 

Ice Dance, Sr. 

I really appreciate that the organizers give the opportunity to foreign skaters training in Russia to unofficially take part in the Russian Cup series. You won’t find them on the results pages, but I think for them the most important thing is that they can skate in whatever form it is... 

This time, it was Hungarians Anna Yanovskaya/Adam Lukacs skating to Grease RD and Hymne l’amour FD. (I love these combinations of programs: one more upbeat one more classical). 

If I’m counting right it’s at least fifth Grease I’ve seen this (or last) season: Guignard/Fabbri, Shpilevaya/Smirnov, Pavlenina/Aleksanian and the queen and the king of Grease Smart/Diaz - I enjoy watching and comparing these programs, so there’s never too much Singing in the rain, Too darn hot... etc. ;) ) 

If you want to see passion and also synchronized hydroblades watch Vlada Pavlenina/Aleksandr Aleksanian La sal de la terra FD. 

I like L’Opera Rock FD of Svetlana Lizunova/Alexander Vakhnov. 

And then Julia Tulseva/Anatolii Belovodchenko. Cabaret / Umbrella. I simply love these programs, Cabaret, Burlesque... And their FD was even better, their speed, the interpretation, the curve lifts, the jazzy feel...

And I’m really happy that Anastasia Skoptsova/Kirill Aleshin won this stage and that they kept their Bonnie & Clyde RD.

Ice Dance, Jr. 

Let’s take a look at some junior ice dancers! Of course Arina Ushakova/Maxim Nekrasov (I like their Chicago RD) and Vasilisa Kaganovskaya/Valerii Angelopol (here I like their FD) were the best but there were so many great performances:

Polina Kocherigina/Evgenii Artyushchenko - Mala Luna FD.  

Polina Usova/Egor Goncharov - Anything goes RD / Sigur Ros FD. Especially the FD was such a mature performance. 

Ksenia Davidova/Michail Antonov - Singing in the rain RD I liked the choreography, the whole performance aaand the speed. 

Daria Bukovschikova/Alexander Vdovin - New York, New York RD A relaxing “feel-good” program (a style I really like)

Taisia Linchevskaya/Timur Baklanov-Smirnov - Cabaret RD The stylization, the poses, the carriage on the ice...

Alexandra Shabalina/Maxim Kiryukhin - Romeo and Juliet FD

And now let me present three teams I absolutely fell in love with:

Alina Abdulina/Maxim Nuralyev - Fifty checks / Mindfields I love the variations of the famous P/C lift in the RD. And the more pop/rock feel of the FD and synchronized cartwheels?!!  (I called it “P/C lift” but let’s not be like twitter moral police saying that anyone else doing this lift is a copycat; this lift was there long before P/C, eg. Belbin/Agosto did it...)

Sofia Kachushkina/Oleg Muratov - A chorus line / Walking castle?? I nicknamed them Team Red according to their RD costumes. The RD is such a fun and energetic performance, they even use the lyrics - saying steps, walk, ministeps and they do on the ice. And their FD is totally different, very balletic, like a fairy tale. 

Alisa Ovsyankina/Matvei Samokhin - Aladdin / Dance of the Sugar plum fairy

They are babies and these programs are so fitting for them. The FD is from Nutcracker and I squealed. Yes, yes, yes, yes, that’s a perfromace, that’s so cute and just lovely to watch. 

[figureskatingcostumes]

Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov's rhythm dance costumes at the 2018 Finlandia Trophy and 2019 Russian Nationals. They skated to Tango Amore by Edvin Marton.

(Sources: zhem_chug and veravalenta)

[figure-skating-confessions]

“ Anastasia Shpilevaya/Igor Smirnov are great and cool “

[ohtheseskaters]

[icedanceupstarts]

2020 Russian Nationals Preview

We’re in Nationals season now, and as the year closes, what better way to celebrate than with Russian Nationals? It’s got everything-- scoring shenanigans, soul-crushing dread, more scoring shenanigans, last minute injuries, just straight up nepotism, the realization that we’re not getting a single Popova/Mozgov gala this season, and the looming possibility that everyone might end up getting banned and this might be the last chance for your faves to make a championship event. Merry Christmas!

Sofia Evdokimova / Egor Bazin

Age: 22/24

Started Skating Together: 2007

Coach: Oleg Sudakov, Valentin Kuziaev, Artem Kudashev

Season's Best: 169.27

Rhythm Dance: 42nd Street

Free Dance: Well These Costumes Weren’t Nominated for Anything

Last year’s bronze medalists and masters of being available to take advantage of an opportunity if it arose have been having a bit of a struggle season thus far, but it certainly didn't stop them last season. They always seem to pop up just when everyone else has written them off, and with their longevity as a team and reputation for giving reliable and consistent performances, they are always capable of moving up the ranks and taking higher placements than people may have expected. Fourth year seniors, this was their first season to get two Grand Prix assignments and to not have to rely on a host pick for either. And now as one of the four teams in this field with Europeans experience, their reliability cannot be downplayed. That said, even as we say not to underestimate them, this isn't the best material they've ever had. They're up against another 42nd Street in the rhythm dance, and while their Schindler's List free dance is hardly one of the more clumsy attempts we've seen even just this season, it can sometimes come close to seeming a little bland. While that's obviously leagues better than causing an international incident, it's not the best for getting the judges to sit up and take notice in such a deep field. And they do have some great qualities-- their cantilever lifts are some of the best in the business, they have a nice flow and an incredibly natural way of relating to each other after so long. Forever the example of the merits of sticking it out despite the odds, they’ve had plenty of time to fix their levels and add a little extra wow factor to their programs, so there’s every reason to keep your eye on these eternal dark horses.

Ksenia Konkina / Pavel Drozd

Age: 18/24

Started Skating Together: 2018

Coach: Alexander Zhulin

Season's Best: 178.43

Rhythm Dance: 2nd 42nd Street

Free Dance: A Nice Start

This will be the first nationals of the first full season of two skaters we've been following separately for years. This will be Ksenia’s first senior nationals ever, though both had plenty of junior success before partnering up at the end of last year. Pavel is a former junior national champion and two time junior world medalist with his previous partner, and Ksenia is a multiple time JGP medalist with her previous partners. Picking up almost right where you left off with a previous partner while staying in juniors as Ksenia did several times is impressive enough, but jumping into seniors in a brand new partnership and already being an internationally competitive team is quite the accomplishment, even with Pavel’s season of senior experience. Right off the bat they had a technical prowess and matching that other teams try for years to achieve, with nice deep edges and long beautiful lines. They're still building their identity but they're a solid team without any notable flaws and their Challenger series results are not surprising, even with their limited competitive experience together. We've seen some express confusion about their quick rise (which is truly fucking incredible considering the next entry in this preview), but there's no extra political push here, just genuine, basic quality and a smoothly progressing partnership. We wish them the very best at their first joint nationals. It's hard to know exactly how they'll stack up as they’ve never faced most of these teams as a pair, but as long as the judges acknowledge quality they should be in the mix.

Annabelle Morozov / Andrei Bagin

Age: 18/23

Started Skating Together: 2017

Coach: Nikolai Morozov

Season's Best: 191.71

Rhythm Dance: It's Too Darn HIGH

Free Dance: Gazing Into The Abyss

In their third season together, Morozov/Bagin have grown into each other as a team and will be looking to...

You know what? We give up. We're done. Anyone who has read our blog at all should know our general philosophy at this point, but one must draw the line somewhere. We tried, okay? 

Normally we try to keep things positive and upbeat here at icedanceupstarts, but this team has had us on the verge of a mental breakdown all season, and this competition might be what hurls us over that cliff. Morozov/Bagin have the third highest season's best coming into this event, and it’s their rhythm dance score of all things truly pulling their score up, which is certainly a development. Not only is their SB third highest in this event, it is forty points higher than their SB last season (Golden Spin 2018 versus Golden Spin 2019). There’s year to year improvement in a new team and then there’s… that. Sure the Fed didn’t get them a Grand Prix assignment this season but frankly who needs it when you can score like that?? Scores might generally be a mystery, but we can't find any way to justify the numbers that keep popping up when they compete. It's not that they have no qualities whatsoever, it's that it's genuinely insulting to pretend that they're anywhere near the level of the other teams in this preview. They’ve undoubtedly improved their consistency this season but it’s still very much a case of when you’ve got all these unique, interesting, and massively talented teams, how and why is this the one with the huge scores. We feel like we've been screaming into the void for weeks now. People have been watching the competitions they've been at and commenting on the scoring but somehow NOT mentioning the glaring elephant in the room? This is the part where we generally list their good points, and we try to be generous, but in the wake of the judges own generosity we reserve the right for stinginess. Something something in their third Nationals together we'll see if Morozov/Bagin can use their combined powers of increased competitive experience, nepotism, and being tall to breakthrough into the top 5, and possibly onto the world team while your mods have to go get drunk. To live is to suffer.

Sofia Shevchenko / Igor Eremenko

Age: 18/22

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk

Season's Best: 178.08

Rhythm Dance: Burlesque But Why

Free Dance: No Strings Attached

The reigning junior National champions may be moving into the deepest senior Russian ice dance field we’ve seen recently, but based on how they were skating by the end of their debut senior Grand Prix series they are more than ready to jump in and contend for some of the higher placements. While their step sequence levels can sometimes be a wee bit yikes, their elements are usually performed with ease and they have really creative lifts. The fact that we enjoy their rhythm dance at all is proof of their incredible charisma and performance quality. It's a program that rides on the strength of the skaters, and they're just such special performers. Their free dance is in the quirky, modern style they've developed, and also apparently about marionettes? Because sure why not. It’s worth noting when even the most experienced senior teams can show full ownership of their programs, but it’s a skill these two have been showcasing for several seasons already with their unique style that may not give a storyline you can follow but you’re also very sure that they know exactly what they are trying to portray. It never feels gimmicky or tryhard, these two just know exactly what they want. They’re such a treat to watch even when watching their TES box is vaguely alarming. They’ve shown a decent amount of consistency as well, delivering calm, strong performances even at this higher level and beating some surprisingly strong and established teams. It’s hard to tell where they’ll fall here as the transition from juniors to seniors in ice dance is typically a many season process, but if they can bring the levels with their performance, they’ve got a great shot at a good placement.

Anastasia Shpilevaya / Grigory Smirnov

Age: 20/22

Started Skating Together: 2012

Coach: Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk

Season's Best: 172.93

Rhythm Dance: Hopelessly Devoted to L1ving It Up

Free Dance: Magical Mystery Ride

These two finally made their senior GP debut after missing out on assignments last season and largely were able to make the most of it. The lightness of the Finnstep suits them well, though we’d prefer to see fewer L1s,  and they’ve got a real talent at pulling the audience into their performances whatever characters they are portraying. Both of their programs have gone through a lot of changes and improvements since test skates, but the free dance in particular got its moment to shine on the GP with reworked choreo steps that will not be invalidated like they were at Finlandia and a new split rotational lift. It’s not their most describable program but when they skate it with such joy and commitment it’s hard not to enjoy it yourself. These two could practically be the definition of fan favorites, they’ve just not had the consistent showings at competitions more than five people watch. Want an expressive team? There’s no one their ages with the same charisma on the ice or ability to build off each other to present even more to judges and audience. Want a team with good lines? Anastasia has some of the best extension and toe point out there, and even as a team with a rather large height difference you’d be hard pressed to find times their free legs don’t match. Cool lifts? Well that’s where their height difference and Anastasia’s flexibility come into play in a big way. Versatility? They have never repeated themselves and always make the effort to try something new with their program selections. Of course they’re a young team still working their way back after missing most of the 2017/2018 season and with plenty they need to improve - more senior presentation, better ice coverage, deeper edges, find some key points. Their season’s best tells that story, but they are a team worth watching whatever happens at this event. There’s also still the case of their missing PCS from Universiade earlier this year, which was also held in Krasnoyarsk, so hopefully that’s just been hanging out in a bar or something and makes its way to the arena in time for the competition. We’re always rooting for these two to get a bigger platform to showcase their talent, and maybe this will be their year.

Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov

Age: 24/28

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Alexander Zhulin

Season's Best: 212.15

Rhythm Dance: Singin’ in the Sloppy Twizzles

Free Dance: Generic Loveliness

Sinitsina/Katsalapov have had an interesting career, to put it lightly. The Great Russian Partnerswap Drama of 2014, when the expected to be golden team was initially anything but, followed by more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, eventually leading to their current status as reigning world silver medalists and National champions, but recently placing last at GPF. They have remarkable skating skills and speed, and have improved their consistency recently, but they still tend to be a touch wild, a trait to their skating that might be better suited to a different style than the subtle elegance they’ve been going for with their recent free dance selections but also one that can majorly trip them up on big elements if they don’t keep it in check. Their rise to greatness last season was certainly not unprecedented. They’ve clearly always had the ability, it just took them some time to truly start skating together and it seemed every time they got close they were derailed by injury. They’re still a team who needs everything to align in order for them to contend with the best, no matter how many people have declared them the anointed challengers to Papadakis/Cizeron, and at the GPF the choreo slide was their nemesis, all but literally taking them down. A loss of balance on the slide was counted as a fall which lost them valuable GOE. Remember the whole massive GOE points for no-level choreo elements? Well this is an example of the opposite, or when small errors on choreo elements can have huge scoring consequences. A number of people have been writing them off due to their recent setback, but we think that would be a mistake. Presumably they're not about to make the same mistake twice, and while Nikita "What's A Twizzle" Katsalapov remains an ever looming threat to their scores, he mostly survives by the skin of his teeth these days. Their biggest issue is that the judges seem a little underwhelmed by their free dance. There are no problems with it, really, but to elevate it above the level of being a functioning product they need to at once clean up the little wobbly areas on some of the elements while also adding more abandon and passion to their interpretation. It does serve as a good showcase of their skating skills, but as their tango last year showed, they can both show off their skills and bring the drama and interest. The rhythm dance will be the important segment for them. It's been their money program, and they have the second highest scores of any team there, so they can't afford to have a subpar performance there like they did at GPF when the reception to their free dance has been a resounding shrug. If they can do their best in the rhythm dance and breathe a little more life into their free, it's going to be difficult for anyone to deny them a repeat of their title.

Anastasia Skoptcova / Kirill Aleshin

Age: 19/22

Started Skating Together: 2013

Coach: Svetlana Alexeeva, Elena Kustarova, Olga Riabinina

Season's Best: 169.24

Rhythm Dance: How Bout A Chance

Free Dance: Fifty Shades of Find that GOE

The 2018 Junior World Champions are having a wee bit of a struggle season. For the second season in a row they had injuries that forced them to miss pre GP events and impacted their assignments, which is suboptimal, and especially so in such a deep field. They're such a talented team but unfortunately this is a team full of talents, including a growing number of young teams with junior success, meaning even the smallest setbacks can add up quickly. Their technical ability can’t be denied but they’re going to need to bring their best to this competition which they have not been able to show yet this season. We genuinely do hope that the people who worked so hard on the Bonnie and Clyde musical only for it to close after less than two weeks know that at long last they have found true appreciation in figure skating. Reviewers might have called the musical "trite", "insipid", and "middle of the road", but apparently ice dancers can't get enough of it this year. We'd crack a joke about that saying something about ice dancer's taste, but we have generally enjoyed this season's RDs and most of the Bonnie and Clydes, so perhaps it is we who are insipid and trite? Anyway, this one isn't our favorite of the Bonnie and Clydes-- the slowed down This World Will Remember Us for the Finnstep is less than ideal-- but it's a solid program nonetheless. Their free dance feels like it builds off of last years while still being fresh and new for them. It's been very interesting seeing the different directions the younger teams have been going to try to establish themselves. For such a tall, leggy team with minimal height difference, they have some pretty acrobatic lifts. They manage to make their physical reality seem like a plus rather than a negative. Their step sequences are so smooth and a great display of their long, matching lines and elegance. They’ve had some struggles this season, with mistakes big and small keeping their scores down, but if they can avoid things like falling on their choreo elements they could repeat their top 5 placement from last year, or maybe even higher.

Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin

Age: 24/26

Started Skating Together: 2006

Coach: Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk

Season's Best: 208.81

Rhythm Dance: A Kiss May Be Grand But It Won't Get You Levels

Free Dance: Somehow This Music Mashup Works?

They may be two-time GPF pewter medalists, but this year Stepanova/Bukin are coming into nationals as the higher placing Russian team of the two who competed at the final, and so could have the momentum coming into this event. Fan favorites with great performance quality and a strong knowledge of what their strengths are as a team, this could be their big chance to win. The first half of their rhythm dance is so far the strongest part. For all that their kiss at the end has generated the most conversation, we think the much more pressing issues are the transition that feels too much like an ending and the fact that so far Your Song just lacks the dynamism of the first half. Also two out of three performances have featured them fighting their costumes in order to perform but perhaps they’ve finally cracked the code? For us, their free dance is the stronger program this year. We may have been filled with Fear when we first heard the concept, but it's very well put together and we like it a lot. They're continuing their modern and kind of sexy approach contrasting with Sinitsina/Katsalapov's more classic and stately approach. They even won that portion of the event at Skate America, even if they had slightly more struggles at GPF. The way things have shaken out so far, they’ll need to at least keep things close in the rhythm dance so they have a chance of overtaking Sinitsina/Katsalapov with their more dramatic and crowdpleasing free dance, but this is bound to be a very competitive battle for the top of both teams can put out their best.

Tiffani Zagorski / Jonathan Guerreiro

Age: 25/28

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Svetlana Alexeeva, Elena Kustarova, Olga Ryabinina

Season's Best: 184.44

Rhythm Dance: The Greatest Circus Moths

Free Dance: Surviving

Several teams back in competition this season and several others seeing major score increases meant no Grand Prix medals or GPF for Zagorski/Guerreiro this season, but they still managed a relatively solid GP showing, taking fifth at both of their events despite not competing at any other international events so far this year. Skating can always be just as mental as it is physical but that will especially be the case for these two at this event and putting last year’s disaster as far away as possible. They wrapped up their GP series fairly early, skating in the first and third events, so it will be interesting to see how far their programs have come in that time. Their rhythm dance was a late offseason change and while the music cuts and distinctive yet nonsensical dress(darn copyright infringement but it’s nuts) may not make this the best Greatest Showman program for us, it’s got potential if they can skate it up to the level they are more than capable of. Their free dance choice is possibly a little on the nose but it’s very distinctive and has a ton of potential. Outside of the top two, no one in this field comes close to the competitive experience Zagorski/Guerreiro have - GPF, Europeans, Worlds, Olympics. They weren’t given any leeway with championship assignments following last year’s nationals, but their experience really does set them apart from the rest. The way they hold themselves and perform, their maturity, it all stems from that experience and is clear to see. We hope Zagorski/Guerreiro have tied their bootlaces a little tighter this year, or maybe even make use of a roll or two of skate tape, and show their very best. They have every chance of getting back to the championship level, and we wish them luck.

[bremont]

ONLY way out is a MAGNA CARTA FOR THE WEB/ 🍾🍾which will invalid washington the EU and the Zionist empire Judgments🤔👸👩‍⚖️👩‍⚖️ ON something they have no capacity to understand neither pronounce judgments on a helpless technologically uneducated population/ EU Euro-Idiots included/ that way the 1789 technological revolution will be understood by the many/ and hopefully work a lot better than the 1917 chaos.🤔🤔 latest EURO -INVENTION THAT FAILED 🤔✝☮

[peacocksonice]