by Alexandra Stevenson
1. Total Score 188.28; 1.Free Dance 90.82 (44.60+46.22); Skating last of the 20 couples allowed into the Free, Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, Russia, dominated the event winning the Free Dance by 7.67 and gold by 15.91. Their Free, set to Schindler’s List with a small insert from Fiddler on the Roof, was undoubtedly moving and was clearly the best routine, although there was talk that putting this tragic story on ice trivializes a very terrible period of history. The piece starts with machine gun fire. Katsalapov said, "The theme of our free dance is actually very serious, the war and concentration camps. I play the role of (Oskar) Schindler and I am trying to save her." It ends with a single gun shot and she collapses into a kneeling position. For their medal ceremony she changed out of her gray torn outfit, to a white costume. She said, "The victory was a happy occasion so I couldn’t wear my jail dress." Many of the visitors to this event took time to visit Anne Frank’s house, in Amsterdam, where a Dutch family hid the Jewish family for years before they were found, and sent to die in a concentration camp. All six of their elements earned the maximum Level 4. Their GoEs included a +2.0 for their circular steps and +1.0 for both lifts and the mid-line steps. Their lowest GoE was +0.60 for their midline steps. It broke their Personal Best of 85.01 set at the Junior Grand Prix Final. They began skating together while coach Alexander Zhulin was still coaching in the United States but split up in 2005. They started back together in the spring of 2008 in Moscow.
2. TS 172.37; 2.FD 83.15 (41.50+41.65); Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam, from Barrie, Ontario, presented a Persian dance He said, "It’s been a really good week for Alex and I. We’ve been training for this. We laid down three really good skates and got three personal bests. We couldn’t be more proud of ourselves. It's incredible to get a medal. Our goal was top-five so we are a bit overwhelmed. In the compulsory dance (in which they were fifth), I think we skated really well and got ourselves recognized and that helped us get the better marks in the other two programs. We just wanted to get out there and skate our best. We worked a lot on the free dance leading up to this event and I think we nailed it this time. The overall consistency in our programs is what has really improved for us this year." They teamed up in February 2009 and have one more season of junior eligibility. Although the circular and diagonal steps were Level 3, the other moves earned Level 4.
3. TS 168.81; 5.FD 81.09 (39.80+41.29); Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin performed a Blues program to It’s a Man’s World. He said, "Our performance today was far from ideal. The Compulsory and Original Dance went better for us. Today we made some mistakes, but overall it was decent. It was a successful season for us." They gained only Level 2 on their circular steps. Their midline steps were Level 3 and the rest Level 4. All their GoEs were positive.
4. TS 168.35; 4.FD 81.41 (40.70+40.71) Skating first of the top five, the US Junior champions, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, turned in a strong Tango with great edge control, flow and intensity, to miss the podium by 0.46. He said, "It went really well. We got a lot of experience and learned a lot. The Original Dance didn’t go as well as we’d hoped but it’s been an exciting year." They had been second after the CD. In the FD, they received Level 3 for their diagonal and circular steps, but Level 4 for the rest of the elements. Their GoEs ranged from a low of +0.50 for their Curve Lift up to +1.0 for their circular steps.
5. TS 167.84; 3.FD 82.87 (41.90+41.97-1.0) Lorenza Alessandrini and Simone Vaturi, the twice Italian Junior Champions, would have won bronze if they hadn’t been penalized a point for their extended lift. Skating 19th, they skated a passionate routine to Por una cabeza from the soundtrack of Scent of a Woman, and Astor Piazzolla’s Adios Noninos. They were sixth after the CD and fifth in the OD but the judges were wowed by their first move, a stationary lift which earned +1.2 over its base value of 5.00. Three judges punched in the maximum GoE of +3. No other couple received a 3. Three of their other moves were also the maximum Level 4. Their circular and diagonal steps were Level 3. They were seventh in the Junior Grand Prix Final this season, and ninth in World Juniors last year.
6. TS 162.16; FD 79.36 (40.10+39.26); Ekaterina Pushkash and Jonathan Guerreiro, who lay third after the CD but dropped to sixth after their OD, drew to skate first in the penultimate group of five. They presented a dramatic number to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture. Their circular and diagonal steps were Level 3 and the other moves Level 4.
7. TS 153.50; 7.FD 73.44 (36.80+36.64); Rachel Tibbetts and Colin Brubaker, the second ranked US Junior ice dancers, skated 14th, fourth in the penultimate group of five, with her in a white dress to En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor, sung by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. Brubaker said, "We were within a point of our Personal Best. We were going for that so to be just a mark off it means we’re pretty happy with our performance. They were little baubles. This was the biggest event we’ve ever been to and we got Personal Bests in two of the three sections." They were saddled with -0.30 off their Level 4 twizzles and -0.40 off their Level 2 midline steps. The circular steps were also Level 2 but the other moves were Level 4.
9. TS 141.30; 12.FD 67.69 (36.50+31.19) Piper Gilles and Zachary Donohue, the third ranked US Junior ice dancers, skated 12th of the 20 couples who qualified for the this section. They presented a very different routine set to music by Bernard Herrmann from the Alfred Hitchcock movies, The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest. There was an intricate plot. In the end, as portrayed by his final collapse in a reversal of the usual closing stance, he lies prone in her arms. Donohue said, "We lost a lot of points on our GoEs." Their first three moves, the straight line lift (+0.40), the twizzles (+0.40) and their long lift (+0.30) all got Level 4.The circular steps (+0.20) combination spin (+0.30) were Level 3. The last element, their mid-line steps was only Level 2 with -0.20 GoE. Donohue, being very hard on them, added, "I’d say it was about 60% of what we could do."
13. TS 135.63; 13.FD 65.99 (36.20+29.79); Olivia Martins and Alvin Chau, the second ranked Canadian Juniors who train in Scarboro, Ontario, performed 8th, the middle of their group of 5 couples, to Historia De Un Amor by Perez Prado, Fruko’s Boogaloo and Let’s Salsa. Four of their moves gained Level 4, with the twizzles earning their base value, the straight line lift receiving +0.50 over the base value, the reverse rotational lift getting +0.10. However, their combination spin was saddled with a -0.40 GoE. The diagonal steps were Level 3 with +0.20 and the circular steps Level 2 with just the base value.
BAD LUCK!
This is an extremely unlucky event for Ioana Harmony Risca from Sterling Heights, MI, who is 18, and Chase Andrews Brogan, from New Haven, CT, 19. Last year when this event was in Sofia, they arrived for the initial draw but were not allowed to do so because his documents did not include all the correct releases. This time, the pupils of Mathew Gates were lying 30th after the Compulsory. In their Romanian Original, they were doing their last required element, the circular steps, when she tripped on her toe rake, falling. The back of her left blade penetrated her right knee. Her partner tried to get her up but she couldn’t and a stretcher was brought on to the ice. She was carried off and driven to hospital. They have had to withdraw.
For the Original section, skaters are required to present a folk or country dance. The top ten couples after the compulsory draw for the ten spots in the last two warm-up groups of five.
1.Combined OD and CD 97.46; 1.OD 59.94 (32.10+27.84); CD 1. Elena Ilinykh, 15, and Nikita Katsalapov, 18, are the second ranked Russian juniors, who train with former world champion Alexander Zhulin in Moscow. Skating last, they presented a lively folk dance from the Andes which earned Level 4 for all four elements. Both step sequences earned a very significant +1.60 GoE and no other couple earned Level 4 for their midline steps. Since this is the end of the season, they were asked what they will do with this lovely routine after putting in so much work on it. They said they will throw it away. "Perhaps we can take out some moves, but we will start again on something completely new for new season." They lie a huge 11.24 ahead of their nearest rivals.
2.Combined OD + CD 89.22; 2.OD 55.90 (30.20+25.70);CD 5. Canadian Junior champions, Alexandra Paul, 18 and Mitchell Islam 20, who performed 25th, both a Spanish Waltz and a Flamenco. They were asked how, having shown such skill today, why they did not qualify for Junior Grand Prix Final. "We are a very new couple," said Paul. "We’ve only been together for nine months. We were on a steep learning curve. As the season went on, we got better." Seeing them from a distance, you almost think it is Virtue and Moir on the ice. "We did toss around other ideas, but we came back to the Flamenco," Islam said. Talking of her dress which looks red from a distance but actually has polka dots of black on it, Paul explained, "I wanted another dress because in our first international, I got my skate caught in it, and that was also happening in practice. But in the end we changed the steps we were doing, because changing the design of the dress would spoil what we were intending to create." The highlight of the dance is a kneeling move. "It’s during our side by side steps," said Paul. "We do a forward bracket and then go down on our left knee and do a 180 degree turn. We’ve not had a great Original in a competition before this so this was a great reward for all the work we’ve put in." They earned three Level 4s and a 3, with GoEs ranging from a low of +0.60 for their Level 4 straight line lift up to +1.40 for their Level 3 non-touching steps.
3.Combined OD + CD 87.72; 3.OD 53.55 (27.40+26.15); CD 4. Ksenia Monko, 18, and Kirill Khaliavin, 19, Russia, skated 27th and presented a Ukrainian dance. He said, "It went very well with just a few mistakes so we’re very happy." They received only one Level 4, which was for their twizzles. Their circular steps were Level 2.
4.Combined OD +CD 86.94; 4.OD 52.67 (27.60+25.07); CD 2. Maia Shibutani, 15, & Alex Shibutani, 18, skating 26th, presented a Japanese kung-fu inspired dance in which they were attired in identical tops. It was a very polished. He said, "We really enjoyed skating it. It was a great program but you don’t get too attached to your Original. It won’t fit next season’s 40s, 50s and 60s theme! We really like that each year is something new. We’re very versatile. Igor (Shpilband) and Marina (Zueva) have us as prepared as possible." Their non-touching steps gained a significant +1.20 GoE but were only Level two.
5.Combined OD + CD 84.97; 5.OD 52.62 (28.20+24.42); CD 6. Lorenza Alessandrini and Simone Vaturi, of Italy, performing 23rd, presented an Italian Folk Dance, gaining two Level 4s and two Level 4s and advanced one place.
6.Combined OD + CD 82.80; 6.OD 48.60 (23.70+24.90); CD 3. Ekaterina Pushkash, 17, and Jonathan Guerreiro, 18, Russia, presented a Russian Folk dance in very elaborate outfits but made an error on their twizzles and were saddled with -0.90 off the Level 1 of this move. They dropped three places.
7.Combined OD + CD 80.06; 7.OD 48.17 (25.50+22.57); CD 7. Rachel Tibbetts, 19, and Collin Brubaker, 21, who skated 21st, did a liltingly lovely Tennessee Waltz which then picked up the pace with a hoedown American country dance. Tibbetts wore a yellow dress. She had on fake brown cowboy boots which looked very genuine even close up. Brubaker confessed, "Yeah, there were definitely errors, but we’re happy with the performance. We definitely got a bit far apart on the twizzles." They began with a rotational lift which earned Level 4 and +0.80. Their circular steps were Level 2 but with +1.0 GoE. Their twizzles were Level 4 though with -0.40 subtracted from that base level of 6.50.
8.Combined OD + CD 75.44; 8.OD 46.30 (25.50+20.80);CD 8. Anastasia Galyeta and Alexei Shumski, Ukraine, skating 22nd, did a Ukrainian dance
9. Combined OD + CD 73.61; 9.OD 45.78 (25.90+19.88); CD.11. Piper Gilles, 18, and Zach Donohue, 19, had been, understandably, a bit distracted. Gilles’ passport and laptop was stolen from her room, a situation she discovered before the compulsory dance. "It was very upsetting," Donohue said, "But we’re OK. It’s a lot easier to skate to this music." Gilles said, "This music gets you going. I’m sort of Daisy Duke in my shorts." They used John Denver singing Thank God I’m a Country Boy; and The Devil Went Down to Georgia. "We started the season with a Flamenco." Gilles said. Their coach Angelika Krylova added, "But there were too many people doing that. This is a much better style for them."
10.Combined OD + CD 71.23; 10.OD 43.45 (24.00+19.45); CD.12. Geraldine Bott and Neil Brown of France, skating 18th, chose a Japanese dance.
11.Combined OD + CD 70.80; 11.OD 42.51 (22.60+19.91); CD 10. Charlotte Aiken, 18, and Josh Whidborne, 20, the British Junior champions, skating 28th, presented a Scottish dance, although he did not wear a kilt.
12.Combined OD + CD 70.32; 15.OD 41.76 (25.10+18.66 -2.0); CD 9. Stefanie Frohberg and Tim Giesen, Germany, skating 29th, did an Irish dance but had two falls dropping them three places.
14.Combined OD + CD 69.66; 14.OD 41.96 (23.20+18.76); CD.13. Olivia Martins, 18, Toronto, Ont., and Alvin Chau, 20, Richmond Hill, Ont., presented a Bollywood number. Martins said, "Our coach, Carol Lane, saw a Bollywood dance on the television program, So You Think You Can Dance, and thought we could develop that. Even before this season, I had the idea I’d like to do a kind of belly-dance. We went through a lot of choreographic changes because we wanted to get the highest levels." Chau said they were satisfied with their performance although they would have liked higher marks. Her costuming was complete with little "jewels" outlining her eyebrows. Their rotational lift was Level 4 with +0.40. However, their Level 3 twizzles were got half a point taken off the base value. The other two elements were Level 2 with +0.40 added to the base value of the non-touching midline steps but -0.20 taken off the base value of the Circular stepes.
23. Combined OD + CD 63.16; 23.OD 38.60 (22.70+15.90); CD 23. Canadian Junior bronze medalists Abby Carswell, 16, and Andrew Doleman, 20, performed a Celtic dance, he in suspenders and work trousers and she in a plain knee-length dress. "We wanted to keep it authentic," said Jon Lane and Juris Razgulajevs, their coaches. "You don’t put a regular guy in sparkles." Carswell and her previous partner competed at Pre-Novice level but she was teamed up with Doleman about nine months ago. "That’s a big step up to Juniors," Lane said. Doleman drives an hour and a quarter everyday from his home in Hamilton to Scarboro. Lane said, "He’s never late. I knew they’d click together. They had that magic that you can’t teach. There was a look, a chemistry." Doleman said, "My old partner decided she wanted to go to school so I was looking at a mix and match event. Carswell felt she could have been "a bit stronger on the footwork and made the turns a bit cleaner." They earned Level 4 for their twizzles but with -0.50 taken off the base vaue of 6.5. Their curve lift was also Level 4 but with +0.30. However, they received only the base value for Level 2 circular steps and only the base value for Level 1 for their for the non-touching steps.
This compulsory dance was devised in 1938 in London at the Westminster rink by a Dutch skating instructor teaching there, Eric van der Weyden, and Eva Keats. It takes 58 seconds to execute the two sequences. The music is chosen by the ISU and is rotated during the event. The rule book describes the dance as "characterized by stately carriage and elegance of line, with strong edges and a softly flowing stance (no bouncing, no breaking at the waist, not flamboyant and executed with a dignified expression).
The entry of 34 couples from 25 countries is the largest field since 2000. There was just as much competitive strain by the lower ranked skaters as there was at the top because only the top 30 progressed to the Original and only the top 20 were allowed to Free Dance.
The last two champions have come from the US: Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein and Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates.
1.37.52 (20.24 +17.28) Elena Ilinykh, 15, and Nikita Katsalapov, 18, who skated 28th of the 34 couples, are the second ranked Russian juniors. They won both of their JGP events and were second in the Final, which has no compulsory, just piping the Shibutanis. 2009 was their first season on the JGP circuit, although they skated together until 2005 while their coach, world champion Alexander Zhulin was still working in the United States. They then broke up and he skated with Angelina Kabysheva. They reunited in the spring of 2008 and placed fourth at Russian nationals that year.
2. 34.27 (18.48+15.79) Maia Shibutani, 15, & Alex Shibutani, 18, who drew to skate next to last, are the reigning World Junior silver medalists, who won gold in Spokane at US Nationals at junior level in January. They lie second place but by a significant 3.25 points behind the leaders.
Maia was dress in a pinky red dress while Alex was in a spectacularly adorned waistcoat. "It’s important to feel good and happy in your outfit," Alex explained. "We haven’t competed this compulsory before so after nationals we had to work hard on it. But it’s lots of fun to do something new. It was a good challenge." They had a good trip across the Atlantic and were looking forward to the Original.
3. 34.20 (18.38+15.82) Ekaterina Pushkash, 17, and Jonathan Guerreiro, 18, Russia, who were fifth in the JGP Final, drew to skate last. They teamed up at the beginning of last season. Guerreiro won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships with former partner Ekaterina Riazanova. Pushkash also competed at this event last year and finished sixth with Dmitri Kiselev.
"We have had a few rough spots in our first season together." Guerrerio, who was brought up in Australia, admitted. "But we fought through that. Today shows that. We had a bit of a down time after nationals but then the Olympics came along and that fired us up again."
He has been to Sochi, in the south of Russia, where the next Olympics will be held. "I skated there with my old partner, when all the International Olympic Committee people came to look at it before to make sure everything was in place. We did a show for them with Evgeni Plushenko, Irina Slutskaya, and others. Of course, our goal is to be there competing at those Olympics."
4. 34.17 (18.04+16.13) Ksenia Monko, 18, and Kirill Khaliavin, 19, Russia, skated 27th. They are competing in their first World Juniors, although they have been on the international scene for four seasons. They won both their JGP assignments and claimed gold in the Final. Second, third and fourth are practically tied with just 0.10 between the three couples. He wore a rather strange low, wide white cumberband, which almost made it appear he was wearing a T-shirt. In contrast, she wore a white shiny, satiny outfit with side cut-outs, with shoulder-less sleeves that was not in keeping with the old-fashioned nature of this dance.
5. 33.32 (18.24+15.08) Canadian Junior champions, Alexandra Paul, 18 and Mitchell Islam 20, both of Barrie, Ont., skated 20th. They made their international debuts together this season, but both were national junior medalists with other partners. Since their best placing this season in their two Junior Grand Prix was fourth Poland at the JrGP, fifth place is considered a major step forward for them. They are coached by David Islam and Pavol Porac at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie.
6. 32.35 (17.28+15.07) Lorenza Alessandrini and Simone Vaturi, of Italy, who skated 31st, were ninth at last year's World Junior Championships and are in their last year of age eligibility. They qualified for the Grand Prix Final.
7. 31.89 (17.16+14.73) Rachel Tibbetts, 19, and Collin Brubaker, 21, who won silver in Spokane in the national championship at junior level, skated 26th immediately following an ice resurface. They began the season with a shock, falling in the free dance in their appearance at the Lake Placid JGP, and were seventh, but they earned silver in their second assignment in Belarus.
The red-headed Tibbetts wore cream with elbow length gloves. Brubaker was in an elegant white tie and tails. He said, "We thought we did a very classy, fluid presentation." They train in Colorado Springs. Tibbetts put a good face on it and said, "We had a 14 hour trip here but we came early enough to deal with the jet lag." Asked are they good travelers, Brubaker laughed and said he wasn’t able to sleep on planes. "At least, not very well!"
8. 29.14 (16.26+12.88) Anastasia Galyeta and Alexei Shumski, Ukraine, skated 8th in keeping with their lack of world ranking.
9. 28.56 (15.84+12.72) Stefanie Frohberg and Tim Giesen, Germany, skated 25th.
10. 28.29 (16.12+12.17) Charlotte Aiken, 18, and Josh Whidborne, 20, the British Junior champions, have only skated together for two years. "I never thought it was possible for us to finish so high because we skated 6th and it was such a large field. Our goal is to improve in every competition and we’ve already done that because we placed higher in this round than two of the three Canadian couples and we’ve skated against them twice before, so that was just great."
11. 27.83 (15.40+12.43) Piper Gilles, 18, and Zach Donohue, 19, US Junior bronze medalists, finished ahead of Tibbetts & Brubaker in the original and free dances at Nationals, but could not overcome the point difference from the compulsory. In this event, they were also behind. Skating 29th, in a tasteful light blue dress with him in a waistcoat to match, they were not pleased with their performance.
Donohue said, "It was not very strong. We felt stiff. The timing wasn’t there." She said, "This dance isn’t our favorite. But their coach, past world champion Angelika Krylova, said, "This is their first world junior championship. They were a little slow but they had nice matching free legs. This is a big event for them. They need more experience. They are improving."
12. 27.78 (15.64+12.14) Geraldine Bott and Neil Brown of France skated 10th.
13. 27.68 (15.18+12.50) Skating 22nd, Olivia Martins, 18, Toronto, Ont., and Alvin Chau, 20, Richmond Hill, Ont., looked happy with their dance, but their coaches, Jon Lane and Juris Razgulajevs, appeared disappointed with their marks.
22. 25.24 (14.50+10.74) Irina Shtork and Taavi Rand, of Estonia, skating 23rd, were bouncing on clouds, fresh from their Olympic experience, when they became substitutes for his older brother, Kristjan and his partner, Caitlin Mallory, who could not get her Estonian passport.
23. 24.56 (14.14+10.42) Canadian Junior bronze medalists Abby Carswell, 16, Toronto, Ont., and Andrew Doleman, 20, Dundas, Ont, skated 4th.
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