(13 December 2014)  Kaitlyn Waever & Andrew Poje from Canada had been in a clear lead after the short dance at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona. In their free dance the students of Angelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo collected once more almost eight more points than their only main rivals Chock/Bates. Therefore they were the sovereign winners of the Grand Prix Final, earning a total 181.14 points, a personal best of their career. In their free dance, they used a modern version of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, arranged by Max Richter. The components reached an average level of 9.3, with one perfect 10.0 for choreography.

All eight elements were excellent: The circular step sequence (level 3) at the beginning was elegant and good in the beat as well as the diagonal step sequence near the end. The lifts were very difficult and innovative. Poje needed a lot of strength to lift his partner on one arm especially on the rotational lift (which seven of the nine judges rewarded with a GOE of +3). The curve lift and the straight line lift were quite acrobatic as well and also got several +3. The ISU had taken out a lift at the beginning of the season in order to have more time for real dancing, steps and less for acrobatics. Couples like Weaver/Poje with a strong man had criticized this a bit because the lifts are a highlight for spectators. But meanwhile the free dances look more well-balanced than last season and everybody including Weaver and Poje seems happy with the rule change.

Weaver commented: “Andrew and I couldn’t be more pleased with our performance today. It was definitely a personal best not only in terms of the score but in terms of the skate. Everything came easily, we felt calm and prepared and I think that’s the best zone to compete in. I think we can say it’s been our best competition yet, certainly so far this season, and we look forward to building on this momentum for the rest of the season. I think passion can be drawn from our connection to what we are doing.

With this program it took longer to find the characters but now I think we have a clear idea of what the program is about and that translates into passion, emotion and connection.  The concept and idea (of the free dance) were really borne from our choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne. She came to us with the music and concept of showing a relationship through the seasons, how it turns into another one, the highs and lows while always feeling connected, and we found our inspiration from her.“

U.S. dancers Madison Chock & Evan Bates of Novi, Michigan finished second, gaining 167.09 points. Dancing to George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris”, the students of Igor Shpilband began their free dance with a very good straight line lift, followed by very good synchronized twizzles. The two step sequences had the level 2 and 3, the other elements a level 4. Chock and Bates improved a lot in showing more emotions and looked fresher than the winners, but not as elegant and had a bit less sparkle. Chock commented: “Compared to last night this felt 100 per cent better. We skated like ourselves today. We were in sync, which always helps in skating, and we took our own enjoyment from it.” Bates added: ”I think this was our best performance of the season which is especially nice after a tough outing yesterday. I think it shows resilience and that we are a good team. We had one bump in the road but now we are back on track and ready to prepare for the US Championships in January. We did a lot of work this summer and it’s great that it has paid off. The crowd was so supportive, it was a ton of fun, it’s so great to skate when the crowd is really receptive.”

Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron from France made the biggest progress of all top ice dance couples in the world. Their free dance to a slow Adagio waltz and a quick Rondo from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 23^rd piano concerto is a masterpiece technically as well as emotionally, which Quebec coach Marie-France Dubreuil had choreographed. When their coach Romain Haguenauer moved from Lyon to Montreal, the couple followed him, which was a very good decision, because they got rid of the different quarrels and problems in Lyon. In Barcelona, they switched from fifth to third place and won the bronze medal with 162.39 points even if there was no French judge. Originally Laurent Carrière was supposed to judge in Barcelona. But he was taken out by the French federation in the last minute after writing that he had a problem with the strategy of the federation and quit judging completely. The preferred other judge of the federation had perhaps no time, but Papadakis & Cizeron won a medal in spite. Their first element was an excellent straight line lift, followed by the twizzle sequence which he finished tnethof a second earlier than she. The levels of the other elements were not the highest ones, but their execution was brilliant. Three of them has at least one GOE of +3.

Cizeron said: “Today was a good performance, we were really focused on the program. We still have to improve technical things like the twizzles and the curve lift but so far it’s one of our best programs. We want to be on the podium at Europeans. We will work for that but I think we are already lucky to have made really good improvements and we feel like it has already been a good season.” Papadakis also talked about the magic of their performance: “I think it is something you need to feel inside of you and you need to be one with the crowd, the judges, your partner, the ice, everything has to be like one thing. I think that makes the performance give emotions to everybody.”

Maja Shibutani & Alex Shibutani of Canton, Michigan, dropped from third to fourth place with only the sixth best free dance, earning 158.94 total points. The students of Marina Zoueva made no mistakes, but their levels were mixed. Many observers criticized their conservative music of Johann Strauss and their old-fashioned choreography. It is true that Mozart lived long before Strauss, but the French interpreted their music in a modern way. Alex Shibutani said: “We’re really pleased with our performance but sometimes in ice dance you just don’t understand the scores but we struggle and we fight through.”

The second Canadian couple of Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier finished fifth after performing a good and entertaining free dance. Their elements were good but not outstanding. Poirier said: “We had a few little bobbles in the performance but overall it was pretty good. We didn’t let them get to us and it’s all been a really great learning experience that we can grow from.” Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin from Russia who train together only since May 2014, are sixth with 156.46 points. They performed the fourth best free dance to music of Secret Garden, but could not move up any spots. Ilinykh said: “We were a bit nervous, because we’ve made quite a few changes in our free dance since the Grand Prix. We have and new spin and changed the lifts and worked a lot on them.”