2008 U.S. Nationals

Senior Dance

Photos copyright 2008 by George S. Rossano

As the announcer went through the introductions for this event, calling out "Yankee Polka," applause and a cry returned from the VIP section, "YEAH YANKEE POLKA."  Turning to look, who else would it be but Judy Schwomeyer, one of the creators of the dance, who 40 years ago in Philadelphia won the first of her five National Dance titles with James Sladky.

Thirteen couples are competing here.  Melissa Gregory & Denis Petuhkov are not, however, still recovering from the aftermath of their accident at Skate America.  Gregory went flying off Petukohv's arm in a rotational lift taking a nasty fall, and in the process Petukohv also went down, wrenching his back.

Results for this dance were hardly a surprise.  The top three teams from past season placed first through third, and newcomers Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates took forth.  Samuelson & Bates were the 2007 Junior Dance Champions.

Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto got huge marks for their performance, in the mid eights, with one judge going as high as 9.00 for Interpretation.  Reading the tea leaves, these marks seemed less about the dance and more about sending out the soon to be National Champions with huge marks for benefit of the International judges to see.  Their GoEs were mostly plus ones and twos, with only one marks of zero, and a couple of marks of plus three.

Meryl Davis & Charlie White placed second, also with huge scores.  Their Program Components were mainly in the mid to high sevens.  Except for one mark of zero, their GoEs were in the plus ones and twos for a uniformly well skated dance.

In third place, Kimberly Navarro & Brent Bommentre skated a lively, jaunty dance that earned them Program Component marks in the high sixes to seven.  Their GoEs were mix of zeros through twos reflecting a spirited dance that at times seemed on the verge of loosing control.

Samuelson & Bates skated a technically secure dance, with GoEs of mainly ones.  Their Program Component marks were in the mid sixes, with Interpretation scored slightly lower than the others for a dance that was emotionally the flattest of the top four.

Unlike the junior event, where the standings changed considerably between the each phase in the competition, the standings for the top five senior teams remains the same after the original dance. This year’s theme, country/folk dance, seems to be well received by the audience members who clapped and cheered on all the skaters in the event. Though there were no major disasters suffered by the top teams, there were still minor errors on some of the elements.

Four time National Champions, Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto had the audience on their side for an energetic country western dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe," "Country Waltz," and "Appalachian Hoedown." This program shows the light comedy abilities of the team, as throughout the program, Belbin attempts to steal Agosto’s hat. It also showcases their strength and flexibility, especially in the first curve lift, in which Agosto held Belbin at her knees, while she arched backward into a deep bend, her hair nearly touching the ice. This crowd-pleasing lift was credited as level four, and all judges gave them plus two GOE scores on the element. Agosto did, however, make an uncharacteristic mistake in the twizzle sequence, causing the element to be downgraded to level two (with a slight negative overall GOE).

"I put my foot down on the twizzle," he said.   "It was a mistake I made and I'll try not to do that anymore.   I think what was really frustrating was that aside from the twizzle it was a great performance for us.   I just hate to end on that kind of note.  It makes you feel bad about the whole performance when I should feel happy about the rest of it which was really good."

Last year’s bronze medallists, Meryl Davis & Charlie White, presented a charming folk dance to "Kalinka." The pair never took a rest from beginning to end. Each movement blended into the next, such as when they slid directly into their dance spin from the final step of their first footwork sequence. An innovative lift featured White moving to a knee slide, while keeping Davis in a vertical pose (however innovative it was, though, the caller considered it to be their only level three element). They received the highest element score in the competition, with nearly half of their elements judged at level two or higher. It was their program component scores kept them behind Belbin and Agosto overall.

"Overall it was good.   Lots of energy," White said.  "We tried to get the crowd into it.  I feel like we succeeded there."

Davis added, "There are a couple things we could obviously improve upon and we've done better, but I think we're happy with it."

Also moving up in the standings from last season’s fourth place, were Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre, who always excite the crowd with their innovative and musical style. Choosing folk music from Africa, performed by the Soneto Percussion Ensemble, their program featured full body movements, up and down and side to side, rhythmic hopping, and shoulder rolls. Their levels were a mixture of three and four, with mostly positive GOE. While the program was fun to watch, they may have received lower scores for spending too much time dancing in one place.

"We didn't get quite the levels that we wanted to, so we want to be sure to nail the free dance," Bommentre said. "We'll focus more on our levels on Saturday and then and show of all the hard work we've done since Japan."

Last year’s junior champions, Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates made the leap to senior this year, landing in fourth place after the OD. Skating to balalaika instrumentations of "Kalinka" and "Russikie Naprieve," their dance featured comic, flirty movement and expressions. Their unison on the step sequence was very strong, and they kept up with the speed of the music with good energy. The only team in the top four to receive level fours on every element, they also had no negative GOE marks.

"It was a pretty good performance for us today," Bates said. "I think it was a bit of an unfamiliar situation skating last and behind the Olympic silver medallists, but it turned out to be a good thing for us because the crowd was very excited and I think that the energy from their performance transferred into ours and I hope the crowd enjoyed it."

A bad fall in the Yankee Polka sent the new partnership of Jane Summersett & Todd Gilles into tenth place, putting them in the first warm-up group, but their fifth place Appalachian folk dance to music from "O Brother Where Art Thou," got the crowd going early on in the competition. With the same required elements for every team, sometimes the term "original dance" is an oxymoron, but Summersett & Gilles’ program was full of creative steps and poses, from a straight line lift, where Summersett balances in a V position on Gilles’ foot, and a circular step sequence highlighted by turning kicks. They sometimes skated slower than the music demanded (which was reflected in their program component score) but all but one of their elements were graded as level four, with positive GOE. After two phases of the competition, they are in seventh overall.

Jennifer Wester & Daniil Barantsev skated a high energy program to "Cotton Eye Joe," but a mistake on the twizzle sequence resulted in a negative GOE on that element, which became the difference between fifth and sixth in the OD (they were less than a tenth of a point behind Summersett & Gilles). They were far enough ahead after the compulsories to stay in fifth place overall. Charlotte Maxwell & Nick Traxler moved up to sixth place overall, with the seventh place OD to Native American music.

The top three couples held their places in the Free Dance, as did couples seven through thirteen.  Couples four through six shuffled he deck somewhat, though not enough to alter the podium.

Skating to selections from Chopin, Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto won their fifth national title with ease. In so doing, they joined the select company of Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev; Elizabeth Punsalan & Jerod Swallow; Judy Blumberg & Michael Seibert; and Judy Schwomeyer & James Sladky.

They skated with grace and confidence in a well choreographed routine that captured the tone of the music beautifully -- and the panel rewarded them with phenomenal marks.

"Liz and Jerod and Naomi and Peter, those two couples we know very well personally, since we trained with them [under Igor Shpilband] when they won most of those titles," the 23-year-old Belbin said.

"It’s an honor to be mentioned in the same [sentence]. No one will ever be able to take away these titles. It means a great deal, and hopefully we will [compete] through 2010 and break that record."

The couple, who won silver at the ’06 Torino Olympics, skated with grace, confidence and new-found speed, the result of their much-publicized "back-to-basics" training regimen this summer. For many observers, it was their finest free dance performance ever.

All eight of their elements, including a stunning combination curve + rotational lift, gained Level 4 from the technical panel. For grades of execution (GoEs), they received nearly all plus twos and threes, with only two marks of plus one in the lot. Their program components were in the high eights to low nines; overall, the dance earned 109.92 points (TES 56.77 + PCS 53.15).

Although this score is only slightly lower than the team’s personal best of 111.54 points at the 2005 World Championships, the Program Component scores are distinctly higher than what the winners of the past two World Championships or Grand Prix Finals have received.  By sending out their only realistic gold-medal contenders to Gothenburg with a big hurrah, U.S. Figure Skating was clearly sending a message to the ISU judges in the scores of this couple.

"I think this season is a culmination of ten years skating together, and that goes a really long way," the 25-year-old Agosto said. "We were really able to take time to go back to basics this summer, and not just develop a free dance. We made sure were stronger and faster, and had better unison. Then we put that together with the program and really trained it."

Meryl Davis & Charlie White, who train alongside Belbin & Agosto in Shpilband’s school in Canton, Mich., delivered an intricate, emotionally rich performance to the Beatles’ "Eleanor's Dream" and Eleanor Rigby." 

The two University of Michigan students moved with sped and flow throughout their elements, seven of which gained Level 4. (Their serpentine lift was rated Level 3.) Their twizzles were at least equal to those of the champions, and received the exact same score, 5.99 points.

Throughout the program they moved with speed and confidence be it in steps, lifts or quickly rotating twizzles that fly down the ice.  Their GoEs were all in the plus ones to threes, and their Program Components were in the low to mid eights, with one judge going to nine in Interpretation.  Here too, it appears a message was being sent to the ISU that U.S. Figure Skating is pushing for this couple to improve upon their previous seventh place finish and move up into the top five at Worlds.

Davis & White gained 103.54 points for their free dance and 206.82 points total.

"The energy we brought on the ice has been a big step for us, and it’s always nice to get higher and higher in terms of our standard," White said.

Performing to a bluesy vocal from Corrinne Bailey Rae, Kimberly Navarro & Brent Bommentre placed third in the Free Dance and third overall, winning their first-ever trip to worlds. They earned a total 187.94 points for the event.

The popular couple, who have an uncluttered, natural style, delivered Natalia Linichuk’s choreographed with confidence and maturity. Their elements were all called level 4 except for a level 3 dance spin, and they received GoEs from zero through plus two from the judging panel. They also received a deduction for an extended lift.

"We had a great skate," Bommentre said. "We came out of the original dance where we missed some of our levels, and we’re really happy with this performance. It’s the first time we got a level 4 on a step sequence."

Jane Summersett & Todd Gilles, who suffered an unfortunate fall in the Yankee Polka compulsory, placed a surprising fourth in the free dance with their polished interpretation of Ravel’s "La Valse," choreographed by Tom Dixon.

The couple, teamed in April ’07, earned Level 4 for six of their eight elements. Their closing curve lift, with Gilles in a deep crouch position and Summersett balancing herself parallel on his thighs, drew gasps from the crowd. They earned 87.20 points for the segment, and placed sixth overall with 166.86 points.

Performing to selections from MGM’s "Singin’ in the Rain," Jennifer Wester and Daniil Barantsev had a pleasant, entertaining routine that lacked a bit of the intricacy and difficulty of the top couples’ programs. They placed fifth in this segment and fifth overall with 169.37 points.

After taking fourth place in the Yankee Polka and folk/country OD, ’07 U.S. junior champions Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates fell to sixth place in the free dance with 83.54 points. They remained fourth overall with 175.16 points.

Both skaters collapsed on a rotational lift late in the program, dropping that element’s base value from 3.50 points to 2.20 points and also costing them a two-point deduction.

Until that point, the young skaters handled their sophisticated choreography (choreographed by their coach, Iouri Tschesnitchenko, to "Luna") with aplomb, and should be especially commended for the difficult transitions into and out of elements. All their elements gained positive GoEs, except for the rotational lift, and their Program Components were in the mid-sixes.

Samuelson & Bates will represent the U.S. at the upcoming World Junior Championships, where they hope to win gold. Last season, they withdrew from the event when Bates sliced Samuelson’s hand during an element in their free dance.

In addition to the scoring inflation in this event, we also noticed the following curious item.  It would appear that dancer girls only know how to spin in two positions, a catch-foot camel and a haircutter.  Similarly, dancer boys only seem to know how to spin in a sit or upright position.  Or at least that is how it appears from watching the spins in the Original and Free Dances.  Nearly 90% of the spins consisted of a catch-foot with sit spin to a haircutter with upright.  Is no one capable of showing any creativity in this element?