Dance

Starting Order - Compulsory Dance

Results for the Compulsory Dance

(Westminster Waltz)

Starting Order - Original Dance

Results for the Original Dance

Notes after the OD:

The CD for this event was the Westminster Waltz.  For the OD the rhythm combinations this year can be any two or three of the following: Foxtrot, Quickstep, Charleston, or March.

Barbara Fusar Poli & Mauritzio Margaglio gave two strong performances in the CD and the OD.  The CD was well done.  Afterwards Fusar Poli said, "It was perfect.  The people are wonderful here.  We have such a great fan club.  This is a good start for our season.  Their OD was smooth and hot, skated to "Puttin' on the Ritz".  They were well prepared for both dances and are a class apart from the other competitors here.  After the OD said Margaglio, " We just love it (the music).  It took us five seconds to decide to use it.  We want to create this atmosphere for the program."

Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas, recently married this summer, moved up to second place after the OD after a poor start in the CD.  They did not look prepared in the CD and afterwards they said they were having a problem adjusting to the altitude here.  Their OD, to "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and " I am Your Dancing Fool", was fast and lively, but at the end of a straight line footwork sequence Drobiazko stumbled and put her hand down for a deduction.

Third after the OD were Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz, the former four-time World Bronze medalists.  They are attempting a comeback after missing much of last season.  Over the past 18 months Bourne has had surgery on both knees.  Their CD was well done but the slipped to fourth in the OD.  Their OD, skated to "Dancin' Fool", "Red Roses for a Blue Lady", and "So-Long-Farewell-Goodby", is a very busy program with many steps and movements, and is perhaps a bit to complex.  At the start of the program Kraatz fell at the start of  line of footwork for a deduction.  Said Kraatz, "I caught an edge.  It was an honest mistake.  I tried to recover as soon as possible.   It was like 'whoops ... it happened.'  It caught me off guard.  I remembered what my coach is always saying - don't stop, just keep going."  Added Bourne, "I think we recovered well.  Fortunately our program is a hard one.   I think the technical difficulty was so high ... we get deductions but on a different level because the program is on a higher scale."

Galit Chait & Sergei Sakhnovski, who were fifth at this year's Worlds placed fifth in the CD but move up to third in the OD and fourth overall with a fast quick-steppin' routine that was very well done.  They have continued to improve since Worlds and have a chance to move up to the medals here.

Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev gave a great performance in the CD to place third beating out Drobiazko & Vanagas, the reigning World Bronze medalists.   It was a surprising, unexpected accomplishment.  In the OD they dropped to fifth with a slick but somewhat sloppy performance.  If they can work out the bugs, though, it is a good program that could serve them well this season.

The second US couple here, Beata Handra & Charles Sinek, placed seventh in both the CD and the OD.  Their OD is a silly, simple program and both dances were done at no more than a junior quality level.

Starting Order - Free Dance

Final Results

Notes after the free dance:

The start of the free dance was delayed about 1/2 hour due to ice maintenance problems.   After attempting to patch some holes and fix a low spot in the ice in front of the judges stand the Zambonis were called out to do a quick flood.

The three couples in the first warm up were all of no better than junior quality.   The two American teams skated in the second warm-up.

Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev, who now work with Alexander Zhulin, gave a complex and interesting performance skated with good speed.  There style was very much of Usova & Zhulin, skated to Air on a G string, and an electronic version of the Four Seasons; but while Tchernyshev is well equipped to play the role of Zhulin, Lang is no Maia Usova and seemed to be working as hard as she could to skate up to Tchernyshev's level.  They received half a standing ovation for their effort but were not able to make any head-way in the standings ending up fifth in the free dance and fifth overall.

Beata Handra & Charles Sinek were able to make some progress, moving up to sixth with a program that demonstrated greater technical skill than the previous sections of the dance competition.  Nevertheless, the program, to music from Carlos Santana, while competently presented with fair speed was ordinary and artistically nothing special.

Barbara Fusar Poli & Mauritzio Margaglio led off the last warm-up skating to music from the film "Romeo and Juliete."  It was very much in the style of Anissina & Peizerat though absent the more complex type of lifts that the French team does.  It was an intense performance with good speed, but contained a few dead spot in terms of step content.  At about 3:40 into the program Fusar Poli slipped and nearly went down.  They received unanimous first place ordinals with their second marks going up 1 to tenths over the first marks.

Since we last saw them in competition Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz have undergone a stylistic shift.  Their free dance also showed the stylistic influence of Anissina & Peizerat but without the signature type of lifts used by the French team, and with more use of the traditional ice dancing positions.  The dance includes a lot of spinning movements from Bourne and was skated with good speed with a strong presentation.  The audience responded with half a standing ovation.  They ended up with ordinals from second through fifth to end up third in the free dance and third overall.

Galit Chait & Sergei Sakhnovski skated next to music by Andrew Lloyd Weber which consists of variations on a theme by Paganini.  It was a frantic, whirling, twirling dance that was skated fast and passionately.  They received four third place marks to finish fourth in the free dance and fourth overall.

Last to skate were Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas.  It was a very traditional tango routine that was very well done.  They skated good speed, good flow, and displayed very good technique.  They received five second place marks and one third and a fourth for a second place finish.

2000 Skate America Dance Medalists

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