Novice Pairs

Rachel DeRita & Peter Briccotto - Photos: Long
Rock-n-Roll - I missed the begining of the program due to long food lines and inaccurate printed schedules.That is also why I have no photos. They were in faux denim bottoms and red shirts and the music was Elvis. I had a report the lift was a bit rough. I saw them do ok sxs lutzes. And they looked slow for this group. Death spiral was a bit short. Pair spin a bit messy.

Sweet Charity - really fun program - messy in places. I like the part where he starts her spinning, the joins in for the pair spin. he din't get his toe pick set on the death spiral.

Andrea Best & Trevor Young - Photos: Short Long
Pink Panther. Nice clean twist. sxs jumps nice. sxs spin off and on. DS was big and long and there was a nice transition out of it to the pair spin. Good speed.

Mask of Zorro - Messy. He fell on sxs axels and she fell on the other side by side jumps. She 2 footed the first throw. the side by side spins were off. Footwork was slow. Pair spin rough.One lift down rough.

Amanda Dobbs & Christopher Trefil - Photos: Short Long
Firebird - Nice twist and sxs jumps. Good speed and interesting chor. good sxs spins. Death spiral had a nice travelling vaiation. She landed the sxs jumps early - I wonder if she popped or if they were just out of synch?

Kalinka - Great 1 hand lift. and a nice lasso to knuckle lift, Fell on 2 twist. next lift was messy. Nice pair spin too.

Jaylyn Kelly & Gabe Woodruff - Photos: Short Long
Malaguena - She is teeny. She is 8. 8. 2 years older that my friend's little boy. 8. Youngest here this year far as I know. He is 22. So they aren't eligible for anything except Nationals. And she is a lefty and he is not. Lift was great, with a big flip out, with bit of a rough landing. they did the twist her way, and the death spiral his way and the lift his way. They flew the sxs spins, but they spun pretty far apart. OK overall.

CORRECTION - There is a typo in the program. I was told by the membership chair of her club (Lansing Skating Club - thank you Gina DeWitt) that her birth date is in 1994, not 1997 as the program lists. I feel much better.

Moulin Rouge (the program said Bolero). She fell on the throw. All else was done well. Side by side lutz and side by side lutz-toe combos.

Kalie Budvarson & Christopher Anders - Photos: Short
Cirque du Soleil. This was the French street cafe music scene from Cirque - not the faux Mardi Gras kind of cirque. sxs jumps OK. Lift rough on set down. sxs spins off and on. She fell on transitions and almost fell on the circular footwork. They do not seem like a perfect match in size, but they did well for all that. Nice speed and connection between them.

Withdrew - He was in the stands with a cast on his arm. I believe it was an injury to his thumb.

Janyce Okamoto & Ryan Berning - Photos: Short Long
Thou Font of Every Blessing. Lovely piece and beautiful chor. Out of the Nashville house of Bill Fauver and Laura Sanders. She popped the side by side jumps I think. Nice high twist. Great opening with spirals and extension. Her camel position is exquisite.

Whiter Shade of Pale - He stepped out of the loop and she popped one of the throws, btu this was a beautifukl lyrical program. They also did the trick where he "launches" her into a layback, then adds himself in for the pair spin. I love that. Nice lifts. Just wonderful to watch.

Chelsea Roach & Jeffrey Charbonneau - Photos: Short Long
Sing, Sing, Sing. Nice twist. Lift good, but slow. He popped sxs jumps - she fell. She's perky and he is ... concerned looking. Death spiral has some fancy stuff, but she lost the arch in her back 1/2 way through.

Romeo and Juliet. They had a rough night. 2 lift were off. came down early and almost a fall. Side by side jumps were good.

Meg Byrne & Nathan Bartholomay - Photos: Short Long
Art on Ice - Nice death spiral and sxs jumps. Twist was very scary low low. uneven speed in circ. footwork.

"Artsakh" from Ani - I did not take notes on this - but I recall it being done well. They seem secure and fast compared ot some in this field.

Jessica Paetsch & Jon Nuss - Photos: Short Long
King Herod's song. Skated very well and they have nice expression and are very charming. Travelling death spiral very nice. Honestly - I am such an old musical theatre geek, I could not get past the music choice. Although the music is perfect for skating - I still hear the words in my head. It is the song where Herod challenges Christ in JC Superstar - and it is not the happy peppy song it appears to be. And it is just too weird for me. I could not get away from it. I still hear the soundtrack in my head - here - let me share it with you all: "Aren't you scared of me, Christ, Mr. Great Jesus Christ - Prove to me that you're no fool...walk across my swimming pool - or has something gone wrong - why do you wait so long - come on, king of the jews...I only ask what I'd ask any superstar - what is it that you have got that puts you where you are - I am waiting, yes I'm a captive fan - I'm dying to be shown that you are not just any man..." Anyway - this was a real problem for me (and obviously still is), so I look forward to seeing their free skate to Sing, Sing, Sing so I can just enjoy them. The folks with me did not ID the song - so they thought it was some generic ragtime piece and lived through it unscathed, but I went to a surreal zone and could not come back. I may need medicating.

Sing, Sing, Sing. Phew. This was just awesome. They were great. Exciting and fast and expressive and did a clean program.

Abigail Ann Sales & Duy Nguyen - Photos: Short Long
Passions. Rough skate. He fell on sxs jumps. Twist was nice, as was footwork, but they ended ages before the music - like they had left out a spin???

Romeo and Juliet - He fell on side by side flips in their combo. and I think he popped the side by side loops. Platter lift was a bit iffy and the death spiral seemed short. Pretty look on the inbetwen skating - she relates well to him.

Tracy Tanovich & Michael Chau - Photos: Short Long
Kill Bill. She is 9. 9. Looks 5. She looks younger than the 8 year old. (and since I have just ben informed that the 8 year old is 11 it now all makes sense - see above correction). Looked scared too. He is only 15. Nice high twist. She fell on sxs jumps. Lots of separation in footwork and uneven speed. Death spiral looked hinky to me. His shoulder is VERY high and it didn't look like she really had the edge.

Swan Lake - . Oh. This was very cute. Her jumps were a bit messy, but she got them done. Great twist and nice lift with flip outs. Death spiral looked better this time out.

Caitlin Yankowskas & Daniyel Cohen - Photos: Short Long
The Mission. Nice twist. He stumbled and fell in the middle of ..well.. basically nothing... and it took a long time for them to get that sorted out and get back on track. Nice close sxs jumps. pair spin and footwork seemed simple.

Don Quixote -He stepped out of first side by side jumps. Nice dance lift right into a sal (but she popped to a single).Pretty waltzy program with nice chor.

SkateyGirl.Com

Notes From 2006 Nationals - St. Louis, Missouri
Copyright 2006 Ann Jensen - all rights reserved

SkateyGirl.Com

Notes From 2006 Nationals - St. Louis, Missouri Copyright 2006 Ann Jensen - all rights reserved

Notes From 2006 Nationals - St. Louis, Missouri
Copyright 2006 Ann Jensen - all rights reserved