2010 LPIDC Program Notebook – Junior
Short Dance
Group A
Nicole Orford/Thomas Williams: (Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” waltz to “Help” quickstep) good twizzles to start and transition into the Viennese Waltz. Waltz could be skated closer together. Nice rotational lift with change of position. No problems with the midline no-touch step sequence, good speed and nice spacing between them. Transitional lift to end.
Milakirstie Kulsa/Eric Greengold: (French Waltz music to “Tango Roxanne”) very quick transitions right into Viennese Waltz. Could hear lots of blades scraping during the pattern. First set of twizzles in a good catch foot position, trouble on the second set with a foot down. Midline no touch was out of unison and had a few stumbles. Nice straight-line at the end of the program with change of position.
Amanda Bertsch/Semen Kaplun: (“Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” by Bryan Adams) straight-line lift with a change of position, him in a spread eagle. She had a very nice smile throughout the Viennese, but they kept drifting apart from each other. Midline no touch was okay, seemed a bit tentative though. Pretty transition lift to end the program. Used same music, but changed characters from waltz to a tango feel.
Kara Vick/David Lenz: (Waltz music to “Mack the Knife” quickstep) twizzles had nice unison, small balance check at the end. Good rotational lift with change of position. Leg lines were off in the Viennese section, he needs more stretch. Midline no touch started with good attack to the quickstep music, but slowed. Rough transitional lift to end the program.
Lauri Bonacorsi/Travis Mager: (“My Sweet and Tender Beast”) may have transitioned too quickly into the Viennese, which had a nice big pattern and beautiful leg lines. She had a few balance checks during the twizzle sequence. Very pretty position in the spread eagle curve lift. Rough go in the midline no touch as she tries to finish the program.
Charlotte Lichtman/Dean Copely: (“That’s Amore”) little trouble on the opening twizzle, but they recovered well. Smooth and effortless Viennese Waltz. Slight unison problem with the no-touch midline steps. Jump into the curve lift, with him in a spread eagle position. Cute character development and story throughout the program.
Danvi Pham/Vu Pham: (Waltz music to Tango) opening transitional steps into the Viennese Waltz. Pattern was smaller, he has nice soft knees. Twizzles drift apart and are not in unison. Maintained good distance between them in the midline no-touch steps and okay speed. Nice rotational lift with change of position. They seemed to enjoy interpreting the tango portion more than the waltz section of their music.
Madeline Heritage/Nathaniel Fast: (“Mr. Bojangles” waltz to “Things We Used to Do” quickstep) good twizzles, nice and fast. Transition into Viennese with nice extension from both of them. Trouble on the midline no touch, he got a little out of step and they lost their unison. Flip into split rotational lift. Great start to the program, but they seemed to lose some focus after the error in the midline.
Danielle Gamelin/Alexander Gamelin: (“Keep Holding On” waltz to “Ain’t Got that Swing” quickstep) hop into twizzles, very fast, foot down on the second set. Viennese had a little too much adrenalin going in, but they seemed to settle down into the pattern. Nice rotational lift. Midline no-touch was a little off and she seemed to be stronger in that element. Good transitional lift to end.
Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus: (“It’s a Man’s World” waltz to “I Bust the Windows Out Your Car” tango) nice twizzles to start, maybe a slight bobble in the second set. Lots of attitude projecting towards the judges. Used different hand holds in the Viennese Waltz section, made it appear a little more seamless. Change of position rotational lift and strong midline no-touch sequence. Transitional lift to end.
Sara Aghai/Qwynn Dalmer: (“Golden Umbrella” waltz to “I Can’t Tell a Waltz from a Tango”) a little trouble to start the twizzles when she grabbed her dress with her blade. Smooth Viennese Waltz. Rotational lift with nice control and speed. Good speed throughout the midline no-touch step sequence. Transitional lift to end.
Alexandra Aldridge/Daniel Eaton: (Waltz music to Quickstep music) one arm rotational lift, then transition into Viennese Waltz, which was nice and close with long leg lines. Catch foot twizzle, looked like she put her foot down on the second set. Got a little drifty in the no-touch midline, but had good speed throughout. Stumble in the transition to the quickstep music seemed to throw them off a bit.
Heather Buckner/Nicholas Taylor: (Quickstep music to Waltz music) opening with the quickstep music into midline no-touch step sequence. Balance check by her and needs more speed. Twizzles were okay, slight unison problem. Transition to waltz with a smallish pattern, very nice smiles throughout. Pretty position in the final rotational lift, good speed.
Group B
Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter: (waltz+tango) Light on their feet through the Viennese patterns, but didn’t quite have the lilting quality they need for a waltz. Very sharp and precise on the music change. Twizzles got a bit far apart, but good unison. No problems in the midline. Interesting variation on a Biellmann rotational lift (she was behind his back). Another short rotational lift to end. Good performance. They have opportunities to improve their speed and ice coverage. 31.20.
Larissa Van As & Troy Shindle: (waltz “I Remember Natalie” + quickstep) Strong curve lift (her balancing on his legs) to open, then into the Viennese. Seemed like his feet got a bit tangled at the beginning of the second pattern. Twizzles with leg out on first set, second and third sets good too. Good unison on midline. Nice speed on rotational lift to end. Overall, they skated a little far apart, and it was apparent that this is a new partnership, but it was a decent performance. The style suits her especially. 28.92.
Anastasia Olson & Jordan Cowan: (waltz “Fallin” + quickstep “Down with Love”) Set the mood right away. Lovely slow cartwheeling straightline lift. Music was slowed down to fit the beats, so it seems like the pattern is dragging, although they skated it well. Jumps into twizzles, hey may have lost one rotation on the first set. Music change with perkier expression. He looked a bit insecure in the midline, but got through it. Good wraparound rotational lift to close. 38.07.
Natalie Wojton & Michael Soyfer: (waltz “The Only Exception” + quickstep “Heartbroken”) Great twizzles—very fast and great unison. Viennese patterns seemed a little hesitant, lacking extension (maybe too many arm highlights). Music change right on the midline, took about half the ice to get into the beat. Smooth transition into a low lift, final rotational lift wasn’t quite as strong. Light, pleasant music, but the program definitely seemed a bit new and cautious. 35.69
Sameena Sheikh & Paul Bellantuono: (waltz + tango) Fast and flowy into the Viennese patterns. Maybe a bit of trouble halfway through the second pattern. Good flow as the tango begins, too. Upside down straightline lift with Bielmann. A bit slower going into the twizzles, unison off and she lost a rotation on the first set. Unison a bit off through the midline, too. Nice commitment to the character of the tango, especially. New partnership, new program, but there’s potential. 30.11
Joylyn Yang & Jean-Luc Baker: (waltz – tune of “My Favorite Things,” but vocals not in English) Midline a bit slow, but great steps and unison. Twizzles—she missed footgrab and fell out early. Beginning of first Viennese pattern a bit rough, timing seemed a bit off. Solid rotational lift. Lots of steps in the program, but they don’t seem quite comfortable with them yet. Another rotational lift to close. 37.03
Gabrielle Friedenberg & Ben Nykiel: (tango “Assassin’s” + waltz) Nice tango attitude to start—she’s fierce. Great unison on midline. A little shaky getting into the Viennese pattern, but recovered well. Right into a rotational lift (her on one of his arms) from the pattern, good speed and rhythm. Good unison on twizzles. One of the more confident performances from the group, but seemed just a bit stiff in the knees. 45.43
Maeve Pascoe & Samuel Rashba: (waltz “Kiss from a Rose”) Looks like a new partnership right away—not a ton of connection. Strong straightline lift (her balanced on his legs). Stumble in the beginning of the Viennese, missed a big chunk of the pattern. Looks like she tripped in the last third of the second pattern, both of them fell. She stumbled again going into the twizzles, fell on the first set. Looks like something is wrong with her blade. She went over to her coach, then they spoke to the referee. They were given two minutes to see if they could repair the skate.
Second attempt at twizzles better, but not sure if they will count. Midline much more solid. Last rotational lift a bit shaky, though. 18.92
Free Dance
Group A
Danvi Pham/Vu Pham:(Middle Eastern music) step sequence good, twizzles slightly off. Fast dance spin to start, lost some speed but good change of positions. Diagonal step good, not too fast, though, and lost speed at the end. Good straight-line lift. Mirror twizzles a little out of synch. Fall on spread eagle lift at the end of the program. Good choreography. They need to emote more to highlight the movements of the program.
Sara Aghai/Qwynn Dalmer: (Triplets of Belleville) waltz jump into twizzles were off on the first set, second was better. Circular step sequence okay. Curved spread eagle lift was well done. Rotational lift good and fast. Dance spin with catch foot entrance. Serpentine foot sequence good. Fall at the end of the rotational lift. Control problems on the final lift and they finished after the music.
Alexandra Aldridge/Daniel Eaton: (Romeo & Juliet – Edvin Marton arrangement of Nino Rota’s version) nice edges on opening step sequence. Good straight-line into rotational lift that covered lots of ice. Twizzles were fast and in unison. Curved spread eagle lift. Spin had some trouble with catch foot position. Diagonal step sequence good. Need to work a little more on transitions, but the concept of the program is solid. Skaters had great flow across the ice.
Natalie Wojton/Michael Soyfer: (Triplets of Belleville) start with twizzles, out of synch on the last set, he finished ahead of her. Rotational lift strong, but not a lot of coverage. Circular steps were good, but could use more speed. Solid pairs spin. Straight-line lift from spread eagle to low position. Lost speed at the end of the program.
Anastasia Olson/Jordan Cowan: (Zoot Suit Riot & Do you Feel my Leg) high energy to start. Fast rotational lift with her in a split position. Diagonal step good, but could be a little faster. Circular steps, solid edges and changes. Curved lift with him in hydroblade. Dance spin good. He missed his foot on the catch blade twizzles. Last straight-line lift had trouble with the change of position and they had to come out of it early. Good start to the program, but rough last 30 seconds. Program has a lot of potential to grow.
Lauri Bonacorsi/Travis Mager: (The Mask) fast dance spin to start with good changes of positions. Waltz jump entry into twizzles, second set slightly off. Serpentine step sequence with good ice coverage. Straight-line lift with her on his blade laid out. Stopped skating following the rotational lift and approached the referee. Resumed program and into diagonal steps, she tripped but covered it well. Interesting straight-line lift with him balancing on one leg and she’s laying back on his skates.
Janine Halstead/Robert Knopf: (Spanish-themed music) started with good circular step sequence. Circular lift with change of position. Twizzles were off – he had trouble at the beginning and couldn’t recover. Struggled a bit in the footwork sequence – it could use more speed. Dance spin okay. Nice rotational lift. Need more time to settle into program, a little rough in some spots. Tall team with pretty lines.
Nicole Orford/Thomas Williams: (Strings arrangement of “This is How you Remind Me” by Nickleback, “This Love” by Maroon 5, and “Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot) fast and flowing step sequence to start. Very fast spin and excellent twizzles with a waltz jump entrance. One foot, backwards curve lift, followed by a rotational lift with cool leap entry. Ending needs to be more sharp, but otherwise program was strong and fast.
Joylyn Yang/Jean-Luc Baker: (Windmills of your Mind and Tango) start with a dance spin that was done well. Good twizzles. Nice straight-line lift with him in a spread eagle position, fast. Curve lift with position change, circular step sequence needs a little more speed and time to gel. Overall, a good performance.
Kara Vick/David Lenz: (Soundtrack? & Winter) nice circular lift into rotational to start. She nearly missed her foot on the catch blade twizzle, but recovered for a good second set. Straight-line backwards lift and rotational lift to end. Some rough spots, needs a little more time to develop. She passed all her dances last year to skate with him. After Lake Placid, they’ll be moving to college.
Gabrielle Friedenberg/Benjamin Nykiel: (Moonlight Sonata remix with rain and thunder sounds) he had a balance check on the twizzles, but recovered and ended in unison. Curved lift, reminiscent of Tanith and Ben with her balancing in a full split arabesque position on his foot. Dance spin with catch blade entry. Good rotational lift and backwards straight-line lift on one foot at the end. Could use a little more speed, but overall a nice skate.
Group B
Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter: (“Smile” instrumental version) start with good twizzles, but both fell on the straight-line lift. Curve lift into rotational lift with good speed. One foot backwards lift. Dance spin with nice speed throughout. Diagonal step sequence could use more speed. Will need to improve polish and speed for the junior level.
Larissa Van As/Troy Shindle: (Jazzy Sinatra “Ain’t that a Kick in the Head”) good unison in twizzles to start. Straight-line step sequence okay. Straight-line lift with her in a catch foot position – her dress skirt flowed. Curved lift in spread eagle position. Dance spin lost speed towards the end. Good circular step sequence and rotational lift to end.
Heather Buckner/Nicholas Taylor: (Grease medley) nice leg lines on the diagonal step sequence, could use more speed. Rotational lift didn’t cover a lot of ice. Curved lift, he’s in a spread eagle “combing his T-Bird hair”, while she is changing positions. Nice twizzles, ending with a pair spin. Good program, needs more speed overall.
Amanda Bertsch/Semen Kaplun: (Amelie) good speed going into serpentine step sequence. Very good straight-line into rotational lift. Nice catch foot twizzles with a waltz jump entry. Beautiful lift with him balancing her while in a forward spiral. Fast dance spin to start, but change of positions slowed them down. Good rotational lift and speed to end.
Jenna Dzierzanowski/Vinny Dispenza: (Latin medley & Tango Roxanne) start with a diagonal step sequence, good ice coverage. Dance spin had okay speed. Spread eagle curve lift good, with her balancing across his knee. Good straight-line lift right in front of the judges. Started to look a bit rough towards the end of the program. Final element is a rotational lift that could use more speed.
Charlotte Lichtman/Dean Copely: (Beetle Juice soundtrack) interesting variation to pair spin, he is in a camel position, while she is lying over his back. Twizzles fast and have good unison. Flip entry into straight-line lift. Good choreography and speed. Curved lift, not a flattering position. Rotational lift to end. Program is very entertaining, but they need a better ending.
Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus: (“happy” Carmen) start with mirror twizzles, he slipped a little at the end of the second set and pants boot strap is undone. Backwards one foot lift with her balancing on his boot, good but lost some speed. Flip into straight-line lift with her laid out in front. Good dance spin. Circular step sequence goes well with music/tempo. Good rotational lift with interesting positions. She looks happy at the end. Strong finish and good ending.
Danielle Gamelin/Alexander Gamelin: (Santana medley) circular lift with innovative exit through his legs. Good and fast twizzles, rotational lift with her in split position. Circular step sequence could use more speed, good edges. It’s all there, just needs work on speed and her expression to make this pop.
Milakirstie Kulsa/Eric Greengold: (Latin guitar) mirror and crossing twizzles to start. Serpentine step sequence takes them too close to the wall. Low to the ground straight-line lift with her balancing on his boots, he’s in a low sit. Nice curved lift that covered a lot of ice and had multiple position changes. A little slow in spots. She has a gorgeous dress.
Sameena Sheikh/Paul Bellantuno: (Arabian-themed music) good diagonal step sequence, very expressive. Twizzles drifting too far apart, but unison okay. Nice pair spin. Good straight-line lift in a spread eagle to a rotational lift with good ice coverage and speed. Cool lift to end program, she is up high almost onto his shoulders as they passed right by the judges.
Madeline Heritage/Nathaniel Fast: (“Come What May” from Moulin Rouge) twizzles slightly off, but close together. Problem with first rotational lift, appeared that she may have over rotated three turns going in and he missed grabbing her foot for the take off. Good and fast dance spin. Curve lift into rotational. Good final lift. The initial lift problem seemed to throw them off for the rest of the program. Much improved from last year and the program has potential. She needs to emote more towards the audience and judges.