Post by xavier on Jan 21, 2009 3:46:32 GMT 1
From ISU
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance
The Championships started with the Compulsory Dance. The Compulsory Dance drawn for the 2009 European Championships was the Finnstep. The Finnstep is the newest of the Compulsory Dances and was performed for the first time in an ISU competition. It is fun, fast dance and a ballroom type Quickstep that should be danced very lightly. It requires very crisp and tidy timing. The dance was created by Susanna Rahkamo/Petri Kokko (FIN) and their coach Martin Skotnicky. It was first performed in 1995 (as an Original Dance) and then adapted to become a Compulsory Dance.
Russia’s Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitksi took the lead ahead of Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali of Italy. Sinead Kerr/John Kerr (GBR) came third. Khokhlova/Novitski put out a strong performance of the Finnstep, reflecting the sparkling character of the dance with precise timing and footwork. They European bronze medalists earned a new seasons best of 37.43 points (19.08 element score/18.35 program component score). “We really like the Finnstep, because it is such a happy, fun dance. The character of the Finnstep suits us very well”, Khokhlova commented. “Our goal is always to achieve the maximum, and so we want to win”, added Novitski. “The ice rink here looks almost like the ice rink in St. Petersburg and we feel quite at home here.”
Faiella/Scali were second with 36.03 points (18.08/17.95). They expressed the character of the dance very well, but Scali had a little wobble on one twizzle. “We were excited to compete the Finnstep. We started working on it after Italian Nationals, so there was not so much time. But once we started working on it, we felt comfortable”, Scali told the press. “There was a little stumble, but I saved the twizzle. This is a difficult part of the dance. We arrive from the Choctaw and we have to do a double twizzle, and maybe our position was too open and I wasn’t ready to twizzle. It is one of two or three critical parts of the dance, especially in the second pattern when you are tired”, he continued.
Kerr/Kerr delivered a smooth Finnish Quickstep to score 34.89 points (17.32/17.57). “It felt fantastic to do the Finnstep here in Finland. It’s a happy and enjoyable dance, and I’m glad if that came across. There are usually not a lot of people watching the compulsory dances, but here there was a warm atmosphere”, Sinead Kerr said. “I was always a big fan of Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko. It was very enjoyable to do an adaptation (of their dance)”, her brother and partner explained.
Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (FRA) finished fourth at 34.38 points and are close to the podium.
Defending European Champions Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin (RUS) are currently standing in fifth place after he fell at the end of the second sequence, but stay in contention (33.53 points).
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance
The Championships started with the Compulsory Dance. The Compulsory Dance drawn for the 2009 European Championships was the Finnstep. The Finnstep is the newest of the Compulsory Dances and was performed for the first time in an ISU competition. It is fun, fast dance and a ballroom type Quickstep that should be danced very lightly. It requires very crisp and tidy timing. The dance was created by Susanna Rahkamo/Petri Kokko (FIN) and their coach Martin Skotnicky. It was first performed in 1995 (as an Original Dance) and then adapted to become a Compulsory Dance.
Russia’s Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitksi took the lead ahead of Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali of Italy. Sinead Kerr/John Kerr (GBR) came third. Khokhlova/Novitski put out a strong performance of the Finnstep, reflecting the sparkling character of the dance with precise timing and footwork. They European bronze medalists earned a new seasons best of 37.43 points (19.08 element score/18.35 program component score). “We really like the Finnstep, because it is such a happy, fun dance. The character of the Finnstep suits us very well”, Khokhlova commented. “Our goal is always to achieve the maximum, and so we want to win”, added Novitski. “The ice rink here looks almost like the ice rink in St. Petersburg and we feel quite at home here.”
Faiella/Scali were second with 36.03 points (18.08/17.95). They expressed the character of the dance very well, but Scali had a little wobble on one twizzle. “We were excited to compete the Finnstep. We started working on it after Italian Nationals, so there was not so much time. But once we started working on it, we felt comfortable”, Scali told the press. “There was a little stumble, but I saved the twizzle. This is a difficult part of the dance. We arrive from the Choctaw and we have to do a double twizzle, and maybe our position was too open and I wasn’t ready to twizzle. It is one of two or three critical parts of the dance, especially in the second pattern when you are tired”, he continued.
Kerr/Kerr delivered a smooth Finnish Quickstep to score 34.89 points (17.32/17.57). “It felt fantastic to do the Finnstep here in Finland. It’s a happy and enjoyable dance, and I’m glad if that came across. There are usually not a lot of people watching the compulsory dances, but here there was a warm atmosphere”, Sinead Kerr said. “I was always a big fan of Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko. It was very enjoyable to do an adaptation (of their dance)”, her brother and partner explained.
Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (FRA) finished fourth at 34.38 points and are close to the podium.
Defending European Champions Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin (RUS) are currently standing in fifth place after he fell at the end of the second sequence, but stay in contention (33.53 points).