{"id":17067,"date":"2018-08-21T21:25:45","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T01:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=17067"},"modified":"2020-02-16T11:56:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T16:56:20","slug":"ice-dance-observer-august-21-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/ice-dance-observer-august-21-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice Dance Observer: August 21, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

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IT\u2019S ALL ABOUT THE JGP<\/h3>\n

Welcome back \u2013\u00a0It\u2019s hard to believe that we\u2019re ready to start another JGP season!\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

This week, we preview the series as a whole as well as some details of the first JGP in Bratislava.\u00a0 I\u2019ve included links to the ISU JGP live stream as well as the results page that will likely be live tomorrow.\u00a0 Even if you aren\u2019t an early riser, you can catch performances from Bratislava and all future JGP events, as they are archived on the\u00a0ISU JGP Channel<\/a>.\u00a0 The ISU has been bringing these performances to us live for a few seasons now and it\u2019s a great opportunity to watch the next generation of ice dancers before they break through to the senior level.\u00a0 Many of the greats, including Canada\u2019s Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Meryl Davis & Charlie White of the United States, and Gabrielle Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron of France, competed on this series when they were younger.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Be sure to check out a few of our new features from this week, including the interview with Montreal\u2019s Sam Chouinard who choreographs for many of the teams at Gadbois. As he is so busy, we appreciated that he took the time to sit down with Francesca to answer questions.\u00a0 Also new is the next edition of the Parent Guide titled Competition Survival Guide by Adrienne Koob-Doddy.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a parent of an ice dancer, let us know what we can include in future posts.\u00a0 We\u2019d like it to be helpful to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

Until next time,<\/em><\/p>\n

Daphne & Team IDC<\/em><\/p>\n

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The 2017 Junior Grand Prix Final Medalists<\/em><\/p>\n

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ISU JUNIOR GRAND PRIX SERIES ENTERS 22ND SEASON<\/strong><\/h3>\n

by Anne Calder<\/em><\/p>\n

The ISU created the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in 1997 to challenge younger skaters to compete at a high level on the international stage.\u00a0\u00a0This week in Bratislava, the Series will mark the beginning of its 22nd\u00a0season of competition. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that three young ice dancers who had medaled back in the inaugural year \u2013 Daniil Barantsev, Denis Petukhov, and Massimo Scali \u2013 are still active in our sport.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Worth noting is that with the introduction of the +5 \/ -5 Grade of Excellence (GOE) all statistics start from zero for the season 2018-19, and all previous statistics are now historical.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The number of entrants allotted per ISU Member for each of the seven events is determined by the results at the previous Junior World Championship. This season Canada, Russia, and the USA get two competitors for each event. While the host country is rewarded with three spots, other countries receive one or less.\u00a0\u00a0Points are awarded at each event toward qualification for the JGP Final, where in December the top six competitors in each discipline will compete for prize money.<\/p>\n

Three of the 2017 JGP Final teams will not participate in the current season. Anastasia Skoptcova & Kirill Aleshin (RUS) and Christiana Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko (USA), the gold and silver medalists have advanced to the senior level and will make their Grand Prix debuts at Skate Canada and Grand Prix Helsinki respectively.\u00a0\u00a0Bronze medalists, Sofia Polishchuk & Alexander Vakhnov (RUS) have split. Vakhnov and his new partner, Ksenia Konkina, are listed as substitutes for the early events, while Polishchuk and her new partner are registered to compete at the first Russia Cup event.<\/p>\n

The three other Finalists will be back.\u00a0 At the World Junior Championships in March, the same trio finished only 1.03 points apart. Ushakova & Nekrasov (RUS) were third, Lajoie & Lagha (CAN) were fourth and Shevchenko & Eremenko (RUS) were fifth. They are already the out-front favorites for this year’s Final.\u00a0\u00a0The number of other teams returning for the 2018 JGP season is far less than in previous years, which should give them an advantage over all the newbies.<\/p>\n

With only the first four event rosters released, the USA leads the returnees with six, which includes Isabella Amoia & Luca Becker, Sophia Elder & Christopher Elder, Caroline Green & Gordon Green, Eliana Gropman & Ian Somerville, Emma Gunter & Caleb Wein, and Avonley Nguyen & Vadym Kolesnik.<\/p>\n

In addition to Ushakova & Nekrasov and Shevchenko & Eremenko, Russia has Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva & Nikita Nazarov returning. Both Eva Kuts & Dmitrii Mikhailov and Polina Ivanenko & Daniil Karpov last competed on the JGP series in 2016 and are listed as substitutes.\u00a0 Five of the new teams finished between places 7-14 at 2018 Russian Junior Nationals.<\/p>\n

Great Britain returns Emily Rose Brown & James Hernandez and Sasha Fear & George Waddell, while Canada has all new teams except Lajoie & Lagha, Ellie Fisher & Simon-Pierre Malette-Paquette and Natalie D\u2019Alessandro & Bruce Waddell. Some of the new duos include one partner who has competed on the JGP series.<\/p>\n

The 2018 series starts in Bratislava (SVK) from August 23-25, followed by Linz (AUT) from August 29 -September 1, Kaunas (LTU) from September 5-8, and Richmond (CAN) from September 12-15.\u00a0 After a one week break, the series returns in Ostrava (CZE) from September 26-29, Ljubljana (SLO) from October 3-6 and concludes in Yerevan (ARM) October 10-13.<\/p>\n

All seven events will again be live streamed on the official\u00a0ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Additionally, all performances since 2011 are available on demand.<\/p>\n

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ISU JUNIOR GRAND PRIX STOP #1: BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA<\/h3>\n

The ISU Junior Grand Prix series kicks off this week in Bratislava, Slovakia.\u00a0 The roster features 14 teams from 10 countries, but none from the host nation.\u00a0 2018 marks the sixth time Slovakia has been allotted a JGP event, with Bratislava serving as the host city on five of those occasions.\u00a0 Teams from Russia won the ice dance title in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2013, with siblings Rachel Parsons & Michael Parsons of the United States capturing gold in 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the medal hunt:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Russia’s Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva & Nikita Nazarov are a late addition to this roster and won a silver and gold medal on the series last season.\u00a0 Eliana Gropman & Ian Somerville of the United States are series veterans and finished fourth at both of their events last year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The event gets underway on Friday with the rhythm dance at 11:30 AM (local time), followed by the free dance on Friday at 10:45 AM (local time).\u00a0 Bratislava is six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), which converts to 5:30 AM for the rhythm dance on Friday and 4:45 AM for the free dance on Saturday.\u00a0 The event will be live streamed via the\u00a0ISU’s JGP Channel.<\/a><\/p>\n

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NEW ON IDC<\/span><\/h4>\n

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ARTICLES<\/strong><\/p>\n