{"id":18428,"date":"2018-11-05T22:11:58","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T03:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=18428"},"modified":"2020-02-16T12:01:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T17:01:44","slug":"recap-2018-grand-prix-of-helsinki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/recap-2018-grand-prix-of-helsinki\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap: 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Anne Calder | Photos by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n

Helsinki, Finland made history when it hosted its first Grand Prix of Figure Skating event from November 2-4. Ten teams representing six countries competed for prize money and points to qualify for the GP Final.<\/p>\n

Finland graciously volunteered to host the GP event when the Chinese Skating Association withdrew its sponsorship of the 2018 Cup of China. Gold medals were awarded to Russian skaters in three of the four disciplines. The two-time Olympic champion from Japan won the men\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

Rhythm Dance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rhythm dance pattern for this season is Tango Romantica. It was invented by Elena Tschaikovskaia for her students, Liudmila Pakhoma & Aleksanda Gorshkov and was first performed in Moscow in 1974.<\/p>\n

After the rhythm dance, Russians Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin held a slim lead over the Italians, Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri. Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter of the United States sat alone in third place, six points behind the leaders.<\/p>\n

Stepanova & Bukin opened with their fast moving twizzles and closed with a cartwheel entrance into the curve lift. Both elements earned level 4. Their crisp footwork was rewarded with a 2.90 GOE. The couple also hit six of eight key points in their Tango Romantica pattern. The dance scored 78.18.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first competition of the season we were able to show the whole short dance,\u201d explained Bukin. \u201cOur coaches were pleased, and I think the audience approved. We are quite happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guignard & Fabbri stood at center ice waiting for the familiar chords of their music to begin, but it didn\u2019t happen. Instead, it was Clair de Lune<\/em>. It took two visits to the referee and a warm-up before the Italians began their program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you step on the ice, you have 30 seconds to take your place, and then the music starts,\u201d noted Fabbri. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t, you have to keep focus. We had the problem at the beginning, but we felt that the music was slower, and we got a time violation. We\u2019re going to check the FD music tomorrow morning to make sure we are not going to have problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opening level 4 twizzles began with a spectacular cartwheel entrance and earned 2.80 GOE. The Italians\u2019 first Tango Romantica pattern hit all four key points; the second hit two. Like the Russians they were rewarded with 2.90 GOE for their footwork. The Skate America silver medalists earned a higher TES than the Russians, but evened out the score with the lower program component mark. The one point time deduction cost them first place. The segment scored a personal best 77.36.<\/p>\n

McNamara & Carpenter received GOE scores mostly in the +2 range. The rotational lift and the twizzles earned level 4. The team hit five of eight key points. Competing in their second Grand Prix season, the couple danced the waltz and tango. The segment scored 71.40.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both had a really great time with the Rhythm Dance tonight,\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cThe crowd was fantastic, and we\u2019re definitely looking forward to tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second American team, Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko, Spain\u2019s Sara Hurtado & Kirill Khaliavin, and Finland\u2019s hometown favorites, Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis were 4-6.<\/p>\n

At the press conference, teams were asked about the dance. They shared their thoughts.<\/p>\n

“Tango Romantica is a really difficult dance,” Bukin said.\u00a0 “When we first started learning it, we were thinking \u2018how on earth could people (do) three runs of it\u2019. It\u2019s full of elements, and it\u2019s really harmonious and into the program, so we really like this dance.”<\/p>\n

“It is one of the most beautiful dances created,” Fabbri said.\u00a0 “Of course, it\u2019s much harder than other dances. We\u2019ve never had the opportunity to skate a tango, so we\u2019re happy for this choice by the ISU.”<\/p>\n

“Because it\u2019s so intricate, it almost weaves itself into your program in a much smoother way,” Carpenter said. “We both really like that.”<\/p>\n

Free Dance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The top three after the rhythm dance moved on to the podium: Stepanova & Bukin (gold), Guignard & Fabbri (silver) and McNamara & Carpenter (bronze).<\/p>\n

Stepanova & Bukin padded their lead with a sultry blues dance to “Am I the One” by Beth Hart that earned a personal best 121.91. Five elements earned level 4; the step sequences received level 3. A highlight was their twizzle choreographic element in the \u201cshoot- the-duck\u201d position that scored 4.89 points with +4 and +5 GOEs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very happy to have taken first place on the Grand Prix for the first time; that\u2019s a step forward for us,\u201d Stepanova said. \u201cWe hope for the next time we will do even better skating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guignard & Fabbri had no music problems, but she stumbled and lost a point for the fall during their performance to music from\u00a0La La Land, <\/em>which included the selections “Audition”, “A Lovely Night” and Planetarium.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, It was a very stupid mistake we were not expecting, so we couldn\u2019t save it,\u201d Fabbri said. \u201cLuckily it was not an element.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their light and elegant dance to selections from the popular Hollywood musical earned a personal best 118.93. The twizzles scored four +5 GOEs for a 9.45 panel score. A highlight was their sliding choreographic move.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a lot of time to work after Skate America, but we still made some improvements and the segment score of today proved it, so we\u2019re happy,\u201d Fabbri commented.<\/p>\n

McNamara & Carpenter missed third place in the free dance by .58, but held on to win the bronze.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving two Grand Prix events this season was a really exciting opportunity for us, and we\u2019re really proud to take home the bronze at this one, our first Grand Prix medal,\u201d Carpenter said.<\/p>\n

The 2016 World Junior champions received all +2, +3, and +4 GOEs for their contemporary dance to \u201cPorz Goret\u201d and \u201cPenn Ar Roc\u2019h\u201d by Yann Tiersen and \u201cModern Piano\u201d by Piano. The 105.26 segment score included a two-point extended lift deduction. The total was 176.66.<\/p>\n

Hurtado & Khaliavin were third in the free dance to \u201cGreat Gig in the Sky\u201d and \u201cSign of the Times\u201d with 105.84 points. They moved up a notch to fourth overall with a total 172.09. Both were personal best scores. Making their Grand Prix debuts, Carreira & Ponomarenko were fifth (167.28) and Tukkila & Versluis were sixth (160.62).<\/p>\n

At the press conference, teams spoke about their free dance music.<\/p>\n

“Peter Tchernyshev, our choreographer, found the music and our coaches liked it,” Bukin said.\u00a0 “We started\u00a0 the program without thinking of anything else.”<\/p>\n

“We think that it\u2019s really melodic music that can fit the ice very well,” Fabbri said.\u00a0 “We fell in love with the La La Land<\/em> music the first time we heard it, and we chose it.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“As a team, we wanted to make a program that was more about us and something we created ourselves,” Carpenter said. \u201cIn the past a lot of our music choices have had pre-defined roles (POTO, Carmen). We wanted something more contemporary, more modern that we could personalize in our own way.”<\/p>\n


\nICE CHATTER<\/strong><\/h3>\n

— Bukin vs. Ponomarenko<\/strong><\/p>\n

For four straight years at the World Championships (1985-1988), Natalia Bestemianova & Andrei Bukin won gold and Marina Krylova & Sergei Ponomarenko won silver. In Helsinki, 30 years later, both their sons, Ivan Bukin and Anthony Ponomarenko, competed against each other for the first time.\u00a0\u00a0Several weeks ago, ice-dance.com sat down with C&P for an upcoming article. Anthony commented on competing against the son of his parents\u2019 rival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel we are really not competing against them because they are at the top, and we\u2019re not at that level yet,” Ponomarenko said.\u00a0 “It\u2019s funny how history repeats itself and how small the skating world is, and we all stay in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

— Judges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why were two judges out of line in their GOEs for Stepanova & Bukin\u2019s shoot-the-duck twizzles?<\/p>\n

RD: (SqTwL4+SqTwM4) +3, +3, +3, +4, +3, \u00a00, +2, +2, +2<\/p>\n

FD: (ChTw1) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0+5, +5, +5, +4, +1, +4, +5, +5, +4<\/p>\n

— Qualifying<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guignard & Fabbri with two GP silver medals and 26 points have punched their ticket to the Final.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great feeling and gives us even more motivation for the future to work hard,\u201d Fabbri said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Anne Calder | Photos by Robin Ritoss Helsinki, Finland made history when it hosted its first Grand Prix of Figure Skating event from November 2-4. Ten teams representing six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_gspb_post_css":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[285,133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2018-2019-event-recaps","category-event-recaps"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=254%2C150&ssl=1",254,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=300%2C177&ssl=1",300,177,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=768%2C454&ssl=1",768,454,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?resize=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?resize=400%2C284&ssl=1",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?resize=510%2C382&ssl=1",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?resize=400%2C516&ssl=1",400,516,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/18GPH-2050.jpg?resize=45%2C45&ssl=1",45,45,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team IDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/author\/idcadmin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"by Anne Calder | Photos by Robin Ritoss Helsinki, Finland made history when it hosted its first Grand Prix of Figure Skating event from November 2-4. Ten teams representing six […]","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7GOSM-4Ne","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18428"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18433,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18428\/revisions\/18433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}