{"id":20476,"date":"2019-03-25T21:02:03","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T01:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=20476"},"modified":"2020-02-16T12:11:40","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T17:11:40","slug":"recap-2019-world-championships-rhythm-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/recap-2019-world-championships-rhythm-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap: 2019 World Championships Rhythm Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>by Anne Calder | Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The 2019 World Figure Skating Championships were held from March 14-24 in Saitama, Japan. Twenty-seven teams from 20 ISU countries competed in the Rhythm Dance. (RD)<\/p>\n<p>European teams won the top three spots. The last time a North American couple began the Free Dance below third place was fifteen years ago in 2004. Small gold, silver, and bronze medals in that order were awarded to Gabriella Papadakis &amp; Guillaume Cizeron (FRA), Victoria Sinitsina &amp; Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) and Alexandra Stepanova &amp; Ivan Bukin (RUS).<\/p>\n<p><strong>RHYTHM DANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Eighteen of the twenty-seven teams earned season best scores.<\/p>\n<p>Papadakis &amp; Cizeron tangoed to selections by Astor Piazzolla and earned all level 4\u2019s and a record-setting 88.42 score for a solid lead. On a lighter note, the couple returned to their original costume, with a few additions for the event. They felt the black color fit the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>Papadakis commented on the program. \u201cWe have worked a lot on the technique since Europeans. I think that\u2019s what made a difference. We love this program; we love working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She continued, \u201cSometimes we have difficulty finding something that suits us. This time, the Tango theme was right up our alley.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe chose a more classical music to show the passion of the Tango without anything artificial,&#8221; Cizeron added.<\/p>\n<p>Sinitsina &amp; Katsalapov also danced to music by Astor Piazzolla \u2013 \u201cVerano Porteno\u201d. All the elements except his twizzle received level 4; the Midline footwork earned a 4.01 GOE. The score was 83.94<\/p>\n<p>The team spent most of their time since Europeans working on their programs \u2013 doing lots of run-throughs on ice. This season has brought a big change to their approach to everything they are doing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe fell in love with our work, and that\u2019s our biggest motivation,\u201d Katsalapov explained.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian National Champions gave accolades to the excellent skating conditions at the Saitama Super Arena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe quality of the ice is absolutely unique,&#8221; Sinitsina added.\u00a0 &#8220;It supports every edge and allows us to make all the movements freely.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pure joy to skate here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alexandra Stepanova &amp; Ivan Bukin danced Paso Doble and Tango to earn a third place 83.10 score with all level 4 elements. The European silver medalists felt that in the beginning of the season the rhythm dance was their week point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that the key to success is hard work, so we did our best to increase our skills in expression and speed,\u201d Stepanova said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have made an attempt to fix the mistakes that we have made at the Russian Nationals and the European Championships,\u201d added Bukin. \u201cWe wanted to skate heartily and enjoy our performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The three North American teams finished fourth, fifth and sixth, less than a point out of third place and within striking distance of the podium.<\/p>\n<p>Madison Hubbell &amp; Zachary Donohue (83.09), \u201cWe were very pleased today to give out a strong performance. We got all level 4s which was our goal; it\u2019s a great start toward the whole competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaitlyn Weaver &amp; Andrew Poje (82.84)\u00a0\u201cThe last time we did a Tango in this building was the 2014 World Championships. It felt good to come back and do this program that we love,\u201d said Poje. \u201cI\u2019m not sure what levels we got, it doesn\u2019t really matter anymore at this point. We had a connection with the audience, and those are the memories that we keep,\u201d added Weaver.<\/p>\n<p>Madison Chock &amp; Evan Bates (82.32) \u201cIt felt great to perform out there with the audience today,\u201d said Chock. \u201cToday we had a lot of fun,\u201d added Bates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SAITAMA SCORES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Rhythm Dance scores for the top 12 teams averaged out to be higher than those received earlier in the season at Europeans and Four Continents where six of the teams had competed at each event.<\/p>\n<p>At Worlds, eleven of the top twelve teams earned level 4 for each pattern. However, at Europeans only one of the six, and at Four Continents none of the six received both level 4\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>At Worlds, eight of the top twelve teams earned level 4 for their step sequences. At Four Continents, two were received and none at Europeans.<\/p>\n<p>These two elements have the highest base values, so when added to the GOEs the scores increase.<\/p>\n<p>Several factors can explain the rise in the levels. First, the couples spent considerable time since Europeans and Four Continents working to perfect their pattern dance and step sequences. Second, the technical specialists were a bit lenient in their calls. The third possibility is a combination of both.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Anne Calder | Photo by Robin Ritoss The 2019 World Figure Skating Championships were held from March 14-24 in Saitama, Japan. Twenty-seven teams from 20 ISU countries competed in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20478,"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-20476","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\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?fit=254%2C150&ssl=1",254,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?fit=300%2C177&ssl=1",300,177,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?fit=768%2C454&ssl=1",768,454,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.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\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.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\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.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\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.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\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.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\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.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\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.jpg?resize=400%2C516&ssl=1",400,516,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Papadakis-Cizeron-RDWC3185.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 | Photo by Robin Ritoss The 2019 World Figure Skating Championships were held from March 14-24 in Saitama, Japan. 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