{"id":29490,"date":"2022-11-22T22:25:45","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T03:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=29490"},"modified":"2022-11-22T22:25:50","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T03:25:50","slug":"recap-2022-nhk-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/recap-2022-nhk-trophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap: 2022 NHK Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Sapporo, Japan hosted the fifth ISU Grand Prix event, where North Americans Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN), Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA) and Caroline Green & Michael Parsons (USA) received the gold, silver and bronze medals at the Awards Ceremony before the playing of \u201cOh Canada\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rhythm Dance
<\/b>Fournier Beaudry took a slim lead over Chock & Bates with a Gloria Estefan medley that scored a personal best 85.66, The mark beat their Grand Prix score in France by three points just one week prior. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve set high goals for this year and worked hard to realize those goals,\u201d Sorensen noted.<\/p>\n

Chock & Bates\u2019 \u201cLet\u2019s Dance\u201d scored a personal best 85.00, less than a point shy of the leaders. Chock\u2019s level 1 in the Midline Step Sequence was the major difference. According to Bates, the David Bowie Remix was a change from Skate America with the current version being really up tempo. He appreciated the audience and their clapping response throughout the program.<\/p>\n

Chock reacted to the midline step level 1. \u201cThat\u2019s costly in any competition. We\u2019ll be looking to clean that up and continue pushing our performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green & Parsons scored a personal best 77.00 points for their Samba, Rhumba and Samba to the music of three different artists. The team\u2019s twizzles and curve lift earned level 4. The twizzle scored second in the event just .23 behind their American teammates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis season for us has been about constant improvement,\u201d Parsons said. \u201cThe last two weeks we\u2019ve really been happy with how we\u2019ve trained after Skate Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams four to six were separated by less than three points. Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU) scored 75.23 points, followed by the Japanese host country\u2019s Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi with 75.10 and the French team of Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud with a 72.84 score.<\/p>\n

Free Dance
<\/b>Seven teams finished in a different place than they did in the Rhythm Dance. However, the final placement for the top four couples remained the same.<\/p>\n

Fournier Beaudry & Sorensen danced Flamenco featuring the musical scores of Italian composer Ennio Morricone of two Mexican themed Western films made in Italy. The Canadian 2022 silver medalists earned level 4 twizzles, lifts and dance spin. Both of the midline step sequences and her One Foot Turn were level 3. Their 124.75 points and 210.41 total were personal best scores and won them their first Grand Prix gold medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dream come true and something we have worked for a very long time,\u201d Fournier Beaudry said.<\/p>\n

Chock & Bates\u2019 dance to \u201cSouffrance\u201d and \u201cLes Tectoniques\u201d earned level 4 twizzles, lifts and dance spin. The Skate America gold medalists made some program changes since the October event at the Skating Club of Boston. The Sapporo performance scored 124.13 and the two dances totaled 209.13. Both were season best marks, but not enough to overcome their Montreal I.AM training mates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done some evolving of our concept and character since Skate America,” Chock explained. “It\u2019s about the relationship of the spirit of fire and spirit of air and how one cannot survive without each other. They have the ability to rebuild, devour and produce life to each other and things around them. It\u2019s something we have connected with and are excited to keep exploring.”<\/p>\n

The 2022 Four Continents Champions, Green & Parsons placed fourth in the Free Dance. Their performance to George Gershwin\u2019s \u201cRhapsody in Blue\u201d earned level 4 twizzles, lifts and dance spin and scored a 114.10. Their total 191.10 was enough to take home the bronze –\u00a0 <\/span>their first Grand Prix medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we can be a lot better in terms of execution and our general score, so we have a lot to work on,\u201d Parsons said.<\/p>\n

Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU) finished third in the Free Dance to \u201cInsomnia\u201d by Faithless and fourth overall. Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud (FRA) moved up a notch with a Guillaume Cizeron choreographed program to Edith Piaf songs for a 184.63 score. Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) danced a beautiful Phantom of the Opera <\/i>program for seventh place, but ended sixth with 178.78 points.<\/p>\n

Teams who have qualified for the 2022-2023 Grand Prix Final in Torino, ITA December 8-11, 2022.<\/b><\/p>\n