{"id":33419,"date":"2023-11-06T01:17:48","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T06:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=33419"},"modified":"2023-11-06T01:19:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T06:19:44","slug":"recap-2023-grand-prix-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/recap-2023-grand-prix-de-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap: 2023 Grand Prix de France"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Matteo Morelli | Skating photos by Robin Ritoss<\/i><\/p>\n

For the second year in a row, the Grand Prix de France took place in Angers\u2019 IceParc. The third Grand Prix event of the season saw silver world medallist Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri of Italy leading across both segments of the event, recording the second highest total so far after Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier at Skate Canada; Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Nikolaj S\u00f8rensen of Canada confidently took the second place, while in third and adding another grand prix medal this season were France\u2019s Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud.<\/p>\n

\"\"Event Recap<\/i><\/strong>
<\/i><\/b>Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri (pictured, right) started their season early this year at Lombardia Trophy. The very experienced Italian team showed a great shape at their first Grand Prix of this season, where they collected their tenth Grand Prix medal (including finals) of their career.<\/p>\n

For their 80s rhythm dance, they chose \u201cHolding out for a hero\u201d by Bonnie Tyler and \u201cAgainst all odds\u201d by Phil Collins, which they present with bright light blue and pink costumes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started listening to music from the 80s, we could choose rock music or some aerobic style music, but when we heard \u2018Holding out for a hero\u2019 we felt that it was a mix between these two genres and could allow us to do something different\u201d, Fabbri shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted costumes that were not invisible, this is the season we want to do something different, funny, that we would have never chosen for the free dance\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

Their free dance is based on the movie \u201cThe theory of everything\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cStephen Hawking was sick and another person (his wife) spent a lot of her life just supporting him and taking care of him\u201d, Marco said. \u201cWe wanted to show the connection of two people, their story of mutual support, strong interactions, something more emotional for us compared from last season\u201d.<\/p>\n

This free is closer to a style that the Italian team is familiar with and feel more at ease.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, we decided to skate on a dark music: it demanded a lot, that programme was really hard because every movement had to be really sharp, with a lot of energy\u201d, Fabbri explained. \u201cEven though the final result was really good, we felt (the programme) was not too natural for us, so this year we wanted to go back to something more natural for us, that could allow us to show our connection more\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"Canada\u2019s Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Nikolaj S\u00f8rensen (pictured, left) ended up second in both segments on the event.<\/p>\n

Their rhythm dance is based on the famous \u201cTop Gun\u201d movie: everything in this programme recalls it, from the music to the costume, with Nikolaj reproducing the iconic US Navy jacket wore by Tom Cruise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a programme that we love a lot, it is based on a very cool 1980s movie\u201d, S\u00f8rensen said. \u201cIt has rock, a love story, all connected in this programme\u201d.<\/p>\n

They felt their rhythm dance at this event made up for the shaky start they had at Finlandia Trophy earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

Their free dance is based on \u201cNotre dame de Paris\u201d, a programme which their coach Marie-France Dubreil told them it could become their masterpiece.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to a second-hand store and found a CD that you can\u2019t find on Spotify\u201d, S\u00f8rensen shared. \u201cWe found the piece \u2018Ave Maria\u2019, we didn\u2019t want to do the normal version of Notre dame de Paris that everybody knows has been done over and over again\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like varying a bit what we do in style, last year we had Flamenco and (this year) we wanted to go into more of a modern touch where we can expand ourselves more\u201d, Fournier-Beaudry added.<\/p>\n

Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud\u2019s add another bronze medal to the one they have already won at Skate America. Although their total scores were not as high as at their first Grand Prix event, they felt they improved a lot from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the Grand Prix at Skate America we were already focussing on the performance part of both programmes, and looking back at this competition I think we did that because the score for our free was higher already\u201d, Lopareva shared. \u201cWe will keep fixing our performance and come back to technique, because it was lower in this competition than at Skate America\u201d.<\/p>\n

Their rhythm dance\u2019s music by Mylene Farmer found a very positive reception from the local crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like it was our best rhythm dance performance this season, I felt emotionally we performed really well and we really felt the support of the public\u201d, Lopareva said.<\/p>\n

USA\u2019s Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko ended in fourth place, and want to keep working on improving their results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are happy with how we skated, there were a couple of technical mistakes and it wasn\u2019t our best, but we are still happy with how we did\u201d, Carreira shared.<\/p>\n

Their rhythm dance is based on music by Stevie Nicks, whilst their free dance is on music from the movie \u201cPerfume \u2013 The story of a murderer\u201d, which they skate with great intensity.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Marie-Jade Lauriault & Romain le Gac always enjoy coming back to France, the country they represented until 2021. In their rhythm dance they skate on music by INKX, whilst their free is a very original programme based on the soundtrack of Tim Burton\u2019s \u201cCorpse Bride\u201d. They were happy to be back on the ice in full shape, after Romain had a hernia to deal with in summer.<\/p>\n

Korea\u2019s Hanna Lim & Ye Quan already improved their results from Skate America, going from a ninth-place finish there to a sixth-place finish at this event, where they skated a convincing free on French music of \u201cUmbrellas of Cherbourg\u201d.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck were granted a second Grand Prix spot after USA\u2019s Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker withdrew due to health reasons. With an eight-place finish, both their segments suffered a bit, but with this being their first season together it is already remarkable to see how much work this experienced team is putting in.<\/p>\n

USA\u2019s Lorraine McNamara & Anton Spiridonov ended in ninth place, and are going to compete again at NHK Trophy. Another two French teams competed at this event, with this being their only Grand Prix assignment this season: Marie Dupayage & Thomas Nabais, which ended in seventh place, and Natacha Lagouge & Arnaud Caffa, which ended in tenth place.<\/p>\n

Qualification standings
<\/strong>Half way through the Grand Prix series, the qualification standings for the Grand Prix Final are:<\/span><\/p>\n