The Tango Romantica for Dummies

Another post to feed on that Olympic fever; some comparisons of the compulsories! I haven't got every top team on here (Belbin and Agosto haven't competeted the Tango Romantica yet, for example) but there's enough that you can watch and make a comparison. Ignoring the possibility of disasters, who do you think will take gold after the CDs?

Important Things to Remember; What the ISU Communication on judging the Tango Romantica Says

Skating Skills
Ice coverage without visible pushing; cleanness and sureness of steps; strongly curved well rounded lobes; lobe to lobe transitions well controlled; controlled body weight changes; light knee action; clean, tight, crisp footwork.

Performance
Perfect vertical and horizontal unison; good carriage and style; controlled body action;nicely matched free legs; balance in performance between partners.

Interpretation
Expression of the typical changes between the soft and strong character of the rhythm, relationship between partners reflecting the lyrical mood of this Tango. Well-defined and strong edges should be skated with a lot of character using good knee action, tight ,clean footwork with matching free leg movements. For good presentation and interpretation the body style and movements should reflect Tango rhythm.

Timing
Very precise and crisp timing, exact beat value for each step, sometimes syncopated to bring out the Tango character.

Here are some of the key players in the medal race performing their Tango Romanticas this season.

Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir



Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin



Meryl Davis/Charlie White




Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali




Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte




Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski




Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat




Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder (from the 2006 Europeans, embedding is disabled on this video, annoyingly!)

I've also decided, as a point of comparions, to add in some of the best performances of the Tango Romantica from the past few years as a point of comparison.

Jayne Torvill/Christopher Dean



Oksana Grishuk/Evengy Platov




Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat



So there you have it; everything you need to know about the Tango Romantica! Hope it was helpful.

Olympic Fever!

Now, if you're like me, you're totally excited for the events in Vancouver to start and are itching to see some skating! But to keep you going until the first event (the Pairs Short Program, on Valentines Day!) I've compiled some links/sites/videos to keep you going!

Twitter

Twitter is an invaluable tool for any skating fan. There are a number of skaters who tweet, especially the American ones; my favourites are @jeremyabbottpcf, @EvanLysacek, @JohnnyGWeir, @Adaripp (Adam Rippon, in case you couldn't tell), @AshWagner2010 and @charlieawhite. There are so many more figure skaters out there in the Twitter world, so have a look at Aaron's site Axels, Loops and Spins for a full list.

There are also so many people who tweet skating news, and who, along with me, will be tweeting the Olympic results. The best, I think, are @SarahandDrew (off of Ice Network), @skating102 (Aaron from the aformentioned Axels, Loops and Spins) @blazingblades and @NBCOlympicZone. Don't forget about @Ice_Addiction either!

TV

Skaters seem to be popping up on TV all over the place. Jeremy Abbott, who has traditionally flown under the radar in terms of promotion, was actually on the Today Show and skated a flawless program. Evan Lysacek is also going to be on the Today Show on February 10th, so look out for that. Evan was on Jay Leno (with Kristi Yamaguchi and Mirai Nagasu in the audience!). Also, the latest in the Cutting Edge franchise is going to be shown on March 14th. It's called Fire and Ice; taking inspiration from Brian Joubert/Sasha Cohen's autiobiographies?

Other Stuff

And finally, to keep you going, here are some interviews with skaters which might be interesting. There's an interview with Abbott, and then a little news piece on Nathan Chen, America's hopes for 2018 (!) There are also a few clips on Delobel and Schoenfelder from recent training!







Oh and last bit of skating news; the compulsory dance at the Olympics is going to be the Tango Romantica! Do you like this decision? Personally I was hoping for the Golden Waltz but you might disagree - comment below.

Another skating baby....or two!

Within days of Isabelle Delobel announcing her pregnancy, it has come out that Tatiana Totmianina is pregnant with twins...and the father is Alexei Yagudin! Apparently they are engaged, and the babies are due to be born in around October/November. Congratulations to both of them!

In other news, the US has announced their Team Envelopes:

Team A
Ladies: Alissa Czisny, Rachael Flatt
Men: Jeremy Abbott, Evan Lysacek, Brandon Mroz, Johnny Weir
Pairs: Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker
Dance: Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, Meryl Davis and Charlie White

Team B
Ladies: Becky Bereswill, Alexe Gilles, DeeDee Leng, Mirai Nagasu, Ashley Wagner, Caroline Zhang
Men: Ryan Bradley, Stephen Carriere, Richard Dornbush, Armin Mahbanoozadeh, Ross Miner, Adam Rippon
Pairs: Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau
Dance: Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein, Madison Hubbell and Keiffer Hubbell, Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre, Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani

Team C and the rest of the press release can be read here.

Delobel to become a mother

That's right, Isabelle Delobel is pregnant! She's due to give birth in September...and her and Olivier still plan to go to the Olympics in February.

"At first we were stunned," said Schoenfelder who is married and the father of an almost 3 year old son. "Of course I congratulated Isabelle and then we wondered how we could go on towards the Olympics."

"It is a matter of organization," Delobel added. "Obviously, as time goes by, it will be more and more difficult to train. But with the help of everyone, we will manage it."

They've already made preparations for next season:

They have already crafted next season’s original dance off the ice with choreographer Michel Durand and will adjust it on the ice in the coming weeks.

"In early June, we will work on the new free," Boucher-Zazoui (their coach) revealed. "Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon (2006 World silver medalists) will help us craft the program in Lyon. When Isabelle will be unable to perform the lifts for example, Marie-France will substitute."

Can Delobel be ready in time for the Olympic Games next February? She will miss the French Masters (scheduled for mid-September in Orléans) and the first ISU Grand Prix legs, including Trophée Eric Bompard in Paris (which will open the Grand Prix season in mid-October).

"During the ISU Grand Prix management group meeting in Vancouver at the end of May, we will ask for them (Delobel-Schoenfelder) to skate as late as possible for their assignments," Didier Gailhaguet, the president of the French federation, conceded. "If they are not fit enough, the following event on their agenda could be the French Nationals (mid-December in Marseille) and the Europeans in Tallin (Estonia) mid-January 2010."

Honestly? Medalling in Vancouver, or even getting to Vancouver, seems like a very long shot now. But congratulations to Isabelle! The entire article is also avaliable here.

Versus

Is anyone else gutted that there won't be a "Battle of the Great Gig(s) in the Sky" at Worlds? Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder has officially announced their withdrawal due to Isabelle's shoulder injury, which means that we won't be able to see how their FS shapes up against Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's. I've posted them both below so that you can compare which one you prefer. Personally? Much as I absolutely adore Tessa and Scott, I've got to go with Delobel/Schoenfelder on this one. I am, however, slightly biased as I did see D/S perform this live at Trophee Eric Bompard in November. I must prefer their cut of the music, their costumes and their cheoreography, though I have so much respect for Tessa and Scott for creating a routine which is so beautiful yet incredibly difficult technically.

The below performances should be a good comparison; D/S's performance isn't the best as Isabelle had a stomach bug, and V/M have little experience in performing this FS as Tessa's injury forced them to skip the whole Grand Prix season. Hopefully these two factors will cancel each other out.

No Delobel/Schoenfelder at Worlds

On an interview on French TV, Isabelle said that it is 99% certain that they will not be in LA due to her injury. It's such a shame; their Great Gig in the Sky was absolutely breathtaking and it would have been likely that they could have defended their World title. Get well soon, Isabelle.

Program of the Day is their GGitS FS from the Grand Prix Final this season; a great performance, with the final moves slightly altered due to the fact that Isabelle was suffering from a stomach bug.