Program of the Day

Today's POTD needs no introduction - sit back and enjoy the most iconic skating performance ever.

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.

Looking to next season already...

It might seem awfully soon, but the truth is that this season is over and every skater needs to start thinking about the next one. Through the fantastic medium that is the internet, I spoke to Natalie Pechalat whilst she was at the World Team Trophy. She and Bourzat have already decided what they are doing for their free dance next season; she says it's very different and she hopes that audiences will like it. I also mentioned the Grand Prix season next year, specifically Trophee Eric Bompard, and she said that she hopes to be going to Paris next year, as it's been a long time since they competed there. In light of this conversation, today's Program of the Day is Pechalat and Bourzat's FD from this season; an innovative, fun number which boasts elements reminiscent of Torvill and Dean's Barnum number.

In other news, the Cumberland News recently wrote an article on David King, who skates with Stacey Kemp in pairs for Great Britain. It highlighted a lot of facts which may have not previously been known by their fans;

David said: “I was never the best in my club, I just carried on putting quite a lot of hard work in and now I’m reaping the rewards.

“I think not being a stand-out star pushed me.”

But David needed more than perseverance to succeed, he needed sponsorship which proved impossible to find. Luckily, his own determination was matched by financial dedication from mum Angela and dad Michael.

“I couldn’t have done any of this without them. There’s no funding in the sport, I’m completely funded by my parents,” he said. “They’ve supported me every step.

“They’ve had to put their life on hold for years.”

The rest of the article can be found here.