I have so many thoughts on Fear/Gibson winning a GP with that program... alas I'll spare everyone a rant on how little ISU values the core basics of this sport in favour of a few gimmicks to call a spectacle that will surely bring more new fans and more revenue when in reality it's just not even skating but posing on ice. I'll just shortly say that ice dance is dead to me.

the Golden Waltz as originated by Klimova & Ponomarenko in 1987

the winners of the last event that included a CD, which was the Golden Waltz - 2010 Worlds

it's a very long shot that the ISU will ever bring the Golden Waltz back in any form even for a ChRS, but Anthony being taught it by Scott would be something

did you know that anthony's parents won the olympics in ice dance in the 90s?

Yup, that Tosca program, her in the giant wings, he's in a the willowiest outfit ever, they lay down on the ice and roll all over each other at the start. Truly iconic.

Anthony is a legacy kid, I knew the first time I became aware of him.

absoluteskating: #MKJohnWilsonTrophy mixed zone highlights. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko. A: An injury I sustained in 2015 gradually got worse over the years, until I had many opinions telling me I needed surgery. So it was about strategizing and finding the time to do it, as there’s not really a perfect time, we thought at the end of a quad it would be good to take that step back so we could take a few steps forward later. We had a very unique off season where we had to adapt. We put in a lot of work these last few months, and I think that shows. We’re really happy with the performance, and we want to carry on that momentum. (about Christina's US citizenship) C: I’ve had my green card for a while now, still waiting for the passport but it should be set for 2026. That’s all that matters! I live in the US, but we train in Canada, so I commute every day across the border. (about coaching team) C: We added Maddie Hubbell and Adrian Diaz to our coaching team, and all three of them (w/ Scott Moir) work so well together, they all bring something different, so together it's really the full package. They are all amazing. For me it's great to have Maddie because she’s a girl, so she can help me with the movements and show me how it's supposed to be done. It was always great working with Marie France in Montreal, but it's nice having someone with us every day. A: And being an American skater, she knows all of it. She has fun stories to tell. We’re very happy with our team, especially with the addition of Maddie and Adrian. Definitely gave us a boost of confidence. (about Anthony’s parents, 1992 Olympic ice dancing champions Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko) C: They get nervous! That’s why they’re not here! A: They get very nervous but they are supportive. They watch the event, and when we come on, they close the computer, and open it again after. Christina and Anthony finished fourth in Sheffield and are preparing for their second GP event, #GPEspoo. 📸: @tuerush

I'm very pro-compulsories/patterns, but the Westminster Waltz is a crime against humanity. Truly the ugliest of the waltzes and I feel bad for every kid that's had to drill it over and over. The prettiest ones are: Golden Waltz, Ravensburger Waltz, Starlight Waltz, in that order, I said what I said. The Westminster just doesn't flow that way, you know?

LOL, I can’t say I thought about it too much, but then, I’ve never watched it as a compulsory dance event where it just never ends. Some Westminsters to see…

oh look it’s baby Lajoie/Lagha and a young (but more mature) Marie-France and Patrice.

Oh, and Klimova/Ponomarenko

Gotta say, not my favourite, but I do appreciate the matching lines and long edges and getting that waltz lilt.

Hmm, more baby L/L for the Starlight waltz

Torvill and Dean in their comeback Olympic year

All right let’s peek at some Ravensburger (also used in the 2015/2016 season SD). First up is Usova/Zhulin

Oh wow this user does split screens, which is A Lot for the visual but it is the absolute best example I’ve ever seen on how the timing is crucial in pattern dances - no matter how they started, the teams end up syncing - until Belbin/Agosto got off-time in the second pattern. So interesting to watch.

Alrighty then, some Golden Waltz, aka the super hard waltz, and the relatively new one. Grishuk/Platov to start us off

And some barely-seniors VM (with Tessa in her own recycled dress) to compare to Olympic champion VM

gonna stop here… no love for the Viennese waltz the Austrian waltz or the 15 million other waltzes the ISU has patterns for. ;)

marina klimova and sergei ponomarenko free dance, 1992

30 for 30 -- My Favorite Skating Programs of the Last 30 Years

#5 Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, 1992 Winter Olympics free dance

Before their uber-talented son Anthony was ice dancing on the Grand Prix circuit for the United States, Soviet skaters Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko were slowly working their way up the ice dance ladder in the 1980s and early 1990s.  After winning the bronze at the 1984 Olympics behind Torvill and Dean, they moved up to second at the Calgary Olympics and were the heirs apparent to the next Olympic gold.  A team of formerly-French-Canadian-but-now-just-French skaters, a brother and sister named Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay, nipped at their heels throughout the entire quadrennial, even snatching the 1991 World title away from them.  The Duchesnays were innovative and sometimes a bit confusingly eccentric (read: they were not my cup of tea), so Marina and Sergei knew they had to make their Olympic year free dance something truly unforgettable in order to win.

And they did.

In front of the Duchesnay’s home crowd, they delivered a hauntingly beautiful free dance skated to near-perfection, and captured the gold medal.  In contrast, the Duchesnay’s skated a comparatively dull and rather pedestrian version of West Side Story to win the silver. One can wonder if the end result might have been closer had the Duchesnays stuck to their usual unsual-ness, but there it is.

This is STILL my favorite gold-medal-winning Olympic free dance (sorry Tessa and Scott and Meryl and Charlie!)

P.S. Watch for Young TAT in the kiss and cry.

EX: Swan Lake.

Day 9: Favourite skating performance from the year you were born

Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko | Bach | 1992 Olympics

Day 2- Favourite Olympic Performace(s) Virtue & Moir’s individual event Moulin Rouge. There are a plethora of magical Olympic skates, including many from 2018, but Moulin Rouge has a special place in my heart. This was the first Olympics where I truly paid attention to all the figure skating events in depth and having a soft spot for ice dance, Tessa and Scott were the first skaters I was truly invested in (probably too much so lol). Leading up to the Olympics it was becoming more and more evident that V&M were not the preferred team for gold in the judges eyes and the general atmosphere regarding their chances was pretty cynical. They knew they had to skate perfectly to even give themselves a shot and that’s exactly what they did. These Olympics sort of ended up playing out as a fairy tale for V&M and Moulin Rouge was the pinnacle. This was their last competitive skate and they held nothing back. The emotions they tapped into were raw. the passion evident. The execution spot on. Not missing one line, an edge, cue of the music, utilizing all that they could. Weaving in and out effortlessly. No inhibitions. The moment they managed to create. I don’t think they could of skated it any better than they did. The fact that they actually managed to win aghh it’s still surreal to me it’s like they broke judging in a way hehe 😜 .

Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, 1982. Photographed by Jean-Yves Ruszniewski.

The Bukin-Ponomarenko Connection Continues

“It’s so funny!” Bukin added. “Now Carreira and Ponomareko are reaching [the senior] level, and it’s so funny to think that his father competed against mine, and now we are able to compete together.”

“It’s nice to foresee that the two sons will soon connect again – Andrei’s son and Sergei’s son fighting on the same ice,” Svinin said. “We like it. We’ll see how it goes in the upcoming seasons.”

“The two fathers have chosen a different life,” Svinin recalled. “One father [Bukin] remained in Russia, one [Ponomarenko] went to the United States. Sergei, Andrei and I were real friends. Except at competitions, where we fought hard. But besides that, we were friends in Moscow. At the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, we even shared the same apartment, the three of us plus two other Russian skaters. It was a good time. Seeing the next generation is life. It’s good.”

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko 2018 Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko 1992

Christina's costume from their 2017-18 FD always makes me think of his mom's from their Olympic gold medal FD

Who’s the best Russian ice dance team all time?

I think Russian ice dance was best in the 90's, when it was all about big hair, melodrama, and heinous outfits. My top two are Usova and Zhulin, and Klimova and Ponomarenko. Both team did wild stuff on the ice, struck weird and slightly ridiculous poses, and had the worst outfits you've ever seen, but they were interesting to watch.

“I would pay good money for an Ice Dance champions show starring Virtue/Moir (the GOATs ofc), Anissina/Peizerat, Davis/White, Torvill/Dean and Klimova/Ponomorenko. And, perhaps also featuring appearances from Olympic medalists such as Belbin/Agosto and Shibutani/Shibutani.“