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Nebelhorn Trophy 2003 - Original Dance

The OD was definitely one of the competition parts I had been looking forward to seeing to the most. Somewhen during the afternoon we had already caught a little bit of OD practice and saw the OD of the British couple, which had looked really cool, in the competition it didn't disappoint either and turned out as one as the best ones as well :) I didn't take many notes, only after the programs, so I continued mostly on the overall feeling of the dances. You can always read monika for the IN-TECHNIK stuff ;)

The first team were Buck & Nelson-Bond from Australia, trained by Dubova. They had chosen a Blues and a Swing as their rhythms for the OD. He wore odd black pants with white stripes that looked kind of stupid (but Swing-expert Ritti said it's "authentic") and she wore a nice yellow dress. Their step sequence was very slow and the second half was pretty much completely out of synch, actually he seemed to have gotten out of it completely and didn't even really do the steps anymore. Overall they were very slow too and didn't really have the necessary spark and energy for their perky Swing music. I also found the Blues a bit boring with pale expression.

Binczyk & Tomaschewski had Blues and Rock N Roll. They had much better speed and flow than the first couple and also looked much more harmonic as a team, their dance was not very difficult though. I think as a viewer I prefer easy well-executed programs over difficult programs on which the dancers struggle so much that they don't get around to actually dancing and showing musicality anymore, I can definitely say this after seeing this competition. I thought their Blues was rather well interpreted, but the RnR a bit pale.

Doherty & Miles had nice costume, ok I don't remember his actually, but I lurved hers. It's hard to explain, but I think I have a photo. Their rhythms were Blues & Jive. I liked their very soft skating style during the Blues and they skated it with lots of flow and are a harmonic team. PML, for whatever reason I have noted down "he looks strange", but to be honest I don't have the slightest idea what I was referring to :D They had good speed during their Jive. Of the first 3 teams they were the first ones who actually DANCED to the rhythm of the music and expressed it with their bodies and who didn't look as if they were somewhat held back by technical deficiencies. They had nice flow and speed throughout and I liked especially her expressions.

Dulej & Janicki had chosen Blues & Jive. Their Blues unfortunately was a really sappy song with lyrics. They were slow and she stumbled during their step sequence, other than that I liked the step sequence, because it looked nicely "dancy". Their Blues was rather boring, the Jive was better, but overall a bit pale too.

Kauc & Zych wore black & white costumes and had chosen Blues and Rock N Roll. Their Blues was soft and fluent and their timing during it was good. Also they did a nice rotational lift. During the RnR part they had a very long, but entertaining part where they danced while posing on one spot. She unfortunately fell on a lift (or was it actually a spin? I have this memory of seeing someone fall on a spin...well she definitely fell on something). Their sbs step sequence was close together and quite well done. I liked their interpretation.

Kulikova & Novikov's Original Dance had 3 music parts, first a RnR, then a Blues and then back to another RnR. All the other teams in the competition had done their sbs step sequence to the fast rhythm they had chosen, always to the Jive, RnR or Swing, but K&N did theirs to the rather slow Blues middle part (but it wasn't really a soft romantic Blues music either, rather powerful), which I found very interesting. Their step sequence was by far my favorite part of their OD, i found it really really cool. It was choreographed effectively to the music and I just found the steps and the mood that was created really interesting, because the steps weren't "usual" :D They could have been in a bit faster in the OD and they need better flow, but they skated very energetic and they both are very expressive skaters (I think he's way more interesting than Markov, because he doesn't disappear next to Svetlana). The whole dance had an interesting, somewhat extravagant choreography :) (A certain Finnish guy who was sitting behind us has absolutely NO taste in ice dance by the way and expresses his opinions way too loud :D He even got Stefka to make some not very nice remarks about the certain guy's favorite dance team later in the evening during lunch as revenge ;) )

Khoklova & Novitsky also did Blues and RnR as their rhythms. They were fast during the Blues, but I didn't find their music interpretation all that convincing, they were a bit pale during the Blues. They had very good flow though. I have not noted down anything about the RnR. I liked their speed, flow and skating skills, but the program was a bit zzzzzzzz, no highlights on elements or choreography.

Manon & O'Meara did Blues and Swing, one of their music pieces was "Ain't No Sunshine". They had a lots of gliding elements during their Blues. Their speed was quite good. The Blues rhythm suited their clear lines better than the Swing, overall they were a neat to watch team. I liked their sbs step sequence even if she performed it better than he did.

Longpre & Zukiwsky were next. I still haven't gotten over his "poodle curls" :D I thought their Blues interpretation was rather off and they were a bit slow overall. Their dance was somewhat nice, but nothing really special, overall it left me kind of cold.

I had seen Moxley & Kirsanov's OD from last season on a tape from US Nationals and really had not been very impressed with them, especially because he seemed very stiff. But they at least looked quite a lot better here in Oberstdorf. They had chosen 3 rhythms, RnR, Blues ("Only You") and a Jive. They had quite good unison on their step sequence and a nice pairs spin. The Blues was a bit boring, but overall it was quite boring, especially the fast rhythms were interpreted well and expressive.

Kerr & Kerr skated last, their rhythms were Swing and then Blues. Their costumes were kind of odd (photos to come), I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the round colored shapes on her dress are supposed to be :huh: , I think I'll settle on lampions after I've given up my first instant impression of apples and on second look :lol: They really did a great job with the interpretation of the Swing and were very expressive and energetic, great to watch. They had some hydroblading move too. Choreographically and expression-wise their dance was definitely one of my favs, it was a really fun dance! I saw it three times, once in practice, once in competition and once in exhibition and it didn't get boring at all. Their sbs step sequence was nice too. The only thing I think they maybe shouldn't have done is putting the slow Blues part at the end. The Swing was so great that the much more toned-down Blues was kind of underwhelming coming afterwards. Maybe a Swing-Blues-Swing or Blues-Swing order would have been more effective.