Tectonic shifts in European ice dancing without Russians. The perky British got veterans out of the way – Sport24.ru – online sports news in Russia and the world

The last stage of the international Grand Prix series is taking place in Japan. In ice dancing, the finalists were clear a few weeks ago. But the stage in Osaka seemed to become a rehearsal for the European Championship. It was in Japan that the best duets of the Old World gathered.

Yes, Lithuanians Allison Reid and Saulius Ambrulevicius took bronze. The rhythmic dance of the skaters is set to the songs of the legendary group “Guns n’ Roses”. Rock compositions are not common this season; not everyone can adapt to the rhythm and mood. The program is worked out to the smallest detail – there is a lot of choreography and movements, the change of rhythm does not hurt the ears and does not allow the athletes to rest. The free skate is composed of the compositions “Enough of Our Machine” and “Children”. And here again good work is visible – the compositions are not super popular, the melody does not become boring, and the production itself is bright and memorable. In terms of technique, they are stronger than the Finns Turkkila and Verslus, so everything here is objective. For two performances, Reed/Ambrulevicius received 196.86 points and took bronze.

Current European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri took only second place. And this is a real sensation. Already in the rhythmic dance, the partner’s legs were a little different from her partner, there were uncertain positions, but they still became the first. Technically they lost then because of the levels on the tracks. In the free program, the situation repeated itself – the skate was not entirely confident, there were moments with inaccuracies, so the judges immediately picked on them. As a result, the reserve after the rhythm dance was not enough to remain in first place. 214.56 is their best result of the season, but only silver.

This season they have very controversial productions. The rhythm to the song “Holding Out For a Hero” is done too seriously and simply. They could develop the topic, add more interesting positions, modify the support, and not insert their standard one. As a result, the dance does not work at all, even with such a composition. In the free program, four different soundtracks with similar rhythmic structures are taken, and here too there is no single idea. Just lyrics to beautiful music with basic movements for Italians. In the last two seasons, Charlene and Marco seemed to have lost their style and began to skate very impersonally, which in dancing can lead to such failures.

British Layla Fear and Lewis Gibson won the sixth stage of the Grand Prix. One can easily say that now these dancers are the brightest and most interesting in their form. The only problem is that my partner can’t slide at all, her skating is frankly poor for a world top. That is why their images, music and performances are so bright and full, the coaching staff skillfully hides all the shortcomings of skating and increases the difficulty levels even without a strong skate. As a result, a crazy 130.26 for the free program and 215.19 in total allowed them to take gold.

The dancers who perform to “Sweet Dreams” and the Rocky soundtrack definitely deserve recognition. They are true innovators – they do dangerous slides, incorporate different dance genres, and are not afraid to experiment. It was this fear that destroyed the Italian duo. Guignard and Fabbri are trying to become good leaders and show what the judges will definitely like. In Japan they were clearly shown that the judges had shed their moss and were ready to accept something fresh.

Now in ice dancing it will be much more interesting to follow the European Championships. Each start has its own judging and technical teams, so it is impossible to predict how the Italians and the British will be placed during error-free skates. And then Davis and Smolkin will arrive there!

Japanese Grand Prix. Dancing. Free dance

1. Layla Fear/Lewis Gibson (Great Britain) – 130.26
2. Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (Italy) — 129.29
3. Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius (Lithuania) – 118.15
4. Julia Turkkila/Matthias Verslus (Finland) – 116.35
5. Losia Demougeau/Theo Le Mercier (France) – 114.18

Japanese Grand Prix. Dancing. Results

1. Layla Fear/Lewis Gibson (Great Britain) – 215.19
2. Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (Italy) — 214.56
3. Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius (Lithuania) – 196.86
4. Julia Turkkila/Matthias Verslus (Finland) – 191.01
5. Losia Demougeau/Theo Le Mercier (France) – 187.76

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