By Katrina Burch
Special to Figure Skaters Online
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Ballroom dancer and figure skating enthusiast Katrina Burch has covered Dancing with the Stars for Figure Skaters Online and returns to cover the first season of Skating with the Stars. Here are her thoughts on the November 29 episode.
Required elements tonight:
1 – Step sequence
2 – dance lift, women must let go
Jonny and Brooke
We find out why Brooke ended her competitive career and she and Jonny fought over lifts. They’re skating to “Jump, Jive and Wail”. He definitely fixed his posture! Their lift was a very nice upside down rotational lift. Maybe a little cautious because of Brooke’s issue with lifts and Jonny’s injury. Their step sequence was a little slow for the music but had nice changes in footwork. It was good to see some jive moves but I could have used more. I really liked the ending which is something you’d see in a jive on the dance floor.
Johnny: “Blown away” In just one week, the fact they did a good rotation lift. Only criticism is that Jonny needs to look up and give emotion.
Dick: Really specially good. Liked the straight line lift. There was jumping, jiving, and wailing.
Laurianne: Had so much funk in his junk. very athletic and nailed the required elements. Keep the dance up and feel the music.
Tanith: very smooth and controlled lift and the footwork was good
Score: Tech: 8, 8, 8 = 24
Artistic: 7, 6, 7 = 20
Total: 44/60
I thought the artistic was a little low.
Vince and Jennifer
They talk about the tango and someone needs to educate him that not all tango dancers (females) are prostitutes. Tango was originally danced by men only! Jennifer brings in her skating partner Daniil to help Vince with partnering. At least they used a real tango song of Tango Roxanne. His skating is still a little tentative. Its kind of cute to see him counting. I think one thing they need to work on is their hold. Needs to be more of a dance hold. They did a basic carry lift and at the end had a loss of balance and both went down. This routine is quite slow for it being a tango. They also had a little miss step in the second half. Their step sequence was hardly there.
Johnny: There was an aura of intensity. Has an advantaged of musical knowledge. Got up and kept going. Need to work on basic skills.
Dick: Don’t worry about mistakes. Please work on your skating skills next week. The Tango kind of got lost. Enjoyed the personality and the earnest of it.
Laurianne: Impressed with the start in that there was character. Loved the drama. Saw the musicality.
Score: Tech: 6, 3, 4 = 13
Artistic: 6, 6, 5 = 17
Total: 30/60
Can we get rid of Laurianne?
Bethany and Ethan
Bethany gets mad at Johnny for low scores. Really hope they don’t do this every week. She chose to do the show. Quit whining and buck up. They had some good swing moves. I really liked that reverse lift. Done very well for one week practice. They also had a very nice second rotation lift. They’re step sequence was very cute along with a cute ending. However it seemed very very stiff and the swing was forced.
Johnny: Really kept up with Ethan and skating skills have improved. Basics need to improve. Feels a bit put on, more character, more sass, jive, and sex
Dick: Has to learn the bend the knees. Skate us up a nice crème Brule
Laurianne: got through it. But it felt stiff and that she was thinking through everything. Dance a little more
Tanith: no signs of dizziness. Great musicality and coordination
Score: Tech: 6, 5, 6 = 17
Artistic: 6, 5, 5 = 16
Total: 33/60
Brandon and Keanua
Shows that Brandon is mentally tired. They go to a roller rink. He’s really good at that! I just thought he was bolstering but he’s really good! They had the passion needed right when they take the ice. One annoyance so far is that they didn’t use a real tango song. The step sequence was good but I would have liked to see more together with Keanua. I really did not feel this song as a tango. Their split lift was really great and fit well into the dance. I also loved that partner low lift that they did. Showed lots of control. The ending was not a tango ending but rather a Paso Doble ending.
Johnny: Liked it. It was amazing, passionate, sexy. Everything I’d like to see in a performance.
Dick: Everything was spectacular. Needs to quit hovering. Need to work on posture
Laurianne: The required elements was well done. Good connection between the two. Maintained the story.
Score: Tech: 8, 8, 8 = 24
Artistic: 9, 8, 8 = 25
Total: 49/60
Sean and Denis
Can we please tell Verner how to pronounce Denis’s last name? Their package shows that Sean’s afraid and that they go indoor sky diving. She had very nice extension into that spiral entrance. Skating to The Andres Sisters “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. Showed some great character (more than last week) and put in some great jive moves. She also skated must faster than last week. Their dance step sequence as good. Good rotation lift but she then caught her toe pick. Another fall with the same toe pick catching. She did have great recovery and got right back into character.
Johnny: Fought for every single element and gave characters
Dick: Happy to see that she’s “thawing” and not to worry about falling. Getting the “giggle in the jiggle”
Laurianne: Came out really strong and had good rhythm patterns. Start was amazing
Score: Tech: 5, 3, 4 = 12
Artistic: 5, 7, 5 = 18
Total: 30/60
Rebecca and Fred
Talks about the pressure of being in the top spot. Nice to see Dmitry from DWTS (um… Tango isn’t Dmitry’s specialty LOL)! Rebecca is nervous about the lifts… They have good character portrayal coming on to the ice. YES! It’s about time someone used this song! Great song, “What Lola Wants” from the musical Damn Yankes (BTW if you want to see a good performance of the song, youtube Jane Krakowski singing it). They had a very nice pair spiral. Their first lift was a nice sit lift and a unique dismount. She did have a slightly mis-step but she recovered nicely. I loved the lung that fit very well into the dance. Again they had a good rotational lift and their ending was great traditional Tango ending.
Johnny: Good steps, and lift. But there wasn’t an impact. Wanted sex kitten Lola. Needs to work on acting
Dick: Good technically, Rules are made to be broken. Tango was little square. More passion, intensity and focus on Fred. Seduce Dick.
Lauriann: good musicality. and very good character
Score: Tech: 8, 7, 8 = 23
Artistic: 8, 6, 7 = 21
Total: 44/60
Rebecca and Fred are called first to continue next week. After them is Jonny and Brooke. Then Brandon and Keanua. Then they said Bethany and Ethan. The bottom two are Sean and Denis and Vince and Jennifer. The pair leaving is Sean and Denis. Wow I’m kind of shocked…
Overall I thought tonight’s episode when much much better than last week. Tanith still seems a little forced but I think that has to do with her having to say certain lines. It was also nice to see some Dancing With the Stars Alums and Pros in the audience (Cameron Mathison, who is a co-star of Rebeccas as well as a DWTS alum and Dmitry Chaplin) as well as some figure skaters like Jon Baldwin.
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Photo courtesy of ABC
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