A new beginning Again

christinacarreira: Manon 2026-2027✨ This season our Free Dance will be to the soundtrack of the ballet Manon. A story of love, desire, and tragedy. Can’t wait to bring this to life on the ice! We’re so excited, we love the music, the story, and the program🥰

i feel bad for ye but can't blame hannah's decision as an athlete who has ambition on her career, especially how it happened at the olympics.

i just hope the split was worth it and both can do well in their new partnership.

I assume it's likely a combination of several issues, but it is sad if the need for financing hurt his training process. I don't agree that she outgrew him, I think each had their own strengths and weaknesses. I think the fact that this narrative was pushed so aggressively is part of why they ended up splitting.

I don't blame Hannah for the decision, at the end of the day, every skater deserves to be in a partnership that makes them happy and helps them fulfill their goals. I am maybe old-fashioned in that I do think there's a lot of merit and team building in sticking out the hard parts together. The Olympics were a disappointment for sure, but how many successful teams grew from disappointments and came back stronger?

Obviously, the most intriguing are Lajoie/Baker and Lim/Lagha. Both teams feel like a good fit for each other, both in terms of skating, and vision and personality-wise. It's not a surprise that everyone aside from Jean Luc is asked about their split as they were so very recent, but I do wonder why no one is asking Jean Luc if he had any discussion about coming back with Kaitlin. His past is not really brought up, and while it's understandable, I do find the complete disregard for the subject a bit odd.

Another interesting thing is the discussion on programs. I got the sense that L/L's style and them being stuck with it might have been more Marjorie than Zak since she and Jean Luc mentioned going for a fun RD while Zak and Hannah are doing a classical waltz. I think it will be very interesting to see how both teams develop, and even more, to see which of the two teams (hopefully both) breaks away from past habits.

I also noticed that, as expected, Hannah did decide to split from Ye prior to Worlds. Tbh, I can't help but feel like she did something I struggle with, and blame her partners for mistakes. Yes, Ye struggled with his twizzles last season, but so many teams went through a period where one struggled (either physically or mentally or both) that I feel a bit judgmental of her decision to split from him after a few competitions didn't go their way. Make me wonder if the insiders who were claiming she's been semi-pressured by her parents to split because she's allegedly better than Ye (and other people who kept saying how she's a star and he's just there) were on to something. I do like her and think she's very good, especially in performing, but I also disliked seeing so many people say she should dump him when he is actually a very solid skater outside of his struggles this season (which, again, are common in long-term partnerships).

Oh, and I loved that Marjorie called out Romain (not by name) about his long interview after L/L's split was announced. It was kind of like a "go in there and make it about yourself" moment from him, and he told more than I assume either of them wanted to be told without their consent. While he did shed some light on some of L/L's struggles, he should have asked them before he delved into the details of their difficulties, and good for her for calling him out. I wonder if it also means we will be seeing mostly Marie France with Lajoie/Baker and a lot less of Romain.

And of course, Lajoie/Baker have a big advantage over Lim/Lagha with their ability to compete internationally. Even if Lim/Lagha will be very good, Skate Canada has no incentive to put them as Canadian national champions, and I assume they know it as well. The real rivalry will likely only start in the 2027/28 season. Lim/Lagha's advantage is that they are likely in it for the long run, and unlike Lajoie/Baker, they have the potential to go for two full Olympic cycles.

I have to agree tbh, looking at them skate two things were very obvious -that they managed to improve with Scott's coaching, and that they still have a long way to go.

It was always interesting to see that Lewis doesn't really lead and seems to struggle with doing so. Conventional (or stereotypical) male/female partner dynamics aside, the waltz does require one partner to lead (I have to admit it would have been super cool to have the women lead the men this time and switch their steps), and I feel like most current male partners really struggle with that aspect (this might actually be one advantage Z/K have over others).

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DalZ50Phhsh/

The (somewhat) positives:

The new creative dance element in the RD is leveled! And there's actually different in BV between levels (1.25 points starting from level 1). Even better, the GOE are modest and are borderline neglifible, and unlike with the cursed choreo rhythm sequence in the past, this one can't lead to a gap of 3-5 points between teams who are basically performing it the same and are marked based on reputation, seniority, and politicking.

The golden waltz also gets significant BV, however it is a joke IMO that the differences in BV between levels is so small (smaller than for the creative dance element ffs) and that the GOEs max at the same point total regardless of the achieved level.

The negatives:

Choreographic elements in the RD remain with the same scoring pattern which means that we improved things for the RD but kept the FD with the same issues. It should have changed and be more similar to the creative dance element when it comes to GOE, it just makes no sense to have so many choreographic elements that are scored based on vibes and basically give the top teams (many of them underserving) a boost of 3-6 points.

The intereting to note:

Twizzles are scored slightly differently between the RD and FD, and are worth more in the RD (which means they can also hurt more in the RD).

https://youtu.be/dU3iZXfGfg4?si=SUYh33DoXJkhjB7b

Assuming you meant Yoshida/Morita :) And yes, I have to agree that the switch to Samba is pretty jarring. Up until that point, the program is really cohesive, the music fits the pattern really well, and the costumes are on point. And then we switch to Samba, and it all feels extremely disconnected (even the costumes don't fit at all). Not sure about that choice.