Maya

@Tazi_vjc Of course. It’s public. I wrote an article of the subject sports.ru/figure-skating…

@Maya_Skating May I share these quotes on Reddit? (There’s a ton of Shoma fans over there and people are really curious about what ShoMarin were doing at IAM and their potential future in ice dance.)

I spoke to Romain Haguenauer about Shoma Uno and Marin Honda's recent training stint at IAm in Montreal — what they worked on, how it went, and what it could mean going forward. Thread with his quotes 👇🧵

@twizzloop But there is another quote They were just here to work on Golden Waltz with the idea to compete, but it's a little too early to declare they are coming back as an ice dance team.

incherestingggg

16/ After all it is this that should be judged: how you skate, and not how you look, even though the impression is part of the artistic mark. Shoma and Marin can deliver this impression. It's breaking the traditional academic idea, I really like that. Something new and different

15/ It's a great evolution to show that you can really ice dance at a very good level even if you don't have the traditional academic vision where the man is a head higher than the woman. I think it's great for ID: not everyone looks the same, it's great to have different teams.

14/ One should also take into account the ice dance evolution — Shoma and Marin really fit into that perspective. 11/ It's super interesting for me as a coach — because we can create new stuff, new look, new vision of how two skaters can dance together.

13/ I also like the look of the couple: it may be surprising but very interesting. I know people question if there is a future in ID for partners who are not that tall. But it's a very interesting case — not to have an ice dance team that fits into "perfect ice dancer" criteria.

12/ From my side — I think it's great, it’s new, they have great ability. They are already great on transitions, they go full out with the twizzles, they have amazing qualities individually and they can do so much more together.

11/ It was so much fun working with them. One day I arrive at the rink and I see Shoma, Marin, and Rika on the same ice. And I was like — OK, what's next? Ilia Malinin and Alysa Liu? It's really great for ice dance to have these great stars of FS back and learning ice dance.

10/ Of course they spent very little time with us, but I'm sure they will develop that in Japan with their coach. And maybe come back another time.

9/ Lifts, intricacy of the steps, holds — it's a challenge. But it's not the first time I've done that — Lewis Gibson is a good example, he started ice dance after having a career in singles, but of course he was not as good as Shoma in singles.

8/ I've known Shoma for quite some time because he used to come to Montreal as a single skater to work on skating skills — it was before he partnered up with Stéphane Lambiel. But ice dance is very different. Doing parallel twizzles is great but that's not everything.

7/ They looked interested in what they saw at IAm. Maybe it was a bit of a shock to find themselves in the middle of a big ice dance school, as they mainly train alone in Japan. It gave them some perspective on how much work is ahead of them should they want to continue this path

6/ Jean-Luc Baker did their gala number Vivaldi — this program could serve as a FD with some adaptations. So far they don't have a RD. They were just here to work on Waltz with the idea to compete, but it's a little too early to declare they are coming back as an ice dance team.

5/ We've been mostly working elements and a bit on Golden Waltz. It's a tough dance for everyone — it's really difficult to understand the tracking, holds, and how to lead and follow each other.

4/ They wanted to learn how to do Golden Waltz and work on some technical stuff — you don't do these things for exhibition numbers. So I think they may want to work on a competitive program.

3/ In my understanding — I cannot speak for them of course — they are considering an ice dance career, at least to try in Japan. It could be some regionals first, then Nationals. But the fact that they came to Montreal shows they might plan to do it.

2/ They were here just for a couple of weeks — for a dance camp, let's say. So far there are no talks about them joining IAm.

1/ “They are working with Misato Komatsubara — she was our student, so she reached out to us. They wanted to learn about ice dance a bit more and to be surrounded by real dance teams, as in Japan they train by themselves, they have shows, etc.”

@_chazzle3 @wesleychius Yep, same here. Then I googled event calendar for that week in Helsinki - bingo.

@Maya_Skating @wesleychius Omg is that why the hotel prices are insane???!!! I had a look the other day when dates were announced and couldn’t believe my eyes 😭😭😭

If you’re thinking of going to the Finlandia Trophy GP in November — book your accommodation ASAP. Same dates as one of Europe’s biggest startup conferences in Helsinki, and prices are already crazy.