2014 GPF Preview

[limate.livejournal.com]

Источник: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014/12/08/103435016
The siblings won silver medals at Skate America and Cup of China, and posted victories at two Challenger Series events: the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in early October and Ice Challenge in mid-November. Competing four times in less than eight weeks has spiked their confidence.
"Across the board, the feedback we have received on our programs has been overwhelmingly positive," Alex, 23, said. "We have been really trying to develop our programs in the time we've had since our competitions have ended, leading us to the Final. We're just not settling for anything right now."
While audiences have especially embraced the Shibutanis' elegant free dance to lilting Strauss waltzes, their primary coach, Marina Zoueva, hasn't always been satisfied with their technical scores.
"It was brilliant, no mistakes; it had high-level energy," Zoueva said after the free dance at Skate America, where the team placed about 11 points behind Chock and Bates. "And I'm really, really confused about the points they got. It just makes our sport look bad."
The siblings brushed aside any concerns about the judging, saying it was beyond their control.
"We're very open-minded, and we really try to take all the feedback we can get from a competition in terms of the score sheet or anything else," Alex said. "We have been losing some levels, but I think that's a natural part of the progression as you begin to get comfortable with your choreography and the performance."
"The audiences have really been responding to our programs," Maia, 20, said. "We felt that. We've really been able to connect with the audience and just focus on the performance."
Like Chock and Bates, the Shibutanis have targeted their footwork sequences, including the two paso doble sections in the short dance, to improve their scores.
"We're constantly trying to look for ways to add light to the program and keep things fresh and exciting, so that the next time we perform we are able to improve the quality of our performance," Alex said. "There have been a few changes we were able to make. ... The compulsory paso pattern and then the partial step sequence feel really, really good right now."
Zoueva has made some changes to the siblings' free dance to Johann Strauss' waltzes.
"The first part of the music ("Roses from the South") is longer, and there are small changes to the transitions," she said. "I think it is even better now."
The trend may be working in the Shibutanis' favor: They earned a personal-best score of 166.34 at Ice Challenge.