midnight rain & jazz

created just to easily follow my favorite dance and Virtue and Moir - related blogs here in Tumblr, maybe post some nice dance photos once in a while. My VM edits, theme, backgrounds, screenshots, etc. Virtue Moir beautiful shapes photo collection VM's freaking edges, unison, extension, synchronicity VM's performances upclose The Virtue Moir Legacy Project - my other blog attempting to have a more organized archive of the best on-ice photos of VM, still under very slow construction

[midnightreignofjazz]

Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir - WO by Danielle Earl Photography Via Flickr: Senior Free Dance This photo may not be used without the permission of Danielle Earl Photography. If you would like to use it, please contact me at [email protected].

[midnightreignofjazz]

Tessa & Scott by Danielle Earl Photography Via Flickr: Carmen This photo may not be used without the permission of Danielle Earl Photography. If you would like to use it, please contact me at [email protected].

[midnightreignofjazz]

Tessa & Scott by Danielle Earl Photography Via Flickr: Carmen This photo may not be used without the permission of Danielle Earl Photography. If you would like to use it, please contact me at [email protected].

[midnightreignofjazz]

Tessa & Scott by Danielle Earl Photography Via Flickr: Carmen This photo may not be used without the permission of Danielle Earl Photography. If you would like to use it, please contact me at [email protected].

[dancingonastage]

[gymfanconfessions]

[ohyeahvirtuemoirgifs]

Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir + Combination Lifts

[shutuptimdaggett]

[jordynslefteyebrow]

Aliya Fargatovna Mustafina was born on September 30, 1994 in Yegoryevsk, Russia. She is a current member of the Russian national team. Mustafina is the 2010 World AA Champion as well as the reigning Olympic Champion on uneven bars. She became Russia’s most valuable asset to the team when she won the first AA gold the country had seen since Svetlana Khorkina in 2003. She was predicted to continue her dominance in 2011 but tragically tore her ACL on vault at the European Championships. Mustafina was sidelined and could not compete until December. Head coach of Russian Gymnastics, Valentina Rodionenko, lost faith in Mustafina’s ability to win medals at the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. However, Aliya came home from London as the most decorated gymnast after overcoming an almost career ending injury and negative words from Rodionenko. Mustafina’s personal coach, Alexander Alexandrov, was fired from his coaching position in Russia and relocated to Brazil where he was named the new head coach. Without her personal coach, Aliya’s physical condition began to deteriorate as she experienced ankle injuries, knee pain, and severe back pain. Her performances still remained beautiful and effortless looking but upcoming and healthy competitors from around the world were beginning to surpass her. After the 2014 World Championships, Aliya made the decision to have Sergei Starkin as her personal coach. She has not competed yet in 2015 as Starkin wanted to let her injuries heal. Aliya is still considered Russia’s top gymnast and the world is expecting her to look better than ever at the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympics.

[ohyeahvirtuemoirgifs]

hey there! Same anon from earlier. I am a newbie FS fan, so, can I ask a question? Hope I ain't botherin ya. So, the serpentine lift that T/S do in the Pink Floyd program 2009, you know where they get into a lot of different positions. Is that type of lift considered easy by the judges, cuz they don't do those types of lifts often. It looks super hard and cool and would have loved to see more similar ones. Do T/S have any other similar lifts like that? Wich of their lifts do u think r the hardes

Hi there! Serpentine lifts aren’t considered easy. I think we don’t see those (and reverse RoLi as well) these days partly because of the rules. Since 2011 iirc, for the FD, teams have the choice not to do a long lift. Last Olympic season for example, the required lifts were  2 short lifts+ 1 long lift or 4 short lifts. Many chose the 4 short lifts option, including TS . And when teams choose to do a long lift, most prefer a combination lift. Maybe because it allows for more variety compared to the serpentine or reverse rotational lifts. And I think it’s easier to come up with a combination lift that satisfies Level 4 requirements.  Not sure about this though as I haven’t checked the rules in so long. Hehe. So yeah, I believe those are some of the reasons why we no longer see serpentine lifts in programs.

Like you, I too the PF lift and it’s definitely one of my top fave VM lifts. It’s soooooo incredible. I actually wish they’d consider bringing it back in a show program. Anyway, in their senior career, TS have done 3 serpentine lifts. One in Valse Triste, another in Umbrellas of Cherbourg (gorgeous!also a favorite of mine) and the one in PF. 

As for their hardest lifts, to my untrained eye, I think  PF Serpentine and Carmen rotational lift. :)

[midnightreignofjazz]

I remember asking someone years ago regarding serpentine lifts, and she said one part that makes this type of lift harder is that aside from what’s happening during the lift (entry,transitions, etc),  the two lobes/curves the lifting partner creates on the ice is also being judged and has to be of the same size.

Here is ach-nein ice dance tech post regarding the different lifts

[virtuexmoir]

[ohyeahvirtuemoirgifs]

[midnightreignofjazz]

Stay Straight Line Lift 

↳ requested by anonymous

[swizzlesandtwizzles-deactivated]

Also included in ISU rules is elements being the style of the program. DW always repeated elements (ie twizzles) without adapting it to the style of their dance. So either the never changed their style or they didn't adapt their elements.

I think this is quite similar to the topic of recycled lifts. You can put the same lift into a whole range of programs, but they can be positioned within the choreography and the music to suit the style of the dance. 

For example, Pink Floyd and Mahler are two entirely different programs, but the Goose worked really well in both of them. 

It’s not in the rules that you have to do entirely new elements for each program in order for them to suit the style of the dance. A lot of teams stick to level 4 elements when they get them. 

I think you can criticise DW on a lot of things, but their twizzles were epic. 

Aesthetically, I tend to prefer teams that can just get stuck into their twizzles and do them fast, synchronised and without bobbles. They are meant to be ‘the quad’ of ice dance - i.e the hard technical element that sorts the sheep from the goats. 

[midnightreignofjazz]

Someone correct me if im wrong, but i thought the diagonal step sequence is the quad of ice dance.

[sytycdrankings]

Do you think this will be the last season of sytycd? :(

It’s hard to say. Honestly, it kind of feels like it will be, just because the show’s been on so long and there are all these changes and people are losing interest in it. But who knows? If this season does well, then maybe we’ll get one more, but if not, I’ll just be glad that we got 10 years of great dancing on TV, I suppose. 

[midnightreignofjazz]

This show made different forms of dance more accessible to the masses and showcased real talented dancers. For that 10 years of dance, i will be forever grateful.

[thewritersmuse]

B A K U   2 0 1 5  //  r u s s i a

VIKTORIA | white | new beginnings, light, perfection, and cleanliness SEDA | blue | depth, stability, power, and loyalty ALIYA | red | fire, passion, royalty, and courage

[gymfanconfessions]

[papaliukin-deactivated20161230]

It’s very hard to find a bad photo of her gymnastics. Even her less than perfect moments really aren’t so bad. 

[midnightreignofjazz]

The gymnastics of a dancer.

[lltqyuna]

[midnightreignofjazz]

My Favorite Skaters : Yuna Kim + Tessa and Scott

Red and Gold, Blue and Silver (+ MIB ;-)