Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA) in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in France, Angers © ISU
Guignard/Fabbri rock out to strong lead
ISU World silver medalists Charlène Guignard/Marco Fabbri of Italy danced to a commanding lead in the Rhythm Dance with Canadians Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Soerensen and Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud of France coming second and third.
Dressed in bright turquoise-pink costumes, Guignard/Fabbri delivered an upbeat performance to “Holding Out for a Hero” and “Against All Odds”, picking up a level four for the twizzles, pattern dance style step sequence and straight line lift. The midline steps garnered a level three. The ISU European Champions achieved a new season’s best with 86.62 points.
“Tonight everything was pretty easy for us, so we are happy with our performance,” Fabbri said.
“When we started listening to music from the 80s, we realized that we could choose rock music or aerobic style music. When we heard “Holding out for a Hero” we felt it was a mix between these two genres. It allowed us to do something a little bit different.
“We wanted also to have costumes that were not invisible. This is the season where we can try to do something different, something funny, something that we probably would have never chosen for a free dance
“We weren't expecting to have so much fun building this Rhythm Dance, but it's been actually very funny,” he said.
Fournier Beaudry/Soerensen had chosen music from the “Top Gun” soundtrack for the Rhythm Dance that has music of the 80s as the theme this season.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen (CAN) in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in France at Angers © ISU
The ISU Four Continents silver medalists earned a level four for their twizzles and the lift, while the step sequences merited a level three and two. The Canadians set a new season’s best of 80.98 points.
“We had a lot of fun out there today and it was a bit of a turnaround from Finland (Finlandia Trophy) where we didn't skate our best,” Soerensen said.
“It's a program that we really like. We find it really cool. It's like the movie of the 80s. We really loved it when we watched it. When we found out that it was the 80s (theme), we said we're going to do Top Gun. It's the kind of rock, love story, a lot of connections, a lot of all our strengths. We put a lot of effort in this program, so we really have a lot of fun,” he continued.
Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud completed fast twizzles and a stationary lift that were rated a level four in their entertaining dance to “Sans contrefacon” and “Tristana” by French singer Mylene Farmer. The Skate America bronze medalists scored 76.95 points.
Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (FRA) in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skatingi n France, Angers © ISU
“Today feels pretty amazing. I feel like it's been our best Rhythm Dance performance so far in this season,” Lopareva said.
“Emotionally we performed very well and we are also in our home, so we really felt support of the audience and even the joy. Our music is French so we can feel they like it.”
Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) came fourth on 72.94 points followed by Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain Le Gac (CAN) on 70.48 points and Olivia Smart/Tim Dieck (ESP) on 69.91 points.
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series consists of six events: Skate America, Skate Canada International, Grand Prix de France, Cup of China, the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN) and NHK Trophy (JPN). Skaters collect points to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN).
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit here.
All Media Accreditations details and deadlines for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series can be found here.
Where to Watch
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed with English commentary on the official ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out Where to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.
Subscribe to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #GPFigure.
ISU Grand Prix Schedule
The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:
20 - 22 Oct, 2023 Skate America, Allen (Texas, USA)
27 – 29 Oct, 2023 Skate Canada International, Vancouver (CAN)
03 - 05 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix de France, Angers (FRA)
10 - 12 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Cup of China, Chongqing (CHN)
17 - 19 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Espoo, Espoo (FIN)
24 - 26 Nov, 2023 NHK Trophy, Osaka (JPN)
07 - 10 Dec, 2023 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Beijing (CHN)
.png)
