#canadian nationals 2023

[eggplantgifs]

Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha: Nureyev » 2023 Canadian National Championships

[sywtwfs]

Viewing information for Canadian Nationals and Winter University Games is available on our website.

[soupyumsoupyumsoupsoup]

There’s only an 18 point gap between roman and matthew (13th and 3rd) guys he’s still in this it’s a canadian comp crazier things have happened.

[canadachronicles]

Talk about going out with a bang! It moved me to tears watching Keegan Messing skate this program, the emotion he obviously felt doing it, and shared with us, as generously as ever, and the public’s reaction! He’s just such a sweet young man and a beautiful skater, and I got chills watching this on telly! I sure will miss him on the ice too, but what a last dance that was!

[sirenwalker]

nooo i just missed roman 😭😭😭😭😭 someone tell me how he did???

[saucylittlesmile]

Well, that was the first event that I have been to since pre-pandemic. That meant a whole range of old news random things that surprised me like:

it was the first time I’ve seen coach Scott live (no real thoughts on this, he was far away and I tried to focus on the skating lol)

I’ve never seen Canadanes live since they became Canadanes (rather than just Danes)

I’ve never seen Lauriault/LeGac live or as representing Canada

I’ve never seen Lajoie/Lagha live

Some of my random thoughts (keeping in mind I was not even a little bit paying attention to technical execution)

I forgot Emmy Bronsard was skating with a new partner

Lanaghan/Razgulajevs were very precise looking, but at the expense of having any real connection with the piece or natural dance

and as such I did enjoy Hensen/Lickers and Makit/Gunara much more

Sales/Wamsteeker were a tide-turning performance- whether there were more people in the empty arena, or were old-school reacting to a name they remembered, or had gotten warmed up for louder cheering and enthusiastic clapping as time passed - in any case at the arena they gave a nice jolt of energy

Lauriault/Legac are so much tinier in person, rven though I knew they were short lol, still again got the audience going

S/F were really good for them (sorry lol) and there was some clapping along to the music which was surely nice for them; I feel like they tend to peak at Nats?

L/L had some extremely enthusiastic audience members - hooting and whistling a lot before and during the program. I think they really fed off that energy, and the audience was so receptive to clap clap clap clap our hands, it just kept them going. She’s a spitfire, but Zak was working it SO HARD. I had no idea he could emote/push out to the audience so well -he was ON. Best of the event for all around.

Canadanes were so good, lines and presence - but because they followed such a resoundingly well-received and high-energy program, it just felt a little quiet in comparison. The audience wanted to give, but there was just less opportunity. But still wonderful. Laurence could kill people with one flick of well-toned muscle or bobble ponytail. Didn’t even notice Nik’s cleavage until he was sitting in the K&C on the jumbotron. Their lift is insane.

oh, while the skaters were just off-ice waiting to be allowed on ice, I was distracted by a bright shine in my eye. It was Marjo, whose armour of gold mirror could blind a person with the right spotlight

[sunskate]

Haley and Nik's RD was really reworked for Nats since their last outing at GP Sheffield (they skate at 1:13:00) The earlier version (30:30 below) was kind of suave but a little sleepy, but the new one hits harder, and they looked sharp.

They only kept one song from the earlier version, Quizas, and moved it from the beginning to the middle and used faster and higher energy music for the start and finish. They totally changed the order of elements and put a flashier rotational lift to end instead of starting with a straight line.

And they skated their FD so well too-- so many nuances and details on the music which weren't there 2 months ago

their FD outscored S/F's by 3.38 pts but the RD had some pretty stingy judging - judge 4 had them in 10th place by GOE but 6th in PCS- tell me how that makes sense. judge 4 had their tech marks lower than Alyssa and Jacob and Emmy and the other Jacob, and gave their Rotational Lift a 0 😳 when the other judges ranged from +2 to +4. and judge 3 was harsh with the PCS. 😑 a quarter point put them in 5th instead of 4th. at least they clearly showed they're still improving, and quickly, too. They deserve 2 GP’s next year

[music-art-sport-and-more]

Stephen was skating for his life here, huh

[figureskatingcostumes]

It's important to showcase Anthony Paradis's free program costume (seen here at the 2024 Junior Worlds, 2023 Junior Grand Prix Osaka and 2024 Canadian Nationals), even though there's a desperate lack of photos of it! He skated to Yours by Conan Gray.

As per his interview with Golden Skate:

“It’s super beautiful,” he said of his distinct sleeveless costume, a mix of shredded white lace, tears and red crystals, representing blood. “I love it. It's kind of like a heartbreak. You know, you get stabbed in the heart and then it bleeds. Just, it's a beautiful thing.”

(Sources: 1, 2, 3 and 4)

[rabbitcruiser]

Forest (No. 42)

Jasper National Park, AB

[setsailforthestars]

Solidarity to the Canadian women’s soccer team who may be losing right now but are playing under immense pressure from the ongoing compensation negotiations with Canadian Soccer Association in their fight for equal pay and representation as compared to our (lower ranked and less successful) men’s team. To the point where players were forced to choose between prize money allocations for this current tournament going to their own pay, or straight to funding training camps.

Devastating to watch this game knowing that it will only fuel the flames against their cause. Already seeing tweets (from men) about the women’s team not deserving the equity they are fighting for due to this performance. May I remind those people that the men’s team also did not advance from group stage, and in fact lost all three games. Also, the men’s team received far more promotion and support from Canada Soccer for their 2022 World Cup appearance than the women’s team did for their 2020 gold medal Olympics performance.

Women’s soccer is huge, just look at the sold out stadiums in Australia right now. The CANWNT have an impressive legacy. They deserve to be compensated and promoted equally, regardless of result in this tournament.

[eggplantgifs]

Kazuki Tomono: Underground » 2023 Japanese Nationals

[sywtwfs]

Viewing information for the European and Canadian Championships is now available on our website.

[russellius]

THURSDAY | 2023 CANADIAN GP | © Clive Mason

[eopederson2]

Spirit of Haida Gwaii, Bill Reid, Courtyard, Canadian Embassy, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, 2023.

The late Bill Reid (1920–1998) was a British Columbia artist, and his sculptures are some of the finest works of the 20th century. This cast bronze is easily accessible on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and should be on the itinerary of every visitor to that part of the Capital. It is unfortunate that Reid is not given prominence in major art museums outside Canada, museums where 20th century sculpture is usually represented by a collection of welded steel bric-a-brac or seemingly randomly piled assortments of detritus.

[sirenwalker]

forgot Canadian Nats were today and looking at the results makes me want to screech