Belbin and Agosto Remain in Control after Original Dance
By Daphne Backman
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto remain steadfast and in the lead after the senior original dance Tuesday night at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Championships in Spokane, Wash. Their fiery tango, which showcased deep edges and an innovative rotational lift at the end of their program, earned 61.41 points, and they lead the competition with a score of 100.84.
“Really, I think it was a relatively solid performance,” Belbin said. “It wasn’t our best, but it’s been a long day and I think we did a good job. Now we’re excited to debut our new free dance. That’s been where our focus has moved on to.”
”It felt really good out there and it felt like we made a good connection with the audience tonight,” Agosto said. “They really seemed to get into the program and that really helps us get through the program and enjoy it the most. It felt good tonight.”
The team changed part of their tango music between the Grand Prix series and these Championships.
“We did change the first piece of music in our OD since the Grand Prix to try to find something that would connect better,” Belbin said. “I think we have really good music selections and that “Oblivion,” the middle piece, the slow part, which we wish we had more time to use, is the most powerful single piece. I do think it’s important to put the time in to try to find a piece that’s different. You just try to create your own story, and I think that “Oblivion” sets us apart.”
Belbin and Agosto are looking forward to debuting their new “Amelie” free dance on Friday.
“Actually, it’s a new program, but we feel very comfortable with it and we’ve been working very hard leading up to this competition,” Agosto said. “We feel confident in all of our new elements. The program is much more artistic than our old one, not necessarily more carefree, but more lyrical and has a lot more feeling to it and more room to express a different side of ourselves.”
In second place are 2006 U.S. silver medalists Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov. Their spirited and passionate tango earned 56.45 points. They moved ahead of 2006 US junior champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who scored 54.72 and received a deduction for a stumble on their twizzle sequence. Just 0.2 points separate the second- and third-place teams in the standings.
“We were really happy with the way we skated,” Gregory said. “We thought that we really went out and attacked it, and we had a great skate. It was much improved from the last time we skated it, which was at the Grand Prix Final. We’re really looking forward to the free dance.”
Davis and White had a successful debut on the senior Grand Prix circuit, finishing fourth in both of their events and receiving all level fours on their elements at the NHK Trophy for their free dance. They had no expectations coming into these Championships.
“Coming in we didn’t have a lot of expectations for placement,” White said. “Instead we were focusing on skating well. Unfortunately, we didn’t skate our best for this OD, but we can’t be too upset. Other than the one fall that I had on the twizzle, everything went really well, so were going to build on the second half of that program going into the free dance.”
Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre finished third in the original dance and are in fourth overall, scoring 55.05 on their original dance. Navarro and Bommentre continue to build on their solid connection to each other and engaging the audience in their performances.
Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin’s tango was going well until a stumble by Zavozin on the twizzles interrupted the program. The team was able to quickly recover and finish the program with strong lifts and spins.
“It felt really good, and then I guess I thought it was going too well,” Zavozin said. “Other than that, it felt like a pretty strong performance.”
The event concludes with the senior free dance on Friday evening. |