by Anne Calder

The fourth event in the 2024 ISU Grand Prix Series was held at the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, from November 8-10. The building famous for its suspension roof design was built for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Prior to the event, reigning ISU World Champion Evan Bates shared his excitement about returning to Japan.

“We always cherish our time here and are looking forward to performing and competing. I’m expecting a full audience, some of the most enthusiastic skating fans anywhere in the world.  Tokyo and Yoyogi Stadium in particular have got a lot of fond memories, so we’re really excited.”

Rhythm Dance

The Rhythm Dance opened the 2024 NHK Trophy competition. The top five teams at the end of the performances included: Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA), Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko (USA),  Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU), Caroline Green & Michael Parsons (USA) and Loicia Demougeot & Theo Le Mercier (FRA).

Chock & Bates (USA) chose the British novelty pop music act, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers to introduce their multi-song salute to the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

The program opened with the instrumental “Hawaii 5-0” theme accenting the spinning twizzles, followed by “Let’s Twist Again” for the Choreo Rhythm Sequence that scored a 5.57 GOE. The Midline Step Sequence ticked off to “Rock Around the Clock” and the Bee Gees rendition of “Stayin’ Alive” highlighted the Pattern Step. A rotational lift appropriately to Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” was the closer. The segment scored 86.32.

The team improved their Rhythm Dance score from the first Grand Prix by 8.44 points.

“We made some really good strides since Skate America, specifically with this program, said Bates. “We put a lot of effort into improving it and changed some of the music, some of the choreography, which can be challenging in the midst of the Grand Prix.”

Carreira & Ponomarenko (USA) made their Grand Prix debut with a new international personal best 79.64 score. The I.AM London, Ontario Canada trained team selected “I Just Want to Make Love to You” by Etta James and “Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard for their music. The twizzles and rotational lift earned level 4: the Pattern and Midline Steps were both level 3.

“We are very happy with how we skated today,” Carreira said. “We’ve been working hard and came really prepared so we’re happy that we could show this.“

Reed & Ambrulevicius (LTU) were disappointed last week at the Grand Prix de France for missing the podium by only .64 points. The base values increased in Japan with level 4 twizzles, Pattern Step, rotational lift and level 3 Midline Step. The Montreal based team scored 77.91, three points higher than in Angers. Their music was “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” By Rod Stewart and other artists.

“It was a quick turnaround for us, since we have back-to-back Grand Prix, so we came into this competition with mini goals because we had no time to fix or change anything,” Reed said. “We accomplished those and we are really happy with that.”

Teams in fourth and fifth place made their Grand Prix Series debut at the NHK Trophy…

Green & Parsons (USA) had a later than usual schedule start due to Parson’s hip injury and rehab at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Green spent the three months training back in Canton, Michigan with the MIDA team.Their music this season is “These Boots Are Made for Walking” (Silo x Martin Wave Remix) by the Supremes and Martin Wave “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones. The team scored 74.38.

Demougeot & le Mercier (FRA) scored 69.24 for their program to “I Want You Back” by Jackson 5 (Dimitri from Paris Supa Funk Brakes Mix) [Mixed], and “The Love You Save” (Power remix) by Jackson 5. The team is coached by Karine Arribert-Narce and Mahil Chantelauze in Villard-de-Lans, France.

Free Dance

The teams performed in reverse order of the Rhythm Dance results. The podium included: Chock & Bates (gold), Carreira & Ponomarenko (silver) and Reed & Ambrulevicius (bronze).

Chock & Bates created a sophisticated jazzy mood with a combination of “Round Midnight” by innovative trumpeter Miles Davis, “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet and Juju’s “Take Five” that connected mid-tempo J-pop with elements of jazz. The duo scored a season best (Free Dance) 129.63 and (Total) 215.95 and qualified them to defend their 2023 Grand Prix Final title. NHK Trophy marks their 20th total Grand Prix medal.

“I am just so happy to be here in Japan, and we had two great performances this week,” Chock said at the post-event press conference. “It’s a great way to kick off the next part of the season leading into the Grand Prix Final in December.”

“It was just delightful to know that it’s a new milestone for us (first NHK gold),” Bates added. “We are very honored to be here and excited to take home the gold medal.”

Carreira & Ponomarenko remained in second place with a mature and passionate interpretation of Carmen Suite by Rodion Shchedrin. The twizzles, lifts, and dance spin earned level 4. The team was rewarded with  season best program 119.33 and total 198.33 scores.

“It’s truly an honor to return to the Grand Prix podium at NHK,” Ponomarenko said. “We were just so close to it, and to finally crack a podium is special. It’s a testament to the hard work that we’ve put in the past few summers and seasons. I’m really proud to skate with Christina and to share this podium.”

Reed & Ambrulevicius won their second straight NHK Trophy bronze medal with season best program, 117.61 and total 195.52 scores. The LTU team’s music included “Lord and Master” by Apashe, “Never Change” by Acoustic, Apashe, YMIR, and “Kryptonite” by Apashe, Lia Kuri. The reigning European bronze medalist’s total element score was over five points higher than the previous week at GP de France.

“We’re pretty thrilled with our performance today,” Reed said. “We think it went a lot better than it did in France. That performance was a lot better. We were really happy with it. It’s lovely to skate in front of this crowd and see full stands at two o’clock in the afternoon. It was a really good day.”

Green & Parsons were  fourth with “Spiegel im Spiegel” by Arvo Part performed by Angela Dubeau and La Pieta and “Dance Me to the End of Love” by Douglas Dare. The dance earned level 4 twizzles, lifts and dance spin; the Diagonal Steps were both level 3. The 114.38 program score and 188.76 total were season bests.

Prior to the event, Parsons shared some thoughts about the new skating year in a USFS Fan Zone story.

I think this [Jean Luc-Baker] choreography is much more personal. It’s genuine Caroline and Michael. And we already feel so much better than we did at this point last season — or at any point last season,” he said.

Parsons also expressed his enthusiasm for the skating days ahead.

“We’re super excited to show our programs this year,” he said. “Excited to have a rebound year where we feel like we can put our genuine selves on the ice and enjoy it. Not just survive, but thrive in what we love to do.”

Demougeot & le Mercier, the 2023-24 French silver medalists, finished fifth with a 109.06 program score and 178.30 total.

Coming Attractions

The fifth Grand Prix event is Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, November 15-17. Lilah Fear (Skate America) and Piper Gilles (Skate Canada International) gold medalists should be favorites for a GP Final spot. Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis (FIN) will make their Series debut. Oona Brown & Gage Brown, Eva Pate & Logan Bye and Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik will represent the USA in their second Grand Prix event.

Also competing are Natalie Taschlerova & Filip Taschler (CZE), Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen (FIN), Hannah Lim & Ye Quan (KOR) and Mariia Pinchuk & Mykyta Pogorielov (UKR).

Tokyo Tidbits

Madison Chock & Evan Bates used eleven songs for the Rhythm Dance at their Grand Prix Skate America debut. At NHK, the program was reduced to eight. The team dropped the middle three – The Madison, “Watusi with Lucy” by The Dovells and “Nitty Gritty” by Skeewiff.
Bronze medalist, Allison Reed competed on the same NHK Trophy ice as the team her sister, Cathy Reed coaches – Japan’s Utana Yoshida & Masaya Morita.  Reed’s siblings, Cathy & Chris Reed represented Japan in ice dance internationally.
Madison Chock & Evan Bates recorded the highest Free Dance and Total score in ice dance worldwide this season.
The NHK Trophy podium marked a first for Team USA by taking home gold and silver at a GP event other than Skate America.
Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko’s coach, Scott Moir and partner Tessa Virtue skated Carmen Suite to a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships.
Competing in front of a Japanese audience:

Christina Carreira: “We love being here in Japan, and the crowd is incredible.”

Allison Reed: “The crowd clapping from the moment our music started was really helpful. We loved the atmosphere.”  

Madison Chock: “Anytime the skaters are selected for NHK Trophy, we all do a little celebration because we’re so excited to come to this competition.”