Well, I made it to the Brits practice session
, which really was more a Platov group session, as only the British dancers were there and Otar Japaridze & Allison Reed.
After a 50min bus ride, I almost did not see it. They had put in place two sets of viewing and given away - at lunchtime - some colored wristband to enter. And what time did I arrive? well, 4:15 pm cause well, life interferes with skating and I do have a job lol.
So the girl there said, that the 1st viewing at 4.30 was a no-no, but that if we were willing to wait, she might be able to squeeze in a couple of non-wristband people.
Was I gonna wait? Hell, yeah!
So I watch all the wristband people going in - age average 7 years, I'm not joking :S and most of the crowd a/ had no idea what team was skating b/ came with their popcorn bags c/were asking how long was the 'show'
I'm a nice enough person, but you could see that us non-wristband people all knew who was skating and could give a biography of the main skaters, so saying I was p*ssed off that all those people were able to get in, and I might be stuck out, well that was an understatement.
Well, it all ended up well, as the lady remembered me from arriving first and told the rest of the non-wristband crowed to queue behind me
So if some people were gonna be squeezed in, I would be one of them!! hehe.
So I got in for the second part, both sessions being around 45 min each.
When I sat down S&J were running through the end part of their OD, then Coomes&Buckland did their OD too (Irish Dance). I don't know anything about technics, but they looked good, with a lot of speed.
Then everybody rehearsed the Tango Romantica, so it was played almost 40min non-stop... well it was a good training for friday night for my ears.
S&J looked good too, good unison and expression. They all practiced bits of the CD and had a complete run through it before the practice session ended. Evgeny Platov was there of course, filming and discussing after with each couple. They all seem to be getting along very well, applauding each other and paying attention when the other couples were skating.
To conclude the session, the 3 couples did a lift (reverse one for S&J)
They all bowed, and before they left, Evegny run on the ice cause he wanted a pic with the public in the background and asked us to make some noise.
Pictures were not allowed, and even if they had been there was a big hockey net all along the viewing area.
So next stop is Ladies/Dance practice on Saturday morning. Not sure we'll see the top couples in Dance cause the ticket says leave the arena at one and the practice finishes at 2:45 pm and they will be skating in OD start order... but anything I see, you'll be first to know!!
hum hum, seems like I've written a novel!