Skate America 2010: The Snakes and Damaged Beauty Edition

The Free Dance here was probably my most anticipated segment, but again, only for the second half: Ekaterina Riazanova & Ilia Tkachenko, Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani, Kaitlyn Weaver & Andew Poje, Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier, and of course Meryl Davis & Charlie White. Of the four I'd only seen the Shibutanis' free dance (!), so this was going to potentially be quite an eye-opener.

Ekaterina Riazanova & Ilia Tkachenko were skating to a selection of music hilariously titled "Mexico," and were dressed nearly identically. I'm not sure how I feel about partners being so matchy-matchy, but it works, I suppose, because both they and their costumes are quite pretty.

Unfortunately for them, the sound quality on IceNetwork was such that I couldn't really hear the music and appreciate how the choreography was structured. They had some cool lifts such as this, even though the position was held for only the briefest of moments:


Ekaterina & Ilya's twizzles were together and had fairly good speed, but didn't have the pop that one simply cannot forget after seeing the Shibutanis. Their following combination spin seemed a bit slow in rotation, and the slow, sweeping music in their circular step sequence didn't help much in carrying the performance up and forward. They did bring the energy up in the next section, but the sensuality between them was sorely lacking, and for me that prevented the program from rising to the next level.

The first exciting moment of my night occurred next: Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani!

This may be petty, but until this moment I had never seen even a hair out of place from Maia.

As usual they were adorable, elegant, and polished. I still want Maia's dress--actually, I want her whole wardrobe, both on and off the ice. Their opening dance spin was very fast with good positions, setting the tone for the next four minutes. Their curved lift into a rotational lift was also hit and fast, and the twizzles? Amazing, as usual. Must be the Japanese work ethic kicking in somewhere.

All teams are under the 6-second lift rule, but no one said anything about this lift feeling rushed à la the Russians because Maia's extension allows her to hit positions instantly and exaggerate them, so the audience is actually left with a mental image.

The music for their performance was soft as well, but unlike the previous team the Shibutanis almost didn't need it. I'm not trying to be hyperbolic, and they are far from perfect, of course, but they have a great presence on the ice. They received the highest TES of the night, which really bodes well for their career and shows that they simply need time to mature and not be each other's siblings anymore. Unfortunately for them the latter is impossible, so now they need to take care that they don't go the way of Sinead Kerr & John Kerr.

Snake sighting. And some classic Alex, pre-SB scores.

Kaitlyn Weaver looked uncannily like Nicole Kidman, although I never would have guessed it during their Short Dance. Kaitlyn & Andrew's Moulin Rouge music selections weren't my favorite (I do love Come What May but Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend and the tango weren't quite necessary), but they had good energy and speed throughout, and had some very interesting lifts. The judges apparently weren't fooled, though, and cut them down technically.










I'm not sure why Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier chose the costumes they did, or why Vanessa styles herself so she looks nearly 30 instead of 20, but their program got the job done. Eleanor Rigby as a piece is pretty boring so it was easy to stop paying attention, but they had good speed in both their spins and footwork, and some cool lifts such as these:

Summersett-Gilles, 2.0?

Paul went down on a freak fall while they were essentially just skating around the rink, though fortunately for them it had no affect on their planned elements. I wasn't totally sold on their program, but it was enough to put them ahead of my favorite siblings.

The final couple, of course, was Meryl Davis & Charlie White. Although I disapproved when Charlie switched to a black costume with gold trim for their Bollywood original dance last year very late in the season, I would be quite okay with him wearing this all-black outfit forever.

The thing about Meryl and Charlie is that although I often talk about them needing to get together, I never actually believe it at much as I do about Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir. There is clearly chemistry between them, but it doesn't seem as desperately romantic and latent as the Canadians'. I can actually buy it when they say that they are only friends, which is a problem.

Their twizzles this time around were fine, although they weren't quite perfectly together. I did love, though, that they used a portion from Por una Cabeza, as it brought me back to some of Mao Asada's more glorious days. And then, in the middle of this musical glory, both Meryl and Charlie fell while trying to hit some dramatic tango position. Ridiculous.


In the replay it looked like it was Charlie who lost his balance again and brought Meryl down with him, and she didn't seem too pleased in the Kiss & Cry while Charlie looked seriously cartoonlike.

Snake sighting behind Meryl.

The judges took a year and a half to announce their scores, which meant that they were trying to find every possible way to let them win by a landslide, and indeed the judges essentially pretended that the fall had never happened aside from the mandatory -2.00 deduction (plus another for an extended lift). This more than generous score was more than enough to put them on top and bring the smile back to Meryl's face.

That Slow Dance

Finally, my first taste of Nebelhorn: the Shibutanis. This video could not make for a better start to my following of the international season. I love them, and I love this program.

Being a sibling team presents a number of challenges to and limitations on their programs, obviously--the intense romance and sexual tension that simply oozes from Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir is (should be?) impossible, and would be so highly problematic if it were. The Shibutanis have dealt with this well, though, without becoming cutesy or gimmicky, and they have made music choices that bring an element of romance onto the ice without actually implicating them. This was true of their exhibition from last season, which I adored, and it is true of this FD, which has a very similar era and feel.

In this musical sense, this program is very trademark Shibutani--or what I hope will become their trademark--but their lifts have the very clear Marina Zoueva/Igor Shpilband mark. The entrances and exits for their six-second lift in particular, while gorgeous, are quite reminiscent of both Tessa & Scott and Meryl Davis & Charlie White. Looking at these three teams has also led me to conclude that the coaching pair really knows how to dress their teams. Maia's dress is beautiful, and it makes her look even more mature than she already does.

One thing that really stood out to me was how much their twizzles have improved. They were by no means poor last season, but this time they were remarkably sharp, fast, and together. The sparse audience noticed it, too. :)

Apparently there are a few technical issues in this program as it stands now, but it is early in the season and I can't imagine anything slipping by Zoueva and Shpilband's eagle eyes (unless, of course, they are distracted by having too many top teams under their tutelage at once, which is something I've been wondering about ever since Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates announced their coaching change).

The Spotless Mind of Love

Vancouver 2010: Free Dance

Okay. Now that I'm partly over the shock of the FD and the sudden barrage of midterms and things due, I can actually think and write about it. I didn't see much of it thanks to schoolwork, and the ones I did see were on a very fuzzy TV screen, but nevertheless the power and beauty definitely shined through. I was so excited for ice dance going into the Olympics, and it totally lived up to all of its hype. Wow.

Due to extenuating circumstances (read: people listening to music before I turned on the TV), I had to watch Isabel Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder on mute. Yes, that sort of defeats the purpose of watching the FD... and I also missed the moment where she pulls down her costume to reveal a tubetop or whatever, because, well, it was on mute and I was doing my homework. So in general that was a fail on my part, but my overall impression based on what I did see was that, like their OD, everything is there except enough time to train. I hope they manage something before Worlds.

Knowing that Meryl Davis & Charlie White were up next, I decided that I would rather be rude than miss the experience of the FD and unmuted the TV. OMG, it was so worth it. Actually the first thing that was worth it was seeing that clip of Charlie back when he was 8 years old or so, still playing ice hockey. I couldn't really make out what he was saying because of the noise in the room, but it was adorable! And then came their FD. I've always felt that they wasted Samson and Delilah by skating to it last year, and that their Phantom of the Opera music is not only overdone but badly cut, but that night their performance blew all of these doubts away. Even through the fuzziness I could tell that they were completely on fire, and everything was so fast, strong, and powerful. I can't even pick out specific moments because it was all one mesmerizing blur, although I do remember thinking (again) that the lift where Meryl is basically balancing on Charlie's calf, is both crazy (in a good way) and odd (aesthetically). At the end of the program he looked like he was going to collapse onto the ice of exhaustion, which just goes to show how much of themselves they put into the performance. As usual Meryl looked as calm and unflustered as ever--how she managed that, I don't know. They scored a personal best 107.19, including a 1.00 deduction for an extended lift that has so far not been identified, and while it was deserved I knew that we were in for another night of record-smashing score inflation.

Then I missed Frederica Faiella & Massimo Scali's FD because I am a bad ice dancing fan and a stressed-out student. However the next team I definitely made sure not to miss, because it was my favorite: Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir. The audience was crazy with excitement and anticipation, and I must have been too, considering James and Eric were snickering as I watched. Anyway, my opinion of Tessa & Scott's FD has remained the same throughout the season: beautiful, strategically sound (in that it plays to their strengths), version 3.0. Clearly they have become stronger with each season, but this FD is basically the same as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which was basically the same as Valse Triste. But regardless...

It was beautiful. Subtle, restrained, elegant, but powerful, this performance had it all. Tessa & Scott's love and respect for each other really came through. If I were going to be really nitpicky I would say that I have seen them more free and emotional in some other performances, such as at 2008 Worlds, and that Meryl & Charlie gripped my attention more, but overall it was a masterpiece and it was clear (if it hadn't been before they started skating) that they would win. The best part was their swan lift, or more rather the commentary (Rafael: "Zueva really likes hurting her men"), but like Meryl & Charlie's performance it's hard to pick out certain points because it was like all one moment. Their scores were an unheard-of 110.42. While I believe that Tessa & Scott are the rightful gold medalists, I am not entirely convinced that they beat Meryl & Charlie by such a large margin (5+ overall) even with the 1.00 deduction factored in. I suppose if the standings aren't affected, it doesn't hurt much to give the home crowd an extra bit of excitement. As if they needed any... although Scott has always come across to me as calm, intelligent, and well-spoken, his reaction upon seeing his scores revealed to me the fire that drives him to compete as he does and drove his 8-year-old self into an ice hockey melee. It was an interesting contrast to watch, and his pure excitement was refreshing.

Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto's performance fades in my memory because Meryl & Charlie and Tessa & Scott were so far and away the best of the night. However, it seemed to be that this was their best FD of the season, and I am sorry that politics and whatever else kept them out of 3rd place. To their credit both of them were extremely classy in their response, with Ben keeping it funny as usual and Tanith being thoughtful about how they would like to go out when they retire. A few comments by fsonline then got me thinking about how Tanith & Ben were the ones who even made the FD possible. Without them the European stranglehold on the sport would still exist, and the current classiness would probably not exist either. That is an amazing achievement and beyond all of their medals, they have so much to be proud of.

Oksana Domnina & Maxim Shabalin were last, and unsurprisingly NBC was not hesitant in their criticisms. I didn't pay all that much attention to them, except to see that they were using some kind of ropes/straps on their costumes to do their lifts, and while it was creative I just didn't feel anything from the program. They made some comments later about how they "had the best skate" but still only placed 3rd--the medal, by the way, seems like a complete boon of their nationality--and while the American media took that one line and used it as a sign of their lack of sportsmanship, I am still not completely convinced (until I see the whole interview, that is) that they were talking about the best skate of the night instead of the best skate of their season.

Because NBC is silly I haven't seen the moment where Scott tells Tessa that they came in second, behind the Russians, then tells her he's "just kidding." Come on, NBC... that has got to be the best quote of the night. I kept the TV on to watch the medal ceremony, during which it seemed that by the end of the night both of "Zueva's men" would have passed out. Scott looked so relieved and SO excited by his medal and by the anthem that I thought he'd keel over on the podium.

I think Meryl & Charlie still have even more to go--I feel like their full potential hasn't been reached just quite yet, even if the "yet" comes in a month at the World Championships--and I hope, hope, HOPE that neither they nor Tessa & Scott retire. Ice dancing is finally becoming interesting and beautiful, and if they retired it would undo everything.

Just for the record: I am not a bandwagon-jumping fan. I just pick the good ones, BEFORE the Olympics. :)

Canto Alla Vita

I somehow discovered Josh Groban's "Canto Alla Vita" just yesterday (yes, I'm behind) and immediately thought about how great a FD set to it could be. I sort of imagined Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates skating to it, since the song has a similar feel to their "Luna" (2007-2008) and "Amazonic" (2008-2009) free dances. But before my non-existent career as a choreographer could take off, I realized that Madison Hubbell & Keiffer Hubbell had already had the same idea, back in 2006-2007. Sigh. :)

Unfortunately, WMG was stupid enough to claim copyright on the song, leaving this program without music. I suppose it's possible to play the music as you watch it, although it's unlikely that they chose to use the full song all the way through without any cuts. Honestly...

Aside from that, though, this program by Madison & Keiffer really shows how far they have come in these past few years. This is their FD performance from Trophée Bomphard earlier this season:

Their edges are surer, they're skating much closer together, their twizzles are spot-on, and their speed is not even comparable. Even if they will never challenge for a National or World title, their improvement is really amazing and I have a newfound respect for their skating.

Given that comparison, I'd really like to see another FD set to "Canto Alla Vita," this time at the senior level... and although I mentioned Emily & Evan earlier, I think Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto could pull off a great one. (Speaking of which, are they retiring at the end of this season or sticking around for yet another four?) Their "Ave Maria" FD this season has the same intensity, and it seems like there would be a lot of potential there.

But hey, what do I know. My choreographing career is still on indefinite hold.

Some Things Are Just Reliable

Like 「M」. I know that this version is a cover, but I discovered this one first, so to me it's the original. But really, either version is beautiful, although it probably helps to understand the words. I can't even decide whether he knows how to sing, but in any case he does here, and it's now my go-to for most things.

Speaking of, I haven't seen ヘキサゴン since 2010 started. Can someone please fix that?

This performance is also one of those things. Each season they come up with some really amazing performances, but this one is just special.

2010 US Nationals: Free Dance

Well, it's been a while. Between picking classes and family visiting, I haven't had any time to really keep up with the things I usually follow. I have finally decided what I am taking this semester (Independent Research, Evolutionary Biology, Quantitative Methods in Sociology, Experimental Physical Chemistry, and French--yay), though and everything seems to be slowly settling into place. Well, everything except lab. My cells are acting weird and I'm not sure why.

So this happened like a week ago, but at last I've found the Free Dance (for the last five groups) from Nationals. It was a great competition and I was pretty excited about it, although the scoring in the OD (between Meryl Davis & Charlie White and Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto), considering the twizzles, was a little strange.

Tanith & Ben skated first out of the final group, and because I'd somehow made it through the better part of the season without seeing their program, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were skating to Caccini's Ave Maria. Yes, Ave Maria in general is a classical fallback, but it seems that the Ave Maria most people immediately think of is Gounod's, followed by Schubert's, and this will raise the visibility of Caccnini's version. Caccini's version is the most dramatic, though, so it worked well for them. Their black-and-white costumes were appropriately plain (color-wise) and dramatic (glitter- and cut-wise) at the same time, although I'm not sure if I would have designed a similar costume. I was glad to see that Tanith's hair was tied back. Anyway, in terms of their skating, I thought they did really well--their twizzles were fast and together, and their lifts were elegant and smooth. Their trademark move, where Tanith stands on Ben's skate and arches her back, was used really well and emphasized one of the climaxes of the music. They looked very happy at the end of their performance and after they saw their marks, and I think that even though they did not become the first team to win six National titles they have a lot to be proud of.

Next was Kim Navarro & Brent Bommentre. They were also dressed in black and white, though more simply so, and I think I prefer this set of costumes within the black and white scheme. Their program got off to a slightly shake start with the first set of twizzles, when Kim let go over her foot too early, but they recovered well for the second set. Tonia Kwiatkowski mentioned that their FD is supposed to represent their partnership, which seems really sweet (although I'm not sure exactly how the representation works... maybe through the lyrics of the music ("One" by Mary J. Blige)). Their lifts were pretty eye-catching, and the simplicity of their costumes helped accentuate the line of their positions. Kim & Brent looked very emotional at the end, and you could see them mouth "Thank you" to each other. Sentimental favorites indeed. I thought their program component scores could have been a little higher, but good performance all around. Too bad they're not going to the Olympics.

Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein are really the future. You can always tell which juniors will be successful as seniors because they make a dramatic move right away, and this team is no exception (so far). Their costumes were the first that really seemed to be costumes as opposed to crazy outfits, and their music (a "classical waltz") was soft and elegant. Very different feel from the first two teams. Their first set of twizzles seemed just a tad bit messy, but their alternating arm movements in the second set really stood out and was timed perfectly to the music. Kwiatkowski mentioned that they seem to have gained a lot of confidence since winning Junior Worlds last year, and although I didn't really follow them last year she seems to be right--they skated with the power that comes from confidence. They actually beat Navarro & Bommentre in the technical score, but lost out significantly in the program component score, which is sure to go up as they gain more experience.

Then came Meryl & Charlie. They skated to Phantom of the Opera, which is completely overdone, but of course they managed to make it their own anyway. They jumped right into two combination spins, which had great spead, and everything just took off from there. The straight line --> rotational lift had numerous quick position changes, and highlighted the tension of the main theme before the music cut to "Music of the Night." I wasn't such a huge fan of the musical transitions and cuts they decided to use, but they were definitely able to change their style and feel according to that of the music without sacrificing speed. Charlie made me a little nervous on their second straight-line lift, although Meryl's position was really amazing. Their twizzles were fast and controlled (they made sure it was nothing like the OD), and they built up the program's excitement to the end to receive a standing ovation (although I absolutely hated how they suddenly switched the music--the change was way too obvious and abrupt). Their scores were absolutely through the roof (yay Nationals!) despite receiving a deduction (?), and easily beat Tanith & Ben.

Last were Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates, skating to "Canto Della Terra," which initially reminded me of a less breathy Enya in a different language (it's not--it's Italian opera). Evan definitely had a friend in the audience. :) Their twizzles were spot-on and their lifts dramatic in all the right ways. I was really happy to see that none of the top teems seemed to be trying the old ice-dance trick of using crazy costumes to distract from the actual skating (but can someone do something about Emily's hair?). In the end I felt much more emotion from Kim & Brent and I think their performance was stronger, but Emily & Evan are clearly the much better technicians and they deserved to place 3rd.

The other team I hunted down online was Jane Summersett & Todd Gilles, who skated to a "rock & roll medley." They are always so energetic and fun to watch, which worked with the music well, and despite everything I always find myself secretly hoping that they'll place. Unfortunately Jane fell out of her first set of twizzles, and their skating seemed a little slow in comparison to the later group. Their signature curve lift was definitely the highlight of the performance. :) According to Kwiatkowski they changed coaches early in this season, and have improved their edges and closeness. I really hope they keep skating.

In the Land of PC

As it pours outside and I wait for my cells to transform (which really isn't as cool as it might sound):

This has been bothering me for the past several days, ever since it made the mainstream news. Apparently the Australian Aborigines are offended by Oksana Domnina & Maxim Shabalin's OD, which is based on an aboriginal theme. Of course the news would use the photograph of the moment with the most outrageous expressions from Oksana, meant to elicit politically correct outrage:

Copyright AP, I believe.

However there are several problematic points with the Australian Aborigines' anger, and theirs as well as the general public's reveals their ignorance about ice dancing. Without addressing any specific complaint that the Australian Aborigines', ice dancing and ice skating as a whole is as much theatre as it is sport. And I mean that in the most respectful way possible. Although the ones giving the marks are ultimately the judges, who are sitting immediately rinkside, the audience and its reaction is a huge component of ice dance.

To this end, the makeup and costumes of ice skaters in general is often exaggerated (see: Miki Ando) because it helps drive the theme home while they skate at top speed (well, not all of them), especially to those sitting way at the top of the stands. Ice dancing, while highly technical and athletic, is usually the most theatrical of the diciplines and often borderline ridiculous (if not outright so). This Russian team in particular, compared to teams such as Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir and Meryl Davis & Charlie White, tends towards the more ridiculous on the ice dance spectrum and go for the costumes rather than dresses/shirt & pants. Oksana & Maxim's OD this year treats their theme no differently than they have past themes.

1. "We see it as stealing Aboriginal culture and it is yet another example of the Aboriginal people of Australia being exploited. It's been absolutely stolen without our permission and without consultation of the relevant dance groups within Aboriginal Australia. ... It's not just intellectual property. It's straight-out cultural theft." -Sol Bellear, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council
   
   The moment someone exaggerates to this extent, they immediately start losing credibility.
   
   • There is no exploitation of Australian Aborigines occurring. There just isn't. Every year the music of various cultures and persons is used, and the process for using the aboriginal music was no different than for others. If anything, the music of a highly successful program can in fact benefit, with fans (re)discovering music or the movies from which they were taken. After Mao Asada's win at the World Championships in 2008, the piece for her long program was one of the most purchased songs in Japan.
     
   • Choosing a piece of music for a program does not involve consulting the composer; instead, the skaters credit appropriately and indicate whether it is a compilation of two different songs, original cuts, etc.
     
   • Oksana & Maxim did not steal an aboriginal dance. They used an aboriginal dance as inspiration for their OD, much like Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosoto with their Moldavian dance. As above, they did not claim that this was a dance conceived entirely of their own creativity, and nor did they claim that this dance was taken from a different source than "aborigine."
     
   
   
2. "Interest must be expressed in a way that is respectful. The ripping off of our art and songs is not, and nor is this depiction of my culture." -Bev Manton
   
   This, on the other hand, is much more reasonable and thoughtful, and I am sure she has a point. However, I still think that she does not fully understand the style of ice dance, and does not realize that many cultural pieces are "adapted" in exaggerated for the sport. If this is the first time she has fully looked at ice dance, then yes, the OD is probably offensive. The Internet was probably not the best sole source for research on this dance.
   
   
3. There was also a protest on the fact that the costumes involved bodysuits made to make Oksana & Maxim's skin look darker. I have not been able to find this complaint since, so perhaps whoever said it realized that this was a foolish one and withdrew. Kim Navarro & Brent Bommentre also wear dark-colored bodysuits for their Afro-Brazilian dance, and Brent goes as far as to wear a leather headpiece meant to emulate long hair: "As far as the headpiece is concerned, they were trying to find a way for me to have longer hair. I was really hesitant about hair extensions, and I can't grow my hair out fast enough to have dreds." Where's the protest on this one?
   
   
4. In addition, the "body paint" on the costumes has been criticized as looking as if "a 3-year-old child had drawn it on." -Stephen Page
   
   Perhaps to an Australian Aborigine, this is true. However, look at Maia & Alex Shibutani's OD costumes for this season, set to Japanese drum music:
   
   
   Copyright Michelle Harvath
   
   

   The Shibutanis are ethnically Japanese, so they would probably know a thing or two (or at least their parents would) about the culture. Yet their tops are stereotypically designed, and not at all like the solid, dark-colored, open front tops that one usually sees on traditional Japanese drummers. Yet in a world where most people have never seen a taiko performance, the point is made: this dance is Asian. Could the Russians have been more tasteful? Probably. But a point of the similar effect is made through their costumes, and that was reasonably their goal when they were designed.
   
   
5. "First of all, in the ISU rule book there is a list of dances which are allowed for use in the Original Dance competition. In black and white it states Aborigines Dances. When creating an 'Aborigines' dance, we were not suggesting a specific geographic region, but rather a tribute to a place and time before the 'modern civilization.' We had no intent to make the dance specifically 'Australian,' because we realize our limitations to fully understand all the intricacies." -Natalia Linichuk
   
   Well, no one can really know for sure what their intentions were, but she does have a persuasive point. This woman is a force to be reckoned with, evidently.
   

I also found IceNetwork's coverage of this controversy to be slightly distasteful and lacking in journalistic standards. This article, titled "In ice dance, it's a fine line between tribute an insult" and written by Lynn Rutherford, directly addresses the issue and uses the relevant quotes. It gives a clear context for the quotes from Tanith & Ben and Meryl & Charlie--they were asked "What do you think about the controversy over Oksana Domnina & Maxim Shabalin's Aboriginal dance?"--and both teams answered accordingly.

In particular, Meryl answered, "We can't speak for anyone else, but for us, knowing that we didn't know anything about Indian culture going in, it was very important for us to do the research and do the dance justice. We didn't want to offend anyone or do something that was completely off base." It might not be a journalistic masterpiece, but it's fine. Meryl & Charlie come off very well, good for them.

On the other hand, THIS article (Bollywood scores blockbuster in Spokane), published the same day and also written by Lynn Rutherford, reuses the quotes from the other article and without context. (It also uses a terrible pun, but whatever.)

"[Specialists they consulted] broke it down, we worked off the ice, and they helped us explore all the areas of Indian dance. We really didn't know anything about Indian culture going in. It was very important for us to do research to do the theme justice, and know that we were not going to do anything to offend anyone or do something that was completely off base."

This comes in the middle of a discussion of how the dance was conceived, and given the controversy that everyone knew about, it just sounds like a not-so-subtle swipe at the Russians. Well, turns out, Meryl wasn't directly talking about creating the OD after all. Or... maybe this is the original quote, the other article reused it, and she's a little catty. :) But given the nature of the comment and Meryl & Charlie's sportsmanship in general, the first interpretation makes more sense.

But all in all, whatever. Ice dancing is ridiculous, and everyone (should) know(s) that. By continuing this outrage, the Australian Aborigines are giving the OD the serious consideration they insist it doesn't deserve.