8. Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron FRA
2017 Worlds free dance
In a lot of ways, Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron are free dance specialists. Over the past few seasons, they have delivered some of the most breathtaking free dances that we’ve seen. And after a disappointing (at least in their standards) short dance in Helsinki, they came back with perhaps the skate of their career so far.
This program is everything Papadakis/Cizeron are about - effortless flow, atmospheric choreography, and incredible connection. They float through the program, and you get so wrapped up in it that before you know it, it goes by in a flash. The audience in Helsinki was absolutely mesmerized during this world record performance. For me, it really grew to become the free dance of the season.
You wonder if they think about their free dance approach differently next season. They definitely know they have a comfort zone with this genre of program - but if they do somehow figure out another step up from this amazing program, the Olympic season would be the optimal time for them to do it.