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Does anyone happen to know if La Esmeralda Variation was ever incorporated into a skating program?
Random Figure Skating Questions
- Thread starter tulosai
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Todd's wife Sabrina is a former pairs skater (who medaled @ the junior level). They trained in the same environment in the early 1990's.
Todd's stepson is Ryder, and Ayrton is Sabrina & Todd's son. Sorry, I can't contribute any info about E-man, but I agree that he is a very talented young man.
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So as I'm watching the first group of ice dancers at NHK, I'm thinking about skating skills. Ice dancers have way better than singles skaters, right? Does a lower-tier ice dance team have, say, better SS than a Patrick Chan? Genuinely curious because I have no idea.
Simple answer: No.
That said, if by "lower level" you mean a solid elite-level senior dance team not quite at world medalist level, it's they can probably perform some specific skating skills better than Chan, especially dance-specific moves like twizzles or closed mohawks and choctaws, or in non-blade-related skills like posture and extension.
But in general, I think he could hold his own with the elite ice dancers more than any other singles skater.
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Todd is married (second marriage). He has two sons.
Is being married a handicap to being a good coach?
Todd and Richard Callahan are coaching in McKinney, Texas. He was with someone at U.S. Nationals; I think it was Amber Glenn, but I'm not sure.
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Sandhu did attempt an unsuccessful comeback in 2013. He also appeared on ice shows and dance shows. I think he's a coaching assistant now.
With Bowman, I'd say he was an extremely gifted skater whose self-destructive habits were exacerbated by a federation and media that played up his bad boy image.
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- Jul 9, 2014
Hello All,
I'm bored and since I hate shopping, I stayed home while my friends went to the mall. This question has to do with names. I've always thought that Adelina Sotnikova's first name was similar to the US name Adelle. Also, Alena and Elena were just like the US name Elaine. So, is this correct? Is plushy's first name the same as the US name, Eugene?
I'm bored and since I hate shopping, I stayed home while my friends went to the mall. This question has to do with names. I've always thought that Adelina Sotnikova's first name was similar to the US name Adelle. Also, Alena and Elena were just like the US name Elaine. So, is this correct? Is plushy's first name the same as the US name, Eugene?
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- Nov 30, 2014
There's a useful topic for this! Help Needed Pronouncing Skaters Names
Here are some clips from that thread of skaters saying their names:
Elena Radionova ('Elena' actually starts with a 'y' sound, is often spelled 'Yelena')
https://youtu.be/FlotRYHRu9c
Alena Leonova ('Alena' sounds different than 'Elena', often spelled 'Alyona' or 'Aliona')
https://youtu.be/1m2ctGIrGmo
Evgeni Plushenko
https://youtu.be/xMMy_2GfbOs
Adelina Sotnikova
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS22yOdk7Mo
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Wow........Get it Plusy!!! Hi my friends..........He's the BEST!!!!
OTOH: I couldn't understand Leonova at all. I could barely make out her name as she said so fast. My Gal Maria Butyrskaya used to do the same thing. Impossible for me to understand. Maybe I was too distracted by their good looks as they're both quite beautiful.:luv17:
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They were coaching Ashley Shin.
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Hey Guys, I just finished watching FS on NBC and I have a question for those of you who have skated and danced. I was watching Satoko, and Johnny commented on her ability to spin in both directions. For those of you who have been to dance class, you know that you basically have to turn, leap, and do entire combinations on both sides. It always amazes me when they comment about a skaters ability to spin both ways. I used to turn both ways when I skated but I learned how to do it in my ballet class. I don't remember turning in both directions when I skated.
Can you guys turn in both directions and if so, why don't more skaters do it. Lastly, do you get extra point value for doing turns in both directions?
Can you guys turn in both directions and if so, why don't more skaters do it. Lastly, do you get extra point value for doing turns in both directions?
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Here is my second round of "stupid questions." Thank you for being so nice with answering my first round. 
1) During the telecast, when they have that purple box in the upper left showing the leader's & current skater's PCS - is that ongoing score for the current skater just the base value or does it include the GOE?
2) What makeup do most of the men wear when competing? It looks like, for example, most of the U.S. men (Max, Jason, Josh, Adam) have foundation/powder but I don't see anything else (lip, mascara, eyeliner).
3) What types of off-ice workouts to skaters typically do? Lifting or circuits? Is the cardio stuff like running or cycling? Yoga or pilates? Or is it really stuff that the skaters just enjoys doing?
4) Do most figure skating clubs have strict requirements for membership? Or do skaters just have to pay the membership dues? For example, I think Ashley Wagner still represents the SC of Wilmington, Adam the SC of New York, and many pairs/dance teams represent different clubs from different parts of the country - and none of these skaters live near these clubs.
Thanks!
1) During the telecast, when they have that purple box in the upper left showing the leader's & current skater's PCS - is that ongoing score for the current skater just the base value or does it include the GOE?
2) What makeup do most of the men wear when competing? It looks like, for example, most of the U.S. men (Max, Jason, Josh, Adam) have foundation/powder but I don't see anything else (lip, mascara, eyeliner).
3) What types of off-ice workouts to skaters typically do? Lifting or circuits? Is the cardio stuff like running or cycling? Yoga or pilates? Or is it really stuff that the skaters just enjoys doing?
4) Do most figure skating clubs have strict requirements for membership? Or do skaters just have to pay the membership dues? For example, I think Ashley Wagner still represents the SC of Wilmington, Adam the SC of New York, and many pairs/dance teams represent different clubs from different parts of the country - and none of these skaters live near these clubs.
Thanks!
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I believe that you are correct that men in competition generally wear only foundation and/or powder.
For example, Meryl often was seen applying Charlie's powder for him.
No doubt some exceptions exist, depending on the skater and/or the program.
For example, when Chock/Zuerlein had a program with music from "Cabaret," he wore intentionally obvious additional make-up that was reminiscent of Joel Grey's look.
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You have to be able to turn on both feet in both directions. To be honest I'm always a little confused when they talk about Satoko spinning "in both directions". You have to be able to spin on both feet! It's just one is a forward spin and the other is a backwards spin.
Most skaters jump in only one direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) but there are some rare gems (Rohene Ward) who can jump in both. Skaters can usually, with enough training, jump in both directions if they push themselves to, but they naturally jump one way or the other. Tom Z posted a video clip of Max a few months back showing him doing a single Axel clockwise, which is the opposite of his normal direction, and it was clearly quite difficult for him even though his regular Axel is so huge and awesome.
Purple box is for TES score, not PCS :yes: and I believe it basically adds the calls of the tech panel and the judges' GOEs as they go together. This is why the number can change so radically at the end of the skate; the tech panel reviews the elements, the judges review their GOE.
I think it varies according to individuals. When Jason had the second year of his Prince SP I could have sworn he wore mascara. I've never thought Max wore makeup at all because you can usually see the shadow along his jaw, and the same with Josh recently. Plushy, when much younger, used to wear plenty of powder and blush, especially if he had been ill, so that he didn't look so pale. What they wear for competition and what they wear for shows is a different matter, however. I recall I think it was Ricky blogging about Champs Camp and apparently the USFS brought in some professional makeup artists to work with the men.
I think this varies according to skater. They would all have to do weight work to some degree; some take it more seriously than others (Maaaaaaaaaaaaaax...). Jason did a very cool interview with a sports radio show last year where he explained the different types of training he does and they basically said that he was effectively a triathlete, IIRC. Then skaters would do other things according to what took their fancy - Max taking ballroom classes, Jason taking modern, Maddie Aaron and her ballet...I think a lot of the Russian skaters do ballet as off-ice training. Plushenko was very good at it and still does a lot of work in the studio.
Aaaaaaaaaaand I'm out, I've got no idea about this one.
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There are a few skaters (John Curry was one) who did his spins in the opposite direction from his jumps. (Curry had extensive ballet training.) A few skaters have tried to spin in both directions -- Michelle Kwan, early in her career, for instance. Supposedly this did give her some extra appreciation points from the judges, although it was hard to tell in 6.0.
It always happens, though, that one direction is better for a skater than another. In general it is better to spin faster, more centered, etc. in your preferred direction than to do a spin of lesser quality in the "wrong" direction.
Turning in both directions, for instance during footwork sequences, is another story. Skaters are expected to turn in the wrong direction at least a third of the time, or something like that. Threr is a bullet for "multi-directional skating."
If I am remembering the story correctly, choreographer Lori Nichol once told of the time she was skating professionally in John Curry's revue ensemble. Curry choreographer a sequence where two lines of skaters would do single Axels, each line in the opposite direction. Some of the skaters had to change lines because they could only do it one way.
People's natural turning preference is more magnified the faster they're rotating and the stronger the centripetal and centrifugal forces they need to control.
For 180 degree turns from front to back or back to front, most skaters have a preference but it isn't strong and the expectations are that they'll learn to master all turns in both directions.
Multirevolution twizzles are now expected in both directions especially for dancers, but only the best or the most ambidextrous will be equally comfortable both ways or able to make them look equally quick and well controlled.
For single jumps the preferences are only slightly stronger. Advanced skaters can usually go back and learn single jumps in the opposite direction, or some skaters learn them both ways to begin with, but it isn't necessarily encouraged. Since there will be strong preference and freestyle skaters will be expected to learn doubles and maybe triples in one direction, it's more efficient to train only in that direction.
For double or higher jumps, it's very rare for a skater to be able to rotate that quickly in both directions or to feel equally secure landing on either back outside edge.
Same for fast spins. Usually when skaters are able to spin in the "opposite" direction, the most common position to do that is the camel spin (which is much slower). Or an upright variation they can do slowly.
As a lower level skater who only ever did single jumps up to axel, I can do so-so waltz jumps and really bad toe loops and salchows the other way -- nothing harder -- and only a simple upright spin in a passe or attitude position.
ETA: As Mathman says, there are rewards in the scoring for turning both directions in the step sequences (and twizzle sequences for dancers), and for multidirectional skating in general under the Skating Skills component.
Reversing direction within the same spin is a feature for a higher level in spins. I believe that Satoko does indeed change directions in her spin. It's more common in pair spins because they're slower.
There's no rule to reward jumping in both directions under IJS, so skaters don't do it. I think there should be such a reward, but that's not the direction the ISU has chosen to encourage pushing the difficulty. It would be hard to come up with an appropriate way to word such a rule.
The Ice Skating Institute tests do include reverse direction jumps at their higher levels. I'm not sure how/whether they reward them in their competitions.
I've heard that it includes the GOE as soon as at least three judges input their GOEs. So if judges who enter or change their scores later give significantly different scores than the first three (could be more than three if several were simultaneous), the eventual score for that element might change even if the tech panel call remains the same.
Depends on the club. Those that own their own rinks and require members to essentially become shareholders in the rink would likely have the strictest financial requirements. Those that require home club members to buy club ice time would not be cost effective for skaters who train elsewhere. But most are happy to have members either as home club or associate members.
Singles competitors at juvenile and intermediate level in the US are now required to represent the club where they train or where their parents live the majority of they year, so they can't just hop regions looking for an easier path to qualifying. But that's a USFS rule, not one imposed by the clubs.
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- Jul 9, 2014
Make up will vary depending on the program. From my experience: A male singles skater who is NOT portraying a character will wear at the very least. Base, Powder, Mascara, and a neutral lip color with liner and a flat finish.
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Goodness! I brainfarted and did a typo. :hslap: I usually do a pretty good job of double checking my posts before hitting the submit button.
I would assume that all the men would wear at least wear powder, if for no other reason other than for control perspiration. But powder/foundation is a lot easier to get right then something like eyeliner. The problem is when you have a man who has a fair complexion (Adam, Josh) - they have to be careful or it can overpower their face very easily.
For awhile, I was convinced that Max did a little too much weight work. But now I think it could be one reason why Max is the one of the few U.S. men (I believe) who hasn't been injured recently while training all those quad jump repetitions - or whatever else Tom Z. has him doing.
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Afraid I have to disagree, mrrice, there are plenty of singles men out there who don't wear it. (I always thought Artur should have at least worn powder or a good cover up. He has that gorgeous porcelain skin tone, but very prone to breakouts. Or perhaps it was formerly wearing makeup that caused them? Hmm. Food for thought.)
And Phillip Mills agreed with you - he asked Max to stop lifting heavy when they started work so they could try and lean Max's lines out a bit. It must have worked because I remember when Max first appeared at WTT, before he knew of Mr Mills' request, there were quite a few comments in the competition threads that Max appeared to have lost weight or seemed slimmer.
(Now his waist just looks impossibly tiny, but that's another matter.)
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