- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
I just saw the Evening With Champions - the annual figure skating show organized by Harvard students that benefits the Jimmy Fund. Below are my impressions (just my impressions, nothing else; I have a lot to say about some, and almost nothing of others - that doesn't mean I find someone bad). Also, I was sorry that Weir bailed out on the show, he was one of the reasons I went. Also, I'd like to mention that in general the show was well put together in terms of going from weaker to stronger skaters. I'll mention the few glaring exceptions.
First, a group came out to sing the national anthem. Unfortunately, they all had small voices, and it was just rather sad. The opening group act was rather pathetic; some skaters even fell. The only ones who saved it from being a complete disaster were Gordeeva and Kulik (mainly Katya). Then came the performers:
I finishing number feathered all the skaters except for the group acts and the local kids, with Protopopovs coming out at the very end.
Overall, I enjoyed the show a lot. Even though in Boston it was raining all day, and we were all wet before walking from the parking lot to the theater (it's a few minutes of a walk, since the arena is in Brighton). They even had to delay the start so everyone could find their seats.
First, a group came out to sing the national anthem. Unfortunately, they all had small voices, and it was just rather sad. The opening group act was rather pathetic; some skaters even fell. The only ones who saved it from being a complete disaster were Gordeeva and Kulik (mainly Katya). Then came the performers:
- A local 9-year old girl. Cute. Audience is really great and supportive.
- A local novice level pair. Had very decent synchornization, especially on spins which were done right in front of my nose. Smooth edges. No real jumps. For novice level, decent lifts and death spiral. Beautiful end pose, though they didn't hold it long enough. Overall, a kind of performance that looks really boring on TV, but is nice in person.
- Harvard Skating Club. 14 girls and 1 boy. Some of the girls weren't too bad, while others could hardly skate.
- Julia Vlassov and Drew Meekins. They're based in Mass, so I gues they're considered local. Nice death spiral. Too much "stop and go" in the program, though they can also pick up speed. Their lifts need to be more elegant. Nice pair spiral. Lost speed at the end. Feels like they could really become good, but it's a long way to go.
- Danielle Kahle. Good speed, mature quality to her skating. The program, though, is rather empty.
- Kelly Smith
- Stiegled & Magerovsky He has a baletic quality to his skting. She relates well both to him and to the music; is flexible. Graceful positions. He should relate more to music, and she should be less frentic. Overall, I liked them a lot, perhaps because of a maturity in their (especially in his) skating.
Here, Paul interviewed some people in the audience while props were brought on the ice
- Act I of Boston. Ice theater - "American in Paris". Fun, audience loved it.
- Matt Savoie - showed his short. I loved it! He skates with so much emotion, it's wonderful. He did three triples. I'm not sure the program was CoP friendly, though, as it had a lot of "just skating around".
- Daria Grinkova. I couldn't believe they had her go after the 2004 bronze medalist! OK, so they let her skate in this show because of her parents, but put her in the very beginning with the local skaters where she belongs. Her only claim to fame is her pedegree, and I don't think that's what counts. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, I don't have anything against Daria, but I do wonder, what with Gordeeva and Kulik agreeing to do this show pretty late in the game, if this was one of their conditions. She is, though, very cute, and she is beginning to develop.
- Haydenettes. They had a huge fan base in the audience!
Intermission
- Protopopovs. Why they didn't have them close the show as they did last year, I'll never know (though it does, once again, make me wonder if that was one of Gordeeva & Kulik's conditions). They were so incredible, I pitied the poor kids who had to follow them. At 73 and 70, they are still strong, and as graceful as ever. She makes occasional missteps, he seems perfect. They did a couple of death spirals, and a couple of lifts. I had goose bumps throughout their performace. They got a partial standing ovation. Then Paul talked to them, and announced an encore. For the encore, they did a new program to Russian folk song "Volga"; it's a woman reminiscing about the great Russian river, and ending with the words "and I at 17..." The way they looked at each other at their final pose of the program was just priceless (I cried). They both looked very happy afterwards.
- A dance team. I don't think anyone was really watching, so emotional was the Protopopovs' performance.
- Ryan Bradley. High jumps. A rather repetitive program.
- Galler-Rabinowitz & Mitchell. What was it with all the dancers (GR&M, S&M, M&Z) all doing saucy numbers? I felt they all did them just to hide their flows, and to look, well, sexy. Besides, I didn't like the costumes much, except for Magerovsky's more restrained one. Anyway, back to GR&M. I felt the passion they were acting out was fake. They were out of synch sometimes. Overall, wasn't too impressed.
- Jen Robinson Sorry to the Canadian fans, but I never really liked her. Now that she has almost no jumps, it hasn't become better.
- Matthews & Zavozin. More difficulty than Steagler & Magerovsky. Liked them, but expected more. Audience like them less than GR&M.
Paul interviewed some more people, including John Mish Pitkevich
- Cousins, Gordeeva, Kulik (in sequence, not together
). Audience went wild. Paul introduced Katya very nicely as "perfection on ice". Ilya had some crazy innovative choreography. A very nice finish to the show, but I still think that finishing with the Protopopovs would have been more appropriate.
I finishing number feathered all the skaters except for the group acts and the local kids, with Protopopovs coming out at the very end.
Overall, I enjoyed the show a lot. Even though in Boston it was raining all day, and we were all wet before walking from the parking lot to the theater (it's a few minutes of a walk, since the arena is in Brighton). They even had to delay the start so everyone could find their seats.
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