Dreams on Ice 2008 | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Dreams on Ice 2008

fiercemao

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 13, 2008
disappointed in Mao's program. It's lacking originality. She's quickly becoming a generic 'pretty' skater... Going to TT is a bad decision. TT always passes out overused & outdated music pieces, which frankly just shows her laziness.
 

qoo

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
disappointed in Mao's program. It's lacking originality. She's quickly becoming a generic 'pretty' skater... Going to TT is a bad decision. TT always passes out overused & outdated music pieces, which frankly just shows her laziness.

Hmm I thought Mao's program was the most original among other ladies.
Would you care to explain which part of her program is "generic"? Mao's program brings always something "new" as opposed to other "same old" performances.
 

fourclover

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Hmm I thought Mao's program was the most original among other ladies.
Would you care to explain which part of her program is "generic"? Mao's program brings always something "new" as opposed to other "same old" performances.

I think what she's trying to say is that Mao's choreography and skating to the tango music didn't look like she was skating to a tango except for the step sequences in the last ten - fifteen seconds of the program. She could have skated that to So Deep is the Night and nobody would know the difference. She's beautiful to watch IN THE SAME WAY ALL THE TIME.
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
I

She could have skated that to So Deep is the Night and nobody would know the difference. She's beautiful to watch IN THE SAME WAY ALL THE TIME.

Really, I disagree. I noticed a big difference. especially in her facial expressions and her connection to the music. Mao has been criticized in the past for both and IMO TT has addressed both, at least with this program. I think that Mao's Tango will only get better and will become a favorite of the crowd and of her fans..
 

yukster

Spectator
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Really, I disagree. I noticed a big difference. especially in her facial expressions and her connection to the music. Mao has been criticized in the past for both and IMO TT has addressed both, at least with this program. I think that Mao's Tango will only get better and will become a favorite of the crowd and of her fans..

ITA!!:clap:
well, I've been lurking around here for a long time just enjoying reading everybody's posts since my English is not good enough to fully express myself, but just wanted to say this...

In her recent interviews when asked what her goals were for the new season, Mao has repeatedly said that she wanted to explore something new, to interpret music better, and yes, to improve her facial expressions. ( She even said that she would look at her face in the mirror everyday to work on them. :)) Even when those nasty ( or impatient ) Japanese reporters kinda tried to force a "model answer" out of her ( they just want to hear her say "back-to-back titles at worlds" as her goals b/c it's catchy and a lot easier to understand, at least for casual fans ), she often said like " well, winning is of course important, but I want to keep on improving, and I want the audience to enjoy my performances."

And I, too, noticed a big difference in this program, connection with the music and the audience... and more than anything, a true joy in the performance.
Of course this is an exhibition and it should be a lot harder to do the same in the competitions, but I think Mao is on the right track, she sure knows what to work on... Really, I can't help but admire her hunger for improvement,,, I'm a high school teacher in Tokyo but she's probably the hardest-working 17 year-old I know!! :biggrin:

As for her interpretation of tango music in particular, I don't know... I'm not an expert and of course each has his own opinion, but I for one thought she really felt the music...

Well, I really like Yu-na's Tango SP and I've seen her performance @Tokyo Worlds for like 300 times, so I couldn't help comparing the two when I first saw Mao's program; and at first, while I loved it and got so excited at the toe steps and all, I kinda felt something was missing. But as I watched Mao's program over and over, I found myself falling in love with it more and more. I like Mao's tango program in a totally different way from I like Yu-na's... Yu-na's was really dynamic and dramatic, with lots of sharp, crisp(?) movements while Mao's is more like fluid, womanly Tango... Hmm, I can't explain well, but Mao's program actually reminded me of the Tango scene from the movie "Scent of Woman", rather than typical dynamic tango dancers... JMO. :)

Anyways, it was the first exhibition for her and I'm looking forward to how she will absorb the program and make it her own!!

sorry for the long post and my poor English... :p
 

antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
ITA!!:clap:
well, I've been lurking around here for a long time just enjoying reading everybody's posts since my English is not good enough to fully express myself, but just wanted to say this...


sorry for the long post and my poor English... :p

:eek: You do not have poor English at all, you expressed yourself as when as an native english speaker on the board :clap:

Ant
 

BelleFilleYuna

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
I don't think it necessary to compare two skater's tango, they both have an appropriate style and the least flavor of tango, usually interpreted in a dramatic way in single skaters' program IMHO, I don't know much about tango but I always thought tango as a dance has some sort of obscenity and really, we can't require that from 17-year-old young ladies. They are not professional dancers and to me, little attitude and drama just do fine. I think Mao's tango is very fresh and new look for her and I felt like she wants to a real LADY!!
 

yukster

Spectator
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
:eek: You do not have poor English at all, you expressed yourself as when as an native english speaker on the board :clap:

Ant

Thank you!! :)
Well, maybe I should have more confidence in myself, just as I always tell my students to...;) ( Japanese people tend to be afraid of making mistakes when speaking English...:p ) Yeah, just like Mao has recently noticed(??), there are alot more important things than being "perfect"....:biggrin:

As for Yuna's and Mao's tangos, I completely agree with BelleFilleYuna!!
I didn't mean to provoke another war btw. Yu-na and Mao fans or anything, ( I'm pretty sick of the meaningless bad-mouths by some fans on youtube :no:); and you can't really compare a competition program to an exhibition. After all, I love both of them b/c they have their own different styles! :rock:
 

fourclover

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Really, I disagree. I noticed a big difference. especially in her facial expressions and her connection to the music. Mao has been criticized in the past for both and IMO TT has addressed both, at least with this program. I think that Mao's Tango will only get better and will become a favorite of the crowd and of her fans..

Really, really, I disagree. I didn't see ANY connection to the music when Mao skated to this tango - it's my favorite tango music so I was even more disappointed that her performance didn't measure up to the music. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to compare Yu-na's tango performance last year to Mao. In fact, I thought Yu-na's tango music was hard on the ears and her costume, TACKY. However, I do give credit to Yu-na for pulling off above average performance (I thought her tango at Skate Canada was better) despite the negatives I mentioned above.

As for Mao, she's got this GREAT music, STUNNING costume, BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS body and balletic moves, YET she quite doesn't pull it off. She doesn't go all the way and give a performance out there. Maybe she'll get better with more skates to come with this music but the exhibition I saw on DOI looked like generic Mao skating to a different tune, nothing more.
 

Wrlmy

Medalist
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Don't know why this thread had to turn into Mao vs Yuna, but comparing their tango programs is like comparing apple to orange. Yu-Na's was fierce, and Mao's is more gentle and womanly. I cannot argue which is more true to tango, but I enjoyed both programs.:)
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
I wonder if capitalizing practically every other word in a post to make a point is also part of that same summer trend. ;)
 

battersea

Spectator
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Mao's tango costume

I wondered why sometimes Mao made asymmetry move during the program, and found she wanted to express one dancing couple as shown on her costume(woman - red part/ man - black part) . Well - thought costume, indeed. Was it the suggestion by TT?
 

fairly4

Medalist
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
i saw maos skate, too me it looked like she didn't skate to the beat of the music.
some of the most important emphasis parts of music was overlooked. she just skated on both feet through them. and the easier part of the music is when she did the steps. and yes, it looked like alot of her normal moves =plus a take off of sasha's old ones.

actually i am more impressed with miki's skate, because she is skating with more fluidly, her movements mean something now, now up there just for placement.
i hope miki doesn't become another , illness, this, or that. this is a good skate.
i saw more connection to the music related to skating than i did mao's.
 
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harmy18

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 30, 2008
well......I kinda like her new EX, unlike other skaters, her tango is soft and special ^-^ though not so perfect as I imagined, yet pretty matches the woman in the movie.

Actually, I don't think it a good idea to add sharp movements or dramatic gestures to this music coz the skater should follow what the movie indicated, not to creat a new one JMO.
 

Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Most of DOI videos on YouTube were deleted... If you would like to watch some of them, check the following site.
http://ca.youtube.com/user/bonboncherry4

Thanks for the link...

Is it just me, or does A. Smirnov have really good basic skating skills? He is so fluid over the ice, some male pair skaters look a lot less effortless. Smirnov also keeps looking very fluid and effortless during the lifts (wasn't the last lift of the program spectacular?).
 

Wrlmy

Medalist
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Thanks for the link...

Is it just me, or does A. Smirnov have really good basic skating skills? He is so fluid over the ice, some male pair skaters look a lot less effortless. Smirnov also keeps looking very fluid and effortless during the lifts (wasn't the last lift of the program spectacular?).

It's not just you! Although I'm always blinded by his hotness to be completely objective;)
 
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