Glacier Falls Summer Competition 2012 Aug 3 to Aug 5

[Irishflip]

Hi Mirai's mom.

Really? Says the person who claims Rachael deserved the 2010 National title? Mirai's long program last year was the worst of the season without a doubt, and I said that its pretty mediocre this year and she needs to work on it. But Vanessa's long has less potential in my opinion.

[samson]

Hey!

First time poster here, but for some reason I feel inspired to get in on the conversation for this early season meet.

Haven't watched the men all the way through yet, looking forward to see what Dornbush and Mroz have in store this season. From what I've seen of the ladies I'm really looking forward to seeing this season kick in to full gear.

For me, Mirai is definitely on the up and up. She looks faster already than last season. This is by far her strongest LP since Carmen. It's hard to tell by the videos on youtube, but from watching it on icenetwork, you can see there's a lot of lovely subtleties going on in the choreography. I actually think the axel/toe combo is choreographed perfectly to the music. Each jump being accented by a rise in the music. It needs some finessing here and there, I wish they would allow a little more time for some images to land, like the spread eagle or the ina bauer, but that may come with time. I also give props to her because it looks like she was skating with a cold, based on how she looked in the videos and some of her tweets. If she can build off this, she's going to be in really great shape come the grand prix. I'm still hopeful she'll get a second assignment.

Vanessa Lam was good too. Honestly her style doesn't capture me, but I think this program has real potential too. There's a good rhythm and balance to it, and it seems to really suit her style of skating. I think her costume choice isn't helping her that much. It has a very juniorish look to me and I think she needs to avoid that. Honestly, I know the music is jazzy and 1920s style, but I think that a much more subtle look would do wonders on her. Maybe even a take on the dress Pepper wears at the beginning of the movie. It's a flapper dress but with long sleeves and could flow beautifully on the ice. Do it with some layering, like a flowy chiffon layer on top and POOF you got a stunner, that I think would help stand apart in a really good way from the other ladies, and help bring out some of the gentler qualities in her skating and this music.

All for now. Looking forward to see what the men are up to this early in the season and catch videos from the other events!

[Irishflip]

Welcome to Golden Skate, Samson(not that I've been posting very long either). You make some very good points about their programs particularly about Mirai letting the images land, which always seems to be forgotten under the new system in a rush to gain more points, still at least this time she isn't late hitting the climax of the music i.e her spread eagle in last year's long program. The perfect example of this being landing positions rarely being held for very long.

[Mrs. P]

Just watched Mirai's FS on Ice Network. It was a good effort, but it did not wow me. The program lacked transitions and I felt that Mirai really isn't invested in the program like I've seen with her past programs. That said, I do like some of the choreographic sprinkles she put in there (the Ina Bauer, spread eagle).

Perhaps her team is doing a play it safe strategy to ensure she gets the jumps, but I'm not sure if that strategy is really working. It's a bit disconcerting that Mirai's TES (46.21) is lower than the TES of the top 3 in the JUNIOR division (Chen, 50.85; Bell, 49.31 and Edmonds, 47.37). She left a lot of points on the table clearly (likely URs and edge calls).

I'm hoping to see an improved program come GP time.

I actually like Vanessa's program. I think it has some great choreography and the jumps and spins fit in between those elements quite nicely. Jumps aren't her strong suit, but at least for the most part, she lands them.

[burntBREAD]

I think that Mirai had good transitions footwork and difficult step-wise into a majority of her jumps (all but the first lutz and 2A-3T had some sort of footwork leading in) but I agree that some parts really need to be filled in as the program looks a bit awkward at times. At least the 2A-3T looked pretty good! Mirai actually gets decent height on her jumps but I think she rotates too slowly/starts rotating too late.

[Mrs. P]

I think that Mirai had good transitions footwork and difficult step-wise into a majority of her jumps (all but the first lutz and 2A-3T had some sort of footwork leading in) but I agree that some parts really need to be filled in as the program looks a bit awkward at times. At least the 2A-3T looked pretty good! Mirai actually gets decent height on her jumps but I think she rotates too slowly/starts rotating too late.

Definitely agree that she gets great height, especially when you compare it to Vanessa's tiny jumps. I think Vanessa does manage to rotate pretty fast, hence getting all the way around despite the low height. Not sure why Mirai has trouble getting the rotations in.

I did like Mirai's 2A-3T ice length wise, but felt the 3T was a bit iffy.

Also, totally shallow thing, but I did like her "look" including the puffed up hair. It did make her look more mature.

[Sasha'sSpins]

Mirai can do complex choreography, have you seen Carmen? But I think considering it's the start of a season which followed her worst season on the senior level, I'm guessing they wanted to play it safe for now. I actually liked how they placed a few of the elements like the first triple lutz and the double axel-triple toe(it had a nice build up to the entrance) and how they used the combination spin to highlight a change in the mood rather to finish like everyone does now the layback at the end. I also liked the transitions into the second lutz and the first loop. The choreography outside of that was pretty mediocre but I thought Vanessa's free skate was actually worse; there were points at the end where I thought she was being possessed by Rachael Flatt, and her try-hard jazz moves, except at least Rachael smiled.

Just catching up on threads! ITA with your assessment!

It's early yet-Mirai has some work to do but there's time as long as she still has the passion there-and I think she does.

Really? Says the person who claims Rachael deserved the 2010 National title? Mirai's long program last year was the worst of the season without a doubt, and I said that its pretty mediocre this year and she needs to work on it. But Vanessa's long has less potential in my opinion.

Very mature response. It's unfortunate some will persist in being negative and apparently unable to respect an opposing view.

Welcome samson! That was an excellent post! I've mostly been lurking these past few months due to tons of work, other life interruptions like a small flood that came our way back home, tons of renovations we had to do about the house (and are still working on) and more recently watching the London Olympics-but I've not forgotten my beloved figure skating!

Don't know if it was posted but just in case here are Mirai's programs:

Mirai Nagasu SP - 2012 Glacier Falls Classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Ts1I0aNsE

Mirai Nagasu FS - 2012 Glacier Falls Classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oEoo...feature=relmfu

I love Nagasu's costumes especially in the LP. The SP is still her strength but I think she's going to have to get back her triple/triple combos to be competitive. I love love love her music selection for the LP. She started out well but lost some steam in the second half-you could see she started two-footing jumps after the two minute mark which killed her potential score. Like I said-there's work to be done but I'm excited that Mirai seems to be making her way even without Frank. She looks quite lovely and so mature now!

[Tonichelle]

Thanks for the vids, love the sp music, but wish she'd do more with it choreography wise. Hopefully once she gets more into it, they can make some fun changes. That footwork could be so much more at the end.