Alena Leonova: A totally a different color on the ice

Alena Leonova: A totally different color on the ice

I still remember the first time I watched her at 2009 Worlds. She did a really good debut to senior competitions that season, plus she won World Juniors. Actually the come back of Russians in ladies began with her. She earned two spot at Olympics for Russia. Again she and Makarova earned three spots for Russia for the Worlds last two season.

Leonova is one of the most emotional skaters I've ever seen. Sometimes she is overreacting after her programs. And her programs, even though people don't fell in love with them, usually brings some craziness to ice. (Like Chicago, Circus, Witches of Eastwick and finally last season Pirates of the Caribbean) She is totally a different color in the skating world where most of girls are trying to be a princess or queen. She is not a princess girl on the ice, definitely. But she has that crazy way, and skates with passion usually. Her jumps are the strongest part of her skating.

I know she is not very popular on this forum actually anywhere. And that makes me sad. I can't understand why people can't be kind to her. She is a really lovely person off-ice, too. Of course everybody's taste is different, nobody has to love her skating. But I kindly ask people to show respect to her, especially during competitions when they think she gets undeserved marks

She still didn't announce her new programs. But I have feeling that one of them will be a Tango piece. She had said that she always wanted to skate to tango but Morozov wanted her to make an exhibition program first, then see. The program she show in The Ice 2012 Show was promising actually. (except that bad outfit)

Anyway, what do you think she will do this season? When she was 4th at 2011 Worlds, everbody said she can't achieve more. Last season shows us that she can improve and get a silver medal. Now lots of baby talents coming after her in Russia. Some thinks she even can't be in the national team. But she has more experience and already well-known by judges, so I think she will be.

I'm glad you said this! I don't think she is the best skater around but I like her attitude and her fire! During the last season, I was getting cross-eyed with all the ice princesses, same hairdos, same music, same, same same... She was a breath of fresh air! I really enjoyed her Pirates number. I hope she sticks around and continues to give us more interesting skating. And I wish the other female skaters would dare to show their power, strength and fire as she does.

She's doing an indian hip-hop short dance

Scrufflet said:

I'm glad you said this! I don't think she is the best skater around but I like her attitude and her fire! During the last season, I was getting cross-eyed with all the ice princesses, same hairdos, same music, same, same same... She was a breath of fresh air! I really enjoyed her Pirates number. I hope she sticks around and continues to give us more interesting skating. And I wish the other female skaters would dare to show their power, strength and fire as she does.

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Happy to hear that I'm not the only one who thinks this. She is a different skater and that's what makes her special!

Macassar88 said:

She's doing an indian hip-hop short dance

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Seriously? Where did you find this information? That will be something different again.

I also hope she'll always have the same style of skating. I just can't imagine her being a princess on ice :think: . What you said is 100% true - she's different than the others and that's great! Some people say she will not get a spot at worlds because of russian's little ones, but even if she skates a bit worse than the others she still might qualify because she showed us she can deliver great programs at huge competitions. She's the only one after Slutskaya to earn a world medal for Russia in ladies. Plus - she's more constistent than those baby talents. Go Leonova!

I'd like to see her with Tarasova. She does perform her guts out but it seems over the top to some. I think her packaging works against her. It is like Morozov does not want her to be attractive. Ice skating judges prefer the pretty princesses with the great flexibility and extensions. Look at how the judges cannot resist Mao even if it is a bad skate. She is a thing of beauty. Also Alissa. Ladies skating has always been part beauty pageant. But silver may be the best she ever does. Carolina looks and skates like a magnificent goddess, and what she does is really beautiul though Leonova can out jump her. I felt there was a huge gap between what the World gold medalist did and the silver medalist. I think Leonova was fortunate that the judges appreciate her effort and athleticism. She is clearly liked by the judges.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Leonova seems to emulate somewhat the style of Irina Slutskaya, who was not an ice princess either, though she tried hard to look like one in med career. I can see leonova in a unitard powering through a program like Irina. Irina had an appealing freshness and charm nearly everytime she took the ice. Maybe she will be considered a great skater in Russia, but she will never have the world appeal of Irina. I do think a couple of Russian ladies will surpass her in this coming season. It will be interesting to see if she can get programs and music that capture people's attention.

I think Ashley Wagner skated Black Swan with much power. Even though she is pretty, I see Ashley's athleticism first even in a program that was trying to showcase the ballerina. Ashley's gala skates show the real Ashley, a girl who can dance, move and captivate. I think she is a more refined version of Leonova. She is our best skater right now, but I do not see her as an ice princess, either. It seems people will hang on to Alissa for a long time because she is an ice princess and people still wish she could achieve what she never has, nor is likely to. She is not a great athlete, but she seems to represent what people want in a champion.

Ice princess or athlete? It seems the sport has room for both but clearly prefers it's champions to be beauty queens. There are always exceptions, of course and Leonova is one of them.

skateluvr said:

I'd like to see her with Tarasova. She does perform her guts out but it seems over the top to some. I think her packaging works against her. It is like Morozov does not want her to be attractive. Ice skating judges prefer the pretty princesses with the great flexibility and extensions. Look at how the judges cannot resist Mao even if it is a bad skate. She is a thing of beauty. Also Alissa. Ladies skating has always been part beauty pageant. But silver may be the best she ever does. Carolina looks and skates like a magnificent goddess, and what she does is really beautiul though Leonova can out jump her. I felt there was a huge gap between what the World gold medalist did and the silver medalist. I think Leonova was fortunate that the judges appreciate her effort and athleticism. She is clearly liked by the judges.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Leonova seems to emulate somewhat the style of Irina Slutskaya, who was not an ice princess either, though she tried hard to look like one in med career. I can see leonova in a unitard powering through a program like Irina. Irina had an appealing freshness and charm nearly everytime she took the ice. Maybe she will be considered a great skater in Russia, but she will never have the world appeal of Irina. I do think a couple of Russian ladies will surpass her in this coming season. It will be interesting to see if she can get programs and music that capture people's attention.

I think Ashley Wagner skated Black Swan with much power. Even though she is pretty, I see Ashley's athleticism first even in a program that was trying to showcase the ballerina. Ashley's gala skates show the real Ashley, a girl who can dance, move and captivate. I think she is a more refined version of Leonova. She is our best skater right now, but I do not see her as an ice princess, either. It seems people will hang on to Alissa for a long time because she is an ice princess and people still wish she could achieve what she never has, nor is likely to. She is not a great athlete, but she seems to represent what people want in a champion.

Ice princess or athlete? It seems the sport has room for both but clearly prefers it's champions to be beauty queens. There are always exceptions, of course and Leonova is one of them.

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Totally right. Some people has advantage of beauty from birth. Like Kiira and Alissa as you said. Skating is not a beauty contest, but of course beauty effects people. Maybe that's why beautiful skaters get high PCS easier than others. The others that don't have beauty advantage, they have to show something original every time, to keep eyes on themselves.

Leonova is not an ugly girl actually. Her shape was like a teenager girl until last season. Last season she said she wanted to have a new shape, looking more mature. And I think she looked better. She had said she lost 7 kilos or something between Euros and Worlds. Wasn't she a sexy pirate girl winning short program?

I think yes, she is not one of the most beautiful girls on the ice, but she is a strong fighter. A really good athlete. And I hope she will get her place in Russian national team and go on winning medals this season.

while I am not the biggest Leonova fan, I find her emoticons on ice too over the Top
but I do admire she is a fighter, some of the other ladies need her fire on skating, abeit more perkiness, lol

I've just seen her DJ girl exhibition program at The Ice 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSdY3IqRqcU

Look how she enjoys it!

And I don't know maybe it was posted before but here is her Tango:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvWOPzW90Fw

Don't you think she improves her presentation?

skateluvr said:

I'd like to see her with Tarasova. She does perform her guts out but it seems over the top to some. I think her packaging works against her. It is like Morozov does not want her to be attractive. Ice skating judges prefer the pretty princesses with the great flexibility and extensions. Look at how the judges cannot resist Mao even if it is a bad skate. She is a thing of beauty.

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I think you are wrong. It is not about Morozov not wanting her to look attractive. Morozov (despite people not liking him on this forum) knows his job really well; he can pick up on skater's strength and weaknesses. Leonova is not the typical Russian style skater. She is not very graceful, she doesn't have the leg extension, the posture, the flexibility. It would be impossible to package her into a pretty princess, because she would not look right. Morozov knows that, so he packaged her into different type of programmes. Witches of Eastwick, Pirates of the Caribbean...all those make her stand out, and with such program no one would expect the skater to have the 'balletic' style. So he masterfully covered all her weaknesses, while making her stand out as something interesting...

I also don't think that judges prefer "the pretty princesses with the great flexibility and extensions". Judges mark what they see. Leonova did not deserve better marks throughout the last season. It was nothing to do with her programs and judges preferring pretty princesses, it was about Leonova not delivering all her elements. When/if she delivers, she would be at the top. for example, Leonova would win the Worlds if she skated her FS with the same fire as she did the SP. But she was too careful, skated slowly and carefully, so it obviously showed in her marks and then Carolina beat her. But it really has nothing to do about judges preferences.

hanca said:

I think you are wrong. It is not about Morozov not wanting her to look attractive. Morozov (despite people not liking him on this forum) knows his job really well; he can pick up on skater's strength and weaknesses. Leonova is not the typical Russian style skater. She is not very graceful, she doesn't have the leg extension, the posture, the flexibility. It would be impossible to package her into a pretty princess, because she would not look right. Morozov knows that, so he packaged her into different type of programmes. Witches of Eastwick, Pirates of the Caribbean...all those make her stand out, and with such program no one would expect the skater to have the 'balletic' style. So he masterfully covered all her weaknesses, while making her stand out as something interesting...

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Yeah that's absolutely right. Morozov is a very nice coach and choreographer for Leonova. But wasn't Witches of Eastwick choreographed by her ex coach Piatova?

skateluvr said:

I think her packaging works against her.

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Why? Because of her power and fire she had 2nd best PCS in sp and 3rd best in lp at the world championships this year. If she tried to skate like a ballerina it would look strangely. Being herself she can put more soul to her programs and consequently earn a lot of points. Just like hanca said - her coach knows what he's doing and points show it. Sometimes I even think she's overscored - Ashley's program was better performed at worlds, but she got less points in PCS hwell:

Totentanz said:

Yeah that's absolutely right. Morozov is a very nice coach and choreographer for Leonova. But wasn't Witches of Eastwick choreographed by her ex coach Piatova?

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Not sure, you are probably right. But that only shows that there is another coach who adopted the same strategy for Leonova, so that sort of confirms that Morozov knows what he is doing.

Totentanz, I can't comment on whether Morozov is a very nice coach. Most of the people on FSU forum might tell you otherwise. But I do think that he knows his job; he knows what he is doing with Leonova (and he is doing it well).

Well, leonova is a cute girl with a woman's body. She has been portraying characters. I think it is claearly a sport part glamour, and if it were not, these women would not be wearing tons of makeup, dying hair blond, and glitzy sexy costumes. Men react very visually and men were not immune to the sexy Bond character Yuna portrayed. Looks at Yuna's PCS! She was very sexy/flirty glam in SP and very elegant glam classic beauty in LP. Is is all about Yuna's speed and 3x3s? No. Males judges respond like men anywhere. The beauty aspect of the sport is more and more prevalent. The cultures of the world are getting more sexualized. Skating has changed a lot. Go back 30 years and look at the costumes and ladies in all disciplines. Glam is very important in skating. Look at the men even. Many are a bit turned off by the flamboyancy of some top skaters. To deny the obvious -some women are stunning and even if they are not, they get surgery (Peggy Fleming got a nose job years before it was popular with Holywood actresses). She was only on camera but had numerous facelefts/procedures to maintain her beauty/youth.

The ones without Alissa or Kiira's genes get surgery, have makeup artists, dye their hair. Ice dancers must be stick thin, tall and very glamorous besides having great SS to get to top.

As for Leonova, I'd like to see her skate a quiet program, not flailing and emoting like a crazed pirate. She is very cute. I have no clue what she looks like. I would like to see what she does without a Morozov driven program. I think it might be beautiful in a feminine way. Must she ony skate a masculine character who is swashbuckling? I'd like to see her versatility and though she is no teen princess, she is now a mature woman and I'd like to see if she can skate to elegant music with a quieter style. She is actually being paackaged stereotypically. I think of Philippe Candeloro who always skated character driven roles as he had lots to cover-his jumping style and leg positions. So he became very one note. Yes he won two bronze medals in Olympics.

I want to see the softer, feminine style Leonova can skate for a change, that is all. She is talented enough to do many styles, I think, but she skates what Morozov tells her to. Yes, he is good at eeking out the points under CoP. Her skating is of course under CoP which does not always allow for beautiful skating but rather frenetic/action packed programs. I am sure she can do something different. She isn't an ice princess but she can be a beautiful, elegant woman. I do prefer lines to action packed females. I guess I prefer the beauty to the pure athletic approach. I am not alone. I can appreciate Leonova but so far she is not a favorite. But clearly last year the world judges appreciated what she did and she was ticking of all the boxes under CoP. I'd like to see another side this year, that's all. If Makarova could jump like Leonova, Russia would have a huge female star-someone who could compete with Kim in top form. Wouldn't that be cool?

Totentanz said:

I've just seen her DJ girl exhibition program at The Ice 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSdY3IqRqcU

Look how she enjoys it!

And I don't know maybe it was posted before but here is her Tango:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvWOPzW90Fw

Don't you think she improves her presentation?

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I liked her Tango, and yes this shows she is versatile. The costume was once again a total miss. As an example of a horrible Morozov program and costume, look at Miki Ando's Olympic LP. I think he tried to make Miki into "different" when she does better as conventional classic ice beauty who jumps incredibly. That was a total Morozov mess as Miki looked so uncomfortable, out of her element. She placed well, considering, but really, it was a gift. I like her funky, upbeat choreography in Japan. She can dance and move well to music. Hate the costume, another miss, but she reminds me of Ashley's Gala skate program last year. Her exhibition program shows her versatility. I prefer Ashley to Alena, but to each his own. Alena ha worked very hard to get to where she has. I like her persona. She is by all accounts a very nice young woman. I wish her well this season. She will need it with all those little girls after her spot.

Totentanz said:

I've just seen her DJ girl exhibition program at The Ice 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSdY3IqRqcU

Look how she enjoys it!

And I don't know maybe it was posted before but here is her Tango:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvWOPzW90Fw

Don't you think she improves her presentation?

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Yes great tango and fun upbeat exhibition skate. She is very versatile. Not a fan of those costumes, but great too see other sides of her..thanx mucho.

My problem with people's attitude towards Leonova is that often they make a butt of rather distasteful jokes. Like what John Kerr's said during this Worlds.
Personally I love her with all her flaws. It's rare to see a skater nowdays who truly enjoys skating as it and fights to the end that I gladly forgive all her lack of extentions and flexibility.
Oh and check out this picture: http://www.sobaka.ru/system/inline_image/image/00/00/23/10/base_3465766.jpg Rather cool, IMO

I think she just modified her training clothes with that skirt-looking thing and skate to that tango but I agree it's really looking bad. She tried to skate something different last year in her long program, but it was a really stressed music, which I think effected her at Worlds. Being at first position after short program, for the first time, and she would skate first in the group. Then that music.. I think if she skated something like Witches of Eastwick, maybe she could get closer to Carolina. (I couldn't say win)

So if she skates a tango program this season, your wish will come true. There will be no character, we will only see Leonova. For the hip-hop short program, I don't know what to say. I hope that won't be disgusting, while trying to be different.

Redstone said:

My problem with people's attitude towards Leonova is that often they make a butt of rather distasteful jokes. Like what John Kerr's said during this Worlds.
Personally I love her with all her flaws. It's rare to see a skater nowdays who truly enjoys skating as it and fights to the end that I gladly forgive all her lack of extentions and flexibility.

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That was what I meant when I say expecting some respect to her. I don't know much about her life but she must give her years to skating, there is lots of work you know. And she climbs the stairs one by one since we first saw her. She may not be a butterfly, but she is something different, a different taste. And I will miss her if she retires one day.

Redstone said:

Oh and check out this picture: http://www.sobaka.ru/system/inline_image/image/00/00/23/10/base_3465766.jpg Rather cool, IMO

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There was a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9UuXAhgj44