Rohene Ward | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Rohene Ward

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Here's what I did to see it, since I have an IN subscription- I brought up a second browser session and signed in to icenetwork.
2009 is still in old IN format.

Then I came back here and clicked on the link. If you leave the screen tiny, you can click on the progress bar to move the tape ahead.

It was a Day 1 highlights that also had the Shibs!

I clicked on More Programs. The novice men's SP & LP were then available, too. The clickable links all say 400K.

Jason's SP to "Money" was particularly worthwhile :love: , and the change of speed half way down the ice in the footwork really interesting in the LP to "Russian Cinema". In the LP, it was very evident that Jason needed a lot more more technical content to move ahead.

Josh won-he had a lot more technical content, including a 3lz3t, and skated with a light, lyric quality. However, he seemed quite overpowered by the choice of Mars from Holst's Planets that didn't seem to me to suit his style at all.
 
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qwertyskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
He's beautiful in motion:clap:, and such SS coupled with artistry and character, the whole package! I like Jason a lot but he's still a long way from Rohene Ward! thank you for the videos.
 

BlackPack

Medalist
Joined
Mar 20, 2013
Rohene's talent lives on through his proteges. He still has time to become the greatest choreographer of all time! Excelling as a competitor just isn't his thing.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Okay, by popular request, the 2009 Novice vids from Baby Jason! And now I know that Quick Time has a screen capture video feature. :)

SP (Money by Pink Floyd): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17azdh_jason-brown-2009-u-s-nationals-sp_sport
FS (Russian Cinema by Moscow Symphony Orchestra): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17azfb_jason-brown-2009-u-s-nationals-fs_sport

And as a bonus, here are the programs by Joshua Farris, who won this competition.

SP (Leyenda by Isaac Albéniz): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17azgm_joshua-farris-novice-sp_sport
FS (Mars from The Planets by Holst): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17azhy_joshua-farris-2009-u-s-nationals-fs_sport


I hadn't watched Jason's FS until I recorded it. Anyway, a very beautiful program that highlights his extension and lines. I thought the tempo change mid-step sequence was interesting too.

But as I said earlier, Josh's technical content made him the deserved winner even if his programs weren't a perfect fit. (I agree Doris that Holst wasn't quite his style, though his costume was cute).
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Mrs P, you are a gem. A wonderful person to have in this world! I am going to bask in baby skaters now. Thankyou so much!

Jason: OMG what a little sassball in that SP! Even hitting the opening with his arms crossed had attitude everywhere! And those legs were so everywhere, haha, so cute! Oh, really sassing it up towards the middle, plays the judges and the crowd so fantastically already! Nothing of him! His little focus face into the triples was so cute! The LP was gorgeous and it was in that program that I could really see the same skater that he is now, the elegant positions and great extensions. But hahahahaha those little bambi legs. And that adorable little voice! Love Kori reminding him to thank everybody to the camera.

Joshua: Oh wow. The difference. It's huge. Immediately apparent from the offing that Joshua is faster and stronger at this point. LOVE this SP (don't love the arm-flailing). Really confident and aggressive and the way a latin program should be. Maybe 2013 Joshua needs to go back and watch 2009 Joshua? Get some tips? Triple Lutz for the opening combo, so fab, and OMG Charlotte Spiral into lunge into 2A fffffffffffft. And a Beilmann spin! OMG HE TOLD JASON GOOD LUCK AS HE HOPPED OFF THE ICE. :love: haha in the KNC he says "I didn't cut myself!" LP is, agreeing with the others, music way too big at this point but whoa the jumps! Definitely a Junior type program.

However it's very obvious that apart from the Beilmann spin, at this stage in their careers the jumps are the only thing giving Joshua the edge. His programs were emptier than Jason's and his footwork was not as good.

I'm also quite intrigued by personality differences. Jason seems like the same Jason, but this Joshua is a lot more confident and out-there than current Joshua. I bet Joshua wishes he could still do a Charlotte spiral and a Beilmann spin. Funny to not really see that many flexibility moves from Jason. We've become so accustomed to a spiral here, a layback spin there, Ina Bauer over here.


My own meager contribution: found this video on YT.

2009 Novice Men Award Ceremony - warning, there is a lot of giggling...
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
FYI: I revised the links in my earlier post to my uploads to DailyMotion. YouTube sent me a note stating that Jason's SP might be an issue due to his music, so I'm playing it safe and putting the videos elsewhere (It's still on YouTube, but private for now).

Anyway, thanks for the medal ceremony link, karne!

Just re-read a fun interview with Jason and Josh from about a year ago, Jason talks about Rohene here.

Brown started laughing when Farris talked about looking ridiculous and told a story about working with his choreographer, Rohene Ward.

"There's a window at our rink," he said, "And all the moms and people sit behind it and watch. Rohene decides to start our short program right in the window. And it starts with a hip roll. All the mothers were dying. Rohene was like, 'Go more full out, more full out!'"

Ward has been choreographing Brown's programs for years.

"I love working with him," Brown said with enthusiasm. "He's so talented. He's amazing."

Ward spends a lot of the year touring in Europe, so we asked how he works with Brown when he's in the States.

"It depends on the day or what mood he's in," Brown said. "We always do something with choreography, and then we'll work on jumps -- like we'll work on choreography into a jump. We could work on five seconds of a program for an hour, so that's really fun and exciting. It's never boring. There's so much more he's giving you, and you think it can't get better or harder; he's always pushing you. I love working with him."

We wondered if Brown has any interest in doing choreography, like Farris does.

"I don't know if I'm good at it," he said. "I love skating to music, I love making up transitions and stuff, but I wouldn't ever trust myself to make up my own program. Sometimes I would choreograph a part and not tell Rohene, and then he would ask 'Who changed this?' and I would say,' I have no idea!'"

Also OT, but interesting to note:
Having finished one-two at so many competitions, we asked if the boys had ever imagined finishing in first and second at the senior level at the U.S. championships.

"That would be a dream come true," Brown said. "That's how I always hoped and dreamed it would be. It would be unbelievable. And then we could go to worlds!"

"2014 Worlds, we're going," Farris said. "That's our goal."

"That would be the best," Brown said. "That would be so exciting."

We'll see if that happens... :)
 

Arianne

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
That's a bummer. Earlier in the year he was planning to compete and had his music picked out. Would have loved to have seen the programs!
 

lcd

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Well, hopefully we will still have the chance to enjoy his skating if some videos of his show appearances turn up. I actually never really enjoyed watching him compete. Too heartbreaking. Would rather watch him either practice, play around (double axels in both directions back in the day) or simply perform, sharing his talent/gift.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Well, hopefully we will still have the chance to enjoy his skating if some videos of his show appearances turn up. I actually never really enjoyed watching him compete. Too heartbreaking. Would rather watch him either practice, play around (double axels in both directions back in the day) or simply perform, sharing his talent/gift.

Yep. You never saw him do 3lutz CW? He could do it all. I am so glad he's at least radiating his talent out there to the younger skaters. He was a natural.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Some of his mad skills are on display on his audition videos. They used to be on youtube.
 

Gophergal89

Spectator
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
I met Rohene when he was 22 - he'd been skating many years by then. I life coached him for two years. He's an amazing talent and a more amazing person. Although I know him better than most, I don't feel it's my place to tell his "full story." What I can share with you is there are hundreds of really talented athletes who never win a title in their sport because competing just isn't their thing. The people who win are not necessarily the best in their sport, but they're the best at competing in the moment when the prize is on the line! I've seen Rohene do things other skaters are shocked by. Starting with is reverse rotation of both jumps and spins. I saw him off ice for over three months when he put on a pair of skates and was ripping off triples in 20 minutes! He's gifted - no doubt. And his choreography skills are just another layer of his amazing talent. He's trained in dance and his knowledge of music is well beyond most skaters. I can't speak to his work with Jason other than to say they are stellar match-up that I'm so glad they're working together. Jason is a wonderful skater, but like his mentor, he's also a great person.
As far as what he's doing now, Rohene's on tour (for the fourth year in a row) with Holiday on Ice in Europe. He did Aladdin (title role) in 2010-11, Speed I 2011-2012, Speed II 2012-2013 and now Platinum 2013-2014. No he's not a great competitor. But you would be hard pressed to find another skater with his show-skating talent. He's doing what he loves right now. And that is more of who he is than anything else I can say. :)
 
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