- Joined
- Apr 6, 2014
She spends an enormous amount of time setting up her jumps where she does nothing at all. She takes forever to set up lutz, her loop, her second triple flip etc. She's literally doing nothing there, and what's the payoff for all that - a popped jump. Yes, she has transitions / choreography- everybody does - but there are enormously long periods where nothing is happening. That's not always a bad thing, but Kostner's programmed isn't composed well-enough to mask that glaring flaw.
As for moments of insecurity ... you mean like a fall, two popped jumps, a barely eked out single toeloop, and almost falling over coming out of her last spin. That's more than just a few moments, that's like 1/3 of the program.
I really think the one element that makes Carolina's long program unique is her footwork sequence at the end. It's passionate, sensual and utilizes the deep edges Carolina is known for. That being said, I do agree that a lot of her program is choreographically empty. Still, Carolina somehow manages to make a lot of the vacant parts of her program somewhat interesting with a few interesting arm movements and her mature persona. That doesn't really make up for the fact, though, that she basically imploded in her LP at Worlds. It was an unfortunate, rather embarrassing way to end one's competitive career. As much as I admire Carolina's artistry, her LP really highlights the extent to which it seemed futile to get too invested in Carolina as a competitor. I'm glad she stuck around as long as she did, but I wish she had had the mental fortitude to be more consistent and make herself a real threat more consistently.