Sasha Cohen journal update

**sarahmistral** · 08-16-2004, 10:34 AM

Joe,
last time I remember hearing it in elite competition, it was Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze who were skating to it at Nagano 98. Maybe that's who you mean, or maybe there was a dance team who used it after that, but I don't follow dance anywhere near as closely as the other disciplines (especially in the post Anissina/Peizirat era), so I can't really say.

Cheers,
Sarah

**chuckm** · 08-16-2004, 10:40 AM

Shen and Zhao's Nutcracker Pas de Deux was a masterpiece. Their performance was romantic and dramatic because they played off each other so well, and the piece had great emotional impact.

Sorry, but I don't see how any single skater could ever even come close to what the Chinese were able to give to the audience. And their performance is still fresh in everyone's mind.

**berthes ghost** · 08-16-2004, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by chuckm

Shen and Zhao's Nutcracker Pas de Deux was a masterpiece. Their performance was romantic and dramatic because they played off each other so well, and the piece had great emotional impact.

Sorry, but I don't see how any single skater could ever even come close to what the Chinese were able to give to the audience. And their performance is still fresh in everyone's mind.

ITA, but I guess we each see different things.

As soon as I hear the opening cords of Malequena my mind shouts "Kristi!" and Swan Lake will always belong to Oksana to me, I don't know why anyone would even tackle it, even with a 10 year space, but, as we all saw last season, the Sasha praise was non stop.

**Jaana** · 08-16-2004, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by chuckm

Shen and Zhao's Nutcracker Pas de Deux was a masterpiece. Their performance was romantic and dramatic because they played off each other so well, and the piece had great emotional impact.

Sorry, but I don't see how any single skater could ever even come close to what the Chinese were able to give to the audience. And their performance is still fresh in everyone's mind.

I thought that Shizuka Arakawa did a really wonderful interpretation of Turandot, and in previous season Shen & Zhao did that.

Marjaana

**berthes ghost** · 08-16-2004, 11:11 AM

Am I the only one who gets stuck in a rut?

"Turandot" will always be "Meno&Sand's music" to me.

**chuckm** · 08-16-2004, 11:14 AM

Turandot was an opera with many characters. The Nutcracker Pas de Deux is a ballet piece for two dancers, and it is structured for two performers. The music itself is very repetitive and what saves the NPdD in any way as a performance piece is the emotional interaction between TWO people. With one performer, the drama palls and the constant repetition of the same phrase of music becomes monotonous. JMHO.

**Joesitz** · 08-16-2004, 11:20 AM

SaraMistral - Me, too. I am not knowldegeable with Dance celebs. I left watching figure skating in the 70s and didnt return to it until the 90s (it was work related in places that had no TV to speak of.) But I remember Dark Eyes as it was a familiar tune to me which we used to sing as Ole Chit Chornia.

The lady kind of had jet black hair and she wore it in a bun. She was exciting to look at. Maybe it was Pairs but that I would have remembered. I think.

Sasha did a nice job with Hernando's Hideaway and Dark Eyes has a lot of that seductive music in it.

Chuckum - ITA on S&Z. Anyone using the Grande Pas de Deux from Nutcracker should wait at least 10 years.

But there is another Pad de Deux in Nutcracker which ends the First Act as Clara and Toy Soldier are led into the Land of Sweets. (Oh how I hate that ballet!). Maybe that's the one Sasha is using.
I also agree with you on ballet pas de deuxs (what's the plural here?). They are choreographed for two not one. Sasha did do part of the pas de deux from Swan Lake Act III which should show Odile enticing Sigfried into sayng "I do", and then into living hell. Sasha did not attempt that.

Jaana - Absolutely, the Russians will eat this up. Good choices for Sasha.

Joe

**Dee4707** · 08-16-2004, 12:19 PM

Please correct me if I am wrong but didn't Sasha use Dark Eyes in 2000 or 2001?

Dee

**bronxgirl** · 08-16-2004, 12:55 PM

Somehow, I just keep picturing Sasha in a babuschka skating to "Dark Eyes".

I also remember my grandmother singing it to me as "Ochit Chornia". The Nutcracker? - well as another poster said, she does skate well to the old warhorses.

**Joesitz** · 08-16-2004, 01:53 PM

When it comes to unusual music to skate to, we can not count on Sasha. War horses is the game. But then, gold medals are what we are after.

Joe

**R.D.** · 08-16-2004, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Dee4707

Please correct me if I am wrong but didn't Sasha use Dark Eyes in 2000 or 2001?

Dee

Yes, she says:

I’m going to be skating to "Dark Eyes", a type of Russian gypsy song that I really like. Some of you may remember I had it for a short program for the 2000-2001 season but didn’t get to use it much.

**Lucy25** · 08-16-2004, 05:16 PM

According to a poster on another board, Sasha used this music for a SP as a novice, too. So this is her third time using it. She should be very comfortable with this music!

The Nutcracker music is indeed beautiful, but I am just a bit disappointed that she is so predictable. Michelle Kwan was harshly criticized for doing the "same old, same old", so we will see if this happens to Sasha. I really hope she did not choose music to please the Russian audience. That is kind of lame to me. I hope we get a report out of Sun Valley on Saturday, but as I remember last year, her Swan Lake was in its infancy and was not skated very well, which is to be expected so early in the season.