sasha cohen and her heritage | Page 2 | Golden Skate

sasha cohen and her heritage

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Kay118

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

Jo,

Michelle went to Hong Kong last December to promote Disney. She was interviewed by CNN Asia and got great publicity for her trip. She speaks some Cantonese because her parents were from Hong Kong. I don't think she speaks Mandarin though. But that doesn't prevent her from being popular in mainland China :D

Kay
 
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FetalAttraction

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

Oh dear, since Paula forbade me from mentioning religion even subtly on this board, I don't know if I could post on this topic. On the one hand, Jewishness is an ethnicity. On the other hand, there's no denying there's a strong religious component. Now I'm truly perplexed.
 
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Ptichka

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

Fetal, WELCOME BACK!!!

I think that by definition being "American" is being a part of the cultural mix you are from. When we look at Michelle, we see an Asian American, so we don't wonder if it matters that she is of Asian decent. By the same token, I am sure that Galina Cohen greatly influenced her daughter's understanding of the aesthetic; she might have also been more enthusiastic than most moms to see her daughters skate as opposed to, say, play hockey. In other words there is no contradiction between Sasha being a 100% red blooded American, and her being influenced by her Jewish Ukranian roots (I, too, am using "Jewish" as ethnicity; if someone is more interested in this subject, I'd be happy to take it up in the cafe).

Russian Fan, what kind of an article was it that you read???!!! In Judaism it only matters that the mother has to be Jewish, nobody cares about the father (makes sense from the evolutionary prespective, since the mother's identity is always a given). And in Sasha's case both her parents are Jewish anyway. Hmmm...
 
D

DORISPULASKI

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

One question, if Michelle's Chinese name is Guan Yingshan, what does that mean in English?

As to the Jewish deriving ethnicity from the maternal side, it reminds me of an old Yankee saying my dad used to quote:

"It's a wise child that knows its own father."

dpp
 
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mike79

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

It doesn't matter to me one way or another as long as she continues to skate like she has, although I'm sure if she does have a Russian background it could be a genetic factor in her being such an artistic skater. There is something about Russian skaters and the way they can really connect with the music they skate to that is wonderful.
 
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berthes ghost

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

Wow! Perhaps someday someone can explain to me how T&M profoundly connect to thier music in a way that Lulu and Brian Orser don't. :rollin:
 
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Russian Fan

Guest
Sasha

The paper is Forward, it's a New York Weekly. Actually, it also said that Irina occasionally wears the star of David. I wonder if you can cross and wear the star of David at the same time?
Does anyone know?

And the question to mike 79. How can Sasha have a genetic Russian factor if she's Jewish and was born in America?
What do you mean by Russian genetic factor?
 
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peachstatesk8er

Guest
Re: Sasha

I took the genetic thing to mean that Sasha's mom being Russian/Ukranian contributed 1/2 half of Sasha's genetic makeup, therefore she's got a genetic factor. Maybe he meant something else, but that's how I took it.
 
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Kay118

Guest
Re: Sasha

Doris,

"One question, if Michelle's Chinese name is Guan Yingshan, what does that mean in English?"

Here is the answer:

Guan is the Mandarin version of Kwan, her last name.
Ying: Intelligent. A popular name for girls
Shan: Also a popular name for girls. It doesn't have any real meaning by itself but is often used with other words. For example "Shan Hu" means coral. On some other occasions, "Shan" also means "late or move slowly but in an elegant manner".

I think her Chinese name fits her perfectly - intelligent, elegant, but kind of slow in some of her elements aka spins
 
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Idleracer

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

<font size=4><font color="#00C060">Anyone who wishes to prove to me that this whole argument isn't silly will have to answer these two questions:
1. How come everyone with a Russian ancestry can't skate like that?
2. How come she isn't a chess champion as well?<font size=2>
 
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FetalAttraction

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

Ethnicity is about as useful a predictor of a person's temperament and talent as Zodiac signs. It's a load of crap. If people would stop thinking of themselves and each others as ethnic groups and tribes there'd be lot less b.s. in the world.
 
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GBMalwayz

Guest
Idle...

The most Maria B could say, or Tatiana could say about the Russian connection is that her mother was a gymnast from Ukraine. Sasha got the little body that is good for gymnastics and spinning in the air. The presentation was a lot of work and ballet training I am guessing.

As for why she hasn't conquered in the chess world, I can only assume that as a child the table was simply too high.;)
 
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Joesitz

Guest
Re: sasha cohen and her heritage

Fetal - That's it direct to the point. Luv it. Keep going and don't stop now (that's a square dance call).

Joe
 
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mike79

Guest
Re: Sasha

Hello Russian Fan

I did not mean it literally, only figuratively. I didn't mean to say that just because she has Russian heritage she automatically has some innate amazing artistic quality. Just saying that since so many Russian skaters are amazingly artistic and Sasha is artistic as well that it's a cool coincidence. Maybe I should worded my previous response differently. I can see how it could be misconstrued.
 
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rgirl181

Guest
Re: Sasha

I think a lot of the top Russian skaters move beautifully and have good musicality because they have excellent training in dance. I don't know what it's like now, but under the old Soviet system, the kids who were chosen for their potential in figure skating were trained from an early age in ballet by some of the finest ballet teachers in the world. Musicality was an integral part of that. If the same system were in place in any other country, I'm sure the results would be the same, which doesn't mean that everybody who aims to be an elite skater gets all the goods. There was a Russian guy a few years ago, won or medeled at Jr. Worlds--Igor Paskevich, I think. Had some good potential, but just never made it past the age of 20 or so, IIRC. Also, as a couple of people have pointed out, Totmianina & Marinin don't exactly exude musicality. They are very strong skaters, but I wonder if some of the training in Russia is suffering because of the economics? Or perhaps T&M just aren't naturally musical. Obertas & Sokolov seem very musical to me. Anyway, the bottom line is that the ethnicity argument is just silly. Maria B. can say what she wants, but nobody has to take her seriously:lol:
Rgirl
 
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