Alena Leonova: A totally a different color on the ice

[Li'Kitsu]

Great thread!:agree:

I don't have much time for GS lately but I really need to agree here - Alena is a great skater, and watching her is fun and exciting. To be honest, she's not my favorite skater, but there are so many great ones out there, and one can easily like and enjoy them all... I just wished people would be ready to give Alena a better chance. There are always so many mean comments about her, and she doesn't deserve that. So good that this thread is here, where we can talk about what we like about her

Yes, Morozovs choreography is mainly a huge mess of ****, but what the hell, Alena sells them like noone else could! And he has given her a lot of self confidence on the ice, he knows how to play to her strengths - even though he doesn't seem to be that great a person, he is a really good coach. Her new SP sounds interesting, I hope she will have a lot of fun skating to it!:yes:

Oh, and on a side note: I don't even know where that 'jugdes like pretty princesses' is supposed to come from. Mao got pretty much crushed by Yuna, who is far from being the flexible-great extentions type of skater, and that mainly because the jugdes loved to score Yuna far more ahead than she actually was (not saying Yuna didn't deserve the medals she won, but just look at that Olympic score...). Usually speed and strength are huuuuge plus points with the jugdes!

 

[snowflake]

Thanks Totentanz! You wrote the first post just right to start an interesting discussion. Lots of thoughtful posts here.

I am a fan of Alena. Her pirate program is the second best for me last season after Carolina's. Her outfit was great. She played a role and did it excellent. I didn't find her unattractive at all. IMO it would be amazing if the girls/ladies did more crazy and/or humorous programs.

I was satisfied with the ladies 2011 worlds results. Let's see what happens this season. I'm not so sure about the new generation easily slipping in winning over the "oldies".

Ice princess or athlete? It seems the sport has room for both but clearly prefers it's champions to be beauty queens.

I don't want that and I wish Alena is sort of a forerunner. The judges seemed to be okay with her appearance and not offended. I think the princess requirement draws a a lot of girls from FS. I hope Alena inspires young girls to skate with personality even if they aren't beauty contest material.

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.

I like Ashley a lot too. Yes she is athletic, like Joannie, but I still see them in the range of traditional ladies' skating. Nothing wrong with that. They are great skaters.

She's doing an indian hip-hop short dance

Sounds crazy enough

 

[lavender]

I really try to like her but I don't enjoy her skating at all at this point. Maybe if she gets a program I really enjoy then I can find something to like.

It's like Ashley and Ksenia Makarova..I'm not a fan and I don't normally enjoy their skating but after they put out a nice program (Ashley's Black Swan and Ksenia's Мaria and the Violin's String) I can seem to find some kind of enjoyment with their skating. Although Ksenia's long program brings back bad memories I'm able to push that out because her short program was one of my favorites.

 

[blue dog]

I think Alena Leonova is perfectly beautiful in her own way. Many will disagree, but to me, she's a throwback to the powerful performers of the 80's, like Katarina, or even a more-polished Irina.

What is cool to me about her is how she's so willing to transform her look to fit a program.

 

[Totentanz]

After the open test skates, what do you think about Leonova's new programs?
Short: http://youtu.be/M3OgwkQRwzQ
Free: http://youtu.be/c81PTjWmeTs

Short program is a funny program and free is serious. Her transitions look better and she still gives her best to present the program as usual. Many had predicted that it would be difficult for her to compete against talented young girls. But it looks like she will compete for the top place in Russia. The only one that may challenge her is Adelina Sotnikova so far. We still didn't see Lipnitskaya and Tuktamysheva of course.

 

[skateluvr]

I think she will have a tough time holding off the other Russian skaters.

 

[Skater Boy]

Ho hum about about both performances. Her jumps are a problem right now though early in the season as well as conditioning in the long program. Her spins laboured, slow and not fully extended and that last spin in the long probably was not worth much. But what I would like to see, is her in say two months -more speed, polish, jumps and sell and who knows. But really none of the Russian girls seem to be taking charge. Ashley is looking pretty good right now to mount the podium even with Yuna returning.

 

[snowflake]

Her programs look promising to me. I can't imagine how hard it is to perform a new program well and at the same time keep your jumps and spins at a high level. Who has shown better skating? I think she has the same chance at beeing the top russian lady as Adelina or Elizaveta. At least I'm sure she will be at Europeans and Worlds.

Ashley is looking pretty good right now to mount the podium even with Yuna returning.

I would love it if you are right. How do you know? Is there a video on Ashley skating her SP or LP? Have you seen her with secure jumps?