Miki Ando

[qoo]

Well yeah I'd say skaters who have innate musicality are rare. Oksana Baiul, Yukina Ota and maybe Nicole Bobeck come to mind. It's not something you can learn and either you have it or not.

Have you seen Ando's new LP this year? A hint of her musicality is displayed in many parts if you watch her performance carefully. I think this year's program helps to bring out her musicality more than Firebird. Actually I think Ando has better presentation skills than Arakawa.

 

[shine]

I have to agree with Goo. Innate musicality is rare, and I don't feel right trashing skaters just because they don't happen to the be the "chosen ones". IMO Ando has many great things to offer including her basic skating, flow, good spins, jumps (of course) and very secure execution of most of her elements when she's on. I rather liked what I saw at Campbells. I enjoyed the program just about 10 times more than I did Firebird. I think it suits her much better artistically; it has a very subtle quality and choreographical sophistication.

 

[anya_angie]

Niether lol. Miki is rough around the edges yet, and Michelle's Tosca wasn't really Tosca to me. Too much smiling LOL.

 

[hockeyfan228]

I rather liked what I saw at Campbells. I enjoyed the program just about 10 times more than I did Firebird. I think it suits her much better artistically; it has a very subtle quality and choreographical sophistication.

I agree. While the execution was a little rocky, it seemed to me that she got "off" the music when she slipped and had to catch up, not that she's innately unmusical. Last year, I don't think she was very connected to Firebird, although she was a different skater in the Chopin SP. I think this LP could be great by Moscow.

 

[shine]

She was a different skater in the SP, technique wise. She had more confidence and much better execution of her elements, but in terms of intepreting the music or the choreography, I don't think it was that much better than Firebird. There was her skating with technical brilliance, and then there was the music, playing in the background. And it certainly didn't help that the Grand Polonaise is one of my favorite piano pieces ever. Everything was generic; she could have been skating to any piece of music. Yet the fact that it was a short program jam packed with the 8 require elements, and her confidence, flow and the 3/3 made her delivery look very excellent.
OTOH, I was really impressed by what I saw at Campbells - she was, for the first time, skating TO the music, with REAL choreography. It's particularly impressive that this was a free program, which is always more difficult to make look GOOD than a short program.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I agree with Chuckum that Ando is not the musical skater and there are, for me, very few who are. John Curry, Kurt Browning, Peggy Flemming, Michelle Kwan, Evgeny Plushenko, Stefan Lambiel, Cynthia Phaneuf, and, of course, Yukina Ota are all very musical skaters. Running through all the many skaters in my head, the above list passed my test for musicality.

IMO, musicality has everything to do with phrasing. Sinatra did not have a particularly good popular baritone voice, but he was way above the others in phrasing the lyrics. He was extremely musical.

Musicality has nothing to do with ballet poses or how high one's extension is, or if the costume fits the music. It's phrasing everything you do from a 3 turn to a quad in terms of the music. An example of bad musicality is when a skater is preparing to execute a lutz and hangs on to the back outside edge before the take-off with a total disregard for the music. I admit it's not a jump one can do easily.

Joe