This is a too heavy accusation to lay on TT. You have a great imagination, but It is a twisted idea and totally wrong.
Well I had a hunch that Johnny's pursuit of elegant skating and his enthusiasm for Tarasova's ideals had a a negative impact on his skating, at least the tech side of it, but I didn't know why.
I think Ptchika really lasered in on what the problem is. Executing a program that has both difficult jumps and full, completed choreographical moves that are elegant and emotionally sensitive to the music takes tons of discipline and practice.
Johnny didn't back up his love of choreography with tons of focused practice on his jumps, spins, etc.. etc... I remember reading that he didn't like Tarasova forcing him to repeat his footwork sequences (either straight line or circulance) so much that he got sick of them. I think Tarasova succeeds with skaters whom she can force to practice their elements for an incredibly long time. These skaters then manage to skate programs with complicated choreography and elements because they've gotten used to them due to extensive practice.Both Sasha and Johnny however were overburdened by difficult/beautiful choreography to the point where it effected their jumps precisely because they didn't put in the torturous hours of practice required to execute both of these.
So, I think, I now what the "curse of Tarasova" really is. The beautiful skating that she proposes to skaters requires an enormous amount of grueling training. Those who refuse to put in the extra work to execute the combination of choreo + tech. elements become overburdened by their programs and incapable of skating them without screwing up majorly.
A major thanks to Ptichka for helping me figure this out.
In retrospect, Mao working with Tarasova should work out well because Mao has the discipline to assimilate all the new moves that Tarasova may teach her.
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