No I agree, El Choclo was awesome. I just don't get why she didn't keep it instead of doing Assassin's Tango. I wouldn't mind if she kept it at all, it was one of my favorite Ladies shorts last year. But I don't see how Assassin's Tango is going to reach that build or the level of energy that El Choclo reached at Worlds.
State of U.S. Ladies' skating 2016-17
- Thread starter R.D.
- Start date
No I agree, El Choclo was awesome. I just don't get why she didn't keep it instead of doing Assassin's Tango. I wouldn't mind if she kept it at all, it was one of my favorite Ladies shorts last year. But I don't see how Assassin's Tango is going to reach that build or the level of energy that El Choclo reached at Worlds.
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- Mar 7, 2014
I really liked Gracie's El Choclo, which ironically I feel makes me dislike Assassin's Tango all the more, because it's so similar. 
If that even made sense.
If that even made sense.
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- Aug 18, 2013
No offence to you, KatGracie1925, but something about this statement makes my stomach turn ...
I have to agree with EdgeCall here. A good skater should be connecting choreographically, with skating skills, and emotionally. Having just a few of these doesn't qualify as a different way of skating...it's a less complete performance. Re: Ashley not relying on skating skills, I would argue that Ashley's skating skills are stronger than Gracie's. Her transitions are more complex, her turns cleaner and deeper, and she gets deeper into the ice than Gracie usually does. I think Gracie's choreographers haven't done her any favours by giving her transitions that rely on arm-flailing rather than actual skating.
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- Jan 11, 2014
I also was a big fan of El Choclo, and I agree that Gracie did a good job with the tango genre, but I feel like it would have been better to do this program next year. Pick a new, "upgraded" version of the tango for the Olympic season. But doing it this year doesn't make much sense. It brings too many immediate comparisons, and without this being an Olympic year I'm not entirely sure what the advantage is to pick a genre Gracie is comfortable with but just did the previous season. Either keep the El Choclo program or save this program for later.
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- Nov 19, 2013
I think for Gracie, I would really just want to know what she cranks the volume on and sings to in her car. That's what she needs for her Olympic year short, just something that truly makes her happy.
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- Jan 11, 2014
Perhaps Taylor Swift's Wildest Dreams would be a good fit for Gracie to skate to?
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- Apr 4, 2016
We'll see how the season goes, I think she wanted something similar but different. I do wish she had kept El Choclo after seeing this short but it was her first performance. I am willing to give it a chance.
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I just really like Gracies skating when she's on. I thoght she performed firebird very wel at nationals. I also really like Ashley and was so joyous at her rising to the challenge at worlds. I think they have different qualities and that Gracies emotions are bridled when she is nervous. Her worlds short program at worlds was a performance, she really went for it and that is the Gracie I wish we could see all the time. I think saying she can't perform is selling her short because her exhibition performances clearly show her performing. I just think she wears her fear and nerves above any thought of perfomance. She has technique that is clear when she is holding back and it really shines in those little moments where she lets go. I hope we see more of the spark she had in the short at worlds and less of the doubt.
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Probably Hasley since she has spoken about that before she said her favorite song was "Hold Me Down" by Hasley. I almost wished she would do a program to that just to see if it would help her cut loose and relax.
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- Dec 29, 2013
I agree with you quite a bit. I think as much as I pull for Gracie, and I certainly agree her Nationals FS was performed really well.....all she needs is a little knee bend and ease to her programs. To me she just has a tendency to come off stiff and guarded and just doesn't always look comfortable. I feel the same about Ashley but she has a " I don't give a chocolate fudge sundae" type of attitude that sort of carries her beyond her limitations.
I so wish Mariah Bell had a top notch technical game because she would be the most impressive American in my books because she knows how to sell a program and look graceful while doing it.
I hope people don't continue to harp on Polina's packaging much longer because to me that is what's harmed Gracie the most. Listening to those whispers. Ugh....be yourself and do it unapologetically. :firstpump:
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- Jan 27, 2014
:disapp:
That Patrick Commentates video . . . . I have no words.
I wonder if Lori Nichol charged Gracie her full SP price for that "new" choreography?
Isn't there effectively a limit on the choreographic variations in the short program? Some variations--like putting all the jumps at the end--just make the program worse. For Gracie, every short program is probably going to be 3Lz-3T, 2A and 3F, in that order, with some required steps and spins added in between or at the end. I think this one just seemed like a repeat because she wore the same outfit and the music is a tango. I think under IJS, there is little opportunity for artistry in the short program, at least not for the ladies. Under the old system, a well-placed spiral sequence or step sequence (without requiring so many turns and variations) allowed for more creativity.
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- Feb 27, 2012
Just my two cents, but I take the information from the fan threads for Mariah and 7K with a grain of salt.
The person who has added a flurry of posts in those threads is oversharing, IMO.
Perhaps with good intentions to shed light for us on 7K happenings.
But considering that Mariah has said virtually nothing on her social media about her decision to leave 7K, I find it hard to believe that she would be happy with a former rinkmate from there spilling details/hearsay on a site like GS.
[I am assuming that the poster was a rinkmate at 7K. S/he does seem to have some knowledge of 7K. Does not mean that all her/his posts about Mariah and 7K are 100% fact without any hearsay mixed in.
I myself had expressed curiosity after the TSL tweet about Mariah joining Team Raf. But I was/am not so curious that I would want Mariah's confidences possibly to be betrayed -- or for hearsay from around the rink possibly to be confused with fact.]
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- Feb 10, 2014
Point taken, but there is no proof she's betraying any confidences. I've generally found her posts helpful and informational, and hope she continues to post.
As to Mariah, by choosing not to be upfront about her coaching change, she left an informational void and room for speculation. in my mind, that's on her.
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- Feb 27, 2012
Nor is there any proof that the poster from 7K is not betraying any confidences.
So actually I take the posts with many grains of salt, not just one grain. The poster might or might not have an agenda.
Not going to rehash previous debating over what skaters are willing to share (or not) -- but speaking in generalities, I do feel strongly that a skater's silence does not give anyone else license to blab.
We did have a situation a couple of years ago (pre-Sochi) that a GS member who was an Arctic Edge skater was oversharing about Team Canton. It made me uncomfortable to the point that I said something in a public thread to the effect that I hoped that the person was not betraying any confidences. At first, the GS member did not seem the least bit concerned.
But eventually (not immediately thereafter), s/he ended up sending me a PM asking me to delete at least one of my posts -- in which I had quoted something s/he had said. I assume that I was not the only one who received such a request. (And of course, I complied with it.) In her PM, the person said (I'm paraphrasing) that she was relatively new to Canton, and she initially had not known that she was violating the rink's code of conduct, so to speak.
[Only as an aside, I will mention that this member has been completely inactive on GS for ages now, AFAIK. I have no idea why.]
Not saying that the Canton case is any proof regarding 7K.
But I once again find myself very uncomfortable.
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- Mar 7, 2014
I'm not good at making edge calls on YouTube videos, how was Gracie's 3F at golden west?
Still not sure why she doesn't do a 3Lo instead. But that's been discussed to death already.
Still not sure why she doesn't do a 3Lo instead. But that's been discussed to death already.
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- Feb 10, 2014
And you've now expressed your discomfort with the situation. But unless and until there is a similar response from the poster in question and / or she deletes all her posts, there's no evidence that the situations are similar. The current poster may not be a former rink mate. There may not be a code of conduct, and if there is one, it may not apply to her. There's no evidence that anything she said was information obtained in confidence. In fact, the possibility exists that she is posting with the full knowledge and approval of 7K. In this situation in particular, she did not post until after Mariah had updated her website to reflect the coaching change.
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- Feb 27, 2012
Ironic that in Mariah's thread, you cited a no-longer-in-effect PSA code of conduct ... and then proceeded to raise your eyebrows (I hope that is a fair characterization) at Raf's supposed approach (neither proven nor unproven) to Mariah.
Again, I did not and do not claim to have proof of anything.
You raised your eyebrows over one aspect of this situation (something unproven to which a rule no longer applies) -- and I am raising my eyebrows over another (something unproven to which a code of conduct might or might not apply).
I will add that I am concerned about a possible (unproven) moral obligation to a skater/fellow human being as well as a possible (unproven) code of conduct at a rink.
Golden rule: do unto others ...
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- Jan 23, 2009
What changes in code of conduct? Is it now "okay" for coaches to poach skaters?
