So, I‘ve finally managed watched Alina‘s SP.
I‘m still a bit torn about it to be honest because I‘m not sure whether I like it or not. There are some beautiful moments in it that leave me smiling like: ”Yes, that‘s our Alina!“ and others that make me want to smack my head on the table like ”What are you doing, Daniil?“
I think we all should probably remember that this is the first time we‘ve seen this program and the season is long. Chances are that by the time worlds arrive we have a much more refined version of POTO just like it was with Black Swan at the Olympics.
Let‘s start with something positive about the program.
I definitely like Alina‘s spins. Like others have pointed out she has this ballerina box feeling to her even when she‘s not wearing a tutu. The moment when the spin matches the music perfectly is simply magical. Unfortunately, it changes way too fast afterwards. That‘s what I always criticized the most about any of Team Eteri girls‘ programs. It‘s not their fault obviously because we‘ve seen Alina can hold her moves longer but she simply isn‘t allowed to do it because the choreo is so hectic. Just like the music cuts. There are a few things I enjoyed, like the sound of shattering glass because it‘s unusual and adds a nice dramatic vibe to it. But in general I can say that I‘m not too fond of the music cuts. They seem frenetic to me and because there‘s so many different songs in it the viewer can‘t properly adjust and the skater, Alina, can‘t actually get into the performance and portray a character. It‘s all too fast and while I do like that they tried to be unusual... well, I just feel that maybe less is more. Don‘t get it wrongly, unusual is good, creativity is good but not at the expense of quality. I can say that I would have enjoyed this program more had it been a long program just for the simple fact of having one music last longer than about 30 seconds and then rapidly changing again.
What I do like is that every moment matches the music. If executed perfectly, that’s giving quite the “wow!“ effect just like with DQ when every jump was on the beat of the music. But I can’t deny that I‘m also quite a bit worrie because if she makes mistake here there‘s little to no way she can make it up later without constantly trying to play catch up to the music. It feels very risky in a way. Of course Alina usually lands her jumps but we can‘t forget that she‘s growing and will probably feel a least a bit off its effect. But I do appreciate that they put the combo in the first half. She‘ll do it on fresh legs and the quality of the jumps will be better and thus letting her get more GOEs.
Another few moments I loved: This.Triple.Flip. It‘s gorgeous. Matching the music perfectly (again!), good height and flow and landing - just wow!
Also her Ina Bauer. If she just held it a tiny bit longer, it would be perfect. But she‘s made some improvements already so I‘ll be happy with that for the moment. I also like the transition into the double axel.
In conclusion, I feel like I just want to tell Daniil to keep calm while making a program. While this hectic choreography matched Black Swan perfectly it feels a bit disjointed here. Let Alina have some time to interpret her character properly, changing the music every 30 seconds certainly won’t help her with it. Let her and the audiene time to breath at least a bit. There‘s a difference between creating suspense and interest and making someone feel stressed out. Hectic choreography like this makes me feel this way especially if there‘s also so much going on with the music. I‘m again going to point to Black Swan again. Very hectic choreography but it wasn‘t distracting but rather pulling the spectator in because there weren‘t too many distracting music cuts to focus on. I feel like both might be a tad over the top. Nonetheless I feel that this program has potential. And a whole lot of it. It will only become better and better through the season as Alina improves, too. I‘m quite sure of that.
(And this is just how I feel about the program, obviously, there might be others who have a whole different opinion. But again, that‘s the thing with art... we all experience it differently
)
https://twitter.com/Teamkostornaya/status/1026108611481747456
Just look at that poster with "Russia in our heart" slogan and picture symbolizing russian sport and military power - it's definitely a hint! :scard8: Maybe.. maybe.. maybe each of them learnt couple of more quads and 3As than they let us know about? :eekn: Lack of jumps progress/training videos from this group since the spring (where they got quite astounding results already) is.. suspicious :hpull::hap93:
sorry, couldn't help myself
