2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[VenusHalley]

I want to argue. All FS Sasha built on the plot of the film. From the first movement to the final. All her movements in the program and even the first jump organically correspond to the plot and spirit of the film. Every time she skates in this program, I kind of re-watch the two-hour film compressed in 2 minutes. I would not call it a bad interpretation.

Really? I just dont see it. Its good concept but it is just not there for me.

 

[Fluture]

I want to argue. All FS Sasha built on the plot of the film. From the first movement to the final. All her movements in the program and even the first jump organically correspond to the plot and spirit of the film. Every time she skates in this program, I kind of re-watch the two-hour film compressed in 2 minutes. I would not call it a bad interpretation.

Well, Zhenya‘s Anna Karenina wasn‘t exactly a great program either and it was built on the corresponding movie too. She made it work because she performed it with so much passion that you could kind of overlook the weird parts in it. Sasha doesn‘t with her FS. She‘s still very young though and has lots of time to improve. Her SP is very promising, it shows that when given the right vehicle, she can interpret a program and perform. I just don‘t find her FS to be well choreographed. It seems empty and nothing really stands out besides the jumps. They are great but... that’s not a whole performance. Her SP is so much better in this aspect. It showcases her strengths and makes the jumps highlights but also lets her perform and show choreography. The FS is interesting in the beginning but then it’s just jumps and nothing else. But maybe that‘s just my opinion.

 

[Edwin]

That's why I personally think movie OST's aren't the best choice for music to skate to.
First and foremost, there are almost always cuts and edits needed, some more awkward than others due to our memory of the music,
second, people sort of remember the movie and project their emotions from the theatre on the skater. Somewhat abstract music like Trusova's track from The 5th Element I found very fitting to the theme of her "breaking free from her own image reflected in the mirror"

Of course, the choreographers and skaters give bull about our objections, they just use the music to their advantage in whatever way they seem fit. Clap along music sort of distracts from the skater, introvert music commands attention to the skater.

Commissioning custom music is difficult, esp. when live voices and instruments are required for best effect. No doubt a composer or even a choreographer like Gleikhengauz can use Logic Pro and other such programs with good sound banks to sample from, but it is still quite a lot of work because of the many changes needed to have the timing and emoting exactly right.
Fitting the music to the skater's routine is probably preferable over fitting the skater to the music. Kostornaya's "Dos cadencias sobre Adios Nonino" can hardly be bettered from my part, music and skater matched perfectly.

i remember from my following rhythmic gymnastics that all Belarussian rhythmic routines in the late 1990's sounded the same and after some querying found out that there was this one guy with a Roland GM keyboard in charge of all the music. Cost effective and custom made, but it sounded sort of tinny and artificial after half a dozen routines from different gymnasts.

 

[chopinskate]

Concept < Performance OF that concept.

I'm guessing you missed this:

Actual choreography and interpretation of the program matters, as does executing it well. It's not like Trusova was awful at her program.

Trsuova executed her better concept satisfactorily, where Kostornaya in your words "executed her concept flawlessly" even though the concept wasn't that great. To me, there shouldn't be a giant gap in their PCS.

Let me leave you with this other reductio ad absurdium: Suppose Barishnykov dances to Banana Phone while doing the Macarena, and he's competing against someone from the ballet corps dancing the Diane and Acteon solo. I for one wouldn't give it to Baryshnikov, unless the corps dancer sucks so hard it barely looks like a dance.

She can‘t really show emotions or interpret it.

Perform.

 

[Scott512]

I really hope Alena doesn’t get discouraged from this result. For some reason some of her GOEs were lower than senior nats/GPF when all elements except for the 3Lo were much better. I just don’t understand.

Of couse she must be sad and discouraged. Alena skated great for 2 days and Sasha came from 7th to take the gold from her. Sasha of course has a higher scoring tougher long program with quads and can make up ground fast.

On a ide note I dont know how Eteri a truly great coach can possibly keep Alena Sasha and Anna happy in the coming years. Once Alina rose to greatness with the highest scoring program that was backloaded for the bonus in ladies figure skating that led Alina to edge Zhenya at olympics Zhenya no doubt soured on Eteri giving Alina the programs to outscore her and everyone else. Will Alena feel the same frustrations? Probably. EG has her hands full.

 

[Alex65]

Well, Zhenya‘s Anna Karenina wasn‘t exactly a great program either and it was built on the corresponding movie too. She made it work because she performed it with so much passion that you could kind of overlook the weird parts in it. Sasha doesn‘t with her FS. She‘s still very young though and has lots of time to improve. Her SP is very promising, it shows that when given the right vehicle, she can interpret a program and perform. I just don‘t find her FS to be well choreographed. It seems empty and nothing really stands out besides the jumps. They are great but... that’s not a whole performance. Her SP is so much better in this aspect. It showcases her strengths and makes the jumps highlights but also lets her perform and show choreography. The FS is interesting in the beginning but then it’s just jumps and nothing else. But maybe that‘s just my opinion.

Well. It just shows how different we are. Either I see something that is not really, or you can not see everything. Today was a good day. I agree with any views on life. Peace, friendship, chewing gum.

 

[Fluture]

Well. It just shows how different we are. Either I see something that is not really, or you can not see everything. Today was a good day. I agree with any views on life. Peace, friendship, chewing gum.

I agree, we are all different, have different views and opinions and that‘s good.

Today we got to see these three beautiful girls skate their programs

url]https://www.instagram.com/p/BtbcACIntS7/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=4pcobf2kc7mv[/url]

And were able to witness the truly astounding quality of many more junior ladies. Another favorite of mine today was Ksenia S. She has such beautiful jumps and spins and is a veey artistic skater as well. I also loved Anastasia Tarakanova despite the fall. Her jumps are getting better and better, it was clear that the fall and the rough landing on the 3F and 3Lz today were just nerves. Her 3Lo was so high though today and the opening combination was nicely done. Tarusina once again showed her power and energy and incredible consistency. Kanysheva unfortunately had some problems and I think she‘s in the middle of a growth spurt (she looks visibly taller compared to JGPF and already there she towered above Kostornaya) but she still had a great season - winning a JGPF medal at her debut. Overall it was a great competition with a mindblowing level and many beautiful and talented ladies!

Now on to Junior Worlds with our favorite trio again. Actually for 3A to each get a 3rd, 2nd and 1st placement this season, we have:

Sasha who‘s missing a third place (two silvers, one gold)

Alena who has already had each (gold bronze silver)

And Anna who‘s missing a silver (5th, gold, bronze)

So, to achieve this we‘d need to have 1. Alena, 2. Anna and 3. Sasha at Junior Worlds. But it‘ll likely be a lot different than that anyway.

I have another question about funding and EYOF. Tarakanova is in 7th here and Kanysheva in 13th ... will they lose their funding despite both making the JGPF and placing 4th and 3rd respectively? That seems harsh.

And I wondered if anyone of the off-podium girls could replace Anna at the EYOF since she‘ll be at Junior Worlds. I‘d love to see Tarakanova or someone else again.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Tarakanova is entered at the Tallinn Hotels Cup at the end of February (right after RCF)
Anastasia Kolomiets is in senior ladies

 

[Fluture]

Tarakanova is entered at the Tallinn Hotels Cup at the end of February (right after RCF)
Anastasia Kolomiets is in senior ladies

That‘s great! So we‘ll be able to see her again. Is Tarakanova listed to compete in juniors or seniors?

 

[Spirals for Miles]

That‘s great! So we‘ll be able to see her again. Is Tarakanova listed to compete in juniors or seniors?

Juniors
She's not senior eligible yet

 

[[email protected]]

Ho ho ho. You have to laugh. Always the same old same old from the people who love to imagine that Sasha is all technique and no artistry. That the evidence doesn't support the hypothesis doesn't make any difference.

It's only practice now. The battle will be next year when with Trusova's facing Kihira there surely will be demands for Sasha's having at least 10 points lower pcs because Rika has "superb skating skills" vs. a "bunch of tricks".

The question is whether next season Sasha can introduce 3A and Rika can introduce quads. If both are successful we shall be witnessing an epic combat that figure skating has never seen before. 2 most powerful skaters of all times will challenge each other. If only one of them adds the missing piece than she will be dominant with the right to be named GOAT in the 1 season category. If neither of them can go wider it will be the battle but with more participants: Alyona (especially if she learns 3A), Anna S, and even Alina if she overcomes her current issues...

...as for pcs, Alyona should have the highest of them all, Sasha, Anna S, Alina, and Rika included. And falls should result in big pcs drop because they disrupt the show.

 

[Scott512]

I agree, we are all different, have different views and opinions and that‘s good.

Today we got to see these three beautiful girls skate their programs

url]https://www.instagram.com/p/BtbcACIntS7/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=4pcobf2kc7mv[/url]

And were able to witness the truly astounding quality of many more junior ladies. Another favorite of mine today was Ksenia S. She has such beautiful jumps and spins and is a veey artistic skater as well. I also loved Anastasia Tarakanova despite the fall. Her jumps are getting better and better, it was clear that the fall and the rough landing on the 3F and 3Lz today were just nerves. Her 3Lo was so high though today and the opening combination was nicely done. Tarusina once again showed her power and energy and incredible consistency. Kanysheva unfortunately had some problems and I think she‘s in the middle of a growth spurt (she looks visibly taller compared to JGPF and already there she towered above Kostornaya) but she still had a great season - winning a JGPF medal at her debut. Overall it was a great competition with a mindblowing level and many beautiful and talented ladies!

Now on to Junior Worlds with our favorite trio again. Actually for 3A to each get a 3rd, 2nd and 1st placement this season, we have:

Sasha who‘s missing a third place (two silvers, one gold)

Alena who has already had each (gold bronze silver)

And Anna who‘s missing a silver (5th, gold, bronze)

So, to achieve this we‘d need to have 1. Alena, 2. Anna and 3. Sasha at Junior Worlds. But it‘ll likely be a lot different than that anyway.

I have another question about funding and EYOF. Tarakanova is in 7th here and Kanysheva in 13th ... will they lose their funding despite both making the JGPF and placing 4th and 3rd respectively? That seems harsh.

And I wondered if anyone of the off-podium girls could replace Anna at the EYOF since she‘ll be at Junior Worlds. I‘d love to see Tarakanova or someone else again.

I cant imagine they would lose funding. If they do lose funding some will go elsewhere. Maybe even too another country. The competition with the Russian girls is mindboggling.

 

[Amei]

Of couse she must be sad and discouraged. Alena skated great for 2 days and Sasha came from 7th to take the gold from her. Sasha of course has a higher scoring tougher long program with quads and can make up ground fast.

On a ide note I dont know how Eteri a truly great coach can possibly keep Alena Sasha and Anna happy in the coming years. Once Alina rose to greatness with the highest scoring program that was backloaded for the bonus in ladies figure skating that led Alina to edge Zhenya at olympics Zhenya no doubt soured on Eteri giving Alina the programs to outscore her and everyone else. Will Alena feel the same frustrations? Probably. EG has her hands full.

Question - Has there been anything said by Alena or her coaches as to why she doesn't do quads (I've never even see videos of her training them) or the triple axel that she supposedly has done in practice? Honestly outside of Alena doing those I feel all 3 girls are getting the same level of programs from the team; the programs highlight their strengths and hide their weaknesses. I don't think it's a situation of Alina/Evgenia again; where the mistake appears to be that they should have been training backloaded programs for Evgenia to match Alina.

 

[[email protected]]

Another thing to note:
Senior Nationals - Tarakanova's PCS 58
Junior Nationals: PCS 66.
I found her Senior Nationals Performance flawless, how can there be an 8(!!) Point difference?!?

She was lowballed at senior nats. One of the reasons was that she bombed SP and was in the first group. Although it is not fair it is the sad truth of figure skating - the first group skaters often have lower scores than they deserve. This time she skated in the final group when the opposite is true.

 

[Fluture]

Question - Has there been anything said by Alena or her coaches as to why she doesn't do quads (I've never even see videos of her training them) or the triple axel that she supposedly has done in practice? Honestly outside of Alena doing those I feel all 3 girls are getting the same level of programs from the team; the programs highlight their strengths and hide their weaknesses. I don't think it's a situation of Alina/Evgenia again; where the mistake appears to be that they should have been training backloaded programs for Evgenia to match Alina.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtbdleFnWNR/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=15xeb41fc6hl6

Her interview after FS today. She says about 3A that she‘d like to include it but as soon as she starts training it she experiences minor injuries. Doesn‘t make me too hopeful for her to include it soon but of course I rather have her healthy even if it means she won‘t be doing 3A.

 

[Deripashka]

I have another question about funding and EYOF. Tarakanova is in 7th here and Kanysheva in 13th ... will they lose their funding despite both making the JGPF and placing 4th and 3rd respectively? That seems harsh.

Nasta is currently best Plushenko skater, so even if she lose RusFed funding, I think on her training program it doesnt change anything. Plush have obviously access to money of some of his rich donors/friends in amount bigger than small, when he can afford to opening another outposts of his school in other russian cities, so expenses on Nasta are negligible matter in all of it.

Alena study and train in Snow leopards which is regularly funded from state budget (its normal school) and from budget of Moscow hockey union (or how its called) since its mainly hockey school and figure skating is still just "associated production" there. So even if she would lost contributions from RusFed (I think it dont gonna happen), effects on her would be zero.

 

[[email protected]]

All in all, what an impressive event we had!

3A aside I was impressed by Anna Tarusina (as usual) and Ksenia Sinitsina. I never paid attention to Ksenia before but now I have changed my mind. Not only is she a powerful technician - her skating is far from what people name "juniorish". She already has Alina's set of jumps which means that technically she is already at the top, 3A and quad girls aside.

If she keeps cosistency, even without adding triple axel or quads she can dominate the junior circle during the "post 3A year".

 

[alpaca]

I’m actually wondering what’s preventing Alena from the triple axel and quads sooner than the other girls. Is t the rotations or the drawing strength for the height? Her execution and technique now is nearly flawless (+4 and +5s all around) and if anyone should even be ready to take on a next challenge because of their superb mastery or the other jumps at this point, I’d say it’s Alena. Also, I’m always extremely impressed at the nearly no travel on her spins. They’re so centered!!

 

[Edwin]

All in all, what an impressive event we had!

3A aside I was impressed by Anna Tarusina (as usual) and Ksenia Sinitsina. I never paid attention to Ksenia before but now I have changed my mind. Not only is she a powerful technician - her skating is far from what people name "juniorish". She already has Alina's set of jumps which means that technically she is already at the top, 3A and quad girls aside.

If she keeps cosistency, even without adding triple axel or quads she can dominate the junior circle during the "post 3A year".

Yes, the potential shown in the 13 year olds is very promising. And there are 12 year olds and some even younger already claiming their place in the spotlights, and with good reason. Valiyeva, Akatyeva are from Khrustalniy and already fully in the picture, but no doubt there are other rough diamonds to be found inside the other rinks just waiting for their sparkle to shine.

With all due respect to today's medalists, the road to 2022 Olympics is long and difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if none of them will still be in contention come 2021/22 season and selection process.

 

[Autumn Leaves]

Question - I don't think it's a situation of Alina/Evgenia again; where the mistake appears to be that they should have been training backloaded programs for Evgenia to match Alina.

But Evgenia was backloading her programs in previous seasons and in the Olympic season as well. It was after the injury that her program got easier, probably she was lacking the stamina. What were the coaches supposed to do? Make Alina‘s program easier as well because Evgenia was injured during the season? It would have been grossly unfair, given that Alina was at her peak and we all know how small the window of opportunity can be. Plus, Evgenia still had every chance to win - the final difference between the two was really small. Alina‘s program was higher risk and mistakes were very possible, while EM was the dominant skater and champion who undoubtedly would (and did) get higher PCSs, so she still had every chance. By alleviating her program, the coaches enabled EM to have such a glorious and memorable performance and almost win, but Alina became champion in the second she managed to do the 3lz-3lo combo she missed. Would it be better if EM backloaded and bombed?

And honestly, I don‘t remember anyone saying in previous seasons how unfair it was that EM was backloading while Yulia, for example, was struggling with motivation, coaching and puberty issues.

My point is that I think it is absurd to say that Eteri predetermined the Olympics by the programs. I think she tried to do the best programs for each of them given their current shape and abilities, which is fair. If EM wasn‘t injured or if Alina missed an element, it would be a different story. But it wasn‘t and it is absurd to blaim backloading, when EM herself was doing it any time she could.