Just to add to the leg extension discussion:
Generally, I love leg extensions, even in figure skating. (I grew up a contemporary dancer. If I didn't appreciate lines I think my teachers would show up to my house and shoot me.)
And Kamila's lines are to die for. She has incredibly long legs, great control over them, and her legs are so gorgeously rod-straight in the air that it would be a great shame not to use them in her programs.
Now that I've established that I love leg extensions in skating, and Kamila's leg extensions, I have to say that in my opinion, the sheer number of leg extensions in Kamila's SP is a bit too much to be appreciated fully. Or maybe it's not about the number - more about the timing in regards to the music.
Because, for the first half of the program, the music playing is Spiegel im Spiegel. It's soft, slow, meditative, relaxed, and (there's probably a better word) dull. There isn't much happening musically. So it is kind of strange to see Kamila rapidly whacking her leg up and down multiple times to notes that are barely audible.
This isn't only about her leg extensions. I've noticed that Kamila has a very sharp, succinct way of moving. She is graceful, but she is also sharp in the sense that she accentuates each movement, and I think it gives her lots of artistic character and I quite like it, she stands out because of it. But it does look a little bit odd in the beginning of her SP, when there are only a few dull notes playing in the background, spaced out and barely heard, and her movements are as though she is skating to the opening of, say, Palladio. It's odd. I don't hate it, but it's jarring and I can see why some people don't like it.
So when she does her leg extensions, that isn't just a movement of her arms, or the upper body. Kamila moving her long, long legs is basically an entire body movement, and when she does it so fast (the way it's choreographed), so sharply (the way she naturally moves), it's a large, sharp, very very noticeable movement and I have to say that it does not suit the first half of her SP to be kicking all over the place the way that she is.
At the risk of sounding like TSL - I'm sorry - I think that it would fit her slow, meditative music a lot more if she would cut down on the number of leg extensions, but increase the time spent doing them. That is, maybe instead of six leg kicks, she does two leg holds (random numbers, but you get the point). It would better suit the music, and I think it would even suit the acrobat in a painting narrative better, since the image of a contortionist typically moves slowly into their position and holds it, then moves out. It is of course harder to hold a leg extension than to just kick, but with Kamila's level of control and flexibility I think she is definitely capable of it.
I love Kamila's leg extensions with all my heart. That's why I would personally love to see them as actual extensions and not just kicks. However, at the end of the day that's just my opinion and I'm no expert.
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