Ladies Short Program (will there be another judging fiasco?)

[Bennett]

I also have to say that after watching her LP at CoC, I don't think Yu-Na is a particularly graceful skater. I think she uses her arms the best out of anyone else there is, and I think she possesses musicality, but many of her positions are actually quite sloppy and unfinished. Nowhere near the category of Emily Hughes, but not even close to being sufficiently Sashaesque. Yu-Na does, however, land her jumps very lightly and gracefully.

Come to think of it, Mao is much more graceful in terms of positions than Yu-Na is.

Although I do acknowledge that Yu-na is greatly talented in theatrical expressions, I agree with you that Yu-Na's positions often look sloppy and unfinished.

Because she is very slim and gifted with long arms and legs, these issues fortunately do not stand out too much. But I think that dancers who are not as physically gifted as she is can still have much better lines as they dance.

Not only her knees and toes, but also her arms often have little tension, stretch, or resistance, which seems to make her arm positions look 'off.'

Also her stomach often lacks tension, which makes her upper body down. I think that the lack of tension and stretch seems to be contributing to her fragile looking.



Having said that, however, I do not mind these issues very much when she skates to a contemporary piece of music like Miss Saigon. She looked to me just fine.



But when she skates to a classical music like her waltz SP or a soft music like her last season’s LP, the sloppiness issue bugs me a lot. I think that a good foundation in classical ballet or other dancing would be helpful when skating to this kind of music. I think that Mao would do so much better in this SP music than Yu-Na because of her better positions, better stretch, more graceful arms, and lighter, smoother skating quality with nice strokes.

I wonder why David Wilson picked this particular music for her. I think that this music emphasizes these weaknesses of hers and these basic issues in dance training would take years to address. But perhaps they wanted her to learn something new?

In any case, I wish her a great season. Technically speaking, it was one of the strongest SP performances. I don't think that these would undermine her PCS too much in the current system anyway, either. I also think that she did decently well despite the lack of strong training in dancing.

 

[bubbleyum]

i guess it just depends on personal preference. i prefer yuna to mao because i think she is better at getting into the character of her program. and while i agree that her unpointed toes may give her an unfinished impression sometimes, i disagree with her lacking tension. did you see her roxanne program last season? when her skating character calls for it, the girl shows tension! in her arms and the way her head snaps around, etc. also i think her fast speed gives her tension too.

yuna is naturally a "soft" skater though. and i agree that mao has "better positions" when it comes to spirals and stretch; how i wish yuna improves in these areas! on the other hand, mao's skating posture seems stiff, and i think yuna has such nice overall body language.

again, it is all about personal preference i guess... like, i know caroline zhang is more flexible and has very beautiful spin and spiral positions etc, but i prefer mirai nagasu's skating. sometimes, you can't even explain why you love one skater over another. but isn't it just great that there are so many talented young skaters that we are all able to fall in love with one or the other and be fans of skating? these past 2 seasons have made me so glad for figure skating, because after kwan left i was afraid i wouldn't care as much.

 

[cosmos]

Although I do acknowledge that Yu-na is greatly talented in theatrical expressions, I agree with you that Yu-Na's positions often look sloppy and unfinished.

Because she is very slim and gifted with long arms and legs, these issues fortunately do not stand out too much. But I think that dancers who are not as physically gifted as she is can still have much better lines as they dance.

Not only her knees and toes, but also her arms often have little tension, stretch, or resistance, which seems to make her arm positions look 'off.'

Also her stomach often lacks tension, which makes her upper body down. I think that the lack of tension and stretch seems to be contributing to her fragile looking.



Having said that, however, I do not mind these issues very much when she skates to a contemporary piece of music like Miss Saigon. She looked to me just fine.



But when she skates to a classical music like her waltz SP or a soft music like her last season’s LP, the sloppiness issue bugs me a lot. I think that a good foundation in classical ballet or other dancing would be helpful when skating to this kind of music. I think that Mao would do so much better in this SP music than Yu-Na because of her better positions, better stretch, more graceful arms, and lighter, smoother skating quality with nice strokes.

I wonder why David Wilson picked this particular music for her. I think that this music emphasizes these weaknesses of hers and these basic issues in dance training would take years to address. But perhaps they wanted her to learn something new?

In any case, I wish her a great season. Technically speaking, it was one of the strongest SP performances. I don't think that these would undermine her PCS too much in the current system anyway, either. I also think that she did decently well despite the lack of strong training in dancing.

Which skater is more graceful is subjective matter. That being said, I strongly disagree that Mao would do much better with this SP. First of all, Mao can not express feeling of the music at all. She is a sort of mechanical skater. I hardly imagine Mao could skate with Waltz, which is difficult to do. I am not saying she is not a great skater. I am pointing out her lack of musicality.

 

[Skye]

Which skater is more graceful is subjective matter. That being said, I strongly disagree that Mao would do much better with this SP. First of all, Mao can not express feeling of the music at all. She is a sort of mechanical skater. I hardly imagine Mao could skate with Waltz, which is difficult to do. I am not saying she is not a great skater. I am pointing out her lack of musicality.

I think Mao has a nice feeling for music, but she is lacking in a sense of performance. She has done very well with light and dancy music in the past, so I agree that she would probably do a good job with the waltz. At least better than what she's doing with her SP this season, which requires some deep and passionate emotions that Mao has yet to express.

yuna is naturally a "soft" skater though. and i agree that mao has "better positions" when it comes to spirals and stretch; how i wish yuna improves in these areas! on the other hand, mao's skating posture seems stiff, and i think yuna has such nice overall body language.

The reason Mao sometimes looks stiff is because she has a habit of poking out her chin and holds her neck as if it were in a cast. But shoulder down she has the most gorgeous posture of the current crop of ladies, and her unsupported spiral is something to die for.

 

[Mathman]

Welcome, Bennett. Thanks for joining us! :agree:

 

[Bennett]

Thanks Mathman for your welcome!

I think Mao has a nice feeling for music, but she is lacking in a sense of performance. She has done very well with light and dancy music in the past, so I agree that she would probably do a good job with the waltz. At least better than what she's doing with her SP this season, which requires some deep and passionate emotions that Mao has yet to express.



The reason Mao sometimes looks stiff is because she has a habit of poking out her chin and holds her neck as if it were in a cast. But shoulder down she has the most gorgeous posture of the current crop of ladies, and her unsupported spiral is something to die for.

Yeah, I agree that mao has musicality but does not have so much theatrical sense, in which Yuna is extremely talented. I also agree that what a person finds graceful is subjective. I tend to be attracted to musical skaters over theatrical ones, and classical, balletic styles over contemporary styles.

Yes, I totally acknowledge that Yuna had tension in her arms in her Roxanna performance. But the thing is that the tension kind of disappears in soft moves. Holding arms high and making soft, slow arm movements require a lot of tension, which is perhaps different kind of tension that we are talking about. What to say, resistance against air? Just like pulling something very slowly and carefully, like melting into the air, in contrast to the sharp attack in quick movements.

One of the reasons why Mao can look stiff may be that she seems to be super nervous during the competition. Especially, in this year's SP, she always looks sad after the performance and even cried at last. She seems to be too worried about her jumps and steps to think of appealing to the audience. When I saw the slow motion of her first choreo move in the SP at TEB (Rossian broadcast) where she held her face, I was surprised to see that her facial expression almost looked painful. And after 5 seconds later, she singled the second loop of the combo. So sad to see how much pressure she feels. I heartily hope that she can relax a bit more next times.