Mikhail Kolyada shelves popular 'White Crow' program

[gsk8]

Mikhail Kolyada shelves popular 'White Crow' program

It’s full steam ahead for Russian Champion Mikhail Kolyada who trains alongside 2021 World silver medalist Lisa Tuktamysheva, 2019 European Champion Sofia

www.goldenskate.com

“I just love this music,” the 26-year-old said, following the practice session on a hot day in July. “I can’t say that I particularly liked classical pieces lately, but this music gives me the goosebumps. Obviously I’ve seen the ballet, but I’ll need to watch it again.”

What are your thoughts?

 

[el henry]

Well, it's always good to read what Tatjana asked Misha and his answers.

But I have said, and I say again, it's a mistake. Misha didn't skate White Crow for years and years, he skated it for one year. It's a great program. And he's bored.

And I'm sorry Misha, I like you, but this is not simply "other skaters" doing Schindler. This is Jason Brown expressing the grief associated with his heritage.

I still have no good answer as to why he would abandon White Crow to set up a comparison with Jason's program.

 

[gsk8]

Hmmmm…… I did not read nor interpret that the same way. I took it as he was referring to any and all skaters that have done this program before and currently. Not Brown specifically.

In regards to his Free Skate to Schindler’s List, he added that it does not bother him that other skaters have skated or are skating to the music.

He is not comparing his free skate to Brown’s program. He was discussing his new short program and then added info regarding his free skate when asked how he felt about other skaters doing the same music.

 

[yuumagical]

I still have no good answer as to why he would abandon White Crow to set up a comparison with Jason's program.

But the answer's right there in the article: Mikhail's coach wanted him to do it, so he did it. It's an answer, even if it's not a particularly satisfying answer...

 

[Seven Sisters]

I notice he doesn’t say what component(s) of the Nutcracker will be used—my hope is for one of the less done-to-death bits (in other words—not the Pas de Deux)

Let‘s hope.

 

[Amei]

Well, it's always good to read what Tatjana asked Misha and his answers.

But I have said, and I say again, it's a mistake. Misha didn't skate White Crow for years and years, he skated it for one year. It's a great program. And he's bored.

And I'm sorry Misha, I like you, but this is not simply "other skaters" doing Schindler. This is Jason Brown expressing the grief associated with his heritage.

I still have no good answer as to why he would abandon White Crow to set up a comparison with Jason's program.

Regardless of whether it's a great program that we all (or most of us) LOVE, if he's against skating a program 2 years because he'll get bored thats understandable and if he gets bored it could affect his interpretation of it.

Regarding Schindler's List he answered the reason he's skating it, I hate this thought process that because 1 good skater is skating to music that somehow its off limits or another skater who is equally talented at interpretation should forego the music and potentially have to start from scratch and waste weeks of preparation and likely have to shell out more money for new choreography or have to reuse an old program he doesn't want to do. When the music was selected they unlikely knew Jason was going to resurrect his music from 2 years ago.

 

[gsk8]

But I have said, and I say again, it's a mistake. Misha didn't skate White Crow for years and years, he skated it for one year. It's a great program. And he's bored.

I agree but apparently Mishin has a vision I don’t think he was bored with this piece

The long program to Schindler’s List was a different story. Coach Alexei Mishin gave the skater this music and invited Nikita Mikhailov as the choreographer. “I am just following the coach’s orders, so to speak,” Kolyada noted. “I do as he ordered. Orders are non-negotiable.”

I love this music and enjoy watching any and all skaters interpret it. Remember Irina Slutskaya’s version?

 

[4everchan]

i think it's ideal when skaters get new programs. It makes them explore new ideas and improve. Being bored with a program is common and can be felt (mechanical interpretation) ... better to avoid that at all costs...

Also, if ever Kolyada does not feel good with the new program, just the break from White Crow might be enough to bring it back to the ice... that happens quite often actually and I think it's positive. If fans can be disappointed when a skater returns to the same programs over and over, I don't think fans should be sad when a skater moves on but be excited to see their progress and another angle of their skating... Those who are nostalgic can always go to youtube and watch an old program again...

 

[el henry]

I agree but apparently Mishin has a vision I don’t think he was bored with this piece

I love this music and enjoy watching any and all skaters interpret it. Remember Irina Slutskaya’s version?

I had missed the part where the decision was attributed to Professor Mishin, thanks to you and others for pointing that out.

But jumping off and not directed specifically in answer, it is still a puzzlement to me. I don't think any skater owns music, that's not the point. They can all skate to Les Miz and Carmen every year.
The point I was trying to make was that this year, this comparison to Jason, will not be beneficial to Misha.

Maybe I need to be more specific myself? Jason is Jewish. Not just my grandmother is Jewish let's see if I can skate for Israel, but bar mitzvahed, observes the holidays, family name was Braunstein when they emigrated to the US, Jewish. (All points which Jason has stated publicly in interviews or on social media) And he is also the most expressive men's skater today (and even if that's my fangirl talking, let me put it another way: the judges think he's one of the most expressive skaters today .

And he is skating Schindler's List. Into which he can pour all of his expressiveness. And all of his heritage.

If I were a skater, I sure as heck wouldn't set myself up to be compared to that.

I would like to see interviewers specifically ask Misha, or Mishin, or whoever made the decision, what about Jason who is skating SL this year and is your direct competitor, who announced two months ago that he was skating SL, what do you think about that? (And let me be clear, I am not saying you need to be Jewish to skate SL, I am saying, why set yourself up for the comparison)

White Crow was lovely, and I hope he goes back.

 

[MCsAngel2]

I'm really crushed by this, White Crow potentially will become one of the most iconic figure skating programs, EVER. I wish they understood that Misha doing White Crow is like Jason doing SL, in terms of interpreting heritage. Those are the programs that are unforgettable.

Honestly, I believe they're doing this to give Misha a break from it and they fully intend to bring it back for the Olympics, at the very least.

 

[Tatjana]

The decision about the FS was made by Mr. Mishin, Mikhail just accepted that, but he likes the music. I did not specifically ask him what he thinks about Jason Brown is skating to the music, but I asked how he feels about that many other skated and are skating to it. Mr. Mishin I believe was not aware of the fact that Jason had gone back to "Schindler's List" when he picked that music, but he knows now and he is aware of the criticism.

OTOH, I think it is hard to judge and talk about a program nobody has seen yet. I am convinced that Mikhail can do a great job with this music.

As others have pointed out - they always can go back to "Nureyev" in case their "Schindler's List" is not received well. And if they do so in the second half of the season, "Nureyev" will look fresh again.

I agree with everyone who says it is not the best idea to use the same music one of your direct competitors is using and who has a very good program. But I do think they found out too late, when their program was already done.

 

[el henry]

Thank you @Tatjana for your explanation, I didn't realize that they had picked the music so early. I do not doubt Mikhail's talent, and I hope it didn't sound like that.

and thank you for all the great articles you do for GS. It's always interesting to read!

 

[Tatjana]

Thank you @Tatjana for your explanation, I didn't realize that they had picked the music so early. I do not doubt Mikhail's talent, and I hope it didn't sound like that.

and thank you for all the great articles you do for GS. It's always interesting to rea

Thank you, I am happy you appreciate the articles.

What you said in your post about the music choice is perfectly fine. I think Mr. Mishin had the idea to use "Schindler's List" for Mikhail for a while. I understand they did the program right after WTT, so before Jason announced he was going back to "Schindler's List" and I also think that they didn't know about it until maybe even recently.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

What are your thoughts?

Thanks so much for sharing the link to this article. It is nice to hear why Mishin and Kolyada decided not to keep the White Crow program. While I would have loved to see Kolyada develop it further and also skate a completely clean performance, I can accept their reasoning that the program can become stale if repeated in back-to-back seasons. Still, that's not always true, as witness Adam Rippon's wonderful success for two seasons with compilation O (Fly On) by Coldplay and Arrival of the Birds/Exodus (The Cinematic Orchestra). It was a great choice for Adam to keep that fp for the Olympic season, and it NEVER got stale. Most likely, small changes here and there were made. And I think if skaters love the music and feel there is more to explore and they are inspired and comfortable, it can make subsequent performances the following season that much better and cleaner. But the desire to further explore the music and the program has to be there!

That desire was felt by M-T/M in pairs when they kept their Un Ange Passe fp for two seasons 2016-2018. Doing so was the right decision for them too. Typically, when a program is kept, some enhancements are made, and it can give skaters a chance to further develop a program that suits them so well. It has happened many times, but not always successfully: witness Johnny Weir bringing back Otonal for the 2002 Olympics after having resisted calls from fans to do so all season long. It wasn't the right decision for Johnny because it was too late in the season (post U.S. Nat'ls, and thus he hadn't trained Otonal long enough to feel comfortable with it at the Olympics, where he faltered in the fp after being in 2nd after his popular The Swan sp). For some reason, James/Cipres decided after a rough 2018 Euros (coming in 4th after being in 1st after the sp -- which was largely due to Russian skating politics), to drop their gorgeous Say Something fp and bring back the popular Sound of Silence fp from the previous year. It probably didn't matter anyway to how J/C placed at the Olympics because of fs political scoring. J/C didn't get credit for how well they skated in their sp at 2018 Olympics, and then I believe they made some mistakes in their fp. I would have preferred seeing them keep Say Something for the Olympics, not for placement value, but just because it was such a wonderful program to watch. Sound of Silence was a different vibe from a different season.

It seems to me that Kolyada was perhaps tiring of the White Crow before last season ended. And he also gets stuck in his head at times, like he did at 2021 Worlds at the tail end of his program. He had started out ON FIRE, which is easy to forget. He was kickin' it, and then he slowly let errors creep in. Silly errors, because he gets in his head, obviously. Kolyada's miscues remind me somewhat of Jeremy Abbott. Another uber-talented, dancer on ice who never quite got over the hump at the majors: Olympics and Worlds. It is a shame that Kolyada never quite skated the White Crow to full perfection. It is so beautiful and so suited to Kolyada. That's the frustrating thing. Kolyada is such a musical skater and a dancer on ice, with superb technique. Maybe he will break out at the 2022 Olympics. Seemingly, he might end up retiring after the Olympics. He came quite close at 2021 Worlds to overcoming his frustrating hiccoughs, which had he managed to do, would have placed him on the podium.

To be honest, with his talent, ability and maturity, Kolyada is on paper a better skater than the young Japanese phenom, Yuma Kagiyama. Yuma has some things in his skating to fine-tune. Plus, I didn't really like Yuma's fp music/choreo at Worlds, and he made mistakes. Unfortunately, the judges were so impressed by Yuma's sp that he was a bit over-scored overall, and thus he ended up with a silver medal -- to me a bit premature for such a young skater. I'm not saying that Yuma is not amazing, fantastic, fun to watch, and the future of Japanese men's skating. I'm just saying he's still young and he has much more to learn, and he made mistakes. Another factor in the placement outcomes is that the legend, Yuzuru Hanyu, made too many mistakes in the fp. Nathan made one mistake in the sp, but kicked any possible miscues to the curb in the fp where HE absolutely RULED and SCHOOLED with SHOCK and AWE precision, as well as mesmerizing, under-rated footwork.

Kolyada has to skate clean for the judges to be swayed to give him all he deserves.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

All that said by me above, I am excited to see what Mishin and Kolyada will do with their selection from The Nutcracker for the new sp. Kolyada's last season sp was okay in a fun performative way, but it was also a bit cheesy and without much heft.

Another skater tackling Schindler's List, I'm just not excited by at all. Paul Wylie did it best in exhibition, which is what got the ball rolling for this younger generation. I recall a lot of videos being passed around of Wylie's circa '90s performances of Schindler's List on YouTube. It inspired everyone from Elene Gedevanishvilli, to recently another young Russian male skater, to Canadian Roman Sadovsky, et al. The only recent Schindler's List revivals I've truly enjoyed are those by Joshua Farris and Jason Brown. Roman's version was also okay -- he's a wonderful skater on the rise.

I hope next season will not be about battling Schindler's Lists programs. LOL! Probably not though, since Mikhail Kolyada has at least one reliable quad and I don't see Jason and Kolyada as strict rivals. There will most likely be wonderful things to see from each of these genius figure skaters in their individual performances. But hopefully after this season, skaters will put SL warhorse to rest. Sayonara. R.I.P. please.

 

[gsk8]

The point I was trying to make was that this year, this comparison to Jason, will not be beneficial to Misha.

I'm not sure I understand. There is no mention of comparing any skater, Brown or otherwise, to this music in the article? Are you trying to initiate a comparison? That two elite skaters will performing to the same music during the same season?

 

[el henry]

I'm not sure I understand. There is no mention of comparing any skater, Brown or otherwise, to this music in the article? Are you trying to initiate a comparison? That two elite skaters will performing to the same music during the same season?

I don't think I'm the first one to initiate the comparison, (although I am in this thread, that's true) but yes In fact, Tatjana said in her earlier post that Mishin was now aware of the issue, and I am not in contact with Professor Mishin, so he certainly didn't learn it from me

Maybe I am odd, but I believe when two skaters who are in the same discipline and so close in world standing skate a program to the same music in the same year, they will, IMO, be compared. I think I raised in the "Discipline" thread where we were discussing this choice earlier, I once attended a summer comp where three women skated "Fever" as their SP. We even had back to back "Fever"s. And they were definitely compared.

But it could be that Misha's music cuts are so different and choreo is so different that no one will notice.

In any event, I learned a lot from the article

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I agree but apparently Mishin has a vision I don’t think he was bored with this piece

Yep, you're probably right, since Kolyada's answer was that Mishin told him what he will be skating to for the new season, and he follows Mishin's orders. Maybe it's Mishin who became 'bored' with the White Crow, or else bored with Kolyada not skating it to its full potential! LOL!

So, Mishin has decided to try something else for Kolyada to try and free his mind with, i.e., abandon himself in the emotion of the music, and forget about thinking too much about his actual skating, which is where he seems to get stuck.

ETA:
I enjoyed reading about Kolyada's affinity for music and his interaction with Russian fans. I have a soft spot for Kolyada, since I have watched him from when he was a junior skater.

 

[Amei]

Yep, you're probably right, since Kolyada's answer was that Mishin told him what he will be skating to for the new season, and he follows Mishin's orders. Maybe it's Mishin who became 'bored' with the White Crow, or else bored with Kolyada not skating it to its full potential! LOL!

So, Mishin has decided to try something else for Kolyada to try and free his mind with, i.e., abandon himself in the emotion of the music, and forget about thinking too much about his actual skating, which is where he seems to get stuck.

Well in the article Kolyada directly says he doesn't like to skate a program for several years. But Mishin has a good POV that new programs challenge skaters. Which he makes a point - we only see a program a handful of times, the skaters hear the music and skate the programs significantly more than that.

“I don’t like to skate a program for several years, because it gets boring,” the two-time European bronze medalist noted. “To skate a 1000 times to the same music in training and then to listen to it for another year is obviously difficult,” he explained. Coach Mishin added that the program would not have looked fresh anymore by the end of the season. He also feels that making a new program always helps a skater to develop.

 

[4everchan]

Let me be the devils' advocate here.... to those thinking that Misha will be compared disadvantageously to Jason, what about the fact that honestly, some may be way more excited about Misha's version, just because it hasn't been seen already.... Perhaps Jason is disappointed that one of his direct competitors is coming with something new here... just saying it can go both ways.... it's not the same thing as when two skaters are using the music for the first time during the same season... and then there is a "ermmm let's see who brought what" ... what we see here is a skater bringing back a well-loved program... which is already in the minds of the fans and judges... while another skater, well-known for having his own style, bringing a brand new program on the same very iconic music.... I for one, am very excited to see another interpretation of SL.... if Misha's program is beautifully done, it may bring a lot of momentum for him.