Although we perhaps may be referring to different things by "choreography", I myself feel that this is one of the most transition- and choreo-filled programs in the field. Many ppl have actually been worried about the program being too complicated because of the heavy volume of choreography and transitional footsteps. I love many of her transitional moves, such as the long spread eagles before the second 3A, choreos and steps going into the three jump combo, the salcow right after spirals, complicated steps going into 3T, and 2A right after 3T connected by a few steps. She has very few crossovers throughout the program. She only has some going into her most difficult jumps, the two 3As and 3F-3R (she missed 3R here though). I would not think that this program has nothing but jumps; it is actually quite contrary. TAT seems to have made it a lot more difficult than needed.
Regarding the connection to the music, perhaps we again may be talking about different ways of connecting to the music. To me, this is such a musical performance. I am amazed by the ways she keeps up to the difficult beats of the waltz and highlights the melody by her footworks. In particular, her straightline step sequence is very musical that accentuates every note of the music. This performance does not present as much "story" or drama as Yukari's, Ashley's, Akiko's, or Mirai's may do because the music is basically the same from the beginning to the end. Rather, this performance is like a ballroom dance (performed by a single though) in which I enjoy the superb musicality.
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Thanks.
I'm so happy for her! What a performance! The choreography is still bland, but there're many nice transitions and it's such a difficult program. Way to go Mao!
Same here! There must be a name for fans like us because we do exist! We appreciate both of these talented ladies and can enjoy both of their skating without tearing down the other.
- quite a surprise to see a competitor born in 1985. She looks to be solid with nice jumps; her jumps remind me a lot of Mirai's in that they're both very straight and upright upon entry and throughout. The 2A-3T looked clean to my untrained eyes. I'd probably have enjoyed the program more if not for the music - I can't stand "Dark Eyes" when played sharply and with strings. I didn't like it when Nastia Liukin used a similar version, either. Sasha's version was at least more traditional and had sass.
