Yuka Sato: skater, commentator, choreographer, coach | Golden Skate

Yuka Sato: skater, commentator, choreographer, coach

Thank you so much, Herios! I would never have found this article on my own, and it's a delight. Even if Yuka were not one of my favorite skaters ever, I would have loved this article. It's a college class on skating, so clear and thorough and enlightening. I love Yuka's point about the simplicity of the smooth glide. Her comparison with ballet, where someone lifting his partner has to walk from one end of the performance space to the other, whereas in skating the partner can glide with one push, is exactly why I prefer skating to ballet: in skating you can portray motion and stillness at the same time, because you can hold a pose and yet keep moving.

And then add to this that Yuka is one of my favorite skaters ever. She was always so elegant and musical, with silent blades across the ice and such a gorgeous back. And that radiant smile. I'd be sorry that she doesn't skate so much nowadays, except that it's so thrilling that she's become a coach and will be contributing to skating in the years to come. I can't imagine anyone who would be more compatible with Alissa.
 
This is one of the most interesting interview I've read in a while! I would love to have Yuka as a coach!
 
Curious about what she is like as a commentator. I heard that she favorably mentioned about her own choreo when Kozuka skated and released a short (disappointed) sigh when Jeremy fell at a competition.
Could anyone post a link please? Any vid that she appeared as a commentator will be greatly appreciated.
 
It would be interesting to hear her. (Hope someone can translate for us!)

One of the problems with the skating world is that it's so small, and some people wear so many hats that they end up having to commentate on their own students or on people for whom they choreographed. Sandra Bezic is a prime example. She has done a lot of commentating, and she has choreographed for some top contenders, including two OGM winners that I can think of, Lipinski and Yamaguchi. I don't know what the etiquette of such a situation is. Of course, commentators can also be partisan just on the strength of having someone from their country in the running. One need just think about the 2002 Olympics, with Sandra and Scotty's reaction at the pairs competition. These reactions are natural, and people aren't robots. It doesn't make any of the commentators bad people. I guess we as educated viewers just have to use our judgment and filter out certain reactions that we see from the broadcast booth.
 
What an interesting and lovely woman. I really like this interview thanks for sharing.

I think Yuka has the assuring sensibility to bring out the artist in her skaters, she seems like such a grounded and decent person from the interview, someone you'd learn alot about life and enjoy hanging out more than just learning skating with.

I have always like Jeremy's style and really likes Alissa's program this year, elegant, mature and lady like - almost a breath of fresh air among the US ladies which seems slightly teen bopper (nothing wrong with that, but variety is the spice of life) and a bit unrefined. I like reading about how Alissa took back her own life with more responsibility, live on her own and how she is looking long term about shaping her career. I find it fascinating that many seem so have written her off on this board at the beginning of 2010 and then become fan again after her GPF. It takes character to come back like that and I really admire her for it.

I'd love Alissa to do well at Nationals (along with Mirai) - it is the artistry I enjoy the the most about skating, about maximising the potentials the slippery ice can provide heightened sense of artistic expressions, emotions, that take you to another world, another time, another presence that seems to defy gravity. Ballet and other form of dance are able to achieve this with limited success, but ultimately they tend to pull you back down to gravity, even with years of disciplined training (even decades) attempting to defy the human constricts.
 
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Skating is like Narnia in the story: once a queen of skating, always a queen of skating. (This goes for kings, too.) Yuka doesn't get any less wonderful because other good skaters are competing now! Someone that far above the average will always be skating royalty. Her particular gifts—beautiful bladework, fast feet, flowing lines, musicality, strong technique—do not become any less beautiful when compared with the skaters of today. They're still pretty rare, after all.
 
Hehe... sillylionlove, wisdom usually comes with age, may be you are more wiser than I can possibly imagine. I know clearly Olympia is.

I agree, once a queen is always a queen no matter what happens in the future. Just like with anything, the great artist of today doesn't take away anything from the great artist of the past, in fact they benefit from their wisdom and experience, which Yuka's pupil is clearly benefiting.

Actually if you really look at it objectively, all great work should be revered and all this squabbling is just tittle tattle but fun and amusements for the fans of the skaters and the sport. :)
 
I take no offense. Anyone on here that has ever met me knows that I am probably one of the most obnoxious and sarcastic people you will every meet. I very rarely take anything that seriously even if it seems like I do. It's all in good fun.

But seriously, I can really see the influence that Yuka has given to both Alyssa and Jeremy.
 
But you started to work with Takahiko when he was much younger, right?
Much younger, he was about 14 or 15. Very shy. He is a typical boy who just wants to be outdoors, play soccer... "Dancing in front of people is like something embarrassing. That's something not for me to do", he was just that kind of boy.

Then why did he choose skating?
He likes skating. But just the performing part of it was a bit embarrassing for him.
Click to expand...

haha, make sense.
cute Kozuka!
 
Olympia said:
Sandra Bezic is a prime example. She has done a lot of commentating, and she has choreographed for some top contenders, including two OGM winners that I can think of, Lipinski and Yamaguchi.
Click to expand...

And don't forget Brian Boitano.
 
Ooh, yes! How could Boitano have slipped my mind. Thanks, Oreo. And that was one heck of a program, too. You give me a good excuse to go and rewatch.

And there's also her wonderful choreography for Stars on Ice--not that this would affect the objectivity of her commentating, but this is a good opportunity to mention it. She is the choreographer of one of my favorite pieces ever. This kind of choreography is what skating is for--innovative, flowing movement, narrative, emotional power that goes way beyond words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpDZf82KYhA
 
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