So nicely stated, Olympia!
Mao's Brand New Chopin EX at Stars on Ice in Black Dress
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So nicely stated, Olympia!
She's made some big improvements in her skating, but more can be done. Her technical weaknesses are her biggest enemy, and these things will need to take plenty of time to sort itself out. Once she can move past this, I'm sure she will keep working on being a performer, and improve her connection with the audience.
I totally agree, andofan, you express my sentiments exactly. :thumbsup:
I'm still looking for that breakthrough performance that I know she is capable of when it comes to diversity, going outside her comfort zone, not being afraid to show what she feels inside. And also imho she needs a complete makeover, make-up & hairstyle, this also takes guts to try something different outside her comfort zone.
And if Joannie Rochette could take 2 years off to improve her lutz, et al, so can Mao, which she is definitely working on with Mr. Sato. This is what I love about Mao, her constant desire to be better than what she is, to keep improving in ALL aspects (btw Mirai Nagasu said it best in her latest interview about not wanting to reach the ceiling, but keep walking up to the sky!)
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm still looking for that breakthrough performance that I know she is capable of when it comes to diversity, going outside her comfort zone, not being afraid to show what she feels inside. And also imho she needs a complete makeover, make-up & hairstyle, this also takes guts to try something different outside her comfort zone.
And if Joannie Rochette could take 2 years off to improve her lutz, et al, so can Mao, which she is definitely working on with Mr. Sato. This is what I love about Mao, her constant desire to be better than what she is, to keep improving in ALL aspects (btw Mirai Nagasu said it best in her latest interview about not wanting to reach the ceiling, but keep walking up to the sky!)
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just saw Black Swan last week (it really got under my skin! but fantastic movie). This white/black swan analogy of Mao/Yuna is really apt. Yuna is a natural black swan: sensual, alluring, dangerous... She plays that role so well, because I think it's totally natural to her. Some complained about her programs last year that she somehow acts the sexy girl in every program even when it's not called for. And Mao is just the opposite, she's so pure and delicate, and a perfectionist trying so hard to achieve the impossible (even stating several times publicly that she hopes to fall in love soon so that she can add that dimension to her skating). So, yeah, Bell was a step forward for her. But it seems to me what she needs is life experience, just as Nina, to find that extra dimension in her inner self, and therefore be able to express it in her skating, too. Hopefully whatever it takes for her to mature as a young woman and artist won't be as crazy as what it took Portman's Nina, though!
ETA: To carry that analogy just a step further, maybe she should get Morozov as a coach, and Miki as a training mate/best friend.
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- Feb 17, 2010
ETA: To carry that analogy just a step further, maybe she should get Morozov as a coach, and Miki as a training mate/best friend.
EW NO STOP! I just got an unpleasant image in my mind of Mao and Morozov....
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- Mar 23, 2010
I just saw Black Swan last week (it really got under my skin! but fantastic movie). This white/black swan analogy of Mao/Yuna is really apt. Yuna is a natural black swan: sensual, alluring, dangerous... She plays that role so well, because I think it's totally natural to her. Some complained about her programs last year that she somehow acts the sexy girl in every program even when it's not called for. And Mao is just the opposite, she's so pure and delicate, and a perfectionist trying so hard to achieve the impossible (even stating several times publicly that she hopes to fall in love soon so that she can add that dimension to her skating). So, yeah, Bell was a step forward for her. But it seems to me what she needs is life experience, just as Nina, to find that extra dimension in her inner self, and therefore be able to express it in her skating, too. Hopefully whatever it takes for her to mature as a young woman and artist won't be as crazy as what it took Portman's Nina, though!
ETA: To carry that analogy just a step further, maybe she should get Morozov as a coach, and Miki as a training mate/best friend.
Heh i knew someone will make that analogy about Mao and Yuna from the film Black Swan
However, I thought the whole point about the movie was that we are all capable of playing both, through the maturity of of our real life self we learn to better our artistry in seeking perfection. I agree Mao could learn with more life experience like fall in love, and think Tat has already adviced her that.
Some people are just more naturally gifted, others need to be inspired by real life events to gain an understanding to express themselves with fuller conviction. Feelings are such an abstract thing to truly 'get'.
I did unintentionally laughed out your at your final comment. While I can certainly imagine Morozov as the lecherous Leroy who's is getting Miki to 'feel' her Cleopatra, I have hard time to imagine Miki being Mao's Lily, it would just be too scandalous!! And what about Taka? He is the principle who claims he will never sleep with Nina in the movie and then made her real self - Natalie Portman pregnant? Nooooo!!!!!!
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I just saw Black Swan last week (it really got under my skin! but fantastic movie). This white/black swan analogy of Mao/Yuna is really apt. Yuna is a natural black swan: sensual, alluring, dangerous... She plays that role so well, because I think it's totally natural to her. Some complained about her programs last year that she somehow acts the sexy girl in every program even when it's not called for. And Mao is just the opposite, she's so pure and delicate, and a perfectionist trying so hard to achieve the impossible (even stating several times publicly that she hopes to fall in love soon so that she can add that dimension to her skating). So, yeah, Bell was a step forward for her. But it seems to me what she needs is life experience, just as Nina, to find that extra dimension in her inner self, and therefore be able to express it in her skating, too. Hopefully whatever it takes for her to mature as a young woman and artist won't be as crazy as what it took Portman's Nina, though!
ETA: To carry that analogy just a step further, maybe she should get Morozov as a coach, and Miki as a training mate/best friend.
Excellent, excellent post, feraina! *two thumbs way up!*
You too express my sentiments exactly, I couldn't have said it any better myself.
BRAVO!!!!!!Lowtherlore, Mao already said many times that in her Chopin exhibition she is just portraying a ballerina who is practicing or taking a ballet lesson. She is not performing a role of heroine or she is not telling a story or a drama. She says that she wants to show to the audience just pure basics, and says that she doesn't want to add extras to her new ex. (proper words don't come to my mind - in Japanese yokeinamono). And even by an exhibition consisted of basics, she has fascinated and mesmerized audience greatly already.
And if we look at her former exhibitions like Caprice and Scent of a Woman, I don't think we could say that she hasn't grown an inch as a performer since her Nocturne program.
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When Mao skates, I always get a feeling of connection with her--even in her "Bells" program with that off-putting arrangement of Rachmaninoff. Her performance skill is one of her strengths, I'd say. Otherwise she'd just be a glorified jumping bean, and she certainly isn't that. Her artistic flow, her musicality, and her dramatic skills all lift her skating way above the ordinary.
Since a certain amount of "skater appreciation" is subjective, everyone isn't going to react the same way as I do. But those who do respond to her talents do so very strongly, and there are a lot of us.
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