Daisuke Takahashi | Page 91 | Golden Skate

Daisuke Takahashi

cdngirl

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
Nothing's coming up just by searching the internet so I assumed they don't have a show like that. But somebody from Japan will probably know better.

I've always wanted to be a fly on the wall when Dai was learning / practicing his hip hop dance for his Swan Lake SP. :biggrin: His Mambo SP also made me imagine how would that look on a dance floor. Explosive, to say at least :laugh:

Great minds think alike. I was also searching. I found this on Wikipedia but it seems to be an old show.

"The Japanese version is called Shall We Dance? It has the same title as the 1996 movie by the same name, but it has no relation to it beyond the shared name. Due to the fact that there was already a series-special dancing program, and that many cast members from it also appeared in the new program, the Japanese version was confused with a regularly scheduled version of the series-special, rather than its own version of the TV series. This one ran from 8 April 2006, to 17 March 2007 on NTV-4".

I also would have loved to see him learning the choreography. I trained in dance for many years so I think this is why I was drawn to his skating (and perhaps critical of others who the judges deem to be artistic but my trained eye says otherwise). Watching him rehearsing Swan Lake would have been so much fun and very intriguing. Any of his programs would have been so interesting to watch. He truly missed his calling as a dancer but I'm glad for his fans that he took the skating path. It would have been less wear and tear on his body but the world would have missed out on all of those special performances.
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
I trained in dance for many years so I think this is why I was drawn to his skating (and perhaps critical of others who the judges deem to be artistic but my trained eye says otherwise).
Wow! We seem to have a lot of views in common as far as artistry in skating goes but I never had any dance lessons :biggrin: I took piano lessons for some years and this was most likely my way of becoming a figure skating fan, especially of artistically skilled (at least from my point of view) skaters.

I've seen him rehearsing Swan Lake off ice backstage when he performed it again at the 2012 Friends On Ice and he looked very cool doing it, even in a small, cramped space :biggrin:
 

cdngirl

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
Speaking of choreography, this is an extract of the Home Sweet Home documentary from Fuji TV. According to Dai, this was the first time he skated on his Beatles Medley since Sochi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeBNSbSMQQQ

THANKS SO MUCH for this link! Whenever I hear the music it always makes me a little sad but as soon as I see him skating to it the sadness disappears and is replaced with sheer awe because of his extraordinary abilities. There are many parts of this program that I love but my favourite will always be the split jump which he re-created in the video you supplied so thank you very much. I hope he felt good when he was skating to it and it wasn't dredging up bad memories because he looked amazing to me... in Skate America, NHK, Nationals, Sochi and now this. Even when he makes errors I find that I forget because of his quick ability to adjust and move on combined with his outstanding skating skills and movement so by the end of his skate all I can remember is how great he was.
 

cdngirl

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
Wow! We seem to have a lot of views in common as far as artistry in skating goes but I never had any dance lessons :biggrin: I took piano lessons for some years and this was most likely my way of becoming a figure skating fan, especially of artistically skilled (at least from my point of view) skaters.

I've seen him rehearsing Swan Lake off ice backstage when he performed it again at the 2012 Friends On Ice and he looked very cool doing it, even in a small, cramped space :biggrin:

We do have similar tastes! I think to play the piano well you have to have that creativity within you so that is probably why you were drawn to Daisuke and Tatsuki. I think creative people are often drawn to other creative people.

You're lucky you saw him rehearsing, cramped space and all. I always find it intriguing to watch dancers rehearse on the spot, marking the choreography, as they go through it in their heads but only use their feet and hands remaining in one spot. I can visualize Daisuke doing this. Hopefully, one day we will see it come to life on a Dance show in Japan.
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
I loved seeing him bring back a part of the Beatles Medley once again. The time between Sochi and his comeback on the ice somehow felt very long, and he's also been in a dark place for a while (his hair stylist mentioned Dai visited him in an extremely depressed state). But he seems to have finally found peace right now, and watching him skate the medley once again feels like nothing has changed. You can hardly tell he's been through some physical and emotional hardships, he looks very fresh.

There was a video somewhere of the 2012 Friends On Ice and Dai was doing just that: rehearsing on the spot, re-watching his own program to remember the steps, preparing. I'll post it here as soon as I find it again. I have a feeling the video I used to know has been deleted meanwhile (like many others unfortunately) :no:

Edit: found another one in low quality but it's probably the only one.
http://youtu.be/wmEOOtm3Vu0?t=2m48s
 

jimeonji

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Do you have any list of Dai's upcoming ice shows the rest of this summer?
Fantasy on Ice in Toyama, July 5-6
Fantasy on Ice in Niigata, July 12-13
Prince Ice World in Tokyo, July 18-21
Friends on Ice, August 22-24

pretty sure that's it.
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Speaking of ice shows, last time he visited his hometown in Okayama he said he's considering doing his own ice show there in the future. I'm surprised he hasn't done that since 2010 after winning OBM and WGM. Rumor has it, Shizuka is going to let him produce Friends on Ice this year.
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Via Daisuke Takahashi Road to Sochi

A couple of articles from several months ago that reveal how bad the state of Daisuke's health was leading to Japanese Nationals in December and then to Sochi.
The articles were kindly translated by Miyu and Genki over at DTFF
***************************************

"During the practice to the music, Daisuke fell so badly. He just took only 10 days after that bad fall and came back to practice. In order to protect his right knee, he did not jump lutz nor flip. He also practiced to land quads on the left leg. It was so painful to watch. Despite of the severe injury, Dai practiced parts of the programs again and again until he was satisfied. It was so painful to watch that it almost brought tears to people. The way he practiced was really a good lesson to young skaters who practice in the same rink. This is how the world class skaters practice. They really lost words.

However, he still could not jump flips and lutz at the time of the Japanese National. Despite of that, Dai succeeded in flip and lutz in the latter half of the program. It seemed that Dai made a lot of mistakes if you do not how bad his condition was at the time of the Nationals. But to the eyes of the people who knew the situation, it was a death battle that Dai fought to bring surprisingly successful programs."

*********************
http://www.nnn.co.jp/dainichi/rensai/skate/140627/20140627051.html

This is a article about Taichi Honda, one of Japan’s elite junior skaters and brother of Marin Honda. He is fifteen years old now and practices in Kansai University ice rink. Though his coach is different from Dai-chan’s (Ms. Hamada and Yamato Tamura, they are Satoko Miyahara’s coaches, too), he practices with Dai-chan commonly. If you watch carefully some videos of Dai-chan’s practice in Kansai Univ’s ice rink, you can find Taichi stood still watching Dai-chan’s skate eagerly with his sister Marin.

In the article, Taichi said that he was impressed especially by Dai-chan’s performances in Sochi Olympics. “Since I watched him struggling hard during practice before Sochi, my heart trembled when I watched his free skate on TV. It was a shame he made some mistakes but I think it was exceptionally great that he still could put it together and deliver such a performance which moved people.”

It should be a great treasure for Taichi to watch closely how Dai-chan fought through for Sochi. He kept trying his best and never gave up even though the situation was that tough. In Kansai Univ rink, Nobu also practices with Dai-chan and Taichi, as well. Imagine what a great experience it is for a young skater to practice with two of our greatest male skaters!

The part about practicing quads on his left leg :eek:

Even though we knew he was fighting to get through, the exact details are still mind blowing to read. I am more and more in awe of the way he managed to stay on his feet in Sochi even though he was full of injuries (not only his knee, he also had bruises all over his body from falling in practice). He was doing absolutely anything it took to fight against all odds. It must have been really painful to try flip and lutz yet now he's performing them in ice shows very smoothly even though his knee is still not 100% recovered. What an incredible athlete.
 

mikaboo

Medalist
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Via Daisuke Takahashi Road to Sochi
The part about practicing quads on his left leg :eek:

Even though we knew he was fighting to get through, the exact details are still mind blowing to read. I am more and more in awe of the way he managed to stay on his feet in Sochi even though he was full of injuries (not only his knee, he also had bruises all over his body from falling in practice). He was doing absolutely anything it took to fight against all odds. It must have been really painful to try flip and lutz yet now he's performing them in ice shows very smoothly even though his knee is still not 100% recovered. What an incredible athlete.

Taichi's article was on my "to read" list (which I always forget to read of course) so thank you for reminding me.
Reading about Daisuke's injuries must be quite hard for his long time fans. Every time I've watched him (which has been basically once every 4 years until recently) he has been injured or recovering from an injury. Although I'd love to see him compete again, I also would like him to keep enough power to do ice shows. And yes, he definitely needs to have his own ice shows in Okayama. And I hope he invites Denis if he does :)
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Although I'd love to see him compete again, I also would like him to keep enough power to do ice shows. And yes, he definitely needs to have his own ice shows in Okayama. And I hope he invites Denis if he does :)
I think this year off will be crucial to determine whether he'll come back to competitions or retire. He will put his thoughts in order, give his body time to heal, and then he will see if he really wants to push his limits and give the Pyeongchang Olympics a try.

If he ever does his own ice show, I'm fairly certain Denis will be invited :biggrin:
 

glenncoco

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 7, 2014
I remember thinking he'd be great on the U.S. version of Dancing with the Stars and this was before Charlie and Meryl had been announced this past season. I'm sure he'd be more comfortable if there was a Japanese version of the show and I would happily sign the petition!

I wish for this so much. Big US DWTS fan here. Part of the appeal is seeing athletes who have been at the top of their field show dropped in an environment where they're unfamiliar and have to show different sides of themselves. For 10 weeks they get be romantic and sensual, aggressive and passionate, or just plain silly depending on the dance style. If they have good chemistry with their partner, all the better. Evan, Kristi and Meryl all had great journeys on the show due to great chemistry with their partners combined with grace and athleticism. I actually think even being unknown Dai could charm the socks off the DWTS American audience, he's that adorable and charismatic. Gilles Marini managed to do it, and come away with legions of fangirls despite being a Frenchman with no claim to fame besides a nude scene in one of the Sex and the City movies.:cool:

...Ahem. I got ahead of myself there. But gah, I'd give my sibling's firstborn to see Dai on any incarnation of Dancing with the Stars.

Thanks once again to all who bring over and translate Dai's interviews. I have to facepalm at Dai once again getting down on himself. Stop it! I admit, it's also worrying that he says he has no hobbies outside of skating. That's like Sports Psychology 101. The athletes who can cultivate interests outside their sport generally are better off mentally when it's time for retirement. He also should be prouder of his English skills. Of the Team Japan members I've heard speak English, Dai is by far the most fluent.

Also this ESPN fluff piece about Dai's hip hop is just the best thing ever. I could listen to him speak English all day. :p
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
In this article, what's taken me by surprise is that about one year ago Dai actually told Yukari his intention/desire to keep on competing until 2017-18 season. That was before numerous injuries during 2013-14 season of course, but still a bit of a surprise, at least to me, you know. Since the start of the season we, his fans, saw Dai walking and dragging his right foot everywhere. ;;;;;
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
In this article, what's taken me by surprise is that about one year ago Dai actually told Yukari his intention/desire to keep on competing until 2017-18 season. That was before numerous injuries during 2013-14 season of course, but still a bit of a surprise, at least to me, you know. Since the start of the season we, his fans, saw Dai walking and dragging his right foot everywhere. ;;;;;
Oh my God :eek: So this is not something he thought about after the end of the 2013-2014 season. This is very surprising. Now we can truly expect anything from him it seems.

Thank you for translating deedee!
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Oh Dai! :cry: crying! I hope he will reconsider that decision, baring everything has happened to his body.
 
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