- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
For those wondering about her 3A entrance, this tweet breaks it down:
https://twitter.com/quadlz/status/1183429829808545793?s=21
https://twitter.com/quadlz/status/1183429829808545793?s=21
Alena Kostornaia
- Thread starter vesperalvioletta
- Start date
4k fancam 2019 Finlandia Trophy
FS - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5g4yKi_H9c
FS K&C - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1dWm_b8VY
Award Ceremony - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cpr62DLSrI&t
FS - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5g4yKi_H9c
FS K&C - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1dWm_b8VY
Award Ceremony - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cpr62DLSrI&t
From an interview to Massimiliano Ambesi:
Alena Kostornaia is almost an ethereal figure. She is the total package like Yuzuru Hanyu, the skater who, without ifs and buts, changed the history of the discipline.
She is a girl with a rare smoothness, an innate elegance, an ability to identify with the music and the part that creates instant empathy.
Then there is the rest, because we are talking about a skater who has already landed in competition a jump like the triple axel, that is only for a select few, inserting perfectly the element into the choreography without any kind of pauses or downtime.
Usually, not much is said about the sequences of steps, but for Kostornaia it is necessary to emphasize the quality of the turns, characterized not only by the obvious edge of entry but also by the more and more rare edge of exit, denoting top class skating skills and attention to detail.
[interviewer]
Reading in the net and listening to your words, I get the impression that Kostornaia is considered something different from all the others. What did you think the first time you saw her compete in an international competition?
I thought about The Foreigner, an American band, popular in the late seventies and early eighties. The refrain of one of their main hits sounded like this: "I had been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life".
https://www.oasport.it/2019/10/ambesi-winter-corner-da-yuzuru-hanyu-ad-alena-kostornaia-tanti-buoni-motivi-per-seguire-il-grand-prix/
Alena Kostornaia is almost an ethereal figure. She is the total package like Yuzuru Hanyu, the skater who, without ifs and buts, changed the history of the discipline.
She is a girl with a rare smoothness, an innate elegance, an ability to identify with the music and the part that creates instant empathy.
Then there is the rest, because we are talking about a skater who has already landed in competition a jump like the triple axel, that is only for a select few, inserting perfectly the element into the choreography without any kind of pauses or downtime.
Usually, not much is said about the sequences of steps, but for Kostornaia it is necessary to emphasize the quality of the turns, characterized not only by the obvious edge of entry but also by the more and more rare edge of exit, denoting top class skating skills and attention to detail.
[interviewer]
Reading in the net and listening to your words, I get the impression that Kostornaia is considered something different from all the others. What did you think the first time you saw her compete in an international competition?
I thought about The Foreigner, an American band, popular in the late seventies and early eighties. The refrain of one of their main hits sounded like this: "I had been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life".
https://www.oasport.it/2019/10/ambesi-winter-corner-da-yuzuru-hanyu-ad-alena-kostornaia-tanti-buoni-motivi-per-seguire-il-grand-prix/
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
From an interview to Massimiliano Ambesi:
Alena Kostornaia is almost an ethereal figure. She is the complete package like Yuzuru Hanyu, the skater who, without ifs and buts, changed the history of the discipline.
She is a girl with a rare smoothness, an innate elegance, an ability to identify with the music and the part that creates instant empathy.
Then there is the rest, because we are talking about a skater who has already landed in competition a jump like the triple axel, that is only for a select few, inserting perfectly the element in the choreography without any kind of pauses or downtime.
Usually, not much is said about the sequences of steps, but for Kostornaia it is necessary to emphasize the quality of the turns, characterized not only by the obvious edge of entry but also by the more and more rare edge of exit, denoting top class skating skills and attention to detail.
[interviewer]
Reading in the net and listening to your words, I get the impression that Kostornaia is considered something different from all the others. What did you think the first time you saw her compete in an international competition?
I thought about The Foreigner, an American band, popular in the late seventies and early eighties. The refrain of one of their main hits sounded like this: "I had been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life".
https://www.oasport.it/2019/10/ambesi-winter-corner-da-yuzuru-hanyu-ad-alena-kostornaia-tanti-buoni-motivi-per-seguire-il-grand-prix/
wow, that's probably the best compliment you can get as a skater!
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
Re Alyona's skating skills and jumps, these are the work of Dudakov and Rozanov? The artistry is most likely by Gleikhengauz/Tutberidze and Alyona herself, but D and R deserve all the credit for raising Alyona to this level of skating.
The article about Alyona's SP (music, choreography, dress etc.)
On the sky midnight an angel flew
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/artinsport/2606014.html
On the sky midnight an angel flew
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/artinsport/2606014.html
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2019
I know you mean well in your comment so sorry in advance! l'll carry on giving all the credit to Alyona.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2017
I don't think it's right to give all the credit to the last coaching team of a skater, she's not a kid who just started to skate two years ago.
She has build, step by step, the skater she is now, with the help of every coaches and experiences.
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2019
Aww, look at this. How cute is this?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3u9A16p1ee/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3u9A16p1ee/
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2019
Not all, but in this case the most. During her fist international season she managed to get a first spot not because her previous results, but because of the progress she made within the first months in Chrustalnyi. Suum quique.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
i love this part
"What is divine skating? How can it be described that distinguishes it from the “earthly” slip? You can choose many specialized terms, but the essence boils down to two things. The first is gliding. Skating Alena is perhaps the best illustration of what stretched socks and soft knees are. Its blades move on the ice with such smoothness with which a sharp knife cuts warm butter. Secondly, amazing clarity. In skating Alyona there is no fuss, there are no awkward positions: every second of her programs can be parsed into frames, and there will not be a single unsuccessful one."
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
Here is my take at:
An angel flew through a midnight sky
“People are so used to living in an atmosphere of ugliness and disharmony, naturally, a person is by nature drawn to beauty in all its manifestations. It calms the soul and helps people find inner stability, which they often don’t have.” (C) V. Wulf
When it became known at the beginning of last season that in Alena Kostornaya's program would appear the image of an angel, her fans in different parts of the world unanimously expressed their approval: indeed, who else can portray an unearthly creature on ice with her beauty and skating, to which the epithet "divine" is so often applied?
What is divine skating? How can it be described what distinguishes it from “earthly” skating? You can pick up a lot of specialized terms, but the essence boils down to two things. The first is skating itself. Alyona's skating is perhaps the best illustration of what stretched feet and soft knees are. Her blades move over the ice with the same smoothness with which a sharp knife cuts warm butter. Secondly, amazing clarity. In Alyona's skating there are no disturbances, there are no awkward positions: every second of her programs can be cut into separate pictures, and there will not be any unsuccessful ones.
It is also striking that Alyona has demonstrated such an extraordinary level of skating skills not for the first season, since she only makes her debut in senior skating. Few manage to achieve such perfection in adulthood, while to her as early as 14 years old it has manifested itself.
I think, in many ways, this is her innate gift, thanks to which everything that Alyona does on ice seems graceful and aesthetic, even if she just crosses the ice rink, like in warm-ups. However, such mastery due to natural grace alone is impossible - this requires daily work on posture, on the work of each muscle, each phalanx of the fingers. So talent turns into genius.
The 'Angel' program was kept for a second season by the decision of the coaching staff, and this decision is quite justified. The performance was very successful, and after a difficult offseason, when Alyona was recovering from an injury that did not allow her to compete in the World Junior Championships. For the same reason, last season it was not possible to put down this fat “dot” by demonstrating programs at the main competition of the year. And of course, the contrast “ angel / demon” in short and free programs is a great opportunity to demonstrate the artistry and versatility of the skater.
A new dress was sewn for the program: the colour scheme and some elements were left unchanged, but the style has changed. I personally like this version: I like the fact that Alyona shows her shoulders and back, the embroidery on the back is also very good. The only thing I would change are the gloves - I really liked the translucent gloves for the custom programs of Alina Zagitova and Anna Shcherbakova, and here you could create the same with the same silver feathers like on the back of the dress. Although long white gloves emphasize the work of the hands very beautifully.
Since the production is not new, the libretto to it is already known:
"I am an angel who descended from heaven and lived some time on earth. At the end of the program, I was finally able to return to heaven."
To display this story, Daniil Gleikhengauz selected the music for the series "Leftovers" by Max Richter, a British film composer and pianist. Perhaps the idea of using this particular soundtrack for the program about the angel rose in the director because of this poster, where the crumbling stucco looks like wings: link to picture
“Leftovers” is a dramatic supernatural series, and the musical accompaniment for it is written accordingly: tense and anxious, perfectly suitable for displaying the internal state of a resident of heaven, who, by the will of fate, ended up in a strange land for him. The first part of the program is staged to a solitary piano: this is the story of the tragic fall of an angel from heaven and his acquaintance with the world of mere mortals:
links to clips with Alyona performing what is implied by the author
In this part Alyona shows her magnificent Axel, triple Lutz and completes it with a combination spin. For her execution of the Axel, two members of the judging panel rated Alyona 5 out of 5 possible GoE points: in fact, the ideal recipe for a double Axel is to enter from an Ina Bauer, span of flight, altitude (such that it’s a sin not to put another turn there), but leaving through an elegant jump "falling leaf", you can't imagine anything better.
The beginning of a new part: in this beautiful choreographic composition, the angel spreads its wings. The music changes, the strings come in and a high, tense whistle sounds in the background.
In this part, the angel is fighting to return to heaven, here we see several elements and movements symbolising his attempts to break away from the earth:
And the final pose, take off, catharsis. By the way, it is noteworthy that the composition of the program is like mirror: at the beginning of the program we see the Carrigan spiral backwards, and here - forwards:
lots of links to clips and photos
Angel Alyona Kostornaya is not a frivolous cupid. This is a severe creation, detached, "not of this world." The skater copes with this role perfectly - let's pay attention to her facial expression, half-closed eyes:
It will be incredibly interesting to watch how this program will be finalized and transformed during the season, and I think that the changes will affect not only the jumping part, but also the choreographic elements. For Alyona, this is a challenge, for the audience - the opportunity to take a fresh look at the already known production and enjoy beauty and harmony. Indeed, for this we are probably watching figure skating.
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Another great piece by Leica, also author of Art in Sports blog with excellent analysis of Shcherbakova, Trusova and Zagitova's programs.
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2018
I love the reviews on this blog - very thoughtful, sophisticated.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2014
A weird thing I noticed from Finlandia was Alena nonchalantly rubbing her hands together at supersonic speeds.
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2017
- Country
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For those wondering, I believe Olga Ryabenko did Alyona's dresses again this year. She hasn't updated her Instagram in a while, but Alyona just wished her a happy birthday using photos of costumes Olga has (presumably) designed for her.
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2019
Right before that she reaches down to wipe ice off of her blades, so she was probably trying to get the ice off of her hands. But wow it does look like she moves her hands really fast
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
