2014 NHK Trophy Free Dance 11/29

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

I love Vivaldi's Four Seasons — one of my favourite pieces of classical music, and find it extremely entertaining all on its own. I also find this program to it and the choreography to be a masterpiece. It wowed me the very first time I saw it and it wowed me again today. Still a few improvements to be made, but I expect that at this point in the season — it's actually good to have something to strive for. And yes, I enjoy this better than C/B.

Definitely, I love both their SD and FD and don't understand everyone's dislike. I agree. It wowed me. From beginning to end their programs just fly by. At SC one of the commentators said (of the SD), "We've just been transported to see a bull fight in Madrid. Well the GPF is in Barcelona, is that why they picked Paso for this year?


Their FD needs improvement on the twizzles but the rest just brought the music to life for me.

 

[Mrs. P]

Joylyn Yang
‏@joylynyang
Just so everyone knows, @jeanlucbaker is killin' the game. Congrats, Sid!! #Podium

https://twitter.com/joylynyang/status/538912728295825410

Joylyn, for those who don't know, is Jean-Luc's former partner. They finished 6th at the Jr. level in 2011 U.S. Nationals and competed on the JGP. Joylyn ended up having to leave the sport due to injury. The spilt was amicable and they have been very supportive of each other over the years, so seeing this made me smile.

(i.e. Not all splits have to be full of drama, ha.)

ETA: Here's Joylyn and Jean-Luc's SD from 2011 Nationals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Zy_V2VKVM

 

[Alba]

I don't dislike W&P FD, but I do expected a better program for them. That and the music choice, it's Vivaldi and it's not Vivaldi.

 

[penguin]

I like Weaver & Poje too, and I don't have any strong objection to this FD, but I think the judges are more likely to go for the big drama (hence Chock & Bates over W&P) so in that regard I wonder if it wasn't the right choice for them. The Vivaldi is elegant and smooth, but in my opinion not very memorable.

 

[mikiandorocks]

Ksenia Monko & Kirill Khaliavin:

The best skating skills here in free dance, great edges, the biggest speed. Better Twizzles then yesterday. Leaning upper body forward is still there, although it improved since last season, there is still a lot to improve.

Powerful music and powerful skating. Gradation to the end.

Great combination lift, no shaky moments although how I mentioned before it is not easy at all to lift tall long-limbed girls.



The story itself…well, Kirill somewhere mentioned that it was inspired by Rodin’s sculpture…probably mainly by Kiss which is visible at the beginning and or at the end and sometimes in the middle of the program. The admirer of Rodin’s art would say you that you can see also inspiration by another sculpture – Clasping Hands - they form an upright Cathedral as a symbol of hope and faith.

If you would look for a story the Kiss sculpture has a story line… "The sculpture, The Kiss, was originally titled Francesca da Rimini, as it depicts the 13th-century Italian noblewoman immortalised in Dante's Inferno who falls in love with her husband Giovanni Malatesta's younger brother Paolo. Having fallen in love while reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, the couple are discovered and killed by Francesca's husband. In the sculpture, the book can be seen in Paolo's hand. The lovers' lips do not actually touch in the sculpture, suggesting that they were interrupted and met their demise without their lips ever having touched."

But because choreographer was Sergei Pethukov whose works for Denkova & Staviski and Domnina & Shabalin were world-known and always very original, I am not sure whether this story would be enough for him. He was always an artist which surprised many people with his own approach. I better expect that he was inspired by Rodin’s sculptures and created some abstract dance about it – maybe about hope and faith, power and will or something like that.

Thank you. Yes, I remember reading about where they got the inspiration for the fd and that it was Rodin's work known as "The Kiss" Considering the story that led to the creation of that particular statue and that it has to do with some sort of forbidden love, to me it's perfectly fine to pick it and develop the idea for a dance. There are moments in Monko & Khaliavin's dance in which it's obvious. The first pose, the moves they do before the spin, the moves and expression before the the last step sequence, the ending with her "death" just like Francesca, etc.
So I disagree with Doris to some extent. Weaver & Poje dance was to a sculpteur and his creation. Weaver was playing a statue. But with Monko & Khaliavin it's different. It's looking to a piece of art, learning the story that inspired it and transfering a part of it to a FD. So it's not like they are doing static poses because they are statues but it's about telling the story behind it and playing those characters. That's my interpretation of it. So there is a context and a story to what they are doing.

 

[dorispulaski]

.it is just not my cuppa, but it can certainly be yours.

 

[ice coverage]

... Well the GPF is in Barcelona, is that why they picked Paso for this year?

Nope. What came first was the announcement of the Paso Doble as this season's SD pattern dance.
Almost a year then elapsed before Barcelona was chosen to host the GPF.

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...2013-2014-2015&p=732961&viewfull=1#post732961
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...Figure-Skating-quot-per-Communication-No-1854

Joylyn Yang
‏@joylynyang
Just so everyone knows, @jeanlucbaker is killin' the game. Congrats, Sid!! #Podium

https://twitter.com/joylynyang/status/538912728295825410

Joylyn, for those who don't know, is Jean-Luc's former partner. They finished 6th at the Jr. level in 2011 U.S. Nationals and competed on the JGP. Joylyn ended up having to leave the sport due to injury. The spilt was amicable and they have been very supportive of each other over the years, so seeing this made me smile.

(i.e. Not all splits have to be full of drama, ha.)

ETA: Here's Joylyn and Jean-Luc's SD from 2011 Nationals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Zy_V2VKVM

Thanks, Mrs. P. Your post made me smile too.

 

[Alba]

Thank you. Yes, I remember reading about where they got the inspiration for the fd and that it was Rodin's work known as "The Kiss" Considering the story that led to the creation of that particular statue and that it has to do with some sort of forbidden love, to me it's perfectly fine to pick it and develop the idea for a dance.

I think the inspiration and the idea was known to Zhulin, since he danced to that in Albertville.
U&Z FD, choreo Giuseppe Arena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnmMPaZhzTc

I loved that FD and thought they should've won silver there.

 

[rain]

I don't dislike W&P FD, but I do expected a better program for them. That and the music choice, it's Vivaldi and it's not Vivaldi.

The Vivaldi is elegant and smooth, but in my opinion not very memorable.

See, this is what baffles me. I find this program to be one of the best I've seen in recent years, choreographically speaking. Weaver and Poje have always been a bit hit and miss for me with regards to their material, and this, along with last season's FD, are the best they've done, and absolutely world class. It's a stunning piece of work that I, at least, will remember for years and years to come.

As for "it's Vivaldi and it's not Vivaldi", what does that even mean?

 

[dorispulaski]

I always thought that the statues concept was problematical enough that U&Z did not do as well as they should have that year.

Likewise Humanity in Motion was not the hit for W&P that Je Suis Malade was the season before it, nor than Maria of Buenos Aires was after it.

I am afraid that the live statues concept always reminds me of this joke.
http://jokes.cc.com/funny-god-jokes/q831mo/statues-come-to-life

 

[blancanieves]

As for "it's Vivaldi and it's not Vivaldi", what does that even mean?

It's The Four Seasons, recomposed by Max Richter.

 

[meteorlight8]

Well the world would be a pretty boring place if we all thought the same about all these dances

I quite loved M/K's free dance myself (but then I do tend to love the dramatic programs, most of the time ... not B/S' Birds tho hehe). I thought they were really sharp technically and had a lot of power and speed. Enjoyed it (statues or not) more than H/B, whose R+J is nice, but a bit too sugary for my taste (also imo a cheap knockoff of their beautiful Amelie program from last season). Still, good for them (H/B) getting on the podium their first senior season, and they're improving fast!

Gutted for Coombs/Buckland - they have one of my favorite FDs this season, but they really just gave it away. I can't say I'm not entirely disappointed as now I/Z get to go to GPF, but I was more rooting for C/B as this season might have been their only shot.

I'm warming up to W/P's FD, but I still don't love it. It's kind of bland to me, and as I adore Four Seasons, I've on a couple of occasions now ended up zoning out of their programs and just listening to the music (and having to re-watch again). I do really like that ending lift though.

S/K must be cursed when it comes to NHK. Still, she showed a fighting spirit when things got tough out there (unfortunately, it almost felt like she was willing him into continuing after each major flub). For me, this competition really just highlighted what a weak competitor he is. He's uber talented, true ... but so is Jeremy Abbott... Anyway, I don't think they're going to do anything so dramatic as to break up anytime soon, but their stock with the Russian Fed (not to mention their egos) had to have just taken a huge hit.

 

[tulosai]

Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov:

Once it happens and partner can’t save his lady, then he should do anything to support her, excuse to her, make sure whether she is OK and simply jump around her for at least next 24 hours because frankly no matter what lady did wrong (if she did anything wrong), he was the one who failed and was not able to protect her.

I agree if only because trust has to be rebuilt so that the lady wants the man to lift her again, but something important I don't think anyone has said is that BOTH people have to be concerned with BOTH of their safety first and foremost. In the first disaster lift, BOTH should have abandoned it when it was clear he was really unstable and that she and he together had botched the entry. She should NEVER have even tried to get her leg over his head, and once he started wobbling wildly he should have put her down. They both need to think about taking responsibility for her safety, which is not a joke. Medals can never be more important than not being seriously seriously hurt- or even dead.

 

[Alba]

As for "it's Vivaldi and it's not Vivaldi", what does that even mean?

The version of Vivaldi chosen. I think the original would've been a much better choice.
I think it's always the case with the classics, but more so because this version has a lot of repetition at the beginning. I like the background music, but the violins here repeats the same tune (I don't know if that's correct in english) over and over for almost 2 minutes.
It leaves me a bit on the edge, expecting something which becomes a bit boring. Bits of music here and there, stitched together and the final result leaves me a bit underwhelmed.
It's not that bad, but I would've loved to see them skate to the orginal version because it is indeed elegant, smooth, dynamic and beautiful.
Just my personal taste. I don't know if I gave the idea.

 

[Alba]

I am afraid that the live statues concept always reminds me of this joke.
http://jokes.cc.com/funny-god-jokes/q831mo/statues-come-to-life

It's the first time I read this joke.

 

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

I always thought that the statues concept was problematical enough that U&Z did not do as well as they should have that year.

Likewise Humanity in Motion was not the hit for W&P that Je Suis Malade was the season before it, nor than Maria of Buenos Aires was after it.

I am afraid that the live statues concept always reminds me of this joke.
http://jokes.cc.com/funny-god-jokes/q831mo/statues-come-to-life

That was the first performance of Weaver and Poje that I saw. Humanity in motion was a masterpiece to me. Everything about their movements conveyed both the idea and the spirit of the music to me. If I hadn't liked Tessa and Scott's skating first I would say that it was the best FD I ever watched.

 

[rain]

The version of Vivaldi chosen. I think the original would've been a much better choice.
I think it's always the case with the classics, but more so because this version has a lot of repetition at the beginning. I like the background music, but the violins here repeats the same tune (I don't know if that's correct in english) over and over for almost 2 minutes.
It leaves me a bit on the edge, expecting something which becomes a bit boring. Bits of music here and there, stitched together and the final result leaves me a bit underwhelmed.
It's not that bad, but I would've loved to see them skate to the orginal version because it is indeed elegant, smooth, dynamic and beautiful.
Just my personal taste. I don't know if I gave the idea.

Fair enough. I'm not always a fan of remixed versions of songs either. Especially with lyrics being banned for so long we've heard some pretty terrible ones over the years. This version of Four Seasons doesn't bother me at all, though, and I really like the selections they've made from what is, of course, a much longer piece of music.

 

[Alba]

The program itslef is growing in me though. It will never be wow, but it's much better than when I saw it for the first time at Nebelhorn. Certainly much better dance than Chock&Bates. At least in my book.

 

[KKonas]

I think the inspiration and the idea was known to Zhulin, since he danced to that in Albertville.
U&Z FD, choreo Giuseppe Arena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnmMPaZhzTc

I loved that FD and thought they should've won silver there.

At the time, Giuseppe Arena was head choreographer of the La Scala Ballet Company in Milan. He also did choreo for Krylova & Ovsiannikov, Victor Petrenko, Philippe Candeloro among a number of others.

 

[Alba]

At the time, Giuseppe Arena was head choreographer of the La Scala Ballet Company in Milan. He also did choreo for Krylova & Ovsiannikov, Victor Petrenko, Philippe Candeloro among a number of others.

Yes, Candeloro's D'Artagnan.
He's coming back next season to work with some great skaters as their choreo.