2016 JGP Czech Skate Ladies SP

[Sam-Skwantch]

I thought Lozko's music was far "screechier" than Kihira's.

Really? I found Lozko's music to be more of that weebly wobbly type sound :whack:

 

[bluelutz]

watched Rika's SP a few times. quite difficult piece of music for a junior skater to interpret, but she interpreted really well. also many other splendid musicality/interpretation throughout this piece by this girl. She is the real deal!

She is known to be a very inconsistent skater, @the recent domestic competition, just a few weeks ago, she was 5th.
And also until like last year she did not have much musicality either, more like a jumping bean type.
So I was a bit shocked by seeing her new SP. I guess Jeff did a great job for her.
@the last Japanese novice Nationals, Rika was 1st and Mako was 2nd,
a new girl from the team Machiko Yamada/Mihoko Higuchi,
and later they participated Junior Nationals, where Mako did much better than Rika.
@the recent domestic, Mako 1st, Riko 2nd, a new girl from team Mie Hamada, YunaS 3rd,
Yuhana Yokoi 4th, who also tried 3A, and Rika 5th.
Personally I prefer Mako to Rika because Mako is more musical,
and she got the similar technical contents to Rika's besides 3A.
We will see Mako next week.

 

[yyyskate]

also, quite lovely Anastasia, different from streamlined Russian girls we used to see. especially her use of arms. that is real ballet (love her wrist and fingers), but I agree with another poster above that she maybe need to look up a bit. Her musicality is delicate in this piece, but I need to see more performance from her to decide on that. her jumps are abit worrisome. Air position not ideal and landing reminds me a little bit of Sima. I really hope we can see more of this girl from Russia.

 

[Lipea]

Gubanova honestly has the best posture I've ever seen in a lady-skater. Can't remember anyone with such a head/neck/arms/even fingers and so natural. To give her the Swan is like to celebrate the Russian centuries-long tradition of great balerinas performing it.

 

[yyyskate]

She is known to be a very inconsistent skater, @the recent domestic competition, just a few weeks ago, she was 5th.
And also until like last year she did not have much musicality either, more like a jumping bean type.
So I was a bit shocked by seeing her new SP. I guess Jeff did a great job for her.
@the last Japanese novice Nationals, Rika was 1st and Mako was 2nd,
a new girl from the team Machiko Yamada/Mihoko Higuchi,
and later they participated Junior Nationals, where Mako did much better than Rika.
@the recent domestic, Mako 1st, Riko 2nd, a new girl from team Mie Hamada, YunaS 3rd,
Yuhana Yokoi 4th, who also tried 3A, and Rika 5th.
Personally I prefer Mako to Rika because Mako is more musical,
and she got the similar technical contents to Rika's besides 3A.
We will see Mako next week.

THANKS for this info, this is my first time see Rika, so I dont know her past, but I am really positively impressed by her. Hope she can continue going upwards. Looking forward to see this Mako girl form Japan next week. I love musical girls:luv17:

 

[bluelutz]

Yeah, watching Gubanova is like watching a great tradition of Russia, Ballet/Gymnastics/Rhythm Gymnastics.

 

[Lipea]

also, quite lovely Anastasia, different from streamlined Russian girls we used to see. especially her use of arms. that is real ballet (love her wrist and fingers), but I agree with another poster above that she maybe need to look up a bit. Her musicality is delicate in this piece, but I need to see more performance from her to decide on that. her jumps are abit worrisome. Air position not ideal and landing reminds me a little bit of Sima. I really hope we can see more of this girl from Russia.

It is interesting to see how (originally) Saint-Petersburg-trained skaters are different from Moscow ones. It looks like S-P girls have better SS and postire and Moscow girls more consistent jumpers and competitively stronger.

 

[shiroKJ]

I get similar feelings watching Gubanova skate as I do watching Kostner and she's still just a baby! I don't know how her jumps will fare in the future, but she is a beautiful skater to watch regardless.

 

[elbkup]

How so? Tsygane is Ravel's absolute masterpiece, and program was made excellent for it. I am so glad some skaters sometimes go beyond the cheesy movie and pop music. You should listen to the entire piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K71LvN-xZlc

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0dn3_ReGPyM

George Balanchine also choreographed a ballet for Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins... Discordant violin is played out as a gypsy woman dances alone in a forest in the moonlight... her partner (? A dream) joins her at about 4:56.... where the music softens somewhat as they dance.. looks as though some of Rika's moves may have bee inspired by the Balanchine ballet..

Just wanted to add that I liked Rika's performance very much and thought her music choice was unique :gclap::gclap:

 

[Crossover]

I thought Lozko's music was far "screechier" than Kihira's.

Lozko's music with a woman screaming throughout the song drove me crazy. I really don't see how her team chose such version for her. Misfit.

 

[Crossover]

Although I predicted Rika to win the event, that is just based on her technical prowess to be able to land 3A-3T even in practice along with the fact that the other Russian participants in the event didn't look as strong as her layout. However she turned out to present a pleasing skating. She is not a jumping bean, but a full packaged skater already.

Gubanova, such a ballerina-like skater could move her upper body and arms so softly and perform right with note, but her jumps, especially her jump take-offs are not desirable which disrupted my anticipation on her overall skate. Lozko's awful music choice and too hurried skating without controlling tempos left me cold despite her gorgeous spins.

 

[Interspectator]

I went to sleep before Rika and Anastasiia performed. Wow. Super good. This group of girls have better performance and basic skills than the first JGP event IMO. They not only perform the choreography but they are beginning to perform the intent of the music as well. It's good to see.
Looking forward to seeing a 3A tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

 

[chuckm]

They both have MUCH better posture than Ms. Zagitova.

 

[Shayuki]

Missed this.

I found Rika to be pretty meh and the music was really weird. Of course, it was clean... Looking forward to the FS mostly for the 3A, not that much else. Then again, with better music there's a chance she'll blow me away.

As for Lozko, I like this program. I had wondered about her T combos because she did not do a single T-combo last season, not even with a 2T. I feel like this season's rules hurt her quite a bit, but then again she really should get herself a T combo.

Gubanova on the other hand I really enjoyed. I was afraid for the falls and fall she did, but the rest of her performance was great. To me she felt much improved from last season in this regard and I believe this is the first time she got a level 4 step sequence. I remember seeing her with lvl 3s throughout last season. Hopefully she'll have a clean FS, it'd be a treat.

Special mention to just how Gubanova looks out there in general. Good posture and all. It's so much nicer to look at than someone like Radionova.

Might also add that in skating skills both Gubanova and Kihira are significantly ahead of Lozko. Lozko just looks really slow in comparison. It'd be a shame if she became irrelevant and lost her spot because her spins are truly spectacular.

 

[lauravvv]

I thought Lozko's music was far "screechier" than Kihira's.

Lozko's music with a woman screaming throughout the song drove me crazy. I really don't see how her team chose such version for her. Misfit.

Lozko's awful music choice and too hurried skating without controlling tempos left me cold despite her gorgeous spins.

Lozko's "screechy" and "awful" music with the "screaming" woman is Eugen Doga's (the waltz from the movie 'My Sweet and Tender Beast' must be one of his best known pieces) version about the 'Swan Lake' main theme from a movie about the legendary ballerina Anna Pavlova. The "screaming" woman is a vocalize sang by an opera singer (obviously, although I don't know the singer). I personally think calling it "screaming" is stretching it a lot.

 

[hippomoomin]

Judging from the SP, I feel more likely Rika is going to be clean than Gubanova in the LP. It is just the way Rika jumps, looked effortless and secure. Gubanova didn't have a good record for her 3-3, and even her 3L in the short had a long setup. She is another case of good SS does not translate into good jumps.

 

[yyyskate]

Gubanova's arm usage in take-off is flawed unfortunate, the effortless balletic arms does not translate into effortless take-off arms...

 

[largeman]

Can you define "muscling her way"? Pure curiosity, I have not heard of this term.

Think Evgenia Medvedeva :scard7:

 

[largeman]

I echo all the praises for Rika and just want to add that I really enjoyed the choreography. The way her layback spin changed positions perfectly on the note with each bar of the piano trill, the step sequence building up intensity with the fervent and relentless violin.. just a lot of genius touches. I think Rika already does a decent job with interpretation, but I look forward to Rika attacking the step sequence with more fire and urgency as the season progresses and making the program really spectacular.

 

[mcq]

I echo all the praises for Rika and just want to add that I really enjoyed the choreography. The way her layback spin changed positions perfectly on the note with each bar of the piano trill, the step sequence building up intensity with the fervent and relentless violin.. just a lot of genius touches. I think Rika already does a decent job with interpretation, but I look forward to Rika attacking the step sequence with more fire and urgency as the season progresses and making the program really spectacular.

Heard that her SP is choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle. No wonder the highlighting of the musical phrasing is on point!