You know, if you took out the jabs at other skaters, I'd actually agree with you.
Yes, Med improved a little. Her personal style isn't artistic, IMO.
I’m not exactly a Medvedeva fan, but I’ll say this in defense of her style, at least insofar as her Karenina program is concerned: she’s a polarizing performer, but I think, on the whole, she is expanding the boundaries of what it means to be a “feminine” skater, and while her PCS marks are a debate for another day, she’s undeniably artistic, just in a modernist, even futurist sense. There’s nothing “Ice Princess” about her, and she’s not trying to emulate that style (which is, I think, part of why her Chopin short and the modifications to the music are even more flamewar bait than usual). I’ve said my piece on the Karenina side — from a textual standpoint, she nails it, and preserves the ending as Tolstoy wrote it — but she still interprets the piece and lives the character in ways that aren’t the norm (see: all the iterations of Carmen earlier in the night).
To say her style isn’t
artistic is probably too far. Medvedeva actually reminds me of Nathan Chen in some ways — I love Chen’s short: when he nails it, it suits him, it’s unique, it’s not graceless but it isn’t loaded up on movements that frankly don’t suit him, and he makes even the “artless” ones work. When he tries to go conventional and follow the idea of “what a figure skater looks like,” that’s when it all falls apart, which is where his free skate loses me. I don’t think he and Medvedeva would be half as compelling if they didn’t say “eff it” and do their own thing, in part because some of the collective notions of artistry are frankly outdated, and neither of them are going to be as effective playing to archetypes as they are doing what looks natural to them. They aren’t the old guard, and they can’t pretend to be.
That being said, I don’t think Medvedeva’s jumps are “pretty,” nor her strongest element. “Pretty” is not really a word that I would use for Medvedeva, ever; at her best, she’s beautiful, striking, but not quintessentially “pretty.” The Karenina program and Anna herself as a character are good fits for her, however — and I would take Anna over Carmen any day. (I love Ivett Toth, but being out of medal contention and not the most loved/hated skater in ladies means we don’t need to discuss her “artistry” as she finished her free.) But I also see artistry in Zagitova — I did ballet and it was immediately obvious to me that she spent time
en pointe, so maybe I’m crazy. [emoji23]
My main issue with ladies figure skating and what I’ve taken to calling the “human Ambien” group (flight two in the free) is the rote quality of the artistry, the recycled music, the absolute lack of any forward momentum at
all. Whether or not Medvedeva’s style hits or misses for me, she’s at least expanding the parameters of what’s possible — sometimes in ways that frankly don’t work, sometimes in ways that actually come together as greater than the sum of their parts — and I think that can’t be dismissed as not “artistic,” with all due respect. (I generally agree with you and enjoy your posts, but I think you’re being a little severe on Medvedeva here.) Whether or not she should have placed higher is an entirely different issue, but in terms of choreo and performance in the free, I thought Medvedeva’s program was beautiful without forcing her to play too heavily against type. She’s not Yuna, but she isn’t trying to be, and I would rather a flawed experiment than a miserable knockoff every time.
I may differ from the rest here, but I suppose I’m less of a “purist” in some sense? Very few skaters can drape themselves in classical music and carry it off. Very few are capable of hitting our standards for “artistry.” Biases on the table:
quelle surprise, my favorite composer is Satie; I love modern art, and unless we’re talking Greek and Roman history, my interest plummets (Vienna’s modern art museum and Berlin’s Greek and Roman tie for “place I would be most happy to die at”); Dostoevsky >>>> Tolstoy, Tsvetaeva >xN Akhmatova, etc. There are very few Chopin pieces I actually like, and more often than not I think the music swallows the skater; Hanyu is the only current skater I see who has the mastery to do so, and it’s not necessary to belabor why. And that may be part of why I have no emotions toward the current US team; a perfectly skated Cinderella with updated choreography is still Cinderella, whereas Bradie, if she wanted to, could use her proportions and flexibility to create some amazing, incredibly sharp positions without giving up the extension on her spins.
There are a number of skaters rightfully in the pantheon of greats who made me question how on earth the judges considered
that art. I’ve never come around on Plushenko, but I at least “get it” now (whereas my younger self hid under furniture during his “Sex Bomb” exhibition routine). Medvedeva is no Plushenko, and given the scoring wars, I don’t expect much sympathy for her from those unwilling to consider an alternate point of view. But her Anna Karenina program was absolutely artistic, in her own way — Medvedeva is polarizing, and I’m hardly her biggest fan (or even a fan? I’m still impressed by Zagitova’s composure), nor am I claiming she deserved to win gold, but I think she’s at least working at the edges of what it means to be a feminine
and artistic skater and deserves acknowledgement for that.
I have had mixed feelings about Evgenia's programs past and present, but the way she pulled off her LP at the Olympics was absolutely striking and unforgettable. Like Yuzu commented last night while reviewing the ladies performances, I'd have given both Alina and Evgenia gold.
