Fluture, have you considered the possibility that Sasha herself might have wanted more lyrical and feminine program? She is changing, growing and she surely has her opinions and desires. I remember one interview where she said that she likes wearing makeup, which surprised me, because I had the idea of a focused, result-driven fighter, who couldn‘t care less about makeup and cooking, but she does that as well. Plus, she has fairy tale hair and a tiny & trembling dog, while I would imagine her with a big, fiercely loyal breed. People are not one-dimensional and I am glad they are experimenting and going out of the box. Nothing wrong with trying new styles; it was a good decision.
P.S. and as a mother of a 15-year old, I can tell that they are extremely opinionated, even if wrong, often moody and tough to argue with. I know that elite athletes are not normal teens, but I am sure that even Eteri doesn’t have an easy ride.
Well, I never said that she wasn‘t allowed to try new styles. Obviously she is. In my very first post on the matter I actually said it might be a good idea to expand her range as a performer. I just wasn‘t sure about the intentions and if it was, as I‘d seen it, used to make her seem like a more “artistic skater“ then I felt they were going the wrong way about it. Because I thought that she doesn‘t have to skate in a style that isn‘t naturally hers. Aliona‘s probably never going to skate a Kill Bill program and that‘s not a problem either, is it? I felt like, with the right vehicle, Sasha could develop her PCS to a level that might not catch up with the very best of the world, but get her to a point where she‘s seen as a great performer with solid skating skills and insanely difficult transitions and a huge technical BV on top of that. I think she has the potential, and she doesn‘t necessarily NEED to have these lyrical programs. Now, if it was her personal wish - then, good for her! Absolutely. I just interpreted it differently.
As for the feminine thing. I will admit that I might have used the wrong choice of words in “princess-y“. It‘s a lyrical program. Does lyrical automatically mean feminine? Are Game of Thrones or Unstoppable less feminine programs, just because they‘re not lyrical? Is Wakaba Higuchi, who’s a more powerful than lyrical and soft skater as well, less feminine? I don’t think so. Sasha and Wakaba have a different style of skating than Anna and Satoko, for example. But this has nothing to do with femininity but just a natural skating style.
So, to make it clear: I don‘t think Sasha isn‘t feminine (obviously!) but that she might not be the best at lyrical, soft music and programs. But that‘s not a problem, there‘s lots of music that she can show she‘s matured with. And again, if she herself wants to skate to a lyrical program, go for it! I won’t stop her.
I‘m not surprised Sasha likes make up or cooking, though. Why wouldn’t she? A focused, result driven fighter (which I do think she is) can be interested in make up and cooking, that‘s not something that directly crosses each other out. What does “focused, result driven fighter“ even mean? Is Anna not one? Or Aliona? Zhenya? Alina? They‘re elite athletes who train day in and day out, who work their body to the bones and endure pain to reach their goals. If that‘s not a “result driven fighter“, I don‘t know what is. And yet they all like different things and are different people. I don’t see the correlation here tbh.
Sasha surely is everything but one-dimensional and that‘s actually what I‘ve always liked about her. She can rock wearing a leather jacket to the banquet, as well as a pretty dress. She can “tear her opponents into pieces“ on the ice and run off it to cuddle her dog. She‘s herself, that‘s cool! I actually cringed when I read that interview with Eteri where she described Sasha‘s character closer to a “male“ and said Aliona was a “real girl“ because she cries...(so men crying are “real girls“ too? That sounds... wrong. Not agreeing on that at all tbh) I wondered whether it was a translation issue because what even is a “real girl“? Or a “male character“?
The reason I wasn‘t so sure about her program wasn‘t that I see her as less feminine as her colleagues, it was that I did not see her liking this kind of music and didn‘t see it as her natural strength performing to it. If she goes on to tell in an interview at Worlds that this is her favorite program ever, then I‘ll stand corrected. But I will still think that different music might be suiting her personal skating style more.
To your PS: Eteri herself said that puberty basically is when “athletes start asking too many questions“ (her words, not mine), so I‘m sure she doesn’t have an easy ride when the “material“ suddenly attempts to develop their own minds...
hwell:
