2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[karina17]

Really? Because I, as a dancer myself, saw the opposite. Alena knows to be more subtle with her movements and make the somewhat ridiculous choreography less so. Look first at Alena and then at Anna; Alena's dance looks more sleek and modern. She understands the highs and lows of the beats and choreography. Meanwhile, Anna is all ATTACK. She's less subtle and emphasizes every movement, to the point that it is looks almost laughable? She is obviously the most eager one though.

I'd say that Anna's ATTACK style actually fits the choreo style, though. If she was going ATTACK on something more soft and lyrical I'd get you, but imo her aggressive movements fit the harsh, weird music very well. And she seemed to know the combo best, she never looked over at anyone and never hesitated between counts, not even once. I am also a dancer who's taken similar classes (I'm not sure if there's another name for the genre, but our teacher always called it quirk jazz) and we were always encouraged to look more like Anna and to throw elegance and prettiness out the window - save that for the contemporary class later.

(I am of course no expert on this style and can't speak for it, I'm just a random girl who took classes at my studio, but I just wanted to say that I for one was taught that it isn't supposed to look sleek or pretty or graceful, at all.)

Alena also did very well, she just has a different style (more elegant and less hard-hitting) that doesn't necessarily fit Zheleznyakov's abstract quirk jazz choreo all the time. As people have already said further up, she would shine more in a lyrical or soft contemporary dance, but I guess the point of their dance classes might be to push them out of their comfort zones, so that might defeat the purpose.

 

[JazzUp]

Alena knows to be more subtle with her movements

Sasha, who was doing aerobics instead of dancing, was way more subtle than Alyona.

 

[colormyworld240]

I think unless you win nationals, nothing is guaranteed. And even last year, when Konstantinova "won" nationals out of the seniors, she was still left off the world team. And she had all the political backing in Russia. Potential and GPF results don't seem to have a heavy weight on selection. Gubanova for example didn't make the JW team after she was second at JGPF (and posted a new junior world record before Alina skated). And she didn't skip nationals. So whoever misses nationals probably will miss their chance. The only time I remember a skater missing nationals and still made the Euro/World/Olympic team was Evgenia, and that year it was clear that she and Alina were so far above the rest of the field. This year, the field is much more dense so I have a hard time seeing how a spot could be given to someone who does not participate. With the field, you have to prove yourself every single competition. Everyone's a JW/SW medalist. Being a female Russian singles skater is probably the worst thing in elite skating currently.

 

[colormyworld240]

I 100% agree with your assessment.

Also I don’t know that one random filmed dance during an off ice practice session is a true reflection of ability.

Some of them could have been going through the movements to get the cardio and not really giving a performance.

I mean, many see Anna as more artistic on the ice as well. It's not like that musicality goes away when she steps on on the ice; she's the only one that is never ahead of/behind her music, even when she falls. She's also an extremely versatile performer; she doesn't just do classical pieces.

 

[desp]

I think unless you win nationals, nothing is guaranteed.

I am certain that 3A will go to WC even if they all skip Nationals.

 

[Albus]

Really? Because I, as a dancer myself, saw the opposite. Alena knows to be more subtle with her movements and make the somewhat ridiculous choreography less so. Look first at Alena and then at Anna; Alena's dance looks more sleek and modern. She understands the highs and lows of the beats and choreography. Meanwhile, Anna is all ATTACK. She's less subtle and emphasizes every movement, to the point that it is looks almost laughable? She is obviously the most eager one though.

It's clear you don't understand why they studying there. News flash: They are not dancers.

 

[Albus]

I think unless you win nationals, nothing is guaranteed. And even last year, when Konstantinova "won" nationals out of the seniors, she was still left off the world team. And she had all the political backing in Russia. Potential and GPF results don't seem to have a heavy weight on selection.

1. ŝerbakova won the championship of Russia if you mean this by your strange word which is incorrect to name the championship of Russia.
2. All there were seniors.
3. What exactly political backing she has or had? I often see this nonsense, but only in English. Would you please illuminate us all what you know about Konstantinova that nobody who uses Russian knows? Is there some sort of fetish to create myths in english?
4. "Potential and GPF results don't seem to have a heavy weight on selection." Why should they have any weight? There are reglements and there isn't a single litera about gpf nor potential. What is potential even?

 

[Greengemmonster]

Really weird question but is Christmas a big deal in Russia?

I find it so strange that Nats is hosted over Christmas. Shouldn't they give all the skaters, coaches etc that time to spend with their families?

 

[DenissVFan]

Really weird question but is Christmas a big deal in Russia?

I find it so strange that Nats is hosted over Christmas. Shouldn't they give all the skaters, coaches etc that time to spend with their families?

Christmas is celebrated later in Russia.

 

[Autumn Leaves]

Really weird question but is Christmas a big deal in Russia?

I find it so strange that Nats is hosted over Christmas. Shouldn't they give all the skaters, coaches etc that time to spend with their families?

Christmas in Russia is not this week; it is in January and is a big deal.

 

[desp]

Really weird question but is Christmas a big deal in Russia?

I find it so strange that Nats is hosted over Christmas. Shouldn't they give all the skaters, coaches etc that time to spend with their families?

Christmas in Russia is celebrated on 25 December in the Julian calendar used by the Orthodox church, which falls on 7 January in the common Gregorian calendar.

 

[Greengemmonster]

Ahh thanks guys! That makes perfect sense now!

I am scrambling for Christmas right now so was totally confused as to why Nats was thrown in the middle of Christmas (Aussie here so we celebrate on 25th Dec).

 

[starla16]

interesting Med has an outside shot
the weak link Shcherbakova could fall on her quads

 

[Alextrusova]

interesting Med has an outside shot
the weak link Shcherbakova could fall on her quads

Scherbakova is the only Russian who had not been beaten in the long program this season

 

[LenaRadiFan]

I think unless you win nationals, nothing is guaranteed. And even last year, when Konstantinova "won" nationals out of the seniors, she was still left off the world team. And she had all the political backing in Russia. Potential and GPF results don't seem to have a heavy weight on selection. Gubanova for example didn't make the JW team after she was second at JGPF (and posted a new junior world record before Alina skated). And she didn't skip nationals. So whoever misses nationals probably will miss their chance. The only time I remember a skater missing nationals and still made the Euro/World/Olympic team was Evgenia, and that year it was clear that she and Alina were so far above the rest of the field. This year, the field is much more dense so I have a hard time seeing how a spot could be given to someone who does not participate. With the field, you have to prove yourself every single competition. Everyone's a JW/SW medalist. Being a female Russian singles skater is probably the worst thing in elite skating currently.

I agree with most of this and I agree GPF should play a role in the selection process. But potential? Not so much imo. Someone can have a great scoring potential but might be really really inconsistent, while someone else doesn't have that high of a scoring potential but is consistent. Now who should they send? The one that has the higher potential? Doesn't seem fair or backed up to me. You can't select someone based on potential, potentially all of the russian girls could podium at euros and worlds, what matters is body of work and how that person did thorugh the season, not "what ifs", "coulds" and "potentially"

 

[Alextrusova]

For some reason I feel like Trusova may be vulnerable

 

[ruga]

Well, RusNats are especially unpredictable this year: there are 4 ladies with quads/3A/both, but since these elements are extremely difficult, mistakes are likely to appear. On the other hand, landing such jumps can put one way above the others. For now, podium contenders are Lisa, Zhenya, Sasha, Anna, Aliona and I will definitely be surprised if podium has any other skater on it.

 

[Scott512]

Scherbakova is the only Russian who had not been beaten in the long program this season

Not exactly the weak link is she? Anna he's kind of understated because she's not as beautiful a skater as aliona is and she's not as spectacular a jumper as Sasha is. But she is excellent at both.

For some reason I feel like Trusova may be vulnerable

She is vulnerable because Sasha never skates a clean free. Probably because her content is incredibly difficult and it's almost male skater difficult. I would like to see her tone her free skate down a little bit so she has a better chance to skate clean. And she is a bit handicapped not being allowed to do a quad in the short.

It should be fabulous crazy insane exciting and dramatic Nationals for the Russian ladies. And that's just in the warm ups!

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

Not exactly the weak link is she? Anna he's kind of understated because she's not as beautiful a skater as aliona is and she's not as spectacular a jumper as Sasha is. But she is excellent at both.



She is vulnerable because Sasha never skates a clean free. Probably because her content is incredibly difficult and it's almost male skater difficult. I would like to see her tone her free skate down a little bit so she has a better chance to skate clean. And she is a bit handicapped not being allowed to do a quad in the short.

It should be fabulous crazy insane exciting and dramatic Nationals for the Russian ladies. And that's just in the warm ups!

Alexandra Trusova didn't skate a clean free lately, but she did so at Japan Open. She had a growth spurt lately and I belive this is the reason for her falls. Alina Zagitova used to underrotate her jumps, Alexandra Trusova tends to fall, none of them lowered the element content of their programs. As to Anna Scherbakova, she did grow too but it didn't seem to affect her skating? She is adding a quad and I find she got better glide (that was her big flaw in my opinion). Only Alena Kostornaia didn't.

 

[Scott512]

Scherbakova is the only Russian who had not been beaten in the long program this season

Alexandra Trusova didn't skate a clean free lately, but she did so at Japan Open. She had a growth spurt lately and I belive this is the reason for her falls. Alina Zagitova used to underrotate her jumps, Alexandra Trusova tends to fall, none of them lowered the element content of their programs. As to Anna Scherbakova, she did grow too but it didn't seem to affect her skating? She is adding a quad and I find she got better glide (that was her big flaw in my opinion). Only Alena Kostornaia didn't.

Sasha is still growing as a lot of muscle and it will be interesting to see through puberty how much she expands physically. Not even the great eteri can stop mother nature. Sasha is doing great but I think she's doing too much and should tone it down a little bit so she can skate cleaner in her free skate without the falls. And I keep telling people that this is not the important season that's 2021-2022 and that's what she should be aiming for. I hope she's not shooting her wad this season if you know what I mean. As for Anna she is naturally reed thin and won't add muscle and weight the way Sasha will. This will be a great benefit to Aana in her career. Do some people aliona it's the best and most beautiful skater they've seen since Sasha Cohen in the mid-2000s. But she's got something going with one of her legs that's an issue. I hope that's just a rumor though and her health is good. But this sport is very tough on the body and especially the legs.