Sofia's program was more difficult and sophisticated, Kamila-IMO-the standard issue Eteri program with the same leg kicks etc. Spins for both girls were fantastic, jumps about the same as well, but I would have given the PCS edge to Sofia.
Let me remind you of an episode that occurred last summer, when Tatyana Tarasova attended one of the training sessions of the Tutberidze group. A video of this event was then published here on the forum. At that time, Adelia Petrosyan was preparing her short program “Voila”. And from the outside it might seem that this version of the performance was already excellent - except for a tracksuit instead of a dress. But Tarasova called Adelia over and began to criticize her. Tarasova paid special attention to the choreography, saying that each movement should have a certain amplitude and direction, and if a movement is started, it should be done confidently and until the very end.
By this criterion, Kamila Valieva’s performance today was much better than all the others. Figure skaters are quite often compared to ballerinas, but if you go to a good theater and carefully look at the movements of the ballet dancers, it will immediately become clear that most figure skaters would hardly be able to perform in ballet even at an amateur level. Today, for example, we could see many performances in which movements were not made, but “signified.” Or these movements were timid, uncertain, not fast enough, or, conversely, fussy. This happens when a person is too focused on some other aspects of skating, or simply does not fully understand the meaning of her movements, repeats what she has learned, but without soul, without feeling.
Kamila Valieva today has come as close as possible to the highest ballet quality. There was and still is a lot of empty chatter about “mature women’s skating.” Usually they talk about this to justify age restrictions or to dream about simplification of content. But Kamila today clearly showed what real mature skating is. And it is quite obvious to me that there is no direct connection with biological age here.
