Isabella , thanks for your reply..mutual understanding is a good thing.
Dragonlady... I'm a bit dismayed that you should think my comments smack of jealousy. Obviously , though you have stated your biases ,
I have not made it clear enough where I'm coming from. I don't have even a
remote affiliation with any skater or school. I know none of them personally, and make no personal judgements.
In regard to my comment about the silly chest hair..that's a costume critique ( not a Paul critique ). Paul is quite youthful looking for his 20 yrs. ( He may really appreciate his boyish looks in another couple of decades
) There are very few skaters who can carry off that type of costume ( e.g. Tkachenko , maybe ?). I thought the effect was much like the mistake so often made with female skaters when they're bridging the gap between Jr. and Sr. In an attempt to make them more "mature" , they're often put in overly revealing costumes and too much make-up, unwisely confusing maturity with sex-appeal. Unless the girl already has a mature appearance, it doesn't work. Just too much of a hard sell... So, for me, his costume just added an extra note of superficiality to the program , and didn't suit him.
I
do have some criticisms to level at the L/R school, and I've made them , often. I have
never said they have nothing to recommend them ,or that they don't produce some very
fine results in some areas ( strength , edges, power , etc. ) . I
do point out that along with the fine results, they also produce some
very glaring errors ( notably in posture and fluidity) that beyond a certain point, will hold their skaters back. (And I've argued that these errors should be addressed earlier in a skater's career rather than later, for best results. ) For the three years following C/P coming up to SR.s, there appeared to be little or
no attempt at improving this part of their regimen, until we saw R/H this year.. I applaud the work that was done..
..I'm waiting to see if that's a change for the whole school and not just for R/H, for this year. if they address the weaknesses in their regimen , there's no reason they couldn't
become a good international school.
While L/R skaters may appear well turned out at the Jr. level,comparatively speaking, the school has made some very ,very bad costume decisions at the Sr. level , up to and including the evolution of R/H's SD costumes this year ( especially Kharis' dress ). The tango costumes were excellent for her, just OK for him ( high-waisted pants .. not flattering to his improved, but still noticeable swayed lower back and they're not really a tango look )
I've never suggested R/H should go to either W/L or D/L ( though others might have ). I said
if they get to the point where they feel they aren't getting the proper attention ( for whatever reason ), they should jump ship quickly , for their own good.
Unaffiliated as I am , I have
no reason to be jealous . Of what ? Of whom ? I'm not in competition with any of the skaters or coaches , don't have a horse in this race. Sure , I'd love to see Canada have a top-notch international school , but it will have to have
all the goods. I don't think L/R have them all, at the mo , but I don't rule out that they could acquire them... In the meantime, W/L have a much newer school , are achieving good results with their students, and we'll have to keep an eye on where they're going in the next few years. D/L are even newer on the coaching scene , but there's signs of promise there too, so I wouldn't
yet bet money on which , if any of these schools is the best candidate to become Canada's foremost school..but I
don't want the question to be decided by PR , annointing, or unfair marks at competitions . Merit only , please.
