Amazing to see the growth of this RnJ program and in her skating in just a little over a years time!
https://youtu.be/VJ-pifIjbGo
This brings up an interesting subject, choreography that is not so musical (R&J last year) versus choreography that is very musical (R&J this year). Last year they changed choreography for each performance. It was like shuffling furniture around a room to get the right effect, they were never satisfied. Movement didn't match music in feeling or in notes nearly enough, there was a lot of empty arm waving, there was no clear message.
Sometime after the season ended they had an Aha! moment: the music is in four distinct parts. During the off season they shaped choreography into four sections, exactly matching the 4-section music. Each section portrayed a distinct stage of love just as we hear it. The transitions between sections were clear, each section had different movement. Everything fell into place, finally they achieved the tight coherence between movement and music that eluded them last year. R&J would be given another year of life, but this time as a smarter New R&J.
With this year's choreography she zeros in on the shape and emotion of every note. Her skating is focused, meaningful and musical, her performance moving and beautiful. And there have been no changes in this choreography. R&J is now a very special creation that connects smart music, smart choreography and a musically smart skater. Her improvement in R&J this year was 10% growth as a skater, and 90% clarity of choreography. Anyone interested in the 4-part structure of R&J will find details about that, and the mirroring of music and choreography in post #145 on page 10.
The music was not changed until preparation for the Russian Nationals. For the Nationals competition they tacked on about 30 seconds of repetitive music together with incomplete choreography in order to boost her score. Russian Nationals was a step backward artistically, but no doubt they extended the program with an eye toward future finals. There were hints of what is yet to come, thank you for the spiral, Nastya. They have plenty of time to develop choreography for a finale befitting Juliet's rapturous love. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better ....
A treat from delightfully versatile Nastya:
http://www.pictastar.com/view/1325244059128086304