I think two things can be true at the same time, or even more than two:
1. David’s best days as a choreographer seem to be behind him and Zhenya would be better served working with others.
2. David and Zhenya need more time working together in order to create something truly epic.
3. In the midst of so many changes (country, coach, technique, etc.), the time-crunch due to starting the season a bit later, and all the other mayhem of the year, Zhenya just wasn’t in a place where she was able to learn an entirely new performance style. (Though if you ignore the flip error, her SP at Skate Canada is actually eminently rewatchable.)
(Also, while David is usually cited as being wholly responsible for OCS, Sandra Bezic was also involved and was the one who was supposed to be brought back for choreography adjustments and refinement.)
As a general rule, I find David’s programmes... not especially sharp or interesting at this point. I do think he’s had some legitimate moments of genius, but he’s not responsible for all of Yuna’s best programmes — Tom Dickson choreographed
Roxanne, for example. (Dickson is one of the most under-appreciated choreographers out there.) Even the best of David’s work doesn’t move me so much because of absolutely genius choreographic details but because of the level of performance and expression by those skating the programmes.
Danse Macabre is a classic and also wouldn’t have worked unless Yuna was skating it, in my opinion.
There are advantages to using David — he’s easily accessible, making choreographic refinement and fine-tuning over the season easy. Skaters at the TCC likely have a chance to interact with him a fair amount (and he gets to observe them skating), which helps ease the process of learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Whenever I’ve seen or read an interview with David, he’s come across as a sweet, thoughtful guy who just wants to do right by those he designs programmes for, so I have nothing against him personally. And now for the heavy, clunking
buuuuuuut: but tango should file for a restraining order against him (it is... not his genre); but I think that while he’s a solid/safe/stable choice for a choreographer, he’s not the most innovative or interesting at this moment and there are easily-accessible choreographers is immeasurable talent nearly as close to TCC as David. At worst, I find most of David’s work unremarkable/bland but not actually bad, and at best... leaving aside his work with Yuna, his high points aren’t as high as Dickson’s or Buttle’s, for example, but he hasn’t yet created an abomination programme.
I do think Wilson was the worst choice possible for this particular season, as
the man has no tango gene and he’s also the epitome of the “North American style” in many respects, certainly synonymous with it. This was the season to do something really weird so that people couldn’t be sure of whether it was the programme or the change in technique that was making them feel as though this wasn’t the same Med. When you know that’s going to be the narrative — do something on the level of JUUUULLLLIIIIEEET to sow chaos and close off the “typical empty American choreo” line before it can begin. It may be a dumpster fire on ice, but a dumpster fire is better than SCREECHY UNTANGO cuts. (The free grew on me, to be honest, but it always felt like it was two-thirds of a programme and not a complete work. It wasn’t unique enough to be interesting despite the flaws in choreo and the music edits were lousy enough to make it outright “not... necessarily
bad, but definitely not good?” instead of just forgettable.)
Dickson is one of the masters of multi-dimensional movement. Maybe it’s the dance training and doing choreo myself, but his use of space always impresses me, and that’s an aspect of performance I think Medvedeva needs to develop. (Due to having the same layout for so many years, her elements were placed in the same spot year after year, the transitions in and out were pretty much locked in, etc.) Med’s also got those longer limbs and the height to create interesting dynamics by taking advantage of her ability to shrink and fill vertical and horizontal space. Shae-Lynn Bourne is everybody’s first pick for a quirky/fun/memorable programme. Misha... is also quirky, but he and Med are friends, so I trust him to adjust his zaniness setting to match her. I think Jeff Buttle is criminally underrated. And David... can be counted on to never give you a bad programme, but maybe not to deliver you a breakthrough one. There are things I like about Danny G., but his creative vocabulary is exhausted from doing so many programmes per season and what was once novel and refreshing has become “ah, yes, this trope again today.”
One of my issues with David’s choreography is how much it relies on a skater having almost 6.0-style deportment. Which I don’t think Zhenya has, but I want to be very clear: I don’t think that’s a sin or something I mean as a complaint. What initially interested me about Zhenya was the fact that she was coltish and engaging but not a “baby ballerina” or adopting the airs of one. There was a refreshingly modern element to her skating. But David’s choreo is built on the assumption that you’re working with someone like Yuna, which doesn’t bring out the best in Zhenya, at least in my opinion.
Despite my opinions on the tango, I do think it was a good step forward. It was new. It wasn’t a masterpiece of movement and music, but I began to see new areas of strength/concepts to explore in terms of Zhenya’s development as an artist and a skater. I’d still call Dickson, though. His programmes are absolutely bonkers in terms of transitional content, so no complaints about “generic American style, where are my transitions.”
