It's amazing to think that the work for the Olympics programs starts already today, so very soon after the Worlds and the end of the season for Javi... It's interesting to read all the opinions on what he should do
Warhorses (however, I would not count Guys and Dolls as a warhorse in figure skating - has anyone else ever done it?) have their good and bad sides. It's not just the skating fans who groan when they hear the first notes of Carmen or POTO or Feeling Good, it's also probably the casual fans who think that there are maybe 10 pieces of music that get used in skating. So, ONLY if you can do something truly fresh and extraordinary with it like Malaguena in Javi's case. It worked because it was based throughly on the dance style which was successfully put into skating. Flamenco is very stationary performed on the floor and so putting it into skating which is based on glide and speed and flow on the ice without having long stationary moments is kind of tough. Argentinian tango I really don't care much for when it is performed by single skaters - you know, it does take two to tango
I think our guy is good enough at selling his programs that something new and different would also bring in the high PCS scores!
Over the years I've also begun to understand my own preferences better and I like to have a story line a lot - that there is something else in the programs than just some kind of abstract "emotional interpretation" of the music (and this is why I like Medvedeva's programs this season, even an ice dance SD can actually be enjoyable if there is a story line, like Testa & Csolley in the paso doble based on Addams Family). Characters tend to be good also, but easily carried a bit too far and turning not very credible. Now that lyrics can be used in the music, I also always hope that they are incorporated into the program - you can't ignore them whatever the language... And I don't mean here miming their content, but rather that the movement cleverly reflects what the story in the words is.
My second fave thing is having a distint dance style translated well into skating vocabulary - ie having the speed, the flow over ice, the glide and still maintaining the dance style (Gilles & Poirier Tango this year particularly). I also like at least 90-95% performances - like NOT losing the interpretation when prepping for the most difficult jumps or other elements. That the music is matched by the choregrahy and movement and that the chosen idea/style/whatever is maintained through the whole routine. An otherwise not very exciting program can be saved a lot by a change in speed or by change in intensity that perfectly matches the music (like Misha Ge in the Worlds - he really worked hard on concentrating on the technical stuff, but let rip in the step/choreo sequences in ways that few others are able to do).
Over the years I have also gotten more and more bored with the usually most respected form of interpretation in figure skating - the abstract emotional interpretation of the music. And it would usually have to be sad or dramatic or serious stuff. It is most often very repetitive and unimaginative in movement vocabulary, can IMO be easily learned to do even without any real connection between the skater and the music (I refrain from mentioning examples
). Only very, very rarely some skaters have been able to move me doing this kind of interpretation. Watch Carolina Kostner and Evgenia Medvedeva in Worlds EX back to back, eg.
This selfreflection explains (to me at least!) completely why I love Javi and probably also why I have loved him only since Black Betty. He has become very good at all the things that I truly love and appreciate, and avoids the last bit that I don't care for. Plus I love the way he is able to adapt his movement to different styles. BUT to maybe finally earn a higher respect for artistry of the skating world in general, he would kind of have to resort to the last bit. It would be interesting to see him try and do a sad program, though - I think he could pull it off easily enough considering what he has done in the shows.
Boston produced some lovely stuff. He did
Danny Boy (also
here and in
practices) and
Torero, David Baden posted a number of
vids, icluding
this with a bit of a dreaming of a vacation in Hawaii feel (plus look at the speed with which Javi is back to his phone after the hula
). But is was a charity gig and he also visited a
children's hospital with other stars of the show incl. a
radio show.
But my faves are these pics with Javi wearing a
Harvard hoodie (can I dream of an academically oriented Javi??!?!). Looking totally happy and relaxed <3
E
