Miki Ando Names New Coach | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Miki Ando Names New Coach

Soogar,

For a 15-16 year old, Michelle's interpretation of Salome and Taj Mahal was excellent. I can't think of many that have pulled that off that young. It's a hard thing to do. A lot of young skaters get compared to her performances and we usually end up saying that they are young and give them time.
 
IMO, Miki is a much better skater then Yoshie ever was.

Hey, for those constantly critisizing MK's stripped down choreography, musiticality, and such. You have no idear how much one willing to pay her for her choreographing.
 
mpal2 said:
Soogar,

For a 15-16 year old, Michelle's interpretation of Salome and Taj Mahal was excellent. I can't think of many that have pulled that off that young. It's a hard thing to do. A lot of young skaters get compared to her performances and we usually end up saying that they are young and give them time.

I don't think that she had interpreted those pieces of music well. I wonder if her performances were lauded b/c of her improvements in speed and ice coverage verses her actual interpretation. There is no comparison between those programs and Lyra Angelica. Lyra had the choreographic nuances and she interpreted the music. When I see Salome (esp compared with Lulu), I see a bunch of triple jumps with movements between them which don't really express the music.

To tie this all with Miki, I don't think that Michelle had any natural special musicality that couldn't be gained through experience and working with a choreographer. Miki has shown great improvement in selling a program and I really wished she kept the Guitar concerto program b/c she was feeling the choreography and her personality was coming out. Miki isn't hopeless at all. She CAN learn how to express her music and this will come with time and working with a choreographer.
 
soogar said:
Compare her results with Linda Leaver's and Robin Wagner's. Despite having OGMs in Brian Boitano and Sarah Hughes, these ladies have not had a number of competitors make it to the senior level.

You do have to take into account, however, that Leaver more or less coached only Boitano from the time he was about 13 or 14 years old. From what I've read and heard, she was pretty much just starting out as a private coach (maybe had been at it for a couple of years already) when Boitano, at about age 8-9, showed up in a class. She continued with several students for 5-6 years, but as they dropped out, she didn't replace them with anyone else -- she concentrated on Boitano. She did coach Yvonne Gomez, too, who was competing for Spain and was a very good friend of Boitano's -- Yvonne has said Leaver took her on because Brian asked her to -- and Yvonne went to the 1988 Olympics. But Leaver wasn't teaching lots of students for the years that Carol Heiss Jenkins or the other coaches you've mentioned were. She was pretty much exclusively Boitano for about 10 years before his OGM, and then stayed with him as personal manager/coach after that.

That being said, I think CHJ is a fine coach, and she has as much chance as anyone of helping Miki. I think one of the most important things is to find a good coach-skater relationship. Each coach can "reach" different skaters in a different way. Most top coaches have a lot of the same skills and abilities -- maybe some are better at jumps, others at spins, others at choreography, etc., but I would guess most of them are overall pretty skillful. And yes, sometimes you need to go to someone who is particularly skillful in a particular area because you need that help. But finding the right "fit" with a coach is important, too.

I've always admired CHJ and hope she and Miki work well together and both have success. I think it's a good choice for her.
 
mpal2 said:
Soogar,

For a 15-16 year old, Michelle's interpretation of Salome and Taj Mahal was excellent. I can't think of many that have pulled that off that young. It's a hard thing to do. A lot of young skaters get compared to her performances and we usually end up saying that they are young and give them time.

ITA. Michelle was just 15 and 16, and she was way more mature than some of the 17 or 18 year olds we see today. It was not a great interpretation of the music but it was very competitive. Only Chen Lu had better interpretation those days. If you compare her with the current 15-17 year olds (e.g.Kimmie, Carolina, Miki, and even Sarah at 16) the difference is obvious.
 
Hey, mpal, I like your new avatar, LOL!

I don't think that Miki is lacking in musicality, compared to the other ladies. Not everyone can be a Matt Savoi or an Evan Lysacek. But she does need work in bringing her moves in the field up to the same level as some of her other elements.

MM
 
Thanks Mathman. ;) I always feel the need to change it every now and then and I realized that I haven't given Yuka a turn yet. Love her! :clap:
 
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