Mao's artistry
I just wanted to add that Mao seems to me to be such an artistic skater.
She listens to the music very well and everything so naturally flows with the music.
She also has everything that makes a beautiful dancer: good extension and lithe movements of arms and hands, beautiful back in spiral sequences, great stretch in her legs, and the straight posture, all of which is one of the best among the top skaters.
Her ballet foundation matched very well with the classical music by Chopin. In classical ballet, you should never be showy, but express subtle, delicate sophistication. Here's her SP without broadcasters and see how she becomes that music with all the connecting fotworks and elegant upper body movements:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkp-5n1fb2k
I think that her musical artistry, balletic line, and reserved, fresh gracefulness are under-rated among figure skating fans. I don't think that the artistry in figure skating is all about acting, dramatic facial expressions, and voluptuous grace. I am not saying that these are unnecessary, either. While some people prefer those dramatic, theatrical styles, others prefer more reserved, classical expressions. Neither of them are less artistic than the other. Although I do enjoy dramatic/theatrical performances from time to time, I personally cannot watch them too many times.
Further, the most important factor in artistry is obviously the quality of skating. Her skating is just like floating on the cloud. While her skating is very fast, it is not like pushing by muscle power, but using the edges skillfully. Her difficult jumps and spins also have beautiful positions that naturally fit in elegant music without looking athletic.
While Mao's SP was described as the masterpiece by many people, her LP music did not appear to be too popular. Although I myself did love her LP performances a lot, I didn't think the LP music the best match with her strengths. Because this kind of music requires powerful attack to the beat, her gentle skating looks as if she were too soft. More gentle, hamonious music appears to become her smooth skating, lithe movements, and fresh gracefulness. Further, the construction/balance of the program was not as good as her SP. This program had relatively less connecting fotworks and more cross over skating especially in the beginning and the end of the program. Moreover, the same kinds of jumps were repeated (i.e., two double axels, two flips, two lutzs, one of which being a combination, respectively). Additionally, the repetition of the same melody gives a monotonic impression. It would be also difficult to keep up to the beat becoming faster and faster towards the end when the skater gets more and more exhausted.
But her LP improved a lot after a couple of revisions. Especially, the last revision that replaced the circular steps with straight line steps and more choreography in the slow part appeared to be very effective. Although this circulating melody lines give a restless impression, the slow part had a slient moment where she completely ceased to move. After these changes, I was able to appreciate the slow part much better than before. Her jumps came to exactly hit the beat and her ice-dancing-like strokes between steps also lived up to the quick beat.
She and her coach made these changes because she herself thought jumps stood out too much in her LP and wanted to improve artistry, according to her interviews before the Worlds.
She has also kept saying many times that she wants to improve her artistry, spins and the other elements.
To me, her LP at the Worlds was really enjoyable because she showed her feelings so honestly that it was filled with lively energy of her own charm.
