Nathan Chen | Page 58 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

"In his Friday unveiling of a new free skate to music from the movie, "Mao's Last Dancer," with a section of Stravinsky's music from the history-making ballet "The Rite of Spring" in the middle, Chen planned three quads but did only two.
"It's a pretty monumental piece of the movie," Chen said of "The Rite of Spring," so avant-garde at its 1913 debut that it caused a riotous reaction in the audience. That it was a revolutionary piece culturally led to its natural inclusion in a movie that begins in the era of Mao's bloody Cultural Revolution."
from IceNetwork article linked above

I think the quite disturbing part in the middle of Nathan's FS (2 spins and stsq) is from the episode of The Rite of Spring
Augurs of Spring "The celebration of spring begins in the hills. An old woman enters and begins to foretell the future" (from wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring)
"The rite of spring" youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFPjFjUonX8
 
I've been saying all along Nathan wants to do a seven quad program. Right now he is the only man that can do it because he has all his quads. However, I think they'll slowly add quads to see how many quads he needs to defeat everyone and leave the 7th quad as a Olympic moment.

Surreal.... i am worried about his condition, is this even humanly possible?! Otherwise yeah it would be one of the greatest Olympic moment ever.

That would some tall mountain to climb....well, more like some mountains, some clouds, a rocketship and off to another planet!
 
Surreal.... i am worried about his condition, is this even humanly possible?! Otherwise yeah it would be one of the greatest Olympic moment ever.

That would some tall mountain to climb....well, more like some mountains, some clouds, a rocketship and off to another planet!

He's prioritizing his health. He says he wants to stay healthy for the season because it's so long. I'm not sure if it's possible. But if he can do it and still get good PCS marks it will be done.

Next year they take away one jumping pass, so unless they decide to allow 4+4 in competition, this may be is only chance to do it.
 
^^

Well, why not do it in reverse? Since he already did the 3F + 4T (if that's allowed).
Nothing surprises me anymore if he's able to do 4F + 4T. :laugh:
 
(First post here on the forums!) After lurking for months, trying to keep up with the latest skating news, seeing Nathan's programs for this season lured me out to finally make an account. I started following the competitions around the US Nationals and became hooked. I am so looking forward to how competitive this season is going to be; as a new fan of the sport, it's really exciting to see how stacked the men's field is in particular. Comparing Nathan's programs of last season and this season, and to the programs of other skaters considered to be more artistic, Nathan's growth over such a short period of time is astounding. His LP especially has the potential to be something out of this world. Not having much experience I feel I might not have the authority to say exactly how great it could be, but I feel something very special is going to happen this season.
 
(First post here on the forums!) After lurking for months, trying to keep up with the latest skating news, seeing Nathan's programs for this season lured me out to finally make an account. I started following the competitions around the US Nationals and became hooked. I am so looking forward to how competitive this season is going to be; as a new fan of the sport, it's really exciting to see how stacked the men's field is in particular. Comparing Nathan's programs of last season and this season, and to the programs of other skaters considered to be more artistic, Nathan's growth over such a short period of time is astounding. His LP especially has the potential to be something out of this world. Not having much experience I feel I might not have the authority to say exactly how great it could be, but I feel something very special is going to happen this season.

welcome to forum Alex!!! post long and often and i hope you will enjoy your time here!! :yahoo:

and congratz Nathan for gold medal, i love both of his programs and i cant wait to see him develop and show us their full potential! :love:
 
(First post here on the forums!) After lurking for months, trying to keep up with the latest skating news, seeing Nathan's programs for this season lured me out to finally make an account. I started following the competitions around the US Nationals and became hooked. I am so looking forward to how competitive this season is going to be; as a new fan of the sport, it's really exciting to see how stacked the men's field is in particular. Comparing Nathan's programs of last season and this season, and to the programs of other skaters considered to be more artistic, Nathan's growth over such a short period of time is astounding. His LP especially has the potential to be something out of this world. Not having much experience I feel I might not have the authority to say exactly how great it could be, but I feel something very special is going to happen this season.

Welcome, Alex! It's always fun to hear new voices. I almost envy you... a new fan to the sport with so much to learn and enjoy, deciding what kind of skaters you like the most, learning about technique...

You've certainly shown a fine eye right out of the gate, admiring Nathan's programs, which are going to be spectacular.
 
(First post here on the forums!) After lurking for months, trying to keep up with the latest skating news, seeing Nathan's programs for this season lured me out to finally make an account. I started following the competitions around the US Nationals and became hooked. I am so looking forward to how competitive this season is going to be; as a new fan of the sport, it's really exciting to see how stacked the men's field is in particular. Comparing Nathan's programs of last season and this season, and to the programs of other skaters considered to be more artistic, Nathan's growth over such a short period of time is astounding. His LP especially has the potential to be something out of this world. Not having much experience I feel I might not have the authority to say exactly how great it could be, but I feel something very special is going to happen this season.

Alex, welcome!
Nathan is known to be an artistic skater actually. He was the prodigy since very young age, always known for his unique sensitivity for music, movement and body language.
It is just last year, he focused mostly on quad jumps, so that media painted him as this quad king, the jumper. Also, a program with 5 quads is extremely taxing than a program without quad or 1 or 2 quads, you cannot expect the same level of program components as e.g. Jason's programs, it is just humanly impossible.
Nathan is fully capable of extremely intricate and artistic programs, if not for so many quad jumps. You may want to check out his junior programs. And it is very well known that Nathan trained for ballet professionally since age 5.
I just read somewhere, people saying that Nathan is a once in a generation type of skater, I have a gut feeling he will be. He really has this rare combination of technique and artistic sense, Also he has quite unique personality, a standout from many current male skaters, most importantly Nathan seems is a character who can bear the weight of being the star/leader of the sport.

Nathan has suffered nearly career ending type of injury, just recovered last season, when he put in 5 quads!!

I hope Nathan can be healthy in the rest of his skating career. cos it is gonna be stellar.
 
I know what you mean and it's strange. After giving it some thought I think it might be because the program is choreographed to emphasize Nathan's dancing ability and elegant body movements rather than his jumps. Nathan's jumps aren't as big or powerful as some others, but his arm and upper body movements are truly among the most beautiful of any top skater, IMO. Even including the ladies. It kind of reminds me of his Best Day of My Life program from a few years back. It's got some pretty good technical content, but that's almost beside the point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU1GIANfu7o

His jumps are small and he doesn't have the most speed or deepest edges, but I've still watched it a million times.
So true. And it always surprises me how overlooked this aspect of his presentation is by skating fans. Looking at his arms and hands it's so obvious to me that they come directly from years of dance training and I could never understand why people were shi**ing all over the fact that his ballet training got mentioned a few times last season. It was so evident to me even despite the lack of choreography in the FS. It seems to me many had trouble separating an empty program (his FS) from his actual quality of movement.
 
This is another of his junior programs that emphasizes what I'm talking about. FS from 2015 junior worlds. The program highlights Nathan's dance training and not his jumps. Listen to Kurt and his co-commentator gush about Nathan's balletic movements and musicality.
https://youtu.be/JbKb3RVPVSw
 
Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! :luv17:
This is another of his junior programs that emphasizes what I'm talking about. FS from 2015 junior worlds. The program highlights Nathan's dance training and not his jumps. Listen to Kurt and his co-commentator gush about Nathan's balletic movements and musicality.
https://youtu.be/JbKb3RVPVSw
Thanks for linking this! I can definitely see the artistry that I might have missed last season either due to his focus on quads or, probably more accurately, my focus on quads. ("Ooh, he does a lot of those things where he jumps really high and fast and spins a lot I wanna watch THOSE!!")

Watching back, I definitely see the quality of movement is there, and more-so amplified with these two new programs. I'm going to go back and watch more of his old stuff to see how it all links together. I had seen a few of his past programs before, but not with an eye towards the finer details. Ugh, this all gives me such a greater appreciation for his skill.
 
I ADORE that Chopin program. It was his SP from last season and that which turned me into a real fan. Both the choreo and his interpretation are so beautiful. His sensitivity to music and the body awareness were supreme for someone so young. Like Kurt said, there are so many little gems in that program. I loved that he called him a little poet at the end because that's exactly how I felt upon watching the program. Actually my dream is to have him skate that program again now that he has much more solidity in his technique and has come a long way in his presentation - can you imagine?
Another version from JGP the same season:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5h0sebFPGo
 
^^^I'm very partial to Chopin, but that was a beautiful program. Could definitely see him doing more Chopin!
 
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