Nathan Chen | Page 993 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

Maybe it’s the special friendship-edition nail-care from JLB :rofl:

I can’t get over how (un)proportionally big his hands are. Must be handy for playing those octaves in Truman Sleeps!
 
Me too!
But yeah, I don't think so, knowing Nathan... ;)
Okay upon closer inspection, I concluded he didn’t 🤣
Maybe it’s the special friendship-edition nail-care from JLB :rofl:

I can’t get over how (un)proportionally big his hands are. Must be handy for playing those octaves in Truman Sleeps!
I don’t think his hands are big though unless you are talking about the photo where they focus on his hands. Though he does have pretty slender and longish fingers.
 
I don’t think his hands are big though unless you are talking about the photo where they focus on his hands. Though he does have pretty slender and longish fingers.
Yeah it’s more of a general impression than about that partcular photo. And by big I’m including the length of fingers - I was not talking about him having big palms! :laugh:
 
I think the best La Boheme was the version at the The Ice... Later on Nathan totally killed it with that stupid costume. Whether progress had been made I couldn't really tell because I had so much trouble looking past the costume :palmf:
I watched The ice and National both of them in person, I think the best performance among them is National.. However, the feeling that I got from the program is little bit deeper when I saw in The ice. (There was the possibilty that I was more impressed bc it was the first apperance of program haha) But, overall, I like both of them. No more Vera......
 
Last edited:
Another David Yurman photo
https://www.instagram.com/p/COIK52HpkzJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.papermag.com/david-yurman-new-york-campaign-2651299315.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

IG update, backflip at Worlds
https://www.instagram.com/p/COJTOabLwoF/?igshid=vs9agcghp3c7


I have a new music recommendation for Nathan: Moondog. His experimental jazz features unforgettable melodies, colorful counterpoints, unorthodox time signatures, shifting rhythms, and persistent bass line/percussion reminiscent of minimalism music - a bag of goodies to be unpacked with creative choreography. Philip Glass admitted to have learned more from Moondog than from Juilliard, and perhaps Nathan will be just as much a fan of the latter as of the former ;)

Symphonique #6:
https://youtu.be/zWgCoB-TaWc

Minisym #1:
https://youtu.be/z_DgIB__2Hw

Bird's Lament:
https://youtu.be/jSimbyS_YlA

To a Seahorse:
https://youtu.be/Cw5ppNlnGls


I also think the Sibelius Violin Concerto could work for Nathan. It's a staple in the classical music repertoire but underused in figure skating. It has more of a cold brilliance and unrelenting technical demand than other major violin concertos, which could emphasize the same characteristics in Nathan's skating. Shae has actually made a free skate out of this music for the Finnish skater Kiira Korpi. I found the choreography mediocre but the music cut absolutely on point: all the material were taken out of the first movement, with its haunting intro, intoxicating violin solo with lush double stops and brilliant harmonics, and fiery coda - all my favorite bits! Imagine the ice and snow outlined in the beginning melting throughout the program to burst into the triumphant fire in the end - should be a great recipe for Nathan :)

Kiira's program:
https://youtu.be/DXd65e8reX0

I would recommend Heifetz's recording:
https://youtu.be/QpPYat2aRB4
 
Last edited:
On the latest Ice Talk podcast Evan Lysacek was the guest and Mirai asked him to give his thoughts on Nathan (begins at 31m15s)
 
Last edited:
Wild-out-there ideas:

SP: there's some really cool and catchy instrumentation of this cover version of Royals...(maybe minus the reggae and rap parts)


FS: maybe this eerie, stripped down background music of Say Something...
 
For the SP, if I have to pick something with vocals I would recommend Can't Run But by Paul Simon. A bit like Nemesis in its jazzy quirkiness but lighter in texture.

I prefer the rearranged version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34DL0Ai4OZ8

Another fun piece for the SP: David Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance. A bit like Caravan in its tumbling, irresistible energy, but with a sophisticated rhythmic underlining. Kozuka has done it before and the step sequence was pure fire.
 
Last edited:
Without the usual summer shows, when do you think we will get to see Nathan's new programs? I don't just mean music announcement (though that is probably a long wait in itself), I mean getting to see his choreography too.

Thanks, everyone. I'm appreciating all the music suggestions.
 
Last edited:
Without the usual summer shows, when do you think we will get to see Nathan's new programs? I don't just mean music announcement (though that is probably a long wait in itself), I mean getting to see his choreography too.

Thanks, everyone. I'm appreciating all the music suggestions.
I wonder, too. As far as I can recall, Nathan never announces his programs in advance. We usually find out the day of the show/competition. However, he usually posts a picture or two with his choreographer(s) in advance. The year he did Caravan I think someone in this Fan Fest guessed his exact music by seeing about 3 seconds of a video someone took with their phone. LOL. I wonder if Sun Valley will happen this year? It’s outside - and a lot of people should be vaccinated by then.
 
Yeah, I think we’ll get music announcement and new programs together, most likely at Sun Valley (Actually I don’t think you’d get music announcement at Sun Valley - just Shazam it yourself
:laugh:
). If Sun Valley is not happening then it’ll be an early competition, like US Classic or JO. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll get those videos from ISP this year, as the USFS will probably want to switch back to in-person Champs Camp for the Olympic season.
 
Yeah, I think we’ll get music announcement and new programs together, most likely at Sun Valley (Actually I don’t think you’d get music announcement at Sun Valley - just Shazam it yourself
:laugh:
). If Sun Valley is not happening then it’ll be an early competition, like US Classic or JO. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll get those videos from ISP this year, as the USFS will probably want to switch back to in-person Champs Camp for the Olympic season.

Isn't US Classic, JO, Skate America all too close together? What are the odds that he'll do all three? Not good, I would think.

ISP is a competition opportunity, though, and we don't know if there will be an international field at Grand Prix, or a second Grand Prix, or GPF. I hope USFS will still offer this competition opp. for skaters. There's no reason they still can't give in person advising, esp. since so many skaters train in Colorado near their HQ.
 
Isn't US Classic, JO, Skate America all too close together? What are the odds that he'll do all three? Not good, I would think.

ISP is a competition opportunity, though, and we don't know if there will be an international field at Grand Prix, or a second Grand Prix, or GPF. I hope USFS will still offer this competition opp. for skaters. There's no reason they still can't give in person advising, esp. since so many skaters train in Colorado near their HQ.

Well, he did US Classic, JO, and Rostelecom (first event in GP series) in 2017. He also did JO, SkAm, IdF in 2019, which were separated by two to three weeks, so the turn-around time shouldn't be a problem. In addition we don't know the format of this year's JO - could be virtual for international skaters again.

I think the whole point of Champs Camp is to get a bunch of judges and officials together to evaluate each skater's performance and decide whether they are good enough to be sent to international competitions (hence "international selection pool"), so that's not something that can be easily done at the Colorado HQ. I'm pretty sure the skaters will skate their programs either way, and if they do Champs Camp in person it will probably feel more like a real competition with the judges sitting right in front of them. The difference is just whether we get to see the programs or not.


This is one of the most Raf things I've seen :laugh:

ETA: Translation of Nathan’s part
https://twitter.com/intonathanchen/status/1388165820581359616?s=21
 
Last edited:
Isn't US Classic, JO, Skate America all too close together? What are the odds that he'll do all three? Not good, I would think.

There are 2 weeks between US Classic and JO and 3 weeks between JO and SA. That's perfectly doable. JO isn't even a real competition so he wouldn't be killing himself training for it.
 
I have yet to find an appropriate smiley for Raf interviews. :laugh: is the closest. Raf has managed to forget that Nathan did not do 4z 4f in the team event SP at 2018 Olympics and that SP didn't go well either?

For Nathan's sake I hope Raf and Nathan's family are able to agree on a plan for approaching this next Olympics. 🙏

I appreciate Nathan's Russian fans being so dedicated and generous and taking the time to translate Russian language interviews into idiomatic English for other fans to understand. Huge, huge thanks. 💐:ghug:

ETA: Thank you LutzDance for letting us know about the helpful translation. I hesitate to like any post from you for fear you will edit to add a Raf interview. :laugh:
 
ETA: Thank you LutzDance for letting us know about the helpful translation. I hesitate to like any post from you for fear you will edit to add a Raf interview. :laugh:
I know I know, I really tend to abuse the edit function and make posts that go on and on 😅

My reactions to Raf’s interviews are usually an assortment of :laugh::laugh2::bow::drama: Among other things, the fact that he’s proudly saying Nathan understands his swear words is cracking me up. And how he dismisses the 4A as doable but unworthy BV-wise and then throws in a completely random analogy...That’s truly Raf fashion.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top