Soogar,
Agree to disagree for most of this? So I write one dissertation and others write 10 essays. Somebody do a word count.
And no, we don't all know every single thing Robin Wagner said about Sasha and vice versa. We don't all read every figure skating magazine. As for the interviewer intimating that the way Sasha said it made it clear that Sasha didn't like doing sections over and over again. For one thing, I've been the interviewee and the interviewer. As the interviewee, just got used to the interviewer writing crap about looks or tones and just plain major misquotes because the interviewer either had an agenda or wasn't paying attention. As the interviewer, I'd read my interview in the printed copy and go, "WTF!?" Example, the editor changed "lugubrious" to "mournful." That's like changing "black comedy" to "dark and evil"--sort of. I could go on and on to the way an editor can butcher an interview--an editor who was never there for the interview. But controversy sells magazines.
Can't say if this did or did not happen with Wagner and Cohen interviews. Am just saying it happened in my days in journalism.
As for Sasha not wanting to do sections over and over, it all depends. If you don't get any feedback or are not told why you're doing a section over and over, ie, for stamina, for muscle memory, to improve a certain element, then I wouldn't want to do it over and over either and didn't with certain rehearsal directors we called "dance killers."
I assume you meant Sasha's first Wagner "Swan Lake" outing, yes? Whether or not Robin Wagner would have offered Sasha more in the long run we will never know. It was Sasha's decision. Some people liked what they saw in Sasha with RW's "SL." I didn't, except for the better jump technique. Mzheng saw softer. I saw blah. Sasha, for me, is a naturally aggressive, staccato, dynamic skater. Remember the years Lori Nichol choreographed soft balletic programs for Fumie Suguri? I thought they just accentuated her weaknesses and didn't make use of her strengths. Then Lori does the "Paint it Black" SP for Fumie and I'm in love! Fumie was never a lyrical skater. She just had a lyrical personality.
I thought Sasha skated best when she did Tarsova's bravura black and white "Swan Lake." No soft and pretty. It was almost all speed and attack and I thought it was great.
I read here, on this thread, that Maya Usova did the first version of "R&J." Could be just more forum rumor. Perhaps the person who noted that--I believe it was Gezando, but could be wrong--could clarify that.
So if Morosov is the one who chose Rota's "R&J" Sasha should get her money back. A tango would have suited her much better, IMO. Rota's "R&J" is just dreck, IMO, ESPECIALLY when you have a score that was written for movement by one of the composers in the pantheon, Prokofiev. Once again, Sasha gets dumped on for something that wasn't her decision. Had she fired Morosov it would have been, "There goes that difficult Cohen. Only wants to do what she wants to do."
The thing that annoys me is all the "mind reading" not just of Sasha but of any skater. "Sasha just won't accept that she needs to work on her basics." How does anybody here know? Looks like she's been working on basics to me. She couldn't do a jump past the 2-minute mark before and now she is. True she blew the salchow at TEB, but she knew why. She was late and rushed it. Her edges are much better, as is her strength. It took Shen and Zhao 10 years at Worlds to become what they have become. Everybody's different.
To Mathman: True, since whenever Irina exploded onto the ice, she's gotten all kinds of criticism. But since fall '01 Sasha has been the Tara of GS. If there's a thread on Michelle, Sasha gets pulled in and dumped on. If there was a thread on Sasha, especially after '02 Os and Worlds, there would be 10 pages of "off with her head." I remember waiting during a thread a certain Grown-up Skater started on Sasha--circus animal, yadda yadda--and waiting and waiting to see if anybody would point out any of Sasha's strengths. Nobody did, as I said, for about 10 pages. At the time I had far more criticisms of Sasha than I do now, but I pointed out her strengths just to have a discussion rather than a dogpile. A number of people posted, "Oh, yeah. She does have good musicality" or whatever.
Like I said, people are perfectly entitled to call Sasha clown on skates. I'm just exercising my entitlement to point out the other side of the coin. I'm not even a fan of Sasha. Indeed she doesn't have the edging, speed, and flow that Shizuka has, for example. But then Shizuka doesn't have the total body awareness in her positions that Sasha does. IMO, that's why they're so close.
One last thing, watching Emily Hughes tonight, all recovered and fit after her bout with viral meningitis and I kept watching her edging, speed, flow, etc. Man, it is Sarah to the tee, even though they had different coaches all their lives. Anybody want to argue nature vs. nurture?
BTW,
Kathy, I loved your post. Wouldn't it be great if people could balance the things they didn't like about a skater's skills, style, or choreography with what they did like? Unfortunately, some people just hate certain skaters and love to post why they do--over and over.
Rgirl
Now THAT would make a lot of people MUCH happier if I did that, including myself.
With all her faults, she's managed to be very successful in skating. The only thing she hasn't accomplished is the win of a major title (US Nats, Worlds or Olys) or the win of an Olympic medal (which she might do this year).
