- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Polina Edmunds
- Thread starter sky_fly20
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2014
Excited to see how Polina does this week at the US classic!!!!
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2013
I think its because of her height
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
New Music
Late last summer, Polina Edmunds posted an Instagram picture of herself on her website. She was posed on a lawn half shadowed, wearing a flowing, dark green blouse, white capri pants, and purple shoes which seemed made for the dance. Her right arm was raised in graceful gesture, as though reaching out to someone, and her left trailed behind her. The caption was, “Peter Pan, will you fly me away to Neverland?”
What it meant was that her strange, wonderful journey was continuing. It had begun when she was almost an unknown, winning the United States Junior Ladies gold medal and then the Senior Ladies silver medal at the National Championships last January in Boston, in the process becoming a member of the United States Olympic and World figure skating teams.
Now she was going further in and further up, with new programs that would further reveal her great gift for combining figure skating with the dance. The short program would be to a flamenco medley drawn from compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, allowing her to demonstrate a flair for drama and passion, though as a young woman would understand them. It is this last quality, perhaps, which gives it a special charm, as a play upon a theme just coming into being.
The free skate is set to music drawn from James Newton Howard’s score for Peter Pan, especially the “Fairy Dance.” A prolific composer, Howard had found his métier in these pieces, with their suggestion of Celtic climes and dances. The routine is lovely and lyrical, as though taking place in that period between first light and sunrise, the domain of fairies, when we still sleep and the world is theirs. The pose in the Instagram picture was taken from it, marking a brief interlude midway through. If the music and choreography have not great drama, there is nevertheless a sense of awakening romance, bittersweet and poignant. It is something young women her own age will understand, and what the woman she is becoming will remember.
Every artistic composition carries with it an ideal, however, of how it would appear, if perfectly realized. In dance or skating, the performer approaches it again and again, ever more closely in some respects, or further away in others. But very occasionally, the piece and the performance are in complete harmony.
Routines as complex and ambitious as these are difficult under the best of circumstances. And yet, the talent they give expression to, in Polina, makes possible as well their complete and perfect realization. Were it otherwise, it would be a denial of her great gifts as well as of the giver. The work she has done, the help of the marvelous people around her, and the setting of the national championships in an area of the country known for its hospitality, will bring her so close to the realization of what was intended that she cannot help but find it. She need only whisper to herself, “I do believe, I do believe,” and all will be well.
Indeed, she will be uplifted, even to Neverland, and many hearts will be borne with her.
Late last summer, Polina Edmunds posted an Instagram picture of herself on her website. She was posed on a lawn half shadowed, wearing a flowing, dark green blouse, white capri pants, and purple shoes which seemed made for the dance. Her right arm was raised in graceful gesture, as though reaching out to someone, and her left trailed behind her. The caption was, “Peter Pan, will you fly me away to Neverland?”
What it meant was that her strange, wonderful journey was continuing. It had begun when she was almost an unknown, winning the United States Junior Ladies gold medal and then the Senior Ladies silver medal at the National Championships last January in Boston, in the process becoming a member of the United States Olympic and World figure skating teams.
Now she was going further in and further up, with new programs that would further reveal her great gift for combining figure skating with the dance. The short program would be to a flamenco medley drawn from compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, allowing her to demonstrate a flair for drama and passion, though as a young woman would understand them. It is this last quality, perhaps, which gives it a special charm, as a play upon a theme just coming into being.
The free skate is set to music drawn from James Newton Howard’s score for Peter Pan, especially the “Fairy Dance.” A prolific composer, Howard had found his métier in these pieces, with their suggestion of Celtic climes and dances. The routine is lovely and lyrical, as though taking place in that period between first light and sunrise, the domain of fairies, when we still sleep and the world is theirs. The pose in the Instagram picture was taken from it, marking a brief interlude midway through. If the music and choreography have not great drama, there is nevertheless a sense of awakening romance, bittersweet and poignant. It is something young women her own age will understand, and what the woman she is becoming will remember.
Every artistic composition carries with it an ideal, however, of how it would appear, if perfectly realized. In dance or skating, the performer approaches it again and again, ever more closely in some respects, or further away in others. But very occasionally, the piece and the performance are in complete harmony.
Routines as complex and ambitious as these are difficult under the best of circumstances. And yet, the talent they give expression to, in Polina, makes possible as well their complete and perfect realization. Were it otherwise, it would be a denial of her great gifts as well as of the giver. The work she has done, the help of the marvelous people around her, and the setting of the national championships in an area of the country known for its hospitality, will bring her so close to the realization of what was intended that she cannot help but find it. She need only whisper to herself, “I do believe, I do believe,” and all will be well.
Indeed, she will be uplifted, even to Neverland, and many hearts will be borne with her.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
Where She Is
There have been a number of comments on this site about how Polina should be changed. The hair with its braids, the skating dress with its fancy design, and the long program, conceived as a “fairy dance,” all should be made over. Some would also want her to skate faster and more aggressively, to be less “juvenile” and, evidently, more dramatic.
What they seem to want, however, is for her to be like everyone else and to fit the mold of their expectations. What they should be interested in is who she is and how that might best be given expression. It is only the question they would ask regarding their own favorites.
From a distanced perspective, she seems to be a very sunny young woman, affectionate and fun-loving, but with an unusual seriousness of purpose. When she is interviewed, there is a refreshing frankness to what she says, but also the articulateness that comes not only with intelligence, but reflection. She has been thoughtfully guided, but is not being driven to do what she does. She comes to it now on her own, out of her own heart and desires, and her remarks show an understanding of what is required and why, if she is to accomplish that purpose.
There is also a wonderful transparency to her, in those interviews or public appearances, but especially in her performances. She is quite sensitive—to beauty and love, and to other things which are a part of life—yet has a character of such strength and centeredness that she can allow herself to be, without the barriers raised by those who have not that strength.
Her special talent, of course, is that of the dance. As in her programs last season and even more so now, she does not merely skate to the music but becomes the music. Even as light and sound are but variations of each other, so are line and movement the equivalent of the music. One could merely watch her, the sound turned down, and there would still be a kind of music.
These past few months have been ones of great change for her. As she says, she is in the process of going from being a child to a woman. It is always difficult and many other skaters have not emerged from it with their talent intact. For her, there is a suggestion of even greater potential being realized. As a girl, she brought great innocence and joy to her skating. As the young woman she is becoming, there is not less of that innocence or joy, but a greater sense of how it might be given expression in a world in which beauty is often vulnerable.
No doubt she will continue to change, as she goes further in and further up. For now, the delicate artistry of her skating, in its lyric grace but also in her presentation, in hair and costume and manner, show the place where she is. It is lovely, filled with light and alive to the wonders awaiting her. She is not unaware of the shadows which are also part of it, but will address them now as later, in her own way and in her own time, whether it be in performance or life.
There have been a number of comments on this site about how Polina should be changed. The hair with its braids, the skating dress with its fancy design, and the long program, conceived as a “fairy dance,” all should be made over. Some would also want her to skate faster and more aggressively, to be less “juvenile” and, evidently, more dramatic.
What they seem to want, however, is for her to be like everyone else and to fit the mold of their expectations. What they should be interested in is who she is and how that might best be given expression. It is only the question they would ask regarding their own favorites.
From a distanced perspective, she seems to be a very sunny young woman, affectionate and fun-loving, but with an unusual seriousness of purpose. When she is interviewed, there is a refreshing frankness to what she says, but also the articulateness that comes not only with intelligence, but reflection. She has been thoughtfully guided, but is not being driven to do what she does. She comes to it now on her own, out of her own heart and desires, and her remarks show an understanding of what is required and why, if she is to accomplish that purpose.
There is also a wonderful transparency to her, in those interviews or public appearances, but especially in her performances. She is quite sensitive—to beauty and love, and to other things which are a part of life—yet has a character of such strength and centeredness that she can allow herself to be, without the barriers raised by those who have not that strength.
Her special talent, of course, is that of the dance. As in her programs last season and even more so now, she does not merely skate to the music but becomes the music. Even as light and sound are but variations of each other, so are line and movement the equivalent of the music. One could merely watch her, the sound turned down, and there would still be a kind of music.
These past few months have been ones of great change for her. As she says, she is in the process of going from being a child to a woman. It is always difficult and many other skaters have not emerged from it with their talent intact. For her, there is a suggestion of even greater potential being realized. As a girl, she brought great innocence and joy to her skating. As the young woman she is becoming, there is not less of that innocence or joy, but a greater sense of how it might be given expression in a world in which beauty is often vulnerable.
No doubt she will continue to change, as she goes further in and further up. For now, the delicate artistry of her skating, in its lyric grace but also in her presentation, in hair and costume and manner, show the place where she is. It is lovely, filled with light and alive to the wonders awaiting her. She is not unaware of the shadows which are also part of it, but will address them now as later, in her own way and in her own time, whether it be in performance or life.
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2013
I just hope if she does change anything it's because she wants to. There is plenty of "been there...done that"in this sport but the most important thing for me is seeing people express without a doubt their true self and interpretation of FS.
I also think she is having a rough season so for some reason many figure skating fans decide that it's time to start pointing out any flaws that they percieve. For whatever reasons I'm sure ill never understand.
I also think she is having a rough season so for some reason many figure skating fans decide that it's time to start pointing out any flaws that they percieve. For whatever reasons I'm sure ill never understand.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2014
I still find it annoying how Park so youn and Polina have been awarded comparatively much lower PC scores than their competitors this season. Sure, low marks in transition may be justified but the rest I just can't find myself to justify in my mind. And it's not simply because they are one of my favourites, I should add. :disapp:
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
This Evening
There are phrases which recur, as cadenzas to music heard in a dream. "Beautiful are the feet of the swallow, folded unseen past the mountain," or "Blessed are the feet of him who brings good tidings." They sing of a beauty that is part of this world yet apart from it, the transcendent in the transient. Beautiful, too, are the feet of a young figure skater, whose boots with their shining blades are as the toe shoes of a ballet dancer. How lightly she will skim the ice in lovely flight, without haste yet swift, become now the music of a waking dream. The startling, still unfamiliar brilliance will be given again, and given and given, that the darkness shall once more be confounded. And in her dance, those brief cadenzas will be heard once more, that hearts might be uplifted, even as her own heart has been.
There are phrases which recur, as cadenzas to music heard in a dream. "Beautiful are the feet of the swallow, folded unseen past the mountain," or "Blessed are the feet of him who brings good tidings." They sing of a beauty that is part of this world yet apart from it, the transcendent in the transient. Beautiful, too, are the feet of a young figure skater, whose boots with their shining blades are as the toe shoes of a ballet dancer. How lightly she will skim the ice in lovely flight, without haste yet swift, become now the music of a waking dream. The startling, still unfamiliar brilliance will be given again, and given and given, that the darkness shall once more be confounded. And in her dance, those brief cadenzas will be heard once more, that hearts might be uplifted, even as her own heart has been.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
The Music Her Own
So it came to pass, the superb technique placed in service to the music, with the music not merely accompanying the performance, but given expression in it. Each movement and step was on the beat and along the musical line, and the concluding flourish came not a moment or two after the music had finished, as though there had been no real relationship between the program and the music, but on the last note.
Afterwards, at the press conference, she spoke with becoming gratitude for her skating having been accepted the year before, when she was an unknown, and for having been able to fight through to a good performance that evening, when those in the preceding competitions had as often been bad as good.
Tonight will be the free skate portion of the championship, with so many young ladies skating so well that such close proximity in the scoring cannot help but bring out the very best from each of them.
As for Polina’s long program, a few have written how lovely they’ve found it to be, with its lyric lightness, so different from those of the other skaters. Perhaps it touches them so for the story it tells. The music is taken from James Newton Howard’s score for the motion picture, “Peter Pan,” especially the “Fairy Dance” and “Tinkerbell” sequences. One might imagine a morning in Neverland, in that period between first light and sun rise, when the rest of the world is asleep. The tinkling bells and pipes suggest its magic, when things half seen reveal a world much vaster than we mortals know.
It is a time when the fairies come out. For this one, the garden is hers alone, with no Lost Boys, no Pirates or Indians to disturb her. She flits from flower to mushroom, moss and tree, spinning and leaping in the sheer joy of being in such a place of beauty. It is a dance which glorifies all that she loves.
There is one other whom she loves, her Peter Pan. In her dance, she touches again the path where he walked, the spot where he rested, the field where he played. It is absurd, for a fairy to be in love with a mortal, even such an enchanted boy as her Peter, but love has never recognized such boundaries. Against all reason, she hopes, and in hope at last she looks up to greet the sun and all that might be found under it.
For those who would want Polina to be as someone else, can they imagine some other piece that would better express the joy and innocence of a young woman in love with love and beauty? The experiences we all of us will find in the journey of our lives will deepen and even darken that appreciation. After all, we were not meant to live forever in this world. Here is its first light, however, when the colors are brightest and most fresh, as a girl becoming a woman would know best. Here is its music, sweet and poignant but not yet bitter.
The music she skates to this evening is her own. Let it take her further on in her journey.
So it came to pass, the superb technique placed in service to the music, with the music not merely accompanying the performance, but given expression in it. Each movement and step was on the beat and along the musical line, and the concluding flourish came not a moment or two after the music had finished, as though there had been no real relationship between the program and the music, but on the last note.
Afterwards, at the press conference, she spoke with becoming gratitude for her skating having been accepted the year before, when she was an unknown, and for having been able to fight through to a good performance that evening, when those in the preceding competitions had as often been bad as good.
Tonight will be the free skate portion of the championship, with so many young ladies skating so well that such close proximity in the scoring cannot help but bring out the very best from each of them.
As for Polina’s long program, a few have written how lovely they’ve found it to be, with its lyric lightness, so different from those of the other skaters. Perhaps it touches them so for the story it tells. The music is taken from James Newton Howard’s score for the motion picture, “Peter Pan,” especially the “Fairy Dance” and “Tinkerbell” sequences. One might imagine a morning in Neverland, in that period between first light and sun rise, when the rest of the world is asleep. The tinkling bells and pipes suggest its magic, when things half seen reveal a world much vaster than we mortals know.
It is a time when the fairies come out. For this one, the garden is hers alone, with no Lost Boys, no Pirates or Indians to disturb her. She flits from flower to mushroom, moss and tree, spinning and leaping in the sheer joy of being in such a place of beauty. It is a dance which glorifies all that she loves.
There is one other whom she loves, her Peter Pan. In her dance, she touches again the path where he walked, the spot where he rested, the field where he played. It is absurd, for a fairy to be in love with a mortal, even such an enchanted boy as her Peter, but love has never recognized such boundaries. Against all reason, she hopes, and in hope at last she looks up to greet the sun and all that might be found under it.
For those who would want Polina to be as someone else, can they imagine some other piece that would better express the joy and innocence of a young woman in love with love and beauty? The experiences we all of us will find in the journey of our lives will deepen and even darken that appreciation. After all, we were not meant to live forever in this world. Here is its first light, however, when the colors are brightest and most fresh, as a girl becoming a woman would know best. Here is its music, sweet and poignant but not yet bitter.
The music she skates to this evening is her own. Let it take her further on in her journey.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2004
Congratulations to Polina on winning the gold medal at 4CC. 
The British Eurosports guys were full of praise for Polina's FS performance. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IOb1RYt8U.
The British Eurosports guys were full of praise for Polina's FS performance. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IOb1RYt8U.
Congratulations to Polina on winning the gold medal at 4CC.
And people in the arena were very pleased too :yes:
Thanks humbaba for the British Eurosports video link. I really enjoy their commentaries. 
The more I watch it, the more I enjoy Polina's performance.
Congratulations Polina for winning the gold medal at the 2015 4CC. WOW, you won your first major international event this season with 2 clean beautiful programs!
So proud of you for not allowing your early season struggles to discourage you. I hope that you'll continue to try to improve every aspect of your skating (plus more beautiful music, choreography and costumes) so you'll be able to reach your full potential. I've been keeping my eye on you ever since you won the US National Junior Championship and I expected for you to earn a spot to go to the 2014 Olympics and you did! With your continued hard work and dedication with consistency, I wouldn't be surprise if you end up on the podium at the 2018 Winter Olympics with you and Karen Chen among the top contenders.
Just enjoy your journey and have fun with life and your fans and admirers will cheer you along the way! Praying for the best for you!
The more I watch it, the more I enjoy Polina's performance.Congratulations Polina for winning the gold medal at the 2015 4CC. WOW, you won your first major international event this season with 2 clean beautiful programs!
So proud of you for not allowing your early season struggles to discourage you. I hope that you'll continue to try to improve every aspect of your skating (plus more beautiful music, choreography and costumes) so you'll be able to reach your full potential. I've been keeping my eye on you ever since you won the US National Junior Championship and I expected for you to earn a spot to go to the 2014 Olympics and you did! With your continued hard work and dedication with consistency, I wouldn't be surprise if you end up on the podium at the 2018 Winter Olympics with you and Karen Chen among the top contenders.
Just enjoy your journey and have fun with life and your fans and admirers will cheer you along the way!
Praying for the best for you!- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
New Eyes
As Polina was finishing her freeskate at the national championships last month, Johnny Weir was agreeing with Tara Lipinsky that she was strong-minded in her skating, but that he wished her presentation was better. The music might have been good in the movie it came from, he said, but it was "atrocious" coming at the end of such an exciting competition that evening. It showed her immaturity and weakness.
This was merely an assertion, however, as there is no obvious reason why the dreamy mood piece she skated to was unsuitable for her performance, or why such a performance did not express the true sensibility of a young woman her age.
What was saddening, however, was that he seemingly did not recognize even the possibility that it might have been beautiful in its own way.
The commentators for British Eurosports had no such difficulty as they watched her gold medal-winning performance at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships last week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-4RtRGJww
They got it, absolutely, and loved what they got. [Thank you, Humbaba].
NBC will be telecasting the Four Continents this afternoon. It will be interesting to see whether Weir will watch her performance at this competition from another perspective--he'll probably be aware of the British Eurosports take on it as he prepares his own commentary--and realize that something extraordinary was taking place that evening.
Perhaps his eyes will be opened, if not his heart.
As Polina was finishing her freeskate at the national championships last month, Johnny Weir was agreeing with Tara Lipinsky that she was strong-minded in her skating, but that he wished her presentation was better. The music might have been good in the movie it came from, he said, but it was "atrocious" coming at the end of such an exciting competition that evening. It showed her immaturity and weakness.
This was merely an assertion, however, as there is no obvious reason why the dreamy mood piece she skated to was unsuitable for her performance, or why such a performance did not express the true sensibility of a young woman her age.
What was saddening, however, was that he seemingly did not recognize even the possibility that it might have been beautiful in its own way.
The commentators for British Eurosports had no such difficulty as they watched her gold medal-winning performance at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships last week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-4RtRGJww
They got it, absolutely, and loved what they got. [Thank you, Humbaba].
NBC will be telecasting the Four Continents this afternoon. It will be interesting to see whether Weir will watch her performance at this competition from another perspective--he'll probably be aware of the British Eurosports take on it as he prepares his own commentary--and realize that something extraordinary was taking place that evening.
Perhaps his eyes will be opened, if not his heart.
Last edited:
Polina Edmunds is on my list of favourite current ISU competitors. My favourite USFS senior lady. I like the way she solidified her World Team slot with a big win at 4CCs. Tara Lipinski doesn't seem too thrilled with Polina...................just as Peggy Fleming never seemed very thrilled with Tara L. So perhaps this is good voodoo for Edmunds. I believe her odds of winning 2015 World bronze are as good as her 2 USFS companions on the team. Gold is still struggling and Wagner may have peaked at US Nats. Polina is just getting started.
Mike
Mike
Polina's fancam. I found myself repeatedly go back on youtube to search for her fancam, which really means something. Her LP makes me feel calm and soothing.
Great fancam from 4CC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bznVA6wnh4w (this one is the best)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwK1Y6u0qUs
and nice commentary from CBC as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWz4bJhnKA
this is the summer comp LP when she as wearing red practice dress fancam, a nice comparison to 4CC fancam, some choreo change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FsTyQsoTCA&feature=youtu.be
EDIT: as Kurt said, when she lands her jump, she has sensitive knees and respective to the ice on the landing. This quality could be very charming and intriguing in a way when watch live. I wish I can watch Polina live some time in the future
Great fancam from 4CC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bznVA6wnh4w (this one is the best)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwK1Y6u0qUs
and nice commentary from CBC as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWz4bJhnKA
this is the summer comp LP when she as wearing red practice dress fancam, a nice comparison to 4CC fancam, some choreo change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FsTyQsoTCA&feature=youtu.be
EDIT: as Kurt said, when she lands her jump, she has sensitive knees and respective to the ice on the landing. This quality could be very charming and intriguing in a way when watch live. I wish I can watch Polina live some time in the future
Last edited:
Similar threads
