Sasha. Comeback. Believe it.

[Tinymavy15]

"Firebird" and Sasha would be great!

I'm with you SpunSilver-I'm not so enthused about "Moonlight" as a competitive program. It was nice as an a exhibition, definitely fit her better than "DSTM" but I found it kinda boring for a last hurrah.

Moonlight can be boring if a skater does not how to use the subtleties in music such as that. Watching Kimmie or even Caroline skate to music like that coudl put me to sleep, but remember Gordeeva and Grinkov skated to Moonlight Sonata for their return to the Olympics in 1992 and it was beautiful. Sasha plays to every single note of the music, and IMO it is wonderfully passionate and exciting. But everyone is entitled to her own opinion.

 

[seniorita]

MM I m a bit lazy but curious enough, I ll check, thanx

Is this one of them, Math???

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showpost.php?p=397617&postcount=447
If so, I did just for you Seniorita!!

Hey Dee mille merci , you re very effective, can you read for my exams also? My brain is like a fried egg rightnow.

 

[Spun Silver]

Moonlight can be boring if a skater does not how to use the subtleties in music such as that. Watching Kimmie or even Caroline skate to music like that coudl put me to sleep, but remember Gordeeva and Grinkov skated to Moonlight Sonata for their return to the Olympics in 1992 and it was beautiful. Sasha plays to every single note of the music, and IMO it is wonderfully passionate and exciting. But everyone is entitled to her own opinion.

For me it's not Sasha's skating that's the problem but rather that the music is overexposed to the point of triteness (alas, poor Beethoven!), and her choreography mirrored the music so literally that it was almost ludicrous, to me. If you're going to use a super-duper-familiar piece of music, your choreography had better have something new to say. Otherwise the skater has too many hurdles to overcome if she wants to make the judges and audience sit up.

But I know I'm in a minority and I'm fully expecting to see it as one of her programs this season. Hopefully an improved version.

 

[MKFSfan]

What Spun Silver said, I agree, thank you!

I just meant, for a comeback skate and for the Olympics, as a last hurrah, I want Sasha to skate to something else, something more "Malaguena" like. I want fire and energy.

But like you said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion!

P.S...in G&G's case I felt entirely different, and you are right, it was just mesmerizing, gorgeous, perfectly fitting in their case.

 

[Tonichelle]

....but remember Gordeeva and Grinkov skated to Moonlight Sonata for their return to the Olympics in 1992 and it was beautiful.

*cough* 1994....

 

[Medusa]

Hmm. I needed some beautiful spiral postions for some skating graphics - and therefore I had to look at videos from the Queen of spirals. And I found out that Sasha really rocks. I never hated her skating or anything, I often enjoyed watching her, despite her being as diverse with her music choices as Evan Lysacek. But I forgot that she was really good and if on, everything she did looked good. And if - that's of course a big if - she regains her form of 2004 e.g. - then everything is possible. It's not like the past two World Champions landed more than 5 Triples in their long programs.

Her skating skills also look great in comparision to the two other American hopes, Zhang and Flatt. She is no Kostner or Kim, but her speed is decent, the edging good, extension and positions outstanding of course. Plus, she is more expressive than all the other girls together.

And if she makes it to the Olympics, nobody would really expect her to win them, against Miss 3-3, Miss 3A and Miss Canada. And Miss 3-3 has every Korean eye on her, nearly the same pressure on Miss 3A and of course Miss Canada has to skate in front of the home crowd. Cohen could just skate and enjoy herself - and surprise everyone.

 

[Tonichelle]

^^ wouldnt that be cool! (it's also pretty much the pattern of the recent ladies winners... Lipinski, Hughes, and Arakawa)

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

"Firebird" and Sasha would be great!

I'm with you SpunSilver-I'm not so enthused about "Moonlight" as a competitive program. It was nice as an a exhibition, definitely fit her better than "DSTM" but I found it kinda boring for a last hurrah.

Firebird is Stravinsky's ballet music and he is a modern composer compared to Tschaikowsky's ballet music (which was for little girls, principally). It would be a stretch for Sasha to skate to complex music, and risky at that. Joannie did it very well at a younger age, and I think if she would return to it, she would make it her own.

Moonlight, too, would be a stretch for her. The mood of the music is very delicate (not sugary) and again, can Sasha be delicate with her acrobatic positions?

I would vote NO for Firebird and MAYBE for Moonlight. At the same time, it would be interesting to see if she can get away from adagio and, definitely Roti.

 

[Tinymavy15]

Cohen could just skate and enjoy herself - and surprise everyone.

right. She never did well when the pressure was on. When she was not the favorite, (think 2000 nationals and all those exhibitions) she skates beautifully. With all the pressure on Kim...

 

[R.D.]

Gotta crash the fan party once again...

It didn't seem to matter whether the pressure was on or not; Cohen would deliver fairly predicable LPs (usually a fall and a stumble or any other combination of two errors). Consider 2005 Nats when almost all the pressure was on MK to win her 9th title. Most folks expected MK to walk away with it (IIRC) and with the pressure off, Cohen still made crucial errors in the long and took herself out of it. (it was also the first time I saw MK visibly nervous, meaning that she clearly felt it)

So, it didn't matter whether the pressure was on, off, whether she was the favorite or underdog, she skated virtually the same.

 

[Tonichelle]

Kwan's Bolero was hardly something that she could walk away with anything... though at US nationals it was a given she was going to win... girl got how many 6.0s for a lackluster LP? Judging was SO lame at that competition...

Sasha also made the decision that year, IIRC, to debut a brand new program at nationals. That worked for Evan Lysacek a year later, but he also called in sick for the GP so he probably had more time to prepare.

 

[R.D.]

Kwan's Bolero was hardly something that she could walk away with anything... though at US nationals it was a given she was going to win... girl got how many 6.0s for a lackluster LP? Judging was SO lame at that competition...

Didn't Cohen also get a 6.0 with a FALL? :banging:

 

[Tinymavy15]

Didn't Cohen also get a 6.0 with a FALL? :banging:

and less than perfect interpretation. Of all her amazing chreographed programs, the Nutcracker was certainly not near the best.
Let's face it , 2005 was a joke with the 6.0s. They were handing them out to anything that was a decent performance.

 

[Tonichelle]

^^^ that was my point... they were just throwing the 6.0 around because it was the last time we'd see it... which made a mockery of not only the competition but the specialness that was the 6.0

 

[redshirt]

Is Sasha really returning? Are we sure?

We've heard absolutely nothing as to her music choice, training, and choreography etc since her announced return almost two months ago. Is she still on vacation?

 

[Tonichelle]

there are a lot of skaters who haven't revealed that information

 

[Sylvia]

Is Sasha really returning? Are we sure?

We've heard absolutely nothing as to her music choice, training, and choreography etc since her announced return almost two months ago. Is she still on vacation?

For what it's worth, Cohen's name was added to the Reserve team envelope on the USFS site on 6/23 (due to her receiving 2 GP assignments).

 

[redshirt]

there are a lot of skaters who haven't revealed that information

Well, we got some scattered info. and rumors on most top skaters here or there. But on Sasha, it's absolutely radio silent. She told us she's going to take a vacation before returning to full-time training. She's not sighted training by anybody. We have no idea whether she even has a coach. I assume she's had her programs done by some renowed choregrapher at this stage, but there's no such info. no rumor, not even a hint.

I'm starting to wonder whether Sasha is playing with her fans. Will Sasha announce in the middle of August she is no longer able to pursue her Olympic dream due to some mysterious injuries?

 

[R.D.]

I'm starting to wonder whether Sasha is playing with her fans. Will Sasha announce in the middle of August [that] she is no longer able to pursue her Olympic dream due to some mysterious injuries?

I don't think there'd be a sane reason for her to lead her fans on, but I do suspect that there will be an injury that appears which will end up taking her out of one or both GP events. If it's bad enough, it may end her career then and there.

 

[janetfan]

I don't think there'd be a sane reason for her to lead her fans on, but I do suspect that there will be an injury that appears which will end up taking her out of one or both GP events. If it's bad enough, it may end her career then and there.

There is not much info from Yuna's camp and Michelle is not letting people know much either. Why can't Sasha follow their lead?