State of U.S. Ladies' skating 2016-17

[skylark]

.... I can tell she has worked on her upper body movement softening her lines.....I love her choreography and music.....I've been waiting a long time for her to perform to something like this. The position of her ending camel spin is gorgeous. One critique I have is for her to give more emotion to her face, )

That may a good answer to questions about why she might have performed technically sub-standard, for her. That, and the fall on the tailbone of course. In her remarks, it sounds like Gracie was shaken up so badly at Worlds that she decided to shake everything up still more.

She said that in the past, she's had her programs well-prepared right out of the gate at GF, so the team is trying a different approach. As people around here say all the time about other skaters ... there's room to grow the programs at this point in the season.

It's kind of delicate and dicey, though. The thing that prevents me from being on board with Gracie is her lack of expression, but I do recognize the beauty of her speed, presence and jumps. It's tricky. I watched Elaine Zayak's TSL interview last week. She kept repeating that skaters should have the freedom to do what they want to do. We all want to see joy from skaters, so that seems like good advice.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Maybe is because her sister is retiring this season, she is her twin and best friend.

That makes a lot of sense actually. And it has not been brought upoften, but that is a major change. I think it was a lot of things but Carly might be part of it and in a way that may not have been realised or anticipated. It likely was many things but that was likely part of it.

 

[KwanIsALegend]

I just saw AShley's LP at Japan Open and if I compare it to Gracie's lp, Gracie's program trumps hers by a lot. I liked her music but didn't think Ashley's choreography is inspiring or that she performed that well to it....therefore, for me, it was a boring program for Ashley. I guess I am going with Gracie this year, lol

I like Ashleys program but it is desperately in need of more choreography. The music calls for a lot of long held expressive moves. I am hoping the program is still developing.

I like Gracies program as well. I love that it is not pop music!! It is headed in a good direction and I ope she has more success with it going forward.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I like Ashleys program but it is desperately in need of more choreography. The music calls for a lot of long held expressive moves. I am hoping the program is still developing.

I think it is. Ashley added a lot of content to her program throughout the season last year, so I expect the same from her with this program.

 

[KatGrace1925]

I don't remember the exact reason but, Gracie had a late start to her training this year. My biggest hope is that Gracie will peak late. My other hope is that Lori took a look at her Free Program and said "What the heck was I thinking" and that they will continue to rework it until it's competitive. Losing to Ashley is not that shocking to Gracie but, I think if they competed tomorrow that Mariah Bell would beat her. Maybe Gracie needs a wake up call. She's been at this for so long that she may be coasting or trying to coast for a season. However, she looks like she's going to coast herself off the World Team. Ashley, Mirai, and IMO, Mariah Bell, are ALL ahead of her at this point and I could definitely see Polina and Courtney beating Gracie's most recent outing.

I think Gracie will be fine, she has a habit of blowing competitions and then doing well the next. I also wouldn't say she's trying to coast this season, she works hard each season. I think what happened was what other people evaluated here, her first fall looked really hard and threw her off and the second one didn't help. I'm optimistic, I like her new program and think if performed clean it will be beautiful.

 

[mrrice]

I think Gracie will be fine, she has a habit of blowing competitions and then doing well the next. I also wouldn't say she's trying to coast this season, she works hard each season. I think what happened was what other people evaluated here, her first fall looked really hard and threw her off and the second one didn't help. I'm optimistic, I like her new program and think if performed clean it will be beautiful.

I know I shouldn't care so much but I still don't want to watch Gracie's new program until she skates it well. I don't care if she wins as long as she's happy with the performance. I never liked Michelle Kwan's Red Violin program until the Final performance at Worlds in 2000 and I can wait and watch Gracie's programs develop and hope she's ready to skate them with confidence when the GP begins.

 

[Mathman]

I never liked Michelle Kwan's Red Violin program until the Final performance at Worlds in 2000...

Although the preview that she gave at the 1999 Worlds gala was one of her greatest performances ever and gave us a taste of what the program could become.

 

[mrrice]

Although the preview that she gave at the 1999 Worlds gala was one of her greatest performances ever and gave us a taste of what the program could become.

It was the same way with her 1999 LP to "Lamento d'Ariane" It was spectacular during this fluff event. However, it was not this good at Worlds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0bggmmcVTs

 

[artsciboy]

I think it is. Ashley added a lot of content to her program throughout the season last year, so I expect the same from her with this program.

I agree that she will likely add more. That said, Exogenesis has way more content to start out with than Moulin Rouge back in 2014, so its very encouraging!

 

[temadd]

Also, I think she gets lost in that white dress. She kind of blends in with the ice.

I think she could keep the dress with some different bead work. Remember, Ashley's dress last year was white but had gold and silver beading that made it pop better.

 

[temadd]

I like Ashleys program but it is desperately in need of more choreography. The music calls for a lot of long held expressive moves. I am hoping the program is still developing.

I like Gracies program as well. I love that it is not pop music!! It is headed in a good direction and I ope she has more success with it going forward.

Remember that this is the second LP that Ashley choreographed this season, so I think she is a little behind on it.

 

[TwinnerA]

It was the same way with her 1999 LP to "Lamento d'Ariane" It was spectacular during this fluff event. However, it was not this good at Worlds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0bggmmcVTs

OMG! I was just going to mention/link this performance. Sandra Bezic was just in awe in her commentary!

 

[Sugarpova]

I love that it is not pop music!!

imo pop music is exactly what she needs
She felt pretty natural in 'Shake it off'

 

[jenaj]

It was the same way with her 1999 LP to "Lamento d'Ariane" It was spectacular during this fluff event. However, it was not this good at Worlds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0bggmmcVTs

She was sick at World's that year, as I recall. The World Pro version is one of my favorite performances of all time. It's hard to believe that, at only 18, she could pull that much emotion and sophistication out of that performance.

 

[mrrice]

She was sick at World's that year, as I recall. The World Pro version is one of my favorite performances of all time. It's hard to believe that, at only 18, she could pull that much emotion and sophistication out of that performance.

Yes she was definitely sick but, she was already in a hole due to a fall in the SP. I will also add that even though skaters are used to the cold, Helsinki is a special kind of cold and I'm sure that made things worse. I think maybe people from Chicago are more equipped to deal with how cold it get's especially in Helsinki. When you add the wind whipping over that water to the cold temperature it go's right through what ever you're wearing. I know from dancing, how difficult it can be to turn when you have a head cold and we turn at a much slower rate than skaters. If you've danced when you're sick, I know you've experienced, "The Snot Wrap" That happens when you're doing pirouette's and "Mucus/Snot" wrap's around your face. It's embarrassing and if you have dark skin like me........It's absolutely gross.

 

[jenaj]

Yes she was definitely sick but, she was already in a hole due to a fall in the SP.

I thought we were talking about why Lamento D'Ariane wasn't as good at World's. Way to divert the issue!

 

[Mrs. P]

http://content.yudu.com/web/y5b2/0A...65.htm?refUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FPBLyz3w7e2

I was reading the "tests passed" section of Skating and I noticed there's a mention of Selena Zhao, Broadmoor SC, passing the senior free skate test. If it's the same Selena Zhao, who was skating for Canada, does this mean she is going to skate in/for the U.S. again? Last I heard, she was attending Harvard.

According to her ISU bio, her last competition was the U.S. Classic last year, so as long as Canada releases her (which I can't imagine that would be a huge issue, she could represent the US right now. This seems like an unusual move, since had switched over a few seasons ago.

ETA: According to this article, she wasn't required a release because she hadn't competed internationally for the U.S. when she made the switch. She'll definitely need a release from Canada if it's indeed the case that she's moving back to the U.S.

ETA2: If she was going to compete in the U.S., she would have to compete in regionals/sectionals to get to Nationals. Since she's with Broadmoor SC, she would be in the Southwestern regional. So I'll guess we'll know pretty quickly.

 

[mrrice]

I thought we were talking about why Lamento D'Ariane wasn't as good at World's. Way to divert the issue!

I was trying to be nice. Michelle was nowhere near as good as Maria and IMO, she should not have even made the final flight. I'm not into being mean, but let's a have look at Michelle's SP from 1999 Worlds. By the way, the BESP guys do mention that Michelle was not feeling well and discussed it before her performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta04kTVj2DU

 

[ice coverage]

http://content.yudu.com/web/y5b2/0A...65.htm?refUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FPBLyz3w7e2

I was reading the "tests passed" section of Skating and I noticed there's a mention of Selena Zhao, Broadmoor SC, passing the senior free skate test. If it's the same Selena Zhao, who was skating for Canada, does this mean she is going to skate in/for the U.S. again? Last I heard, she was attending Harvard.

According to her ISU bio, her last competition was the U.S. Classic last year, so as long as Canada releases her (which I can't imagine that would be a huge issue, she could represent the US right now. This seems like an unusual move, since had switched over a few seasons ago.

ETA: According to this article, she wasn't required a release because she hadn't competed internationally for the U.S. when she made the switch. She'll definitely need a release from Canada if it's indeed the case that she's moving back to the U.S.

ETA2: If she was going to compete in the U.S., she would have to compete in regionals/sectionals to get to Nationals. Since she's with Broadmoor SC, she would be in the Southwestern regional. So I'll guess we'll know pretty quickly.

Selena Zhao was excited to perform in An Evening With Champions last month.
At the time, she said (I'm paraphrasing) that she still is training every day and loves the sport. Has not closed the door to competing, but is in a transitional period what with her new life as a Harvard freshman. Is trying to figure things out.

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2016/09/12/200902400/the-inside-edge-chen-edmunds-headline-ewc (Sep 12)​

(The EWC article did not mention the possibility of a switch to Team USA.
Good eyes, Mrs. P .)

 

[concorde]

My thoughts as to why Selena Zhoa took the USFS test and neither has to do wirh switching countries.

There are several Seniors ladies at my rink who represent other countries. My understanding is if you want to skate in a US club competition, then you have had to passed the USFS free stake test for the level that you want to skate at (or at least one level down so you can skate up). At the club competition, your Country is listed as your figure skating club.

Others skaters want to complete the US Senior test so that they can list it on their ice skating resume.