Technical issues aside I think she grew as a performer this year. I actually think R&J could have trumped SL in quality but alas...technical issues prevented it from happening. Oh..this sport is cruel. Going forward I just want to see her content and again proud of herself at center ice after any skate regardless of the outcome but we all know how high her standards have always and likely will always be. SJID has pointed out to us how she is a like a butterfly who flies on very delicate wings. Her vulnerability is almost a strength that she can never have control over and it will likely frustrate her at times. I would find it hard to define such a quality as anything short of the mark of a true artist.
End rant....and no...I have no idea where it came from but if you know me at all..I do this every so often
end of fs season = good time to reflect.
putting aside tech stuff, agree her movements showed much more polish this season. i thought r&j prog seemed a bit generic (under-choreographed), but sp was my fav of the season.
as to yulia-the-artist: artists tend to be a very complicated bunch. yulia is apparently the most complex personality in the discipline. this, i think, is manifest in her deep & soulful choice of music, and her haunting upper-body movement/transitions. add to this her wardrobe & i think she has the best 'packaging' of any lady.
along with her flexibility, spins, & her ease entering/exiting jumps, i think she can hold her own in the upcoming russian 'bloodbath' supposing she improves her actual jump technique, because all of the above will impress the judges & earn marks.
other than that i overall worry about her fs career. she already has a nice olympic medal, a legendary skate ('14 euros), and is famous as can be. i blame either this apparently-diminished-incentive or stage-fright for her troubles this season, not uncomfortable skates, unfinished progs, puberty, etc. i thought her probs seemed psychological.
i just want her to be happy. but as a fs fan, it is frustrating because she has such a small body of work yet, but what is there suggests possibilities more profound than has yet been created by anyone. i've seen many of the best skates by the best skaters but yulias performances indicate an unrealized beauty which the others never reached. i know i'm not the only one who sees it. in one of her first senior skates a british eurosport commentator says "she has the most beautiful basic motion across the ice." it would be such a shame if we didnt get to see her mature, because she probably has the potential to create the most beautiful body of work ever.
