10 replies to this topic

[Jayne]

Watch this Skate America 2011 Long Program for Carolina Kostner and spot the Jiri Kilian / Petite Mort references:



When I watch Meryl Davis skate, I can't help imagine that if she could easily have been one of Mr. B's "Alibaster Princesses" if she'd been born 60 years earlier.  Oh and I adore the fascinator!

[Natalia]

Thank you, Jayne. These were extraordinarily beautiful performances. Ladies: Had this been anywhere but in the USA, I believe that Kostner would have beaten tentative Alissa Czisny for the gold medal. Dance:  D/W are so fleet, musical, delightful. This has to be one of the most felicitous first outings of a free dance I've seen.

Now for another dance-derived delight, here is the winning Pairs free skate (long program) of Germany's Savchenko/Szolkowy - a tribute to the late Pina Bausch. This has the potential to develop into a masterpiece, too:



Men? ...well, there were really no Men's highlights at Skate America (but a few potentially fine programs, such as Japan's Kozuka). One of the weakest Men's competitions in a senior ISU event in a long time, IMO. I believe that the Men's highlights will begin to roll in this weekend with Skate Canada.

[Drew]

Natalia, on 25 October 2011 - 02:54 AM, said:

Thank you, Jayne. These were extraordinarily beautiful performances. Ladies: Had this been anywhere but in the USA, I believe that Kostner would have beaten tentative Alissa Czisny for the gold medal. Dance:  D/W are so fleet, musical, delightful. This has to be one of the most felicitous first outings of a free dance I've seen.

Can't speak to technical issues--though I was under the impression Kostner's jump content was less than Czisny's?--but I loved Alissa Czisny and did not think she looked particularly tentative, certainly not in the context of her hardly forceful style; Kostner does have a more forceful (though, to my eyes, a somewhat all over the place) style and I think she will probably look even more 'out there' and so, in the context of her skating style, be more effective, later in the season.

Czisny certainly won the costume competition over everyone else many times over...

Completely agree with you about D/W.

[edited much later to say that it turns out I was thinking of ladies short program not free skate...apologies...]

[Jayne]

I also thought Kostner had the win, but Cizny had a 4 point lead from the S/P and Kostner couldn't overcome it in the long.  I haven't gone through the points breakdown by element, but suspect Cizny's high quality spins brought in big points.

The Cizny S/P is really lovely, and while I like Kostner's S/P, I don't *love* it (yet).  I think Kostner has amazing musical qualities that are only sometimes appreciated by the new judging system.  

Cizny won by 0.13 points, a teeny tiny amount.  Kostner was 1st and Cizny 2nd in the L/P.  But the sport has always been about both the short and the long programs.  If Kostner had just mildly better spins, or one better quality jump landing - she would have 0.14 more points.  That said, it is always best to peak in March - not October.  6 months is a long season, and I wish both success and many medals.

The Savchenko/Szolkowy L/P is interesting, and is clearly new and developing.  I think it will look great in March - but I also think the Russians will peak in March.  There is a lot of parity in pairs in this quadrennial and I look forward to some amazing performances.

[dirac]

Hi, all. Just a note that as a rule we avoid talk about figure skating as competition here at BA (and most such discussions take place during Olympic years). Obviously some such discussion will occur naturally under any figure skating thread, but that's not where we want the focus to be. Thanks.

[Drew]

  Big Oops...I just realized that the short program is the only portion of competition I watched, so that's what I thinking of in my earlier post comparing the skaters...Perhaps I will stick to posting on ballet in future...

[sidwich]

Jayne, on 25 October 2011 - 02:57 PM, said:

I also thought Kostner had the win, but Cizny had a 4 point lead from the S/P and Kostner couldn't overcome it in the long.  I haven't gone through the points breakdown by element, but suspect Cizny's high quality spins brought in big points.

From what I remember of the protocols, Kostner gave up more than 5 points on the spins to Czisny, who usually earns Level 4s and positive GOEs on her spins which are arguably the best around.  That being said, Kostner looked great for this early in the season.  She has amazing speed, and in past season, it's seemed like she could barely control it.  If she can pull it together consistently, she can be incredible.

[MRR]

Mind you, it is early in the season, but I preferred both Czisny's and Kostner's long programs from last year.

[Jayne]

I was cleaning house with the TV on to see the dance L/P and heard the tail end of a description of the Lithuanian couple.  The female partner is American Isabella Tobias, who trained and danced with SAB and NYCB 2003-2007 and then returned to the figure skating world.  I wrote the name down and did a little google research.  Looks like she danced in Swan Lake, Coppelia, Midsummer Night's Dream, Nutcracker and Stroman's "Double Feature".  Small world!

[Natalia]

The first of many Black Swans, here's Ashley Wagner (USA), who took 3rd place in Skate Canada this past weekend:



In that same competition, Russia's Volosozhar/Trankov also skated to Black Swan, earning the gold medal:



In the Jr Grand-Prix circuit, the USA's Samantha Cesario also skated to Black Swan, on her way to the bronze medal in two events, thus earning a spot in the Jr Grand-prix Finals in Quebec, this December:

[Natalia]

Another interesting interpretation of 'Black Swan' on ice, although Mexico's Aislin Rosado did not finish close to the medals. I'm not sure if it shows up in this film but I distincly remember seeing this costume up-close when I was in Milan...and, yes, there are RED sequins among the grey, black & white ones, to represent blood (left side, somewhere under left armpit):