Friday, September 22, 2017

SD Practice



I don't believe Marie-France had anything to do with either of VM's programs.

I love that both programs are flashy.

15 comments:

  1. wonderful. but they need a new lift that was from funny face.

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    1. yeah i'm not sure it works. the program is amazing. not crazy about music and that lift is just too old. it's the olympics. theyre recycling 2-3 in FD I think SD needs something fresh. but they are basically daring anyone to come close to them. no way. they should win all by 5+ points.

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    2. I think you need to look again at what is judged in figure skating.

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  3. Goddamn this is so good. We haven't even seen P/C's and you just know its gonna be terrible.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eCVxakYhD-Q

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    1. Agreed, P/C will suck. I'm hoping so hard the Shibs will grab silver. The skating forums have been driving me crazy. As usually, assessing the music and what some "think" is style criticism. No understanding of rhythm whatsoever, nor of the style being critized. I think my favorite posting sequence was one where scorn was heaped upon VM for "imposing" a latin dance upon rock music (No, dudes, it's about rhythm - the rhythm is freaking latin). Then some P/C uber reported from P/C-land that their short did not use latin music. Everybody verklempted.

      The amount of criticism I'm reading online only validates that their skating is scaring the shit out of everybody who hoped their own favorites had a prayer. The ignorance on parade is not pretty.

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  4. I am in complete awe of them. There was a number of posters on a forum saying how over the top VM appeared in the SD. I ended watching the majority of the other SDs and was so bored by the end of the exercise.

    Nobody can move like Tessa. Watch the opening of any of the SDs and she puts all the other ladies to shame-heck, Scott puts all the ladies to shame. Need specifics? Look at Piper trying to get some Latin hip action in the first few seconds.

    Secondly: that rhumba pattern was sublime! I saw a few fan cams of them practising and it is obvious how fast they are. There was one in particular where you can hear a spectator's ooos after the choctaw section.

    I will reserve my opinions about their FD until we see it in full but as you have already mentioned, the ending sequence of Tessa's character "dying" will be undoing for so many. I get tingles thinking that will be the last 30 seconds of their competitive years.

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    1. They've been doing that rhumba pattern since they were babies, can do it in their sleep. At this point the run of blade is superhuman. I think it's pretty pathetic that the required pattern is maybe half the rink, but there you go.

      Of course VM are not over the top. This is just complaints from people who don't know what they're talking about. VM can do anything.

      I'm going to put the fd and a fd gif up shortly, but I want to point out one thing out of all of the sublime things Tessa is doing in that free dance. Her hands. She has always, of course, extended her fingertips. Every dancer knows that energy must flow through to the tips of the fingers. This typically produces a lot of extension / tension in the fingers. Tessa's hands in the fd are incredibly soft. They're like doves or something. I'm so distracted by everything she does. Of course I can sit back and be carried away - it's incredibly easy. But what she's doing in these programs is supernatural. The fd is gorgeous, and the ending sequence will just leave people undone. The softness in her hands, her feet - she is a genius.

      In the past, and on occasion, Tessa and Scott's shoulders would at times appear to lift or hunch. I'm not sure if that actually was the case, or just a visual due to her very wide, very straight shoulder line (which, with the slightest movement, can swallow her neck) and his very sloped shoulder line. Whatever it was, it's gone now. In these programs, they're both very relaxed in the shoulders. There isn't an unnecessary movement or unnecessary tension anywhere.

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    2. I don't think VM were over the top in the SD. And it's LATIN, for crying out loud. No one can move like Tessa. Maybe some people got overwhelmed by the costumes...

      The skating is head and shoulders above everyone else, of course. Personally, I like Moulin Rouge, but before the music announcement I was hoping VM would surprise me with... well, something unexpected. Because they're groundbreaking skaters. But I can see the potential of this FD, and in the past judging has not really rewarded VM for innovative choices anyway (exhibit A: Carmen). Moulin Rouge is well-known, well-loved, and VM will skate the heck out of it.

      I feel like the Koreans will react favorably to the FD. Yuna has skated to this music before. I think they will also fondly remember VM as Yuna's fellow champions in Vancouver, as well as having semi-regularly guested in her shows. I feel like Pyeongchang audience will be on their side.

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    3. I agree that the audience will be on their side. I also believe that they would never have come back to Olympic competition without an understanding that they wouldn't be screwed as they were in the run up to 2014. I didn't matter WHAT they did, the fix was in. Last season I was annoyed, because, while they remained head and shoulders above everybody else, it was obvious they weren't allowed to put any content in their programs that was beyond the capability of anyone else.Their execution could be beyond anyone else, but not what they actually did on the ice. This, along with absolutely bogus L4 requirements, meant they had to outskate their competitors to win. There wasn't a cushion. Of course they did outskate, but a glitch or two in the fd at Worlds allowed P/C to win that segment, which, if their elements were assessed accurately, should never have happened even if VM fell twice.

      I'm surprised but also "Of COURSE" that their Olympic programs are them. I'm surprised that the ISU only required one season of total ass kissing and have actually given VM the green light to add content to their skating that's beyond the reach of anybody else. I think how the levels of difficulty will be graded will level the playing field, so maybe that's why they were allowed to skate with greater difficulty that won't get credit for having greater difficulty. However, the ludicrous L4 requirements were in place when D/W were beating them, and still the ISU tried to strip VM's programs of their tour de force components.

      I love the Moulan Rouge program. Come What May is the audience-friendly piece. The music cuts are terrific - this is very Carmen, but an evolved Carmen, skating wise. A compact story. He loves her, he's tormented by who she is, she dies. Carmen was supposed to die, but at the end of VM's Carmen, she lived. I'm still disconcerted seeing Tessa "die" on the ice, but she is so extraordinary, I'm there. It wouldn't work if she pushed. She falls twice - that's enough. It's gorgeous. Choreographically, it's a couple of beats ahead of the audience, which creates tension and momentum. She's dying before the audience truly processes that she is.

      Carmen had more suspense than any program they've ever done. This is the same. I think Carmen was an Olympic program. Of course skating is the most important thing, but I think riveting the audience doesn't hurt.

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    4. I don't mind the FD set to the MR. I had a good chuckle about all the naysayers bashing Tessa and Scott for using an old warhorse but then gushing over the rumours about P/C using Moonlight Sonata. For crying out loud, when I think Moonlight Sonata, I think Gordeeva and Grinkov.

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    5. I'm not sure how the program as a whole can be said to be an evolved skating version of Carmen
      when it's considerably less intricate. The insane power and flow make up for the parts that are more open, but I think it's somewhat an apples to oranges situation rather than a clear step forward. Have THEY evolved skating wise? Absolutely. I don't have the slightest doubt that they are capable of doing something that's of equal difficulty to Carmen throughout and showing they've improved doing *that*. But I don't think that's what this is. It's a definite step up from Latch, but I think they're still doing significantly less than they can. (There are sections that are incredibly similar to Latch, in fact, so if Marie-France had nothing to do with this FD, the choreographer did a very good job of putting in some of her tics to hide that fact.) But I do like the program overall, and agree that the "dying" sequence is especially nice. It's awesome to see the entrance to the Carmen rotational back. And there's no denying the fact that Tessa is absolutely extraordinary as a dancer and performer.

      The SD knocks the ball completely out of the park IMO. That program is absolutely packed.

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  5. I absolutely love both V/M programs and the long made me cry. It is exquisite. So glad to see them back!

    Piper and Paul's long is a mess however. Love the theme but the choreography is ugly and makes it obvious that Paul out skates her. The last lift is interesting but the hops into the twizzes gave me flashbacks to Meryl and Charlie. Ugh.

    Love the Spartacus program from W/P and it will be stunning with more polish. Not crazy about their short but more practice and better costumes will help.

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  6. Check out the comments on Tessa's instagram after their FD

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