Fresca

On the possibility of him reusing Chopin, I totally get it. He said it himself. He feels the music as natural as his breathing. As a dancer, finding a piece of music you connect to at that level with choreography that settles into your own movement is very special. To all the musicians here, it must be the same for you isn't it? Chopin+Yuzu+Jeff can't not be brilliant.

Yes, to get Chopin 3.0 to a Yuzu-worthy competitive SP for the Olympics, all the little details need to be worked out. Given Jeff's and Yuzu's emphasis on musicality, I'm sure they will refine it. That is what musicality is all about - the little details. But the freedom and ease with which he skates this program...it's already beautiful.

Agreed. They need to work on the 2 spins. They're not as musical as the rest of the program and the difference in musicality is a bit jarring. I'm sure it won't be a problem for them to change the spins. He improvs the details on his spins a lot and he only practice them 5 min a week so he finds them "easy".

I also think he will add the 4Lz to his SP. He got this version of Chopin clean at his 2nd performance. That's too easy for Yuzuru Hanyu isn't it?

Not gonna lie, it made me cry. The aesthetic of modern/contemporary dance is organic movement, organic expression and it doesn't get more organic than Yuzu's skating in Chopin. It really moved me. I noticed he changed quite a bit of the choreography, not just the layout but also the step sequence at the end. Not as many changes of direction, more sustained movement like the spread eagle with arms in ballet 5th. I suspect those might have been improv rather than deliberate. If they broadcast the first version, we'll be able to see what changed between the 2 days.

OMG. It's so beautiful. He's going to win. I just know it. Chopin was made for him. This is the essence of Yuzu's skating. Fierceness in delicacy. Yuzu as a force of nature. The most natural expression of his skating. If he uses it, on the biggest stage, he's going to put on display what his skating truly is. Oh Yuzu...

On Chopin, it's a shame it's not to your taste . I personally feel that it's the program that shows Yuzu's skating at its rawest, at its most natural. It's Yuzu uninhibited. He skates it with such freedom and lack of artifice that when I see it, I get feeling that if he could skate as he pleases without choreography or PCS or judging, this is exactly the way he would choose to skate. I would have been over the moon if he had chosen to redo Etude. His port de bras got so much better from working with DW. He already did White Legend as an EX at Sochi so we already got to see an upgraded version but he hasn't done Etude ever since he left Nanami. It would be a huge improvement since his arms and fingers weren't as refined the last time he did it.

My thinking is the opposite. It's precisely because of his commitment to the artistic side that he may decide to recycle Chopin and Seimei. He could easily have a huge upgrade in tech with new programs and music if he wanted to by stripping out the transitions and the difficult choreography. Knowing Yuzu, he'd be unwilling to compromise on that (hello 4Lz in spread eagle sandwich) so something has to give. I also don't see how material that is used again is any less artistic for being recycled if it is brilliant. Anna Pavlova performed The Dyan Swan thousands of times. Michael Jackson and Smooth Criminal, Martha Graham and Lamentation, Yang Liping and the Peacock Dance...the list goes on. The same goes for musicians and their music as well. I would also prefer new material but if I had to pick between new material or increasing his chances of winning a second OGM...well, there's no question the OGM is more important.

Ah! An FS tango that has some tango! Perhaps I should watch more ballroom inspired ice dance! The chairography where Evan leans in close to drag the chair around adds tango flavor because tango has leg wraps and lifts where the lady leans on or sits on the man and the lady's legs and torso make similar angles as Madison on the chair. I still see some paso and some jazz but was pleasantly surprised by the amount of tango. I love the embrace at 1:22 and the leg play at 1:25 and the lifts were tango-eque. Yes, maybe it's better to make a separate thread...I've littered enough threads with this type of geeky talk... On Nathan, I also don't see anything wrong with his air position. It's really just his landings and I think it is because he does land too far forward. The not straightening his back enough could be related to his forward leaning landings. Because his upper body is too tilted forward, all his core strength goes to preventing him from not falling forward. He doesn't have the core strength left to lift his back so he relies on the momentum from opening his hip and unwrapping his leg to wrench himself back up to balance.

Me neither to be honest but if we are talking about just the choreography and excluding execution, then I have to give credit where credit is due. I can see the potential of it skated clean with the emotion Yuzu projected in R&J1.

I have to respectfully disagree with that. I thought the choreography was beautiful especially the part from the Ina Bauer onwards (the changes in levels ending in the Besti squat with a torso contraction kill me). For me, the problem was Yuzu was given it a year too early.

I think that's exactly the layout Yuzu wants and maybe to make it happen, he'll need do Chopin/Seimei again. If he does repeat, it looks to me like it will be because he won't have time or energy to choose new music and learn new programs. He'll need to focus all his efforts on upping his tech especially if he wants to add 2 big new elements and stabilize them. It's not a bad strategy. If he goes for broke on the tech side, he needs music that will make it as easy as possible for him to do so. He tried to do it all last season and he had a tough time. He only skated clean once and his PCS and GOE suffered.

Shame! I wouldn't be surprised if he plays around with the layout to see what works best for him if he's really going to use it for next season. Bring it on Hanyu...bring it on....

I'm also not worried. I believe in Yuzu's ambition. He is swinging for the fences. He wants to be a legend. He has been waiting for gold at Pyeongchang for more than 10 years. If he decides to reuse Chopin and Seimei, it will be because the music naturally suits the rhythm of his jumps the best and he is going to do a massive BV upgrade so he won't lose out to the youngsters. I agree with you @meoima. Chopin and Seimei again means 4Lz in both SP and FS and at least 5 quads in the FS with both programs chock-full of transitions and level 4 stsq and spins. He may need to give up the Biellman and maybe even the Ina Bauer to do all that. ETA: I haven't been to the FaOI thread yet but did Yuzu just perform Chopin clean with a 4Lo stuck in there instead of 4S?? And how long has he had to practice that??

To make a Youtube video play at the exact point you want, say 10 seconds into the video, you just add "&t=10s" at the end of the video link. Yes, I agree, pigeons (maybe geese??) rather than swans...Vaganova is the way to go for swans, which is why Yuzu makes such a pretty swan Yes I think so too Looks painful. It also looks like the tilting forward, wrenching back for balance and the lack of plie make him lose his speed going out of his jumps. Yes, I was referring to the number of turns your body makes if you maintain alignment. So Balanchine focused on the entry/exit to and from the turns when thinking of "quality" rather than the turns themselves? On the contemporary/jazz question, do you mean turns like this one? Yes, contemporary/modern is core-centered. Squareness is also not the focus but rather openess of the torso and the hips so they can move freely around the core. You need the openness because there is a lot of off-axis/off-balance movement which can lead to falling or moving yourself back into balance. It's very different from ballet where keeping your balance is a must as movement is upward, light and lifted (hence, my fascination with Balanchine as what he values seems to have a very modern slant but what is emphasized in modern is different from ballet where gravity and weight are embraced). With such off-axis/off-balance turns, you're not meant to turn very much. The emphasis is not keeping balance/alignment but rather the shape you create with your body and its movement through space. However, these dance styles also have turns where alignment is the focus as triple/quad pirouettes are common in choreography. Yes, I've seen his double jete entrelace before I love him. He's so brilliant. Yes, I think he uses the slant at the hip when he enters to get the height but I notice he also straightens himself out in the air so when he lands, he's aligned. Maybe it is indeed possible for double jete entrelace to do it without maintaining the line throughout because you have the momentum from the left leg meeting the right in the air which might be enough to get the 1.5 turns. To be fair, it's impossible to keep your hips entirely square when doing arabesque or grand jete if you don't naturally have the turnout and you want to get your leg higher. ETA: Now I see what you mean, if you are not focused on keeping the square, then you have more room to adjust the different parts of your body to keep balance. I think the square gives you more stability (ie makes it easier to hold positions) but if the focus of Balanchine is speed/motion rather than stability/stillness then such adjustments are allowed by the aesthetic. Yes! I also noticed that he unwraps his free leg like he's doing a ronde de jambe but with his hip flying out along with his rib...There are degrees of alignment and degrees of misalignment!

Is the discussion about slow music vs fast music or slow choreography vs fast choreography? Fast songs can have very slow choreography and slow songs can have very fast choreography. Whether you have slow or fast music, choreography will usually have changes of speed from faster parts to slower parts and back to add rise and fall/texture/interest to a piece. On fast music being a matter of keeping rhythm using the momentum of the music, I find this works for more repetitive movements where you need to engage the same muscles like petit allegro in ballet or a really fast jive in ballroom. If you have more complicated choreography with a lot of weight changes, changes in levels or direction or anything that requires extreme precision/control (like an Argentine tango), speed highly increases the probability of making a major mistake like falling, hitting your partner or getting lost and needing to come to a full stop and start again in the middle. In general, I would say fast choreography increases the risk of mistakes. You can mask small ones but the speed also increases the risk you will make a major mistake that is unsalvageable. With slow choreography unless you have steps which require a lot of balance or strength or extension (like a slow tilt, penche or a lift) the risk of making mistakes is smaller but it is much more noticeable. On quads, I think it depends on the skater what music they prefer. Dai said he prefers slow music to fast music for jumps. If it's too fast, he gets nervous and loses his rhythm. For Yuzu, I don't think he has a preference for slow vs fast but his quads have a very particular rhythm. If you watch Hana Ni Nare with his quad vs a triple, you can really notice it. I think performing with contacts would be a must for a figure skater. Sight (visual cues) is very important for your sense of balance.

Somehow he makes this look attractive. I like these shades of honey/marigold on him.

I also suspect the Swan was done by her because the beadwork looks similar to the work on Shoma's Loco costume. I think LGC was done by the same man who did Chopin 1 and 2 from the costume fitting footage. Etude was done by Mu costume designs but not H&L. The chief designer Shizuko Orihara said she didn't do it as someone posted a short translation here on GS.

So much to comment on in your post!!! They will thank you for it later!! It's good for them!! On a similar note, here's something else I found that might interest you. The Australian ballet does releve to demi pointe exercises with feet in parallel rather than turned out and they've found it signficantly reduces ankle injuries I found a video of that Odette variation! I need to find more videos of Balanchine's ballets just to pay attention to their feet and plie! Grand plie in 2 counts instead of 4?? Yes that will get your tush moving like there are ants in your pants! On Nathan, I need to watch more closely then how he tilts forward when he lands. It could be because as you say he lands keeping the weight on the balls of his feet so his center of gravity is forward of his feet rather than over his feet. If he had the deep plie to go with it, that would actually put him back in balance because it would move his upper body back and therefore his center of gravity back over his feet. However, because he doesn't have the knee bend, he ends up tliting forward and his hips need to save his balance. On the open/unsquared hips helping them to keep balance, isn't this an oxymoron too? Wouldn't squaring the hips and shoulders help in keeping balance? Does this lack of emphasis on squaring the hips and shoulders apply for turns and jumps too? Or just for positions/extensions? I would think you would need the alignment to execute the turns else you'll fall out of them. The same for the jumps like double jete entrelace and double tours. I don't think you can get the rotation without the alignment and landing with the hips and shoulders twisted would be stressful to the body. *goes off to watch more Balanchine videos in slow motion*

Thank you!! The dance stuff I can comment on but on the skating side I'm going on theory because I'm not a skater. So if there are any skaters (or other dancers!) in the house please chime in! Penny for your thoughts! Yes, I think he'd be able to do well the smoother styles of hip hop. I did see the off-ice hip hop training video and thought he was quite good (far better than anyone else in the class!). That style of hip hop is commercial/lyrical like this and that would suit him. I don't think he would do well with any style that requires extremely sharp, hard hitting movements or isolations (krump, popping, animation, etc). Those require you to hold a LOT of tension in the upper body and Yuzu never really does. I agree. Dragon Yuzu hunting for gold shiny can't not appear. I can see him basking in the tension of the moment finally arriving. He has been waiting for this for a very, very long time - ever since he wrote on his checklist "gold medal in Pyeongchang". How long ago is that now? At least 10 years? I would say it depends on the choregraphy. For the person executing the movements, it's more what you do within the music rather than the actual music. What is more difficult? His fast intricate step sequence in LGC or holding his layback Ina Bauer for half the rink? They are both extremely difficult.

He'd be amazing . The character (joker yet bad-ass show-off) and the choreography (Broadway jazz style) would be natural extensions of the insouciance of PW and the flashy athletic high energy of Let's Go Crazy. I think Yuzu is very versatile and the only styles he wouldn't be able to do are really hard hitting ones like some types of hip hop. I know there are those who think Latin won't suit him but I think he'd be good at even that. I have never seen a Latin FS program remotely close to the real thing. They are all jazz with maybe a little sprinkle of paso doble thrown in but mostly jazz packaged as Latin and sold well and Yuzu is good at jazz. ETA: This requires more thought. I can see why Latin ballroom styles would be difficult to translate to FS with the small quick steps (with the exception of paso which does have larger travelling steps) and front weighted footwork (weight kept on the balls of the feet) but tango has more gliding steps and heel action...I will do some research and post conclusions when I have time.

You never know...he might be competing with the ape on who can relax more

Mine is Yuzu in the hot spring...UA Yuzu is nice but I think I like mine the best...

I'm not sure what you mean by the bolded part. If you could please explain a bit more that would be very helpful. My 2 cents on this: this thread was a natural extension of the Yuzuru Hanyu Fan Fest on Goldenskate. A lot of the posters from there went to this forum and have been posting similarly on this thread as they did on the Goldenskate FF - with a very casual feeling, like how a friendly conversation would develop between a group of friends or acquaintances. My understanding is that the General Yuzu Chat is meant to have some of that "randomness". If the forum no longer wants this thread to have the same feeling, that is perfectly ok. If the mods/admins want to put together some rules about what is too "OT" or "Random", that is fine too. Nobody wants to feel like they are stepping on toes or breaking rules or offending others. However, I do think that if only posts which are considered "useful" are welcome, then that would be discouraging to others to feel free post what comes to mind and the thread will lose some of the friendly feeling. I'm not sure what you mean by "credible reputation" but I think the information that you can find in this forum speaks for itself and the level of FS knowledge and Yuzu specific knowledge the forum members have. There's a lot of really good, in-depth discussion about technique, programs, scoring, FS politics, etc and also a lot of news and translations in the other threads.

Not going to lie...if she is lucky and stays healthy, by 22 she will probably already have 2 OGMs unless someone special comes along who has a consistent 3Lz and 3A. And by that time, it's likely she'll have already developed her artistry into something beautiful. She is a beast.