February 28, 20233 yr It's taken me three full viewings to begin to come to grips with the scope and majesty of GIFT. Such brilliant storytelling, such searing honesty, such breathtaking courage. Working from a list of the programs he skated (omitting those, such as LGC and Masquerade, which were alluded to only musically) here is what GIFT means to me. (I acknowledge, of course, that it may mean something different to Yuzu, but anyway ...) The Firebird - death and rebirth - overall thematic statement (interesting that he set out the whole arc at the beginning) Hope & Legacy - innocence, exploration, openness, confidence One Summer's Day/Ano Natsu e (Spirited Away) - purification through trials, hard-won maturity Chopin Ballade No1 - mastery, victory on his self-defined field of dreams Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso - confronting the fragility of dreams and the limits of striving Let Me Entertain You - unmoored from dreams, looking for meaning in pleasing the crowd Ashura-Chan (Ado) - abandoning self to meet external demands The Phantom of the Opera - growing desperation to reveal his truth and his pain A Fleeting Dream (Final Fantasy X) - revealed as vulnerable, surrendering to the ebb and flow of life Notte stellata - glimpsing the solace of our oneness with all things Haru yo Koi - celebrating renewal SEIMEI (last step sequence) - embodying true power: wisdom rather than mastery Most people take many more decades to arrive at this kind of wisdom, if they get there at all. But Yuzu clearly is a very, very old soul, which, ultimately, is why he is such a GIFT.
February 28, 20233 yr 26 minutes ago, Fay said: Hide contents Am I the only one to be amused and bemused by the total absence of response from any Japanese figure skater? Apart from Minoru Sano, that is… well..we know that active skaters can't say anything about it(him). and if I'm not mistaken, there was also another ice show on that day. Shizuka and Javi was on it.
February 28, 20233 yr Regarding other skaters' reactions: Jordan watched, and was blown away. https://instagram.com/stories/oniceperspectives/3047407505969584188?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
February 28, 20233 yr 2 minutes ago, ccy said: well..we know that active skaters can't say anything about it(him). and if I'm not mistaken, there was also another ice show on that day. Shizuka and Javi was on it. Plus the Challenge Cup was on in the Netherlands, with half the Japan team there. Couldn't watch even if they wanted to. By the way, after Challenge Cup, Kaori is now #1 Woman in the ISU standings. She seems to be taking to winning like a duck to water... 8 minutes ago, ZuCritter said: It's taken me three full viewings to begin to come to grips with the scope and majesty of GIFT. Such brilliant storytelling, such searing honesty, such breathtaking courage. Working from a list of the programs he skated (omitting those, such as LGC and Masquerade, which were alluded to only musically) here is what GIFT means to me. (I acknowledge, of course, that it may mean something different to Yuzu, but anyway ...) The Firebird - death and rebirth - overall thematic statement (interesting that he set out the whole arc at the beginning) Hope & Legacy - innocence, exploration, openness, confidence One Summer's Day/Ano Natsu e (Spirited Away) - purification through trials, hard-won maturity Chopin Ballade No1 - mastery, victory on his self-defined field of dreams Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso - confronting the fragility of dreams and the limits of striving Let Me Entertain You - unmoored from dreams, looking for meaning in pleasing the crowd Ashura-Chan (Ado) - abandoning self to meet external demands The Phantom of the Opera - growing desperation to reveal his truth and his pain A Fleeting Dream (Final Fantasy X) - revealed as vulnerable, surrendering to the ebb and flow of life Notte stellata - glimpsing the solace of our oneness with all things Haru yo Koi - celebrating renewal SEIMEI (last step sequence) - embodying true power: wisdom rather than mastery Most people take many more decades to arrive at this kind of wisdom, if they get there at all. But Yuzu clearly is a very, very old soul, which, ultimately, is why he is such a GIFT. I wasn't thinking of it in these terms but I agree with this interpretation
February 28, 20233 yr 5 minutes ago, ccy said: well..we know that active skaters can't say anything about it(him). and if I'm not mistaken, there was also another ice show on that day. Shizuka and Javi was on it. That one was cancelled. Mao’s show was on the same day, but I haven’t seen much reaction. But I don’t watch Mao’s fans, though. 5 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said: Regarding other skaters' reactions: Jordan watched, and was blown away. https://instagram.com/stories/oniceperspectives/3047407505969584188?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY= Oh great, thank you!
February 28, 20233 yr ....continued [NEWS] Yuzu gets so much positive feedback from everyone. I'm so happy for him. Sorry for my long contributions.
February 28, 20233 yr 37 minutes ago, Fay said: Reveal hidden contents Am I the only one to be amused and bemused by the total absence of response from any Japanese figure skater? Apart from Minoru Sano, that is… True, that. But I must admit to a tiny shred of sympathy. What can they, or any skater, say but: "WTF, Yuzu? Thanks for making everything I've ever done or ever will do look totally pathetic."
February 28, 20233 yr 14 minutes ago, Fay said: That one was cancelled. Mao’s show was on the same day, but I haven’t seen much reaction. But I don’t watch Mao’s fans, though. oh, really?I don't know about that.🤭
February 28, 20233 yr I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only one a bit amused by the absence of any comment by other skaters (besides Nam and Jordan, though I can't see what Jordan said...) I was just thinking this morning about how the only ones expressing their admiration of GIFT were musicians, but no skaters/coaches. I understand that most of them probably didn't watch it live or even watch it after the fact, but I think it's strange there's not even a comment about the crowd size or level of production? My petty/salty self is thinking if this was a Nathan Chen show we'd be getting barraged by comments by other skaters Besides the IOC I think the ISU has also been silent on it (correct me if I'm wrong). Not that I really care about the ISU but you would think that for the organizing body of a dying sport they'd want to put GIFT in a positive light as another avenue for pro skating.
February 28, 20233 yr 1 hour ago, ZuCritter said: True, that. But I must admit to a tiny shred of sympathy. What can they, or any skater, say but: "WTF, Yuzu? Thanks for making everything I've ever done or ever will do look totally pathetic." No kidding, eh? Not to mention all the ice shows. The only ones who don't look ...ummm, lesser next to this are people like Elladj, who are out there doing their own thing ...actually, strike that. Tessa & Scott's farewell tour across Canada, Rock the Rink, had some similar elements of self-disclosure. But not like this
February 28, 20233 yr 8 minutes ago, KendallKlaire said: I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only one a bit amused by the absence of any comment by other skaters (besides Nam and Jordan, though I can't see what Jordan said...)
February 28, 20233 yr 9 minutes ago, KendallKlaire said: the ISU has also been silent on it (correct me if I'm wrong). Not that I really care about the ISU but you would think that for the organizing body of a dying sport they'd want to put GIFT in a positive light as another avenue for pro skating. The ISU is only a sport governing body for competitive skating of various kinds. They literally have nothing to do with ice shows (or should not, at least). 11 minutes ago, KendallKlaire said: (besides Nam and Jordan Oh, what did Nam say? I feel like he'd be really excited over the whole thing.
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