General Skating Chat

[kaeryth]

1 minute ago, xeyra said:

 

There's going to be a bunch of things happening these next two weeks/weekends I won't be around for. Going on vacation, oh yeah. 

 

Yep! Suddenly, too many things are happening at once! Enjoy your vacation! Hope you get to relax and have fun (because Olympics is almost upon us).

[SSS]

Do we have a timeline about when Yuzu successfully landed a new jump in competition/practice?

Just watched a video of 3A debut when Yuzu was 13. 4T was two years later.

[CiaoCiao]

10 hours ago, SparkleSalad said:

 

I don't think the brilliance of that performance required an understanding of love (I'm sure the love felt by Shakespeare's Romeo's was mostly south of the border, anyway) but of pain and desperation and the feelings of anger and helplessness of being thrust around by fate and forces beyond your control. This is what makes me cry watching it. I've no doubt that his experiences of the disaster helped him express these feelings (feelings which resurfaced in Requiem.)

If the understanding the love is necessary to skate on a music like R&J, probably no one would be able to skate on it. At least no one understands love.

And I think that, beyond everything, even beyond the choreo, the character or the story in the music, the greatness of Yuzu is just his feeling of the music, his connection with it. I mean, in a program, in my opinion the first thing is the music, and the rest comes later.

And probably that's because sometimes I'm not convinced of Medvedeva's programs: sometimes I feel like she gives priority to the story she wants to tell and not to the music itself.

 

Sorry, I wanted to say something wise but I stumbled in my bad English and my thoughts got confused. Like Yuzu's wise words he wanted to say after winning OGM ahahaha. But he was in a big situation, and I'm just writing...

[SparkleSalad]

1 minute ago, CiaoCiao said:

If the understanding the love is necessary to skate on a music like R&J, probably no one would be able to skate on it. At least no one understands love.

And I think that, beyond everything, even beyond the choreo, the character or the story in the music, the greatness of Yuzu is just his feeling of the music, his connection with it. I mean, in a program, in my opinion the first thing is the music, and the rest comes later.

And probably that's because sometimes I'm not convinced of Medvedeva's programs: sometimes I feel like she gives priority to the story she wants to tell and not to the music itself.

 

Sorry, I wanted to say something wise but I stumbled in my bad English and my thoughts got confused. Like Yuzu's wise words he wanted to say after winning OGM ahahaha. But he was in a big situation, and I'm just writing...

 

I understand what you mean completely. I don't want to sound too heavy but it's about a person's soul. You can pose as beautifully as you like but without soul it's meaningless. That's why even a weak, flailing, asthma-affected Yuzuru can move you to tears.

 

(I don't mention Medvedeva because it gets me in trouble but let's say we're on the same page, though I think she's a sweet and adorable young lady. )

 

 

[CiaoCiao]

2 minutes ago, SparkleSalad said:

 

I understand what you mean completely. I don't want to sound too heavy but it's about a person's soul. You can pose as beautifully as you like but without soul it's meaningless. That's why even a weak, flailing, asthma-affected Yuzuru can move you to tears.

And here, we all know how Yuzu's soul shines.

[yuzuangel]

5 hours ago, kaerb said:

That was a beautiful spread eagle though, definitely the highlight for me. I'm curious to see how his season will develop! 

 

Yeah, that was absolutely the highlight for me.

[robin]

9 hours ago, kaeryth said:

 

Reading any interview about Worlds 2012 is actually very touching/emotional. I love his honesty and I'm glad he can still find humour in his frustrations. hahaha

 

Oh could you link me some more that come to mind? (I want to add some to the 11/12 season discussion thread.)

[Forcefield]

Random thought: We know fans' reactions and the reactions of casual FS fans to the news of Hanyu's Chopin 3.0. Impossible, but I would've loved to know how his competitors ie the others skaters esp the medal contenders reacted also. Because he's bringing back a world record program that fans and I'm sure other skaters know as well that Hanyu has perfected multiple times in competition. We know bringing back this SP gives him an edge and I'm sure they do too.

 

I would think in addition to that the announcement of his FS and layout have a lot of people on the edge of their seats. Psychologically, withholding those details until this time might have been a good thing.

 

And of course most of them are already planning upgrades to their programs later in the season, but imagine the crazy and scary when it happens. Will other skaters play it safe because it's the Olympic season, or perhaps since they are the chasers they'll go all out because it's worth trying in order to gain the upper hand? Stay tuned. :3

[Lunna]

4 часа назад, CiaoCiao сказал:

If the understanding the love is necessary to skate on a music like R&J, probably no one would be able to skate on it. At least no one understands love.

And I think that, beyond everything, even beyond the choreo, the character or the story in the music, the greatness of Yuzu is just his feeling of the music, his connection with it. I mean, in a program, in my opinion the first thing is the music, and the rest comes later.

I understand and agree with you. When I saw R&J1 for the first time on TV at CoC I wasn't thinking that Yuzu portraits Romeo, I thought that it was beautifully skated programme to the beautiful music.

I don't want to compare Vincent's skate now to Yuzu's at Nice cuz it was outstanding even by Yuzu's standarts.

[yuzuangel]

9 hours ago, xeyra said:

I think when one compares Yuzu's RJ1 and Vincent's RJ in terms of interpretation, it's important to also remember Yuzu's WC2012 version had been skated in almost 60 shows and the GP season by then. This was Vincent's first outing. I remember watching some of @kaeryth's show compilation videos from early RJ1 and though there are quite a few differences in SS and flow even then, Yuzu wasn't yet particularly good at the choreography either, which was refined on his visit to Russia and with more performances.

 

While I'm not sure how many shows he's done before this (how many did he do, like 40 that summer?) this is the (truncated) version of R+J 1.0 at The Ice and you can see how musical and dramatic and polished he already is. 

 

 

But again, false comparison bc quads vs. no quads, and competition vs. show.

[xeyra]

32 minutes ago, yuzuangel said:

 

While I'm not sure how many shows he's done before this (how many did he do, like 40 that summer?) this is the (truncated) version of R+J 1.0 at The Ice and you can see how musical and dramatic and polished he already is. 

 

 

But again, false comparison bc quads vs. no quads, and competition vs. show.

 

Yuzu has always been very naturally musical. And dramatic.  I think one of my favorite things about him is that he has always been very expressive in his facial expressions and in his body movements, even when he was younger. Plus, his flow on the ice was amazing and it really highlighted how fast he was (is). 

 

Off topic: I can't believe when watching this video that I was surprised by his voice at the end. I kind of expected it to be higher because he was younger here but he already had adult!Yuzu voice. 

[Yatagarasu]

44 minutes ago, xeyra said:

 

Yuzu has always been very naturally musical. And dramatic.  

 

Oh I agree! Also another reason why I'm looking forward to hopefully dramatic music for this season's FS. The audience connects the best to it, when done well and for him, it's so natural.

[kaeryth]

6 hours ago, robin said:

 

Oh could you link me some more that come to mind? (I want to add some to the 11/12 season discussion thread.)

 

Excerpts from Aoi Hono II

 

Quote

"Am I a disaster victim, or am I a skater? There was a period that I was lost between the two. Now, there is still no clear answer, but I feel that as a skater, I am really being supported by many, various people.”

 

One year after the earthquake, looking back, his feelings have settled. Having read the warm letters from fans, he wants to be someone who can give back.
The people who are supporting him in Sendai and in Japan, he wants to repay their affection. And at the same time, he wants to be a stronger skater…..

 

[EisElle]

What I hope for Vincent is that he really gets more time to work on everything but the jumps, so he can feel the program better and bring out the connection to the music that he may already feel but he's not be able to show yet.

Of course I want this because I'd rather see him doing this music justice and skate a performance with jumps in instead than jumps  with some choreo here and there, but then I'm just a fan watching figure skating from her comfy couch and I'm not in for the medals, so he can do whatever he thinks it's best

His interviews make me hopeful, but... I guess I'll sit (on my comfy couch) and wait.

 

Aaaaand ( kind of for the thread maybe? it's not strictly about skating) reading young Yuzu 's interviews always makes me a bit teary. He has such a peculiar mix of....can I say innocent straightforwardness and naughty playfulness? and yet there is so much depth in what he says. He manages to convey harsh and complex feelings in a few (I'd say almost understated) words, it's staggering to think he already had at such maturity at such a young age and yet he still kept a more carefree side.

It's undeniable all those experiences have shaped Yuzuru and his skating, too (now look at me going back on topic ).

 

About RJ (drifting off topic again) I agree that, if we want to take Shakespeare's play as a reference, it is not really about "Love" (let's just be honest, a thing based on a first-sight fancy a few days long shouldn't be held as the epitome of love), but more about youth and rashness and passion and all that burns hot and fast, and about hate and struggle, and Fate, too (if we want to call Fate all the shitload bad things that happen, but it's a tragedy, so yeah). I think that's the essence of "Romeo", so Yuzu's struggling with so many things, his will to defy what "fate" threw in his face and that fire he had inside him to do well and prove (to himself first of all) he could stand proud in front of those who were supporting him made his RJ1 and that particular unforgettable performance at Worlds so different (and, for me, special)...

....plus Yuzuru's jumps, of course, his skating skills, his spins, his musicality...how not to mention the highligh of his step sequence, aka The Fall

seriously, that one should have earned him not a deduction but lots of bonuses for enhancing the musical structure and drama.and I'm back on topic again...kind of sorrynotsorry

 

 

[kaeryth]

Yeah, that's why I say it's unfair to compare Vincent's first performance to Yuzu's worlds 2012 performance. And as I said before, even Yuzu himself has said that was a skate that he couldn't replicate anymore. I think Vincent's (or his choreographer's?) choice of music cuts doesn't do him any favours and is what's inviting comparisons. I haven't heard this much comparisons with Han Yan when he was doing Romeo and Juliet (it was mostly "awww... I miss Yuzu's romeo" rather than "it's really similar!!!") . As @xeyra said, It's the use of "Escape" for the final choreo sequence that really invites comparison since that piece of music isn't even from Romeo & Juliet but from Plunkett & Macleane (although with the same composer). I have a feeling Vincent is aware of this (how could he not) and is taking that risk because he feels that he will be able to feel and deliver a good performance with a music that he can connect to. Time will tell though because as we've seen, having multiple quads can lead to a lot of empty spaces in between jumps because of setup time and conserving energy. But the program is in it's early stages and still has room to grow.