Battle of the Kommonplace Boleros, who wins? Kwan 2005 VS Kostner 2013

[bardtoob]

Battle of the Kommonplace Boleros, who wins? Kwan VS Kostner

Kwan 2005 World Championship Long Program

Kostner 2013 World Championship Long Program

[bardtoob]

Mmmm . . . I unconsciously almost clicked to something else during both programs

[judgejudy27]

Kostner 2013 Worlds easily IMO. Better choreography, the jumps she landed were much better, she landed 1 more triple, she went for more triples and harder combinations, much faster, better elements. No comparision really. Kwan from the 05 Worlds would have been lucky to be top 10 in 2013. Kostner did beat Kwan at the 2005 Worlds with a much worse performance when she wasnt near the skater she is today. Of course that was Kwan near the end of her career, nowhere near the skater she once was, struggling to get used to COP, and with one of her poorest choreographed programs ever.

[bek]

I don't think Kostner's Bolero was commonplace.

[aftershocks]

You forgot to include S/S Latin stinker.

My vote is for neither! But both Kween and Princess Carolina always look good doing whatever on the ice.

Blame it all on the incorrigibly creative and mysterious mind of Christopher Dean.

[bardtoob]

I really should've had a third option, click to the next video

[bardtoob]

I don't think Kostner's Bolero was commonplace.

I think it was only because nobody should skate to that music. T/D should truly be revered for pulling it off

. . . I wonder if Michelle Kwan will actually lose a poll?

[judgejudy27]

Kwan was losing some poll I remember seeing a couple months ago about top female skater of the 2000s (although I think she was still 2nd when she should have been 4th or 5th) so it can happen.

[bardtoob]

Kwan was losing some poll I remember seeing a couple months ago about top female skater of the 2000s (although I think she was still 2nd when she should have been 4th or 5th) so it can happen.

Now, now . . . a poll is many opinions, not just your own.

[peibeck]

As much as I love MK, that Bolero program was not good. The first version, at the Campbells cheesefest was probably the best of the ever changing versions. Not my favorite Carolina program either, but hers was definitely the better of the two programs.

[judgejudy27]

I cant believe Christopher Dean choreographed such a blah program. Maybe he didnt want his own outshone.

[bek]

I cant believe Christopher Dean choreographed such a blah program. Maybe he didnt want his own outshone.

Reports are Kwan took out a lot of his choreography...

[bardtoob]

Reports were that Kwan was hiding that her leg was coming off . . .

[IceAlisa]

I recall really liking Kwan's Bolero at Campbell's. I was looking forward to see the program develop. Dean's choreo was great. But she did strip it down as the season progressed as to make it very empty. I realize you are snarking, bardtoob but Kwan's injury may have played a part in the continuous simplification of the programs. IIRC, by that time she was in chronic pain in the hip.

Kostner's OTOH, is what Bolero should be. Kostner hands down.

[circuscandy]

Kostner's is much more like the ballet choreography, and therefore I find it really engaging.

[IceAlisa]

Yes, I was reminded of the Maurice Béjart Bolero choreography, Kostner definitely had shades of that.

[leesaleesa]

I found Carolina's Bolero to be downright mesmerizing. Kwan gets Song of the Black Swan, though.

[bardtoob]

Michelle Kwan LP Bolero at 2004 Campbell's

I was not even a poster at FSU when this program was performed . . . and probably could not have even recognized that she eliminated:

- The beginning steps
- Wrist movements to the audience
- 3T/2Lp
- The alternating Micro-Inna Bauer's
- The counter-rotating Camel from a single step in the combination spin
- The opposite direction turns going into the final step sequence
- Etc, Etc . . .

It is also pretty clear that Kwan's smile by 2005 Worlds was actually a grimace and that extra spring in her jumps was gone. I had heard that her team was thinking of doing a program that only included jumping passes that included 3Lz, 3F, 3S, and 2A for "strategic reasons", but the reasons seem pretty clear now.

How could an unhealthy Kwan of 2005 really compete against a healthy Kostner of 2005 or 2013 . . . but, yes, leesaleesa, Kwan at least has the Song of the Black Swan.

[TheIronLady]

This is a cruel poll.

[bardtoob]

This is a cruel poll.

Unintentionally, I assure you. I only intended it to be as deep as my poll comparing Maria's Otonal to Johnny's Otonal.

. . . but the background story is much deeper.