Michelle Kwan (Threads Merged)

[skatingfan5]

More than four years after her last competition, the Kween gave us this lovely gem, Winter Song.

 

[Simone411]

More than four years after her last competition, the Kween gave us this lovely gem, Winter Song.

And let's go back to the 1998 Grand Slam of Figure Skating:
East of Eden

 

[Vagabond]

Nah it would have to be a thread about how shit US ladies skating is because they haven't earnt the US 100,000 spots at next year's worlds.

Give me a real, meaty subject like the Kween any day.

 

[Cachoo]

Okay---I felt like I was one of the few who liked this particular program and her dress is one of my favorites on any skater from that day to this. I wish she would have stayed with it but I know it wasn't as warmly received as other programs.
https://youtu.be/lXQiSkJgtno

 

[Simone411]

Well, I definitely liked it. I've always loved Eric Clapton's music. ITA. I wish she would have used that program in a few more competitions.

 

[kwanatic]

Okay---I felt like I was one of the few who liked this particular program and her dress is one of my favorites on any skater from that day to this. I wish she would have stayed with it but I know it wasn't as warmly received as other programs.
https://youtu.be/lXQiSkJgtno

I tweeted this performance yesterday and today I got a response from Michelle!! Of course this was me when I saw that she'd responded. She said she'd almost forgotten about this program...I think a lot of people did. I responded back saying how fresh and modern the program was...and it really was. It was very different from the style Michelle had been doing up until that point but she proved that she could carry any kind of music.

Needless to say that little exchange made my week.

 

[Cachoo]

That's great kwanatic! ITA with your comments to her about the program.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Man, I miss her skating still. Thanks for this thread.

 

[bardtoob]

I tweeted this performance yesterday and today I got a response from Michelle!! Of course this was me when I saw that she'd responded. She said she'd almost forgotten about this program...I think a lot of people did. I responded back saying how fresh and modern the program was...and it really was. It was very different from the style Michelle had been doing up until that point but she proved that she could carry any kind of music.

Needless to say that little exchange made my week.

I love the layback spin in the program.

 

[Marco]

I love the layback spin in the program.

I love everything about the program.

 

[VGThuy]

How I wish she would have kept Rush for 2001 Nationals and Worlds and saved East of Eden for the 2001-2002 season. I know people said she changed the program because it wasn't getting the marks she wanted, but those scores from an international panel at Masters was probably the best international scores she got for a short program that whole 1999-2002 quad. I think if she would have kept it it wouldn't have scored any lower than what EOE ended up scoring at the GPF and Worlds.

 

[Marco]

How I wish she would have kept Rush for 2001 Nationals and Worlds and saved East of Eden for the 2001-2002 season. I know people said she changed the program because it wasn't getting the marks she wanted, but those scores from an international panel at Masters was probably the best international scores she got for a short program that whole 1999-2002 quad. I think if she would have kept it it wouldn't have scored any lower than what EOE ended up scoring at the GPF and Worlds.

And Rach Round 2 did not have the same magic as Rach Round 1. It's true what they say, you don't tamper with classic.

 

[Karpenko]

East of Eden performed like this in SLC would've probably scored about the same as Nationals considering how boxed in the scoring already was.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=L2D9DDQxwIk

She was so freaking good.

 

[Simone411]

East of Eden performed like this in SLC would've probably scored about the same as Nationals considering how boxed in the scoring already was.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=L2D9DDQxwIk

She was so freaking good.

She certainly was!! I don't have Michelle's exhibition from 2001 Nationals. However, I do have her exhibition from the 2001 Worlds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE65xRNWaY4

More than freaking good! I get goose bumps whenever I watch it!

 

[UGG]

Does it blow anyone else's mind that 1). This is almost 20 years ago and 2). She was 15 years old when she skated this program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJwtHxPifjo

 

[Simone411]

I love that program. I also love the fact that she chose Salome as the music for her program.

 

[skatesindreams]

I'm grateful that Danny Kwan realized that a "little girl" persona would not allow Michelle to reach her potential; with Frank Carroll's urging!

 

[briancoogaert]

The best :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrnCt7HYCY0

 

[bardtoob]

With the exception of in her Romanza SP, I don't think Michelle ever featured her Ina Bauers well enough, although she often did small variations of them that sort of blended into the background. When she did feature it, it was lovely.

Michelle Kwan 1996 Worlds SP - Romanza Eurosport: https://youtu.be/1imuQWeIi4Q

Here is her Dream of Desdemona SP, where it is lovely and choregraphically complex, from out of her 2A and into her layback spin, but, none the less, brief and easily missed.

1997 Japan Open Short Program: https://youtu.be/rg3Dq9xJq7E

 

[mrinalini]

East of Eden performed like this in SLC would've probably scored about the same as Nationals considering how boxed in the scoring already was.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=L2D9DDQxwIk

She was so freaking good.

The buttery axel, the movements with the arms, everything is so quiet and flowing and perfectly placed like the whole thing isn't even choreographed...ahhh! Folks are probably sick of this refrain by now, but why don't we see anything like that these days? It's hard to believe the version she performed at the World Pros is probably even better than this one and just may be the apex of FS.

Kissing You is another mesmeric one...I don't like the music at all, but the movements, the spins, the timing of the jumps...it's all rather hypnotic, as if she were moving in a dream or a fantasy or something.

 

[Simone411]

The best :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrnCt7HYCY0

I truly thank you for posting that link. I don't know if I have Masters recorded or not. I also don't remember ever seeing that program before. Thank you so much. That program is mesmerizing!

 

[VGThuy]

I truly thank you for posting that link. I don't know if I have Masters recorded or not. I also don't remember ever seeing that program before. Thank you so much. That program is mesmerizing!

Kwan and Phillip Mills together were a dream. He only did two programs for her, that I know of, and I wished she went to him instead of Kawahara in 2002 (though not sure if Kawahara can be blamed for the ho-humness of Schez and at least Yu Na Kim thought it was a good enough program to draw inspiration from) if she wanted to look fresh for the Olympic season. I would have loved to see what he could have done for her if he choreographed a competitive program. We should have seen the warning signs when Kwan didn't even have a new SP for the Olympic season.

Another Mills gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqVXK8xdpV0

Check out Tarasova watching intently in the background.

 

[Simone411]

Kwan and Phillip Mills together were a dream. He only did two programs for her, that I know of, and I wished she went to him instead of Kawahara in 2002 (though not sure if Kawahara can be blamed for the ho-humness of Schez and at least Yu Na Kim thought it was a good enough program to draw inspiration from) if she wanted to look fresh for the Olympic season. I would have loved to see what he could have done for her if he choreographed a competitive program. We should have seen the warning signs when Kwan didn't even have a new SP for the Olympic season.

Another Mills gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqVXK8xdpV0

Check out Tarasova watching intently in the background.

I saw that, and it's easy to understand why. Hands was another program that I wish Michelle would have used a little longer. This program always gave me goose bumps, too.

 

[bardtoob]

Another Mills gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqVXK8xdpV0

Check out Tarasova watching intently in the background.

That was a lovely skid field move after the 2A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqVXK8xdpV0&feature=player_detailpage#t=52

And look at the stability of this forward edge as she keeps striking different posses with her free leg and arms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqVXK8xdpV0&feature=player_detailpage#t=116

. . . and a featured Ina Bauer and good layback spin

 

[cbd1235]

This is Michelle's program to "Winter" by Tori Amos, for me it is the most beautiful thing ever presented on ice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pQFizkQmAc

Michelle herself choreographed this program between the ages of 15 and 16, and here it was presented at age 16 at 1997 Worlds. Michelle choreographed this program to honour one of her mentors who tragically passed away.

I cannot believe the quality of the choreography and the impact of the program. I would have loved to see more works that Michelle choreographed for either herself or for others. She really gets music, phrasing and emotion. The movements are all so perfect and understated, just beautiful.

 

[giselle23]

I really love this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0bggmmcVTs
What would you give that for performance/execution?

 

[skatesindreams]

That's my "desert island" program.
The first program of her "adulthood", IMO.

 

[aftershocks]

I really love this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0bggmmcVTs
What would you give that for performance/execution?

I was in the audience for that program debut at World Pros. It was magical, as was her East of Eden program at the same event. One of my all-time favorite Kwan exhibitions is this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edlTytIoFEk
At this point, I don't see any ladies skater today who skate with such understated elegance, authenticity, ease, technical purity, flow, joy, confidence and a magical charm that reaches out and grabs hearts! The whole package and then some. There are many ladies with such potential perhaps, but as yet unfulfilled, at least IMHO.

And here is a more recent pic of gorgeous Michelle in formal dress, with her hair up, which we don't often see.
http://www.semanticsys.org/wallpaper/michelle-kwan/101187.html

Here's the full length version: http://www.semanticsys.org/wallpaper/michelle-kwan/101186.html

MK looks so lovely and carefree in this pic too:
http://www.semanticsys.org/wallpaper/michelle-kwan/101189.html

 

[bardtoob]

I was in the audience for that program debut at World Pros. It was magical, as was her East of Eden program at the same event. One of my all-time favorite Kwan exhibitions is this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edlTytIoFEk
At this point, I don't see any ladies skater today who skate with such understated elegance, authenticity, ease, technical purity, flow, joy, confidence and a magical charm that reaches out and grabs hearts!

And Uncle Dick ends the clip by saying, "That's why Michelle Kwan is Michelle Kwan."

 

[Quintuple]

I've seen these programs so many times, but suddenly clicking through this thread, I saw more in them than ever before.

I think Lamento d'Ariane is the most "academic" and intellectual in terms of music studies, actually. I can just imagine how difficult it is to actually choreograph to music that's not so obviously "representative", continuous, and narrative. It is so well-done. Even Miraculous Mandarin appears to be a "literal" interpretation compared to this one.

I actually like the theatrical interpretation of Taj Mahal the best. It was just very intense and responded to the music so well.

And although there are many emotionally engaging performances that Michelle has, strangely, I remember welling up after the first performance of Pocahontas. She was vulnerable, exploratory, free, flying.

We all know that 2002 was the beginning of the end in terms of interesting competitive programs (despite good performances since then, they went really mainstream). I really wonder just who was the driving force behind the pretty academic exploration of the "classical" music Michelle skated to. I konw this is a dumb thought, but I remember Frank's story about how he and Lori found Lyra Angelica, and I remember thinking, "Well, LA does have the great USC classical radio programming."

I wish Michelle explored Ravel string pieces, Debussy piano pieces, Prokofiev, Shostakovich ... other Russian/Soviet pianists past 1910 ...