Ermolina's interview with Zagitova `Only the relatives and coaches knew what that victory cost me'

[Spun Silver]

Isn't Carmen supposed to be a young teenage girl?! (I have no idea, I just remmeber someone saying it in this forum some time ago)

I don't have that much a problem with her interpretation so much as the musical edit (in both her competitive programs really) is just all around horrible.

Mérimée introduces the character:

...je vis qu'elle était petite, jeune, bien faite, et qu'elle avait de très grands yeux.
English:
...I saw that she was small, young, well shaped, and that she had very big eyes.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Mérimée introduces the character:

Prosper Merimee, when writing the novella, did his own aquarelle drawing of "Carmen" for is first edition of the book.
https://media.gettyimages.com/illus...he-novel-of-the-same-illustration-id162276915

And this is the portrait of the first Opera Singer to perform "Carmen" by Bizet, Celestine Galli-Marie.
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0a/c5/2b/77/celestine-galli-marie.jpg

 

[Japanfan]

Did all those people win the OGM in ladies skating with Carmen?

Zagitova did not skate to 'Carmen' at the Olympics, she skated to "Don Quixote'.

'Carmen' was this past season, she won 2019 Worlds with it.

 

[Marco]

Just wondering how many skaters skated to Carmen and won Worlds / Olympics with it after Witt did... A lot of World Champs skated to Carmen since then but didn't win the big prize with it (Kwan, Slutskaya, Plushenko, Yagudin)... perhaps just G&G in 1988, Petrenko in 1992, K&O in 1998?! Perhaps also Slutskaya if you count Euros and Asada if you count GPF.

 

[Wyliefan]

Mérimée introduces the character:

That's the source material. Opera Carmen is mature and voluptuous, not small and young. She can still have big eyes, though.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

Zagitova did not skate to 'Carmen' at the Olympics, she skated to "Don Quixote'.

'Carmen' was this past season, she won 2019 Worlds with it.

It all looked the same to me

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

That's the source material. Opera Carmen is mature and voluptuous, not small and young. She can still have big eyes, though.

Yes, I think people are confusing the novel with the opera - which is the source of the skating music. It's all semantics anyway. I don't think Alina was "portraying' anything - she was just executing jumps and spins to the background music. It would have been the same program to the Matrix or to the Swan Lake.

 

[mollymgr]

What about all the dudes who have skated to Carmen? They never come under such scrutiny. Carmen is quite a popular piece of music that has nice highlights to take advantage of. Not all memorable Carmens have won and not all winning Carmens have to be memorable. Some are and some aren’t and there are a lot of Carmen programs to choose from. There will never be a skating season without someone using Carmen so I don’t get the . Not everyone has to like every skater.

 

[annie_mg]

What about all the dudes who have skated to Carmen? They never come under such scrutiny. Carmen is quite a popular piece of music that has nice highlights to take advantage of. Not all memorable Carmens have won and not all winning Carmens have to be memorable. Some are and some aren’t and there are a lot of Carmen programs to choose from. There will never be a skating season without someone using Carmen so I don’t get the . Not everyone has to like every skater.

This all started because someone said that Witt thought Zagitova's Carmen was equal to hers. We all know how iconic that programme was for Witt, so it's only normal that the discussion came about.

Of course not everyone has to like every skater, it's not the point of the discussion!

 

[mollymgr]

This all started because someone said that Witt thought Zagitova's Carmen was equal to hers. We all know how iconic that programme was for Witt, so it's only normal that the discussion came about.

Of course not everyone has to like every skater, it's not the point of the discussion!

It is kind of a pointless discussion. No one really knows wth Katarina meant and are using her words to suit their own strategy to find fault with Alina. That's how I see it.

 

[annie_mg]

It is kind of a pointless discussion. No one really knows wth Katarina meant and are using her words to suit their own strategy to find fault with Alina. That's how I see it.

I totally agree but FSU is full of pointless discussions, especially in the off-season.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

It is kind of a pointless discussion. No one really knows wth Katarina meant and are using her words to suit their own strategy to find fault with Alina. That's how I see it.

Beyond pointless. But... off-season.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Russian Channel #1's popular аashion programme "Fashion Verdict" (Модный Пригово), after Мoscow Fashion Week, named Alina Zagitova as one of the top 10 russia's "fashionable athletes", along with Tatiana Navka and Adelina Sotnikova.
https://teamrussia.pro/olimpijskij-...prigovor-samye-stilnye-rossijskie-sportsmeny/

 

[Japanfan]

What about all the dudes who have skated to Carmen? They never come under such scrutiny.

So many skaters do Carmen and most of them don't come under scrutiny or get talked about much. We are only talk about Alina's Carmen because someone said that Kat Witt messaged her about it.

Among the men who did Carmen, I enjoyed Plush's version at the 2002 Olympics. It's the only male Carmen I have found to be distinctive and memorable.

 

[mollymgr]

I don't mind warhorses at all and I hope she continues to skate to them.

 

[Marco]

Among the men who did Carmen, I enjoyed Plush's version at the 2002 Olympics. It's the only male Carmen I have found to be distinctive and memorable.

Petrenko, Millot and even Michael Weiss had wonderful Carmen interpretations.

 

[Ananas Astra]

I also liked Kolyada's Carmen this season.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Witt's "Carmen" will always be a memorable one for me. However i do recognize that her "Carmen" is pretty much a well-dressed Flamenco Dancer with "flamenco style arms and hands", except for two elements which are borrowed from the ballet: the spread-eagle, and at the very end, when she "dies".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Ago3RRV6I

Witt looked like a wealthy matron of Seville strolling at Feria de Abril, and not a Gitano girl, but she looked good still.
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/A98D4W/feria-de-abril-festival-seville-A98D4W.jpg

Second one will be Zagitova's for many reasons. I do appreciate that not only they borrowed most of the choreographic moves from the actual ballet, but that they also combined the "Carmen character" moves, with "The Black Bull who symbolizes the Faith of death" in the last part of the ballet. My favorite and her strongest (imo) performance is at Nebelhorn, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AytMb5aqLfM

And as much as i am not a fan of Kwan, i did like the "idea" of her "Carmen" which was all "Black Bull/Faith of Death" theme. Kudos to her for selecting this segment and not the standard ones...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDbg45qnjD8

Bull/Faith of Death is a great and under-skated piece...
@ 40:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJlyGNitxz0