From Russia with love [#28]: Autumn to Winter 2017

[alchemy void]

She ain't foolin' me!
#sandstorm2.0

True. She'll probably debut Sandstorm 2.0 at a B event along with Gedevanishvili, Artemieva representing AZE, Mari Vartmann + new partner debut, and Ross Miner.

 

[Maofan7]

TEST SKATES - DAY 2 - UPDATED

ICE DANCE

Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev Free Dance (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy)
Sofia Evdokimova / Egor Bazin Free Dance
Tiffany Zahorski /Jonathan Guerreiro Free Dance
Elena Ilinykh / Anton Shibnev Free Dance
Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd Free Dance
Annabelle Morozov / Andrei Bagin Free Dance
Betina Popova / Sergey Mozgov Free Dance (2nd Copy)
Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov Free Dance (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy)

MEN

Dmitri Aliev Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy)
Sergei Voronov Free Skate (2nd Copy)
Mikhail Kolyada Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy)
Andrei Lazukin Free Skate
Alexander Petrov Free Skate (2nd Copy)
Alexander Samarin Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy)

PAIRS

Kristina Astakhova / Alexei Rogonov Free Skate
Alisa Efimova / Alexander Korovin Free Skate
Natalja Zabijako / Alexander Enbert Free Skate
Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov Free Skate

LADIES

Alina Zagitova Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy)
Evgenia Medvedeva Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy)
Elena Radionova Free Skate (2nd Copy)
Maria Sotskova Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy)
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy)

 

[clairecloutier]

Thanks @Maofan7!!

 

[vesperholly]

Tarasova/morozov- Good luck to them trying to keep up with that music. While i do think it’s a valiane effort that they are making, i cannot get a read on their personalities. I don’t want to say “ like such and such” because you guys will compare the two when i just meant to set a baseline. She has to find her on ice magic immediately because it almost seems like the point of this pair is she’s great and he’s...good. I do wish they would embrace more emotional classical pieces because, nobody is really doing it these days and Evgenia when it comes to pairs skills is just beautiful. I want them to do well because they seem like nice people and they clearly work hard. There is nothing wrong with the free skate but sexy, sultry and seductive, salacious are not words i’d use to describe this pair.

Oh god, it's so, so bad. I held onto liking them through last year's trash programs but I can't with this. Tarasova is a classically beautiful, traditional skater and he's whatever but they need some Rachmaninov yesterday.

 

[clairecloutier]

Oh god, it's so, so bad. I held onto liking them through last year's trash programs but I can't with this. Tarasova is a classically beautiful, traditional skater and he's whatever but they need some Rachmaninov yesterday.

They have Rachmaninov--in their new SP. I am not sure that's the answer, either ....

 

[VGThuy]

I think if they went full on classical Russian they'd look washed out and bland. If they try to go for something wildly unexpected as they did here, it doesn't work. I think their issue with having interesting and convincing programs is just them and how they don't really have personality or project not their music choices. That said, their music choices don't help and can make it worse.

 

[Aerobicidal]

I've got to hand it to Tarasova/Morosov: they seem truly dedicated to compiling an oeuvre of programs that will make Leonova's range of quality, taste, and elegance compare favorably to Torvill and Dean.

 

[beebee]

They are almost comical. He is... He is just so awful. I am sorry folks, they look ridiculous together.

I totally agree. I/S look like they were just thrown together yesterday. Their Free Dance didn't seem like a program to me. It was as if they were improvising to music they were hearing for the first time. Too many crossovers and too much two footed skating. No point of view whatsoever. I see no promise at this time.

Only a couple of posters have commented on Popova/Mozgov. To my mind, they are the ones to watch. I really liked both their programs and they were actually dancing. IMO, they are much better together than with their former partners. Hope they get the COR spot!

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

TEST SKATES - DAY 2 - UPDATED
LADIES

Alina Zagitova Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy)
Evgenia Medvedeva Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy)
Elena Radionova Free Skate (2nd Copy)
Maria Sotskova Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy)
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Free Skate (2nd Copy, 3rd Copy)

Thanks a lot! I have admired all these skaters when they came to the scene back in their junior years. It's interesting to see how they have developped all differently in their adulthood (post-puberty). I have one specific question : since when Medvedeva's lutz has been on such an inside edge? All the other ladies had clean clear outside edge on their take-off, so Medvedeva's one look even more apparent. That is said, she is not the only one in the skating world doing that. I don,t want to get into a debate of who flutzes or not. I am more interested in knowing if it has always been like that or it's more since she has hitted puberty? I guess I hadn't noticed before she has so many other superb qualities to her skating that I didn't take notice.

 

[alchemy void]

Hope is always the last thing to go...

Perpetually stuck in denial over here, with only brief flashes of lucidity.

 

[thvu]

Perpetually stuck in denial over here, with only brief flashes of lucidity.

I don't blame you. Nobody wants to be uncomfortably lucid.

 

[DimaToe]

I feel like E. Tarasova needs a Trankov, someone that brings all of the and just lets her show off her beautiful lines and what not. I feel that with Morozov, even though he's very talented, it's just + =

 

[chapis]

I love the version of ¨Historia de un amor¨ that Elena R. is using, and she looks gorgeous.

 

[Sedge]

I have one specific question : since when Medvedeva's lutz has been on such an inside edge? I guess I hadn't noticed before she has so many other superb qualities to her skating that I didn't take notice.

She is too attached to scoring to do a loop in the SP unless she has to.

2014,15...called ( e ) all season
2015.16....called (!) only once I believe
2016.2107...back to being called (!) about .

She had 3 .... -1 or -2 jumps in her FP at monitoring...the most errors I have ever seen from her in a season..let alone in a program...perhaps she has grown...that might also explain the weaker lutz edge

 

[VGThuy]

I feel like I've seen so many Russian programs with a blind girl/protective man dynamic. Is Bobrova like totally blind and being guided and assisted by Dr. Dmitri until the One Republic song comes on and he's cured her of blindness and then they're celebrating her new found sense of sight but then he becomes blind and she's done with him? Or is it a metaphor of how she's blinded by him even though it's a toxic co-dependent relationship and the One Republic song is her coming into her own independence and in the end he becomes the one who's blind and she leaves him affirming her own self-worth and strength?

 

[Alilou]

I don't think this has been posted yet. It's Janny's description of her LP courtesy of FSGossips

http://fs-gossips.com/russian-test-skates-2017-ladies-video/

My free program is about the most powerful and inexhaustible feeling of humanity, about faith. At the very beginning, I’m standing like on the line of life, I’m starting to take the first step, but I’m going back. This symbolizes the fear of the unknown, which almost all people have. The idea is that thanks to faith, a person is capable of anything. Faith gives strength to go forward. And I do not mean only belief in God, because everyone believes in something of their own. It can be, for example, just faith in the best.

There are also quotes by Zagitova, Tarasova on Liza, Sotskova, and Radio

 

[VGThuy]

That's actually not so bad in terms of concepts. It's abstract enough to not be too literal and dense. I actually seriously like the LP because it's more like her W.E. LP than last season's.

 

[Aerobicidal]

I don't think this has been posted yet. It's Janny's description of her LP courtesy of FSGossips
My free program is about the most powerful and inexhaustible feeling of humanity, about faith. At the very beginning, I’m standing like on the line of life, I’m starting to take the first step, but I’m going back. This symbolizes the fear of the unknown, which almost all people have. The idea is that thanks to faith, a person is capable of anything. Faith gives strength to go forward. And I do not mean only belief in God, because everyone believes in something of their own. It can be, for example, just faith in the best.

I'm not caught up with the threads on 2017-18 music and programs, but from this description, I'm assuming she's skating to a mashup of "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Crew and "From a Distance." I guess that'll be memorable.

 

[jamesy]

I'm not caught up with the threads on 2017-18 music and programs, but from this description, I'm assuming she's skating to a mashup of "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Crew and "From a Distance." I guess that'll be memorable.

God is watching us me love you long time.

 

[Jeschke]

Btw. have to mention I am relieved that Zabiiako/Enberts FS did not turn out as the total awful music mix trash I expected it too be after the music announcement.
It kinda works for their classic lines, unfortunately the program lacks highlights, finesse and a above all: it is unfortunately so damn boring.

 

[zoe111]

She is too attached to scoring to do a loop in the SP unless she has to.

2014,15...called ( e ) all season
2015.16....called (!) only once I believe
2016.2107...back to being called (!) about .

She had 3 .... -1 or -2 jumps in her FP at monitoring...the most errors I have ever seen from her in a season..let alone in a program...perhaps she has grown...that might also explain the weaker lutz edge

She's been jumping a loop in the sp for at least the last 2-3 years if my memory serves. Both she and Zagitova made 3 jump errors yesterday but so did everyone else make a lot of mistakes. Unless someone who was there or knows someone who was there says she had a real struggle in the warmup, I don't think it's significant. She looked tired more than anything else to me.

 

[bardtoob]

She ain't foolin' me!
#sandstorm2.0

I love me some Sand Storm, especially the way she performed to it.

 

[Ka3sha]

Short article about Anna Pogorilaya, her new programs and preparations for the season
http://www.fsrussia.ru/news/3119-an...vlivayus-i-prodolzhu-gotovitsya-k-sezonu.html
SP: Spanish motives, choreographed by Pasquale Camerlengo
LP: Swan Lake, choreographed by Nikolai Morozov
She had few minor injuries this summer and couldn't skate at the test skates due to one of them

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

I don't think this has been posted yet. It's Janny's description of her LP courtesy of FSGossips

http://fs-gossips.com/russian-test-skates-2017-ladies-video/

Scary...

Why do they have to explain all of this as if her interpretation mark will be higher... Interpretation is interpretation of the music, not of a philosophical concept. When you have to explain what you are trying to emote, then you have not achieved your goal. As if a movie actor stops, looks at the audience, and says "I'm trying to be mean/I want you to know I'm expressing sadness" and so on... Oh wait, what? That's how Shakespeare used to write? Are we in House of Cards?

 

[chattila]

Thanks for all of the links. Zahorsky/Guerreiro have really gained strength (edge work, passion).

 

[Hanna]

That was my first thought; I even checked if the post somehow included an @Aerobicidal quote. But nope, followed the link, it's all there in complete seriousness.

You and me both.

 

[kwanfan1818]

NOW! I can't believe the Fed okay'ed this.

I think they all went drinking after the fourth mistake in Medvedeva's program, which is her grand total of mistakes in the last two seasons.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Why do they have to explain all of this as if her interpretation mark will be higher... Interpretation is interpretation of the music, not of a philosophical concept. When you have to explain what you are trying to emote, then you have not achieved your goal. As if a movie actor stops, looks at the audience, and says "I'm trying to be mean/I want you to know I'm expressing sadness" and so on... Oh wait, what? That's how Shakespeare used to write? Are we in House of Cards?

It’s not uncommon at a modern dance or ballet performance for the audience to be given a programme describing what each segment symbolizes.

As well, in Kabuki Theatre, Traditional Thai and Indian Dances, and many ethnic and ritual performances the audience are explained the story line. I don’t see a reason why it should not be done for an individual performance/programme.

 

[kwanfan1818]

It’s not uncommon at a modern dance or ballet performance for the audience to be given a programme describing what each segment symbolizes.

For ballets with plots and narratives, this is like getting the synopsis of the libretto, which is especially handy when you're attending a Czech opera with Catalan supertitles, or are part of an audience that hasn't been exposed to a story from childhood, like American audiences' confusion over the episodes in The Little Humpbacked Horse that are perfectly clear to Russian audiences. Or when you may be introducing an art form to an audience, an explanation of the symbolism, conventions, and/or plot goes a long way.

For most plotless modern and ballet dances, those descriptions are generally embarrassing drivel and read like parody. Where's Dieter when you need him?

 

[Tinami Amori]

For ballets with plots and narratives, this is like getting the synopsis of the libretto, which is especially handy when you're attending a Czech opera with Catalan supertitles, or are part of an audience that hasn't been exposed to a story from childhood, like American audiences' confusion over the episodes in The Little Humpbacked Horse that are perfectly clear to Russian audiences. Or when you may be introducing an art form to an audience, an explanation of the symbolism, conventions, and/or plot goes a long way.

For most plotless modern and ballet dances, those descriptions are generally embarrassing drivel and read like parody. Where's Dieter when you need him?

Well...... if ballets and operas, with costumes, sets, and several other rather expressive story-telling elements, require a synopsis/libretto, then such synopsis for "plotless" abstract performance pieces, as well as for abstract art, can even further benefit the audience. An artist tells the audience "this is my vision of the given subject" and audience has an option to do their own comparison how well their understanding of the "subject" fits the artist's "expression of it".

besides... we are not talking (yet?) about how effective is the interpretation of the idea.... we're talking about a practice of giving a synopsis for an abstract piece... and it is something that is commonly practiced.