The iconic program thread got me thinking, there are so many terrific programs out there that fans might not have immediately given recognition for a variety of reasons -
but these programs deserve credit too!
For me, Maria Butyrskaya's Fever comes to mind. It's beautifully choreographed and she skated it wonderfully at the Olympics - but everyone just associates her with Scene D'Amour and Otonal.
Everyone sees Lu Chen's iconic program as Rach #2, but Spring Breeze has a very special place in my heart. Same with Lark Ascending for Yuna Kim.
For 1998, everyone remembers Michelle Kwan's Rach #3, but Nicole Bobek's Zorba the Greek was also wonderful - absolutely in love with the explosive step sequence.
Shizuka Arakawa's signature program is Turandot, its 2004 version won Worlds and its 2006 version won the Olympics - but for me the best rendition was the original version of Turandot in 2001-2 which unfortunately she didn't get to skate at Worlds and the Olympics with.
Michelle Kwan's Miraculous Mandarin and Rush programs were wonderful and so different for her, yet she opted against them and went back to safer options in 2001.
As far as war horses go, I really, really love Eric Millot's and Michael Weiss' versions of Carmen and Alexei Urmanov's version of Swan Lake.
Let's give these overshadowed programs a shout out!
- the skater had other more conventionally iconic programs
- the skater's immediate competitor had more conventionally iconic programs that season
- the skater had an off season and never skated it well
- the skater changed program mid-season and didn't skate it much
- the music itself is more associated with another skater
- the program is associated with defeat, etc...
but these programs deserve credit too!
For me, Maria Butyrskaya's Fever comes to mind. It's beautifully choreographed and she skated it wonderfully at the Olympics - but everyone just associates her with Scene D'Amour and Otonal.
Everyone sees Lu Chen's iconic program as Rach #2, but Spring Breeze has a very special place in my heart. Same with Lark Ascending for Yuna Kim.
For 1998, everyone remembers Michelle Kwan's Rach #3, but Nicole Bobek's Zorba the Greek was also wonderful - absolutely in love with the explosive step sequence.
Shizuka Arakawa's signature program is Turandot, its 2004 version won Worlds and its 2006 version won the Olympics - but for me the best rendition was the original version of Turandot in 2001-2 which unfortunately she didn't get to skate at Worlds and the Olympics with.
Michelle Kwan's Miraculous Mandarin and Rush programs were wonderful and so different for her, yet she opted against them and went back to safer options in 2001.
As far as war horses go, I really, really love Eric Millot's and Michael Weiss' versions of Carmen and Alexei Urmanov's version of Swan Lake.
Let's give these overshadowed programs a shout out!