More soon, but the short version? Shibutani and Shibutani were even more wonderful than I dared hope in Junior Dance, the Senior Dance looks like a serious horse race, and Sasha looked incredible in practice and did a great job in the short, standing second only to the phenomenal Marai Nagasu. If these two ladies do as well in the long as they did in the short, I think we’re looking at our Olympic Team. Wheeeee
4 Responses to “Nationals days 6&7”
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I haven’t followed ice skating in years, but you made me think of the best of the best, Torville and Dean. I just spent a couple of hours re-connecting with them on Y-Tube. No one matched them as they had it all. They flowed over the ice making it look so easy. Every move merged into the next seamlessly. The choreography was a marvel and they always seemed to enjoy themselves and get into the part. Not to mention mirroring each other as though they were one. The artistry of Bolero and the paso doble, the sensual rumba, the timing in the red hat…! They leave me breathless.
Do we have anyone of their caliber now? I also remember the drama of the Russian pairs. It was
like a soap opera we all followed, hard on the participants but riveting for the rest of us. My guess is ice skating acquired new viewers with all that going on. In case you weren’t following the sport at that time, the number one Russian pair broke up when he fell in love with the number 2 or 3 pair started going out with her and then wanted to skate with her. I think they got married. As I remember it the Russian skating federation paraded every male skater in front of rejected partner (studs are us) to get her back on the ice. Then of course the rivalry between the ex-partners added a lot to the viewers enjoyment. Ah! Those were the days.
Oh, gawd, yes. What a wonderful soap opera. You’re thinking of Alexander Zhulin and Maia Usova, and Oksana (Paaaaasha) Grishuk and Evgeny Platov. Alexander and Maia were married. Oksana and Evgeny came up. Both couples were absolutely magnificent, tho I vastly prefered A&M. I loved Evgeny, but Oksana turned me off, big time. Alexander had an affair with Oksana. He and Maia broke up (noisily, as I recall, in a public bistro). I don’t know about the studs are us, tho I’m utterly in love with the image now, but she ended up with Evgeny…possibly even marrying him, tho I can’t remember. They both skated with their new partners for a while, Maia and Evgeny were beautiful together and did pretty well, I don’t remember what with the other two, but eventually Oksana changed her name to Paaaaaaaasha, got a boob job, and tried to become the next Marilyn Monroe. She was…less than successful. She got herself a boy-toy partner and from there, I lose them. I only know about the boytoy and boob job because I saw her on a Christmas Special where they were both, er, painfully obvious. He was more looks than skater and her boobs were…amusing.
Alexander was the choreographer for himself and Maia. He has continued to be a major force in the world of skating, creating some of the most amazing choreography for Kurt Browning and others as well as coaching. He also got himself a new, very young wife….goodness, what was her name? Gorgeous. Blond. Phenomenal dancer…Help me out here, Sharon. She and her partner (not Alexander) dominated Ice Dance for a few years.
Torville and Dean…changed the world of Dance. I’m so glad you mentioned their Paso. I love their Bolero, but the Paso from the same year is one of my favorite dances of all time…possibly even over Bolero. One of the things about T&D is that, like A&M, he was the choreographer. To have that kind of creative mind and the instrument of that creativity being your own body means the end result absolutely maximizes the potential. They were both hard on their partners, as I understand, and it makes sense, being artistic personalities determined to realize their image, but man, did they create the most amazing dances.
As for who’s happening now…you couldn’t have asked at a better time. Just got back from the Original Dance competition. Ice Dancing is exploding in the US. The caliber has been amazing. In the seniors, the US has two of the all-time best Ice Dancing pairs ever. Here are links to You-tube for their original dance. The Original Dance has replace the Original set pattern (darn it). It’s more like a short program. The ISU sets the type of dance in . . . May, I think, and that’s what they compete with for the season. This is Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s OD from earlier this year. The music style is Folk Music, and they’re doing Indian. It’s not Ballywood, but traditional Indian … I guess you’d call it folk. They’ve really studied the style and treat it with great respect. I understand the Indian media absolutely love them. The OD is immensely difficult and they haven’t lost all season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0IHQBBNMog&feature=related
And then there’s our beloved Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto. They’ve been at the top for several years now, but they really had their breakthrough here in Spokane at Skate America in 2002 (on my 50th birthday, as I recall. :D) So we’re particularly fond of them. Their Moldavian OD brought the house down. It’s got to be seen to be believed. This is from earlier this season. It’s even better now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L7dzjlteZ8
And third place after the OD was another rock the house, good old-fashioned American, shit-kickin’ country-cowboy pair, Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates. The first two were a given for the Olympic team, but I really hope they make the third because I think the world needs exposure to this dance. It was wonderful!
anyway…I’ll be putting together a post with some pics Sunday.
Marai Nagasu was wonderful…so vibrant…and looking so comfortable with herself….just a terrific mix of the girl and woman….but that spiral of Sasha’s was out of this world….truly elegant in every sense of the word….that perfect line from finger tips to toes….and a split too!…I keep going back to look at it and hey the rest was pretty nice too! We don’t have any live coverage here but there is stuff on line…..more time tomorrow to catch up before live coverage begins…..wish they could/would be more extensive……Keep us informed…..comments from ringside are fun and informative…..Evan reminds of Brian Boitano……?
Sasha is absolutely stunning. Just stepping onto the ice, there’s no question who you’re looking at. I’ll probably do a post just on her when I collect myself after this is over. I soooo hope she does well tomorrow. And dresses just don’t get more beautiful than the one she wore for the short. It looked good on the monitor, but in person, it was breathtaking. I imagine she designed it herself, considering she’s got her own line of skatewear, but I don’ t know that for certain.