Mao Shimada: Japan's newest star

[gsk8]

Mao Shimada: Japan's newest star

Mao Shimada Japan’s Mao Shimada is one of the newest stars to have emerged on the international junior scene this past season. The 14-year-old has followed in the footsteps of […]

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New short program: "Americano" by Lady Gaga — the violin was written and performed by Judy Kang (Lady Gaga's violinist) specifically for Mao

Choreographed by Kaitlyn Weaver who was inspired by the story of "La Carambada" the legend of a young, Mexican rebel woman who fought for justice in her community.

"Creating Mao's new short program has been a heartfelt honour," said Weaver. "I was looking forward to getting to know her personally, and I'm excited by her ambition and youthful energy. Together, we were able to channel that into her new program."

 

[el henry]

Very interesting to learn more about Mao, who seems a determined young woman.

Glad to see that she is attending "regular school" (always impressed by that) and taking drama lessons with a Japanese actor. Not just lip service to improving performance.

Also impressed by Kaitlyn's approach to choreography.

 

[icewhite]

She's 14, I would prefer her to be at least a senior before calling her a star etc. Why does figure skating continue to hype 13, 14, 15 year olds even now, after the age limit was raised for reasons? No question she's super talented and already amazing but let her grow up instead of hyping her now and then seeing her burn out.

 

[gsk8]

"Newest" star

Given her achievements and success at this early age, surely we can afford her that?

 

[Weathergal]

I enjoyed the article! Two things I found particularly interesting: Mao Shimada is named after Mao Asada and Kaitlyn Weaver is doing Shimada's choreography. I believe Kaitlyn's doing choreography for several Japanese women's skaters - and I think other skaters as well. I knew that Kaitlyn was choregraphing for a show several months ago but didn't realize that's she's putting together competition programs -- and that she seems to have quite a few clients already. It's great to see Kaitlyn so successful as she transitions out of the competitive skating world!

 

[Sai Bon]

I enjoyed the article! Two things I found particularly interesting: Mao Shimada is named after Mao Asada and Kaitlyn Weaver is doing Shimada's choreography. I believe Kaitlyn's doing choreography for several Japanese women's skaters - and I think other skaters as well. I knew that Kaitlyn was choregraphing for a show several months ago but didn't realize that's she's putting together competition programs -- and that she seems to have quite a few clients already. It's great to see Kaitlyn so successful as she transitions out of the competitive skating world!

To be pedantic (and OT), the Japanese characters for Mao Shimada are slightly different from Mao Asada's (same "o" but different "ma"). If Mao Shimada's parents named their daughter after Mao Asada, they had the sense not to make the names identical. A bit like spelling Kaitlyn/Kaetlyn/Katelyn in different ways, but Japanese characters also have meanings attached to them and a bizarre system of brush strokes (certain numbers of strokes are considered auspicious - go figure).

It will be interesting to see how young Mao develops. Will she still have the ultra-C jumps when she turns senior? Will she maintain her all-round capabilities and develop artistically? Can she deal with all the pressure and avoid being crushed by the media hype? She's amazing to watch, but I don't feel much connection to the music or audience yet.

 

[gsk8]

To be pedantic (and OT), the Japanese characters for Mao Shimada are slightly different from Mao Asada's (same "o" but different "ma"). If Mao Shimada's parents named their daughter after Mao Asada, they had the sense not to make the names identical. A bit like spelling Kaitlyn/Kaetlyn/Katelyn in different ways, but Japanese characters also have meanings attached to them and a bizarre system of brush strokes (certain numbers of strokes are considered auspicious - go figure).

Thanks for explaining the name

She's amazing to watch, but I don't feel much connection to the music or audience yet.

Agree, but this is usually the case with most young skaters of her age

 

[Weathergal]

To be pedantic (and OT), the Japanese characters for Mao Shimada are slightly different from Mao Asada's (same "o" but different "ma"). If Mao Shimada's parents named their daughter after Mao Asada, they had the sense not to make the names identical. A bit like spelling Kaitlyn/Kaetlyn/Katelyn in different ways, but Japanese characters also have meanings attached to them and a bizarre system of brush strokes (certain numbers of strokes are considered auspicious - go figure).

It will be interesting to see how young Mao develops. Will she still have the ultra-C jumps when she turns senior? Will she maintain her all-round capabilities and develop artistically? Can she deal with all the pressure and avoid being crushed by the media hype? She's amazing to watch, but I don't feel much connection to the music or audience yet.

Thank you for that information on naming. I only mentioned that Mao Shimada was named after Mao Asada because the article stated this; unfortunately I have no knowledge of/background in Japanese (I wish I did!) so I appreciate the explanation. There are so many nuances to the language and the characters, Japanese is fascinating to me as a native English speaker. It also makes me think English speakers shouldn't complain about our grammar or many odd spellings; other languages appear to be more difficult!

 

[LiamForeman]

Sometimes I wonder when people say "No connection to the music or audience" and I'm in the audience and a musician and absolutely GET IT, maybe they just don't connect *personally* to the music or the skater. Mao to me absolutely connects with her music and the audience. Her Lion King SP last season was amasing. The LP was more just a color by numbers, but she was doing ultra-c and trying to skate clean, like just about anyone doing ultra-c with the exception of Kamila and Anna. I think Mao is incredibly musical, and well, she connected with this audience member.... YMMV.

 

[Sai Bon]

Sometimes I wonder when people say "No connection to the music or audience" and I'm in the audience and a musician and absolutely GET IT, maybe they just don't connect *personally* to the music or the skater. Mao to me absolutely connects with her music and the audience. Her Lion King SP last season was amasing. The LP was more just a color by numbers, but she was doing ultra-c and trying to skate clean, like just about anyone doing ultra-c with the exception of Kamila and Anna. I think Mao is incredibly musical, and well, she connected with this audience member.... YMMV.

I've never seen her live. I agree that her Lion King SP was more engaging. And I never said she isn't musical - I have done dance training and you can be dancing "correctly" to the music without really connecting with it. You are of course totally right about the difficulty of her programmes. I'm just not "getting" her yet, I guess.

 

[TallyT]

I am reminded of a line from one of my favourite books... "You see, I am minding my steps."

I think it's her youth: in fact, despite her wonderful technical ability, to me she has an aura even younger than her actual age, and her musicality is there, it just feels still a little childish (IMO) and the main thing is to have it, if you don't it can't be faked.

I really like Mao (she's one of several juniors who are adorable) and I don't think she's a star yet... but for me the fact that she has longer to wait to go senior than previous starlets-in-waiting may be a good thing, might afford a little protection from the pressure.