- Joined
- Dec 25, 2012
This is Yuzu and Stephane during ice shows. So they are friendly and have known each other for years. Though I agree that this year, there should not be hugging.
Not saying I don't like it. I've literally rewatched it so many times that I almost memorize the video. But I still believe that he can do more, because according to his past performances, he definitely can. Not to mention the visible improvement in those jumps, I was so relieved when he landed all of them without obvious mistake, unlike all those skaters before him that day, which made people suspect if there was something wrong with the ice. It's so inspiring to see someone get back from the dark time and rise again, and I imagine it much harder than the way he said it in the interview.But the skating was awesome!
I suspect that for both Yuzu and Rika especially (and it will be the same for the Canadian, Korean and other skaters with new programs we have yet to see) a lot of folk have a mental jar over the fact that it's nearly the new year and it's the first time we've seen them. Normally, this would have been months ago when our expectations are set to early days... by this time, they would have competed several times, done a lot of work and brought the programs added levels. We do know the situation this year but for some it's mentally like stepping on an expected step that isn't there.
(For me, like I said above it was awesome and will get more so. I cannot wait. And I have to.)
Not saying I don't like it. I've literally rewatched it so many times that I almost memorize the video. But I still believe that he can do more, because according to his past performances, he definitely can. Not to mention the visible improvement in those jumps, I was so relieved when he landed all of them without obvious mistake, unlike all those skaters before him that day, which made people suspect if there was something wrong with the ice. It's so inspiring to see someone get back from the dark time and rise again, and I imagine it much harder than the way he said it in the interview.
Now that you mentioned, Rika's FS also have the same problem (reminds me of Trusova's FS last season), hence the relatively low PCS. My guess is that they cut it to boost the success rate of 4S. Once that's stable, I hope we'll be expecting a more complete program like her SP.
Yeah, that one poster (whose argument I was addressing in the above post) was the main source of controversy. There were more posts but they seem to have disappeared.I don't recall every single one of the posts in this thread so I might be wrong, but save for maybe one post I didn't get the impression posters were complaining about the music itself so much as the choreo/interpretation or Yuzu's involvement in the choreo/presentation?
When a reported post is removed, subsequent posts that responded to said post are removed as well so that the thread is not further derailed.
Yeah, JSF flagProbably the federation flag, but I'm not sure
Maybe we can continue the conversation here since the competition is long over; hopefully there won't be crazed fans viewing now who cause entire discussions to get deleted and everyone's time wasted.In Seimei he's portraying the onmyouji Abe no Seimei (something like a magician-priest, from a historical fantasy movie) while in Heaven and Earth he's protraying the daimyou Nagao Kagetora/Uesugi Kenshin (a feudal lord/general who employs samurai, from an epic historical drama TV series). Kenshin wasn't the God of War but was sort of mythologised as such by his followers, similar to China's Guan Yu. But I agree, it is wrong to lump the two together just because they're 'ye olde Japanese/Oriental programmes' - it's like mixing up La Strada and the Barber of Seville because they're both European. They're separated by about 600 years (Heian period vs Tokugawa Shogunate) and are distinctly different genres (magic vs armed conflict).
The choreography could definitely benefit from some touching up to increase the distinction from Seimei. I think in principle it's fine that both are historical Japanese programmes, as long as he and Shae-Lynn pay attention to differentiate them further. Nationals is likely to be his only competitive outing this year (I am already assuming Stockholm will be cancelled) so this programme is probably more of a draft version than anything. Or even a placeholder for something unrelated next season (though the cultural references suggest Olympic purposes).Maybe we can continue the conversation here since the competition is long over; hopefully there won't be crazed fans viewing now who cause entire discussions to get deleted and everyone's time wasted.
A figure skating program is only the music and how the skater moves to it. The fact of the matter is, if anyone heard Seimei or Heaven+Earth in isolation without knowing about it first, they would not know the "story". This music can be used for many different purposes, and it simply happened to be what those composers created for the films in question. Just because a certain piece of music exists for a film, that doesn't mean anyone is under any obligation to represent the film. It doesn't make someone's interpretation inherently better to do that either. People can include references in the choreography if they want (like acting drunk while skating to Pirates of the Caribbean), but that choreography needs to stand on its own, in relation to the music. If the movement itself isn't evocative enough and not in time with the exact textures of the music, then it's not good interpretation.
It's possible to use specific instruments and musical styles to hint at a specific time period, but these compositions are not deeply rooted in a given century like that. Both compositions use modern techniques. Even if you can detect a specific time period from a given piece of music, that still does not relay a more specific story. Nobody can listen to Seimei and be like "this music is totally about a 10th century onmyouji."
Now specifically about these two PROGRAMS of Hanyu's, he is clearly trying to portray some kind of heroic action figure in each one, and there's a whole bunch of choreography that has been recycled. Heaven&Earth resembles Seimei more than any other program of Hanyu's. It's not just the music, but the entire movement. And yes obviously the music is different, but the Japanese flavor of each composition still makes them more closely connected than any other piece of music Hanyu has used in comparison to Seimei. The instruments being used in these pieces are specific to the region, which can not be said of other music Hanyu has used.
I think Hanyu's new music could be used to create a great program, but his approach to it is far from ideal to me. It SEEMS like he is trying to copy the overall idea of Seimei, his "most successful" program. By trying to graft certain things about that program (like the general structure, for starters) onto Heaven&Earth, it falls more flat in comparison. It doesn't feel like he is pushing himself to be completely creative and artistically profound, it feels more like he is trying to recapture the "glory days" by hedging close to a proven template. There's still many things to like about the program, he's an amazing skater, but he has much more potential than this. Relatively, it is disappointing to me.