- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
I already posted this at the Skate Canada thread.
As for those who seem intent on downplaying Satoko's performance, the crowd's reaction speaks for itself because the biggest standing ovation I saw for the women in the LP was for Satoko, and I also liked her LP the best.
I thought Satoko skated with a high degree of artistic polish and in a light ethereal style which reminds me quite a bit of Lu Chen, especially when it comes to the way she strokes across the ice, though her jumps are smaller and her spins and spirals are more flexible.
It was the end of her program that captivated me the most because of the way Satoko glided in an arabesque that curved across the rink and transitioned subtly into a serpentine turn and a series of pirouettes with her right hand positioned delicately atop her head, as a ballerina in a music box that mirrored perfectly the gentle tinkling on the piano keys. Then, she exited this position with finely drawn out extensions of her arms and legs, and balletic turns before dashing to her final triple flip. Next, she began with a counterclockwise camel before dropping into a broken leg sit spin. Finally. she did what I think no other lady in the competition did: she immediately switched the direction of her rotation to clockwise before dropping into a shoot the duck sit spin, then rising to conclude with a rapidly rotating I spin.
Even though it would be nice if she could vault higher, I really love Satoko's skating the way it is. That last spiral and spin sequence with the triple flip in between was mesmerizing.
As for those who seem intent on downplaying Satoko's performance, the crowd's reaction speaks for itself because the biggest standing ovation I saw for the women in the LP was for Satoko, and I also liked her LP the best.
I thought Satoko skated with a high degree of artistic polish and in a light ethereal style which reminds me quite a bit of Lu Chen, especially when it comes to the way she strokes across the ice, though her jumps are smaller and her spins and spirals are more flexible.
It was the end of her program that captivated me the most because of the way Satoko glided in an arabesque that curved across the rink and transitioned subtly into a serpentine turn and a series of pirouettes with her right hand positioned delicately atop her head, as a ballerina in a music box that mirrored perfectly the gentle tinkling on the piano keys. Then, she exited this position with finely drawn out extensions of her arms and legs, and balletic turns before dashing to her final triple flip. Next, she began with a counterclockwise camel before dropping into a broken leg sit spin. Finally. she did what I think no other lady in the competition did: she immediately switched the direction of her rotation to clockwise before dropping into a shoot the duck sit spin, then rising to conclude with a rapidly rotating I spin.
Even though it would be nice if she could vault higher, I really love Satoko's skating the way it is. That last spiral and spin sequence with the triple flip in between was mesmerizing.