Wagner Goes Back to LaLa Land

hippomoomin said:

Well, I have a mixed feeling. Before the season started, I was looking forward to see all the La La Land programs. I love the movie, and the soundtrack.

But so far, none of the ladies' La La Land programs is not doing anything for me: the music editing is basically one song piled after another, with no or little editing, and the choreography is not cohesive just like the music. I would like to see a better music editing so that different parts become parts of the whole, not mechanical separate parts. I also wonder if the soundtrack is suitable for a competitive program at all.

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temadd said:

For anyone who is concerned that she only has 1 month until nationals, remember that she switched programs 3 weeks before Sochi. I think that Ashley needs a challenge to be interested and motivated. MR was too familiar. Having this little bit of urgency added to the mix is likely a good thing for her.

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JackWalker said:

It's suitable if you know anything about music or have an appreciation for the movie.

Ps- What other lady has done La La Land besides that South Korean skater? Her selfie second half of the program was cringeworthy.

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frida80 said:

She skates that program for an entire season. She’s already competed with that program in the GP, the GPF, nationals and worlds. This is completely different. She’s never skated LaLa Land. She’s never had a chance to work out the best layout to ensure consistency. She hasn’t built in the muscle memory, so she can relax in the program and nail the jumps without thinking. Not the same at all.

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MasterB said:

Oh Ashely! you are breaking my heart. I love you to pieces and hope one day to be able to dance Salsa with you.

Go for it, you have nothing to lose. Lambiel and Plushenko both switched programs right before the Olympics.

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yoloaxel said:

I don't necessarily think it's a bad choice, but I think it undermines her credibility a little. When she switched back to MR, she said multiple times that the reason was that she felt like MR was her chance to have her Olympic moment and that Satine was a multilayered character that she loved, and in the process of justifying her choice she undermined LLL and its character, saying it didn't make her feel the same and she didn't connect with it on the same level.

Now that she's switched again I can't help but remember the things she said about LLL and to think that this is a rebound that she picked to avoid people comparing her lackluster MR of this year to the one in 2016. Good for her if she's more confident with LLL, but I can't help seeing it this way, and it's her 'fault' with all the statements she released.

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frida80 said:

She skates that program for an entire season. She’s already competed with that program in the GP, the GPF, nationals and worlds. This is completely different. She’s never skated LaLa Land. She’s never had a chance to work out the best layout to ensure consistency. She hasn’t built in the muscle memory, so she can relax in the program and nail the jumps without thinking. Not the same at all.

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AKGROWN said:

Hi All - I'm "new" to GS (well, sorta. I use to post fairly frequently a few years back then got busy with life. I had to create a new profile. BTW - How do I upload a tagline - I see one "Tripping to the Podium" and thought it was cute.)

Anyhow - I'm not surprised that Ashley is flip-flopping. She has always been an independent women. My concern with her and Karen is what appears to be a lack of discipline when it comes to the program. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but it use to be unheard of to change programs mid-season and certainly never in an Olympic year. In fact, I recall skaters even saving music and some elements of choreography specifically for an Olympic year. A well-rounded program needs training and development, something the GP's help with. While skaters can practice the technical elements, the choreo and timing just comes with repetition and practice. It seems quite risky to completely change things so late in the game. September or October, perhaps. December though? I'm not sure that I would go so far as to question Ashley and Karen's commitment to their Olympic dreams but the manner in which they are going about it seems haphazard and completely disorganized.

Which leads me to my next question - where are the coaches and USFS in this? Yes, they are humans with complete agency and coaches seem easily replaceable these days, but I have a hard time understanding how their coaches are on-board with all these changes (unless they were never on-board with the initial programs). Finally, while I understand that USFS does not control skaters, I have a hard time believing that they would remain silent and completely hands-off when the top 2 skaters appear to be completely floundering.

Skating has certainly changed in my lifetime - and certainly in the past few years. Perhaps all these changes just go with the new way the sport is "played".

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composer said:

I think this is a genius way to influence the trajectory of the conversation around Ashley towards the positive side rather than allowing the negativity surrounding Skate America to fester.
As always, Ashley has shown the fighter in her so let's not count her out just yet.

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drivingmissdaisy said:

I wonder how much of the content she can reuse from MR. If she has roughly the same jump sequences and does identical spins and footwork, there might not be too much to change.

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pearly said:

How do you know?

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Carolla5501 said:

Maybe from watching this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u5Q1Xok1y4

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draqq said:

You should check out Liam Firus' interpretation of it in his free skate. Perhaps you'll see the potential of the program after seeing it.

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Icey said:

Link, please.

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