From River Dance to Schindler's List

[Mathman]

... he waves and smiles, he hugs in the KnC ...

And really, if skaters didn't kiss and cry would it be the Kiss & Cry?

Anyway, about "maturity" what strikes me most forcefully is maturity of motion. I am not a dancer, so I can't explain this very well, but to me Jason seems to be better at pushing outward from his core at this stage of his career.

(Of course it is not fair to rate Riverdance in this way -- the Irish gigue is all twinkling feet.)

 

[Tavi...]

Because of this thread, I went back and watched Riverdance for the first time in several years. It was really interesting to see the differences in 2014 Jason and 2020 Jason. In 2014, he already had musicality, nice body lines, good basics, great flexibility, and a wonderful ability to tell stories and connect with the audience, but he was still almost a kid physically, and his skating reflected that - he didn’t have a lot of speed, power, or deep edges, and his jumps were smaller. He hasn’t lost anything, but these days he’s physically adult, far more confident, and you can really see how much stronger, faster, and more polished he is. There’s a clarity and commitment to every movement now that was lacking in 2014. For all Riverdance was amazing, I think his 2020 SP step sequence is even more incredible. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.

 

[Mathman]

There’s a clarity and commitment to every movement now that was lacking in 2014.

This.