- Joined
- Feb 23, 2018
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I think Rika has a good shot of beating Sasha if Rika lands her axels and Sasha doesn't land all of her quads. As for Alena and Anna, Rika should be competitive with Alena due to similar difficulty and artistry (in my eyes) and above Anna due to Anna's notorious lutz edges, but knowing edges haven't been called all season after CoC, I expect her to place after both if all skate reasonably clean. What Rika needs above all else now is consistency - popping/falling on her axels at major competitions gives away points AND gives people reason to say she doesn't deserve, say, Alena or Anna's levels of PCS (or even Bradie's, now, I guess).
I just wanted to share some thoughts on Rika's International Angel of Peace program, since I was as ??? about it as everyone at the beginning of the year but now I'm almost regarding it as like Rika's Hope and Legacy. Both play on an universal theme of salvation (peace/hope), both are nuanced compared to programs like Alena's Twilight (nothing wrong with that program, btw - it's just different since those programs showcase the skater and their own personality while the program here is about slipping into, telling a story of, and embodying something more abstract and universal) and both have a buildup to a cathartic moment of greatness (I'm thinking Yuzu's Ina Bauer/Hydroblade sequence and Rika's Ina Bauer knee slide choreo sequence).
IAoP's music, particularly the piece in the middle about the caravans, and the music style, remind me of Middle Eastern and central Asian Muslim and Buddhist mosques and Grottoes, especially their rise and fall over history. The beginning of the program signifies their first creation and enshrinement (0:10-0:45ish), then we experience all the turmoil and unrest (up until around 1:27ish), then we're back to the peaceful, almost zen sounds as a kind of reprieve, as if the temples are serving as places of refuge for the people during those tumultuous times. The conflict returns, though, from around 1:55, building up in tempo and urgency, until we're almost at some kind of negotiation table / duel scene at 2:15, with chanting in the background and intense beats. But then the resolution comes at 2:42. The chants were, before, just the faithful reciting their lines, but now the worshipper has an audience, and the music blossoms open. Peace has finally come. Light is now finally shining on the tiles of the mosques, the faces of the buddhas in the grottoes. The figures have finally stopped being causes for war but are now simply serene representations of people's hopes for prosperity and salvation. We have found hope, and it is a beautiful thing.
...Perhaps I'm too attached to stories of the Mogao Caves. But regardless, Rika's program here to me really tells a story, and one that I adore, since it's a beautiful one, and one that isn't just about her. I wish more people would be able to see that and appreciate it just like they appreciate say Jason Brown's programs.
I just wanted to share some thoughts on Rika's International Angel of Peace program, since I was as ??? about it as everyone at the beginning of the year but now I'm almost regarding it as like Rika's Hope and Legacy. Both play on an universal theme of salvation (peace/hope), both are nuanced compared to programs like Alena's Twilight (nothing wrong with that program, btw - it's just different since those programs showcase the skater and their own personality while the program here is about slipping into, telling a story of, and embodying something more abstract and universal) and both have a buildup to a cathartic moment of greatness (I'm thinking Yuzu's Ina Bauer/Hydroblade sequence and Rika's Ina Bauer knee slide choreo sequence).
IAoP's music, particularly the piece in the middle about the caravans, and the music style, remind me of Middle Eastern and central Asian Muslim and Buddhist mosques and Grottoes, especially their rise and fall over history. The beginning of the program signifies their first creation and enshrinement (0:10-0:45ish), then we experience all the turmoil and unrest (up until around 1:27ish), then we're back to the peaceful, almost zen sounds as a kind of reprieve, as if the temples are serving as places of refuge for the people during those tumultuous times. The conflict returns, though, from around 1:55, building up in tempo and urgency, until we're almost at some kind of negotiation table / duel scene at 2:15, with chanting in the background and intense beats. But then the resolution comes at 2:42. The chants were, before, just the faithful reciting their lines, but now the worshipper has an audience, and the music blossoms open. Peace has finally come. Light is now finally shining on the tiles of the mosques, the faces of the buddhas in the grottoes. The figures have finally stopped being causes for war but are now simply serene representations of people's hopes for prosperity and salvation. We have found hope, and it is a beautiful thing.
...Perhaps I'm too attached to stories of the Mogao Caves. But regardless, Rika's program here to me really tells a story, and one that I adore, since it's a beautiful one, and one that isn't just about her. I wish more people would be able to see that and appreciate it just like they appreciate say Jason Brown's programs.
