Mirai had the Charleston in Gatsby to liven things up, and suicide in Butterfyl for the ultimate melodrama. Miss Saigon falls in love and gets left behind, to some rather weepy romantic music, and IMO, I don't see Mirai being able to do anything much with that. The Winner Takes it All gave dumpage a bigger impact.
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Mirai had the Charleston in Gatsby to liven things up, and suicide in Butterfyl for the ultimate melodrama. Miss Saigon falls in love and gets left behind, to some rather weepy romantic music, and IMO, I don't see Mirai being able to do anything much with that. The Winner Takes it All gave dumpage a bigger impact.
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I see this music a little differently. Mirai does not have to act out the story in mime. She just has to skate. Put the jumps on the musical highlights, do a spiral on the denouement of a crescendo -- that sort of thing. A performer can perform the music without necessarily performing the story line or even the character.
Just posted something similar in the Jason Brown thread. And I'll put the same example here for what its worth. Wagner use the music from Moulin Rouge to tell her own story, not the story from the movie. The stories had things in common, but was definitely not the same. Mirai and Jeff could do something similar here --especially if they use an instrumental version.
I agree. I actually dislike it when skaters, with a few exceptions like Ashley, try to "act" out a performance. It usually comes off as kind of phony--even when it's Evgenia doing it. What matters most for Mirai is hitting the elements. She already has nice lines, beautiful arms and good stretch and flexibility. If she can be consistent, her PCS will rise (I hope!).
Thank god. I thought I was the only one who didn't like it.
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I can't disagree with either of these points. And all of this does give a great contrast to Ashley, who may have been a dutiful teenager, but now uses her experience and emotional intelligence to connect with audiences but also to own her own choices, her content and interpretation.
However, I have a slightly different take on what Mirai said about 2017-18 not necessarily being her last season. I don't think she's being coy. She just doesn't want to put that extra pressure on her skating and the Olympic season.
It's not about acting out the story---it's about showing some emotion, an area where Mirai usually comes up short, at least in competition. She had the vocals in Winner Takes it All to help her, but she was still pretty much focused on technical delivery rather than musical expression. She won't have vocals for Miss Saigon, just soggy handkerchief music.
Mirai's PCS scores lag behind her TES because she doesn't display much connection with her music. That keeps her out of the top tier of skaters even when she makes it to Worlds.
Mirai connects well to her Chopin piece. Mostly because it doesn't require her to do any overacting and simply skate with the music. It's exquisite and elegant without requiring emotion or a story. She got high PCS scores on it because of her execution, not her facial expression. I wish people would stop complaining on her lack of facial expression. She's been doing that since 2011 and is unlikely to change. She's said several times it's hard for her. Her PCS scores are low because she isn't consistent and lacks transitions.
Julia never cracked a smile in her programs, yet no one complains. That's because she does pieces that don't require emotion beyond what she's capable of. Instead of criticizing about something Mirai cannot change, let's focus on something she can.
I would say it is more than just Mirai's facial expressions though. I didn't watch 4CC, but heard that Mirai had "the skate of her life" (or something to that affect) with her FS. So, I watched the video. It struck me that there were a lot of moments when she just skated. No expression in her body. No gestures. Just plain skating. When I later watch Jason Brown at World's, it also struck me that he never "just skates". His whole body performs for every moment of his program. While I don't think that Mirai needs to worry about telling a story with her music, I agree that she needs that performance quality. And if that is difficult for her, then she really needs to choose music carefully (or her choreographer does). I think the Chopin music was easier for her "perform" than her LP was. Possible just because it is more "formal" music.
That's my point. Mirai is not Jason. She can't perform like that. If she has a piece that fits her style she'll perform it better. She's done ballet since she was a kid. Anything that is instrumental that highlights her lines and movement is better than vocal music that require her to emote.
I agree about Jason Brown. But in the end, Jason's technical score will hold him back. For Mirai, she has the technical difficulty but she needs to execute it. That is actually an easier fix than fixing the rather amorphous performance/execution/interpretation score. We can see from Mirai exhibitions that she knows how to perform. But her season (career?) high at Four CC shows that an improved TES will do more to get her where she wants to go.
Exactly! Ever since she land that program clean people started to complain about her performance. She just got a career high score for rotating all her jumps including a 3F+3T, which just just got for ratified the first in 2016. Mirai's main focus should be her tech. As she becomes more confident and relaxed in her program she'll start to perform it naturally.
Regarding Jason: I will say one thing his performance/PCS chops does help him stay relevant -- if not a top medal contender, at least with a respectable placement while he was trying to recover from his stress fracture injury earlier this year and now trying to master the quad. He's basically beat all but five people overall at some point this past season (I get that Boyang and SkAm was unusual circumstances, but still it happened) and even with the top contenders at full strength he was just right behind them at Worlds. Considering the injury roller coaster he's been, he's done all right.
Honestly other than than the 4CC medals, Jason and Mirai have pretty similar achievements --- a U.S. championship, multiple U.S. national medals, GP medals, an Olympic berth. So obviously there's multiple ways to skin a cat, as they say.
But I agree Mirai is definitely not Jason and she just needs to rotate her jumps, which may or may not be as easy as we think.
Honestly other than than the 4CC medals, Jason and Mirai have pretty similar achievements --- a U.S. championship, multiple U.S. national medals, GP medals, an Olympic berth. So obviously there's multiple ways to skin a cat, as they say.
But I agree Mirai is definitely not Jason and she just needs to rotate her jumps, which may or may not be as easy as we think.
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But to compete with the top skaters, she not only has to deliver the tech content, but she has to at least match them in PCS, and she is nowhere near them in that area---Mirai is still getting scores in the 7s while the top skaters get scores in the high 8s or even 9s. Mirai doesn't even consistently deliver tech content (URs).
Her goal is to go to the Olympics. If she skates clean she has the best chance. Her chances at medaling at the GP is low considering her competition. Her focus should be no underrotations and that's it. If she tries to do too much she make more errors.
That said, her Chopin program got 8s. If Jeffery composed another program that suits her style, it will be easier for her to perform it and gain on her PCS.
The people who continually criticize Mirai swing back and forth. When she skates clean, they say she needs to raise her PCS. When she makes mistakes they say she doesn't deliver her tech. If Mirai skates clean she will do well at Nationals. That is what matters this season. I don't see Ashley getting a pass this time. She will have to deliver, too. All of the American ladies are inconsistent. That is why Mirai should just focus on performing her elements well and staying on her feet!
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Just to quickly jump back to the conversation about literal interpretations of music, sometimes when the skater/choreographer tries too hard to act out movement to tell a story, it becomes either really cheesy or unintentionally funny or it becomes really confusing as to what exactly is the story they're telling because you don't have other skaters and scenery and props or time to establish the setting and action to give people the context. Being more abstract with that allows the audience to put their own moods and feelings into the program as well, and maybe that's why most prefer that method.
I think it's a coping mechanism for them. We haven't had a winner on the world's stage since 2006. All of our ladies have been inconsistent. So our top ladies we scrutinize to death. When they do well, fans will criticize others things about them so they don't get their hopes up. When Gracie won Nationals last year, people complained about her arms, lack of expression and lack of musicality. When Ashley won, people, complained about her jumps, poor spins and poor skating skills.
I think it's counterproductive. I like to see these things realistically. I know that at any given time any top US ladies can falter. Instead of nitpicking why it happens or how they need to change, I focus on the positive and wish them well anyway. I can't change Nationals for Mirai or Worlds for Ashley. But I can put it behind me, just they will and look forward. It's not my life after all, it's theirs. It's just my job to cheer them on.
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- Jul 26, 2003
I think those are just valid criticisms people have about their skating. I think it's frustration because people remember how free and exuberant Mirai's skating was before it looked like she was carrying the world's burden on her shoulders and just want to see Mirai go clean and skate like she used to. As for Gracie, again, I think some are frustrated because even she skates clean, there are things about her movement that prevents people from feeling her.
She can't go back to being a little girl anymore. She's had some very hard times but she crawled back and refused to give up. What we see now is a battle scarred Mirai, stronger but clearly worn from the experience. I respect her even more for it and could care less if she emotes through a performance or not.
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