Jennifer Robinson's 2003-2004 LP

[evereg]

OK, let us assume that the status quo stays the same & Jen Robinson goes to Worlds. She has done poorly with her long program all year. Her music has bee criticised as "too slow" – for her at least. (Sorry, I forget the name of it.) Therefore, would it be a good strategy for her to use last year’s program at Worlds? I know that skaters have done that in the past. Opinions?

[MQSeries]

I actually liked the choreography of "Afternoon Of A Fawn" that I saw at Campbell, and I like the music and Jen's performance wasn't bad. I don't like last year program at all. Jen's problems are her inconsistencies, lack of qualities in her techniqe, and a lack of attack in her performance. It does not matter what program she uses if she can't addresses those issues.

I met Jen briefly at last year World. She's a beautiful girl and seems like a nice person. I wish her well.

[DramaSwan]

She needs to go pro so that new girl that won Canadians can go to Worlds. Then Sasha can beat her and people will quit acting like New Girl (Panuff? Enuff!) is all that. I bet Sasha is thinking BRING IT ON! Robinson is going to do bad anyway cuz even when she doesn't screw up her jumps like always her scores are crappy cuz she skates like a slow bored granny knitting on the ice.

Don't bash me because I said Robinson is boring. She is and it's my opinion. Maybe she is nice irl but she's too old and not exciting in competition.

[Dustin]

Originally posted by DramaSwan
She needs to go pro so that new girl that won Canadians can go to Worlds. Then Sasha can beat her and people will quit acting like New Girl (Panuff? Enuff!) is all that. I bet Sasha is thinking BRING IT ON! Robinson is going to do bad anyway cuz even when she doesn't screw up her jumps like always her scores are crappy cuz she skates like a slow bored granny knitting on the ice.

Don't bash me because I said Robinson is boring. She is and it's my opinion. Maybe she is nice irl but she's too old and not exciting in competition.

It may be your opinion, but you can say it in a more appropriate way. This is your warning.

[skates fan]

I don't think that this program demonstrates Jen's qualities. She has improved technically throughout the years, it just doesn't seem that she loves to skate in her lp. If she does not turn pro next year, I really hope she finds music that she can truly connect with, something that she will love to skate to each and everytime so she can demonstrate her technical improvements.

[roogu]

I think the program is a good demonstration of where the problem is ... the choreographer .... lori nichols has churned out horrific programs the lsat several years for sure. Maybe it's just me, but she's lost her stuff.

[unafaluna]

I'm with you Roogu. For the life of me I can't understand why Jen hasn't tried another choreographer over the years. Most of her programs with the exception of a few, have all looked the same. You know exactly where and what will happen next. I know all her programs "tell a story", but, who cares? She needs to feel the music, and if and when she does, she will pull the audience in to her performance without even realizing it. Canadian ladies has come a long way, but like Jen they are missing the WOW factor needed to be competitive internationally. Any thoughts?

[melbo]

Being an LN enthusiast, my first instinct is that Jen Robinson has one watered-down piece of LN choreography. Nichol is known for capturing the essence of the music, even down to the historical context - this is why Jen has some angular movements that look out of place in modern skating. "Prélude de l'après-midi d'un faune" was written by Débussy as a tone poem to accompany an impressionist poem. Later, sometime around 1910ish, either Fokine or Nijinsky choreographed the ballet for the Ballet Russe in Paris, giving it that angular style of choreography. I've seen performances of the original choreo to the ballet, and Lori Nichol clearly has seen these as well. Her attention to all sorts of detail within the musicality of a piece is one of the things I admire most about her. (Can you tell I'm a music major?!)

That said...I definitely don't think that Jen does that program justice. There are elements of what is clearly Nichol's choreography, but her more recent programs have a lot more substance than Jen's LP this year.

Regarding whether or not she should use this year's LP...I think that she should keep going with this year's, especially since she has time. Add some things in (or back in, as I suspect) and make it compatible to other programs...and if she lands her jumps cleanly on one foot, maybe she'll have a shot.

[skates fan]

I can see what you mean about the "wow factor" with the Canadian women. I think that the women in this country are still developing their technique with the in between skating, so it is not the same watching Jen skate compared to Sasha or Fumie, etc... The best thing that I have realized now is that the younger women know that to win they need to have that "wow factor". Mira Leung is one of those skaters who are going to shine when she refines her skating and has international senior experience.:D

[Sydney]

I do think some of our Canadian ladies have the "it" factor. I found Cynthia Phaneuf made me look twice and I found her LP entrancing.

melbo, I found your insight into Lori Nichol's choreography very interesting. I knew she did a lot of research for MK's programs, but in recent years, I had found the spark missing. I'm not a fan of Suguri's LP this year either. But reading about her research into Afternoon of the Fawn was very interesting.

I think the problem with JR's LP is JR's skating abilities themselves. When you pick slow music, you have to make sure that you have the glide, edges and polish to pull it off, otherwise, the program never gets off the ground. These 3 things are Jennifer's weaknesses, so the program does not help her. If you've ever watched Janet Lynn skate to the same piece, you know that this music can soar. It just takes the right skater to do it.

[kimori]

I love Afternoon of the faun its a very detailed program and you know a lot of work has gone in to it! Jen is a soft skater and the music does suit her but 4 min of it does bore a lot of people I think she should make this her short program and I think Welcome to Cuba would suit her long program better! I think she should get rid of her flip too in the short change it to a lutz and do her 3/3 instead of her Lutz combo!