Vash2003skate
02-09-2003, 09:38 PM
Hallmark Valentine’s Day showcase of figure skating in Tucson,Arizona on Jan. 14th, 2003
The show was FABULOUS. It was a night of PURE skating, without the silliness you see in SOI or the ‘cheap entertainment’ of COI. This event was not well attended- lack of advertisting may be? Even the small arena was less than one third filled. The crowd was very enthusiastic, however, so you could not tell from the noise that it was such a small group. Since this is going to be televised (CBS, Feb. 9th), digital cameras, flash photos were not allowed. The ice was flooded with purple light. Verne Lundquist did the intro.
There were 5 pairs (Berezhnaya-Sikharulidze, Sale-Pelletier, Ina-Zimmerman, Meno-Sand, Langlois-Archetto), 2 ice dance couples (Roca-Sur, and Krylova-Ovssianikov), and 1 soloist (Katia Gordeeva). Each performed two numbers- one before and one after the intermission. Even Langlois-Archetto- the Canadian amateur (eligible) pair did two numbers. Most of the cast was from Stars on Ice, so the numbers were from the show.
During the first number, which was a group number with all the skaters, a few took the ice at a time. First the dance couples. Next the pairs. First S&P and Meno-Sand. Elena and Anton waited for their turn on the ice, in a corner that was just 10-15 feet from where I sat. They and I&Z took the ice together and did star lifts, but Elena came down immediately because her dress came undone and she and Anton had to get off the ice to fix it. They redid it at the end so that it could be patched in for the telecast. Next, Katia came on the ice and did a pair element with each of the 4 SOI men. She did a pairs spin with John, a death spiral with Todd (I think), and a lift with Anton. She did a sbs spin with David, but they were far apart (not surprising for a 'pair' that does not train together).
What I liked about this show was that there was a nice mixture of serious and funny numbers but there was nothing cheap about the fun numbers. They were cute and required skill. Jenny & Todd’s “I am your man” was a lot of fun. I have always found Jenny & Todd boring on TV but quite good in live performances. They performed very well in this show.
Jamie and David’s first number ‘Come fly with me’ was fun. It was choreographed by Seibert and Dean. The second number was just OK, though the crowd seemed to like it a lot (not as much as the first one though). I discovered later that it was choreo’ed by Sandra Bezic. That just confirmed my belief that Sandra is a good choreographer for singles but not for pairs. J&D’s BODS was on a Huge curve and was very well done. Jamie landed both throws, but as always she just landed it and moved on to something else without holding the edge. Her dress in the first number was lovely- yellow and white. David seemed to be really enjoying himself, particularly the first number was very well skated.
Elena and Anton performed Meditation in the first half. They were really on. This was the last number of the half. They stood there for a long time, taking the bows. I think it was their way of thanking the audience. Meditation was one of the highlights of the show.
In the second half they performed ‘Mme T. after Dark. They stood on the ice as two covered statues in Madame Tussod’s wax museum. Gorsha Sur stood next to Elena who was covered with a sheet, then he stepped off the ice. Anton threw off his sheet first and skated toward Elena. Gorsha went to the ice and picked up the sheet. Elena’s sheet was pulled off from the top by equipment. The crowd absolutely loved Anton’s Elvis impersonation. They loved it when Elena started performing as Marilyn. She has rearranged her hair for this number (loose, short) to appear more like Marilyn Monroe and it worked much better than what I had seen on TV (earlier SOI, and Hallmark Salute to gold). When the music slowed down, the crowd became a bit quiet, but again when the music picked up (Hound dog), the crowd cheered louder. I was surprised that the upside down split did not receive much attention. From where I was, I could only see Anton’s back during this move. I will get to see it during SOI on Jan. 16th. This number is definitely meant to be a crowd pleaser. It is still evolving. They are now doing spiral into throw triple loop. I have to admit that I enjoyed watching this number, though it is not classic B&S. Meditation from Thais is the perfect piece of music and the perfect number for them. Everytime they perform it, they receive a HUGE response. Elvis & Marilyn also received a BIG response from the audience. BTW this number has been choreo’ed by Bobrin and Moskvina.
Another highlight was Krylova-Ovssianikov’s Ave Maria, which was simply exquisite. They performed it in the second half. In the first half they skated to Last of the Mohicans. I liked Anjelika’s new outfit much better than her last year’s bare back outfit. The crowd loved them and they got HUGE ovations. Anjelika is so tall ( 5ft 8 in.) and Oleg is so big and passionate- they both are- they fill the ice with their presence. Their speed and passion is amazing.
Roca-Sur skated the Prayer and the other number extraordinarily well. Rene has gotten rid of her stiff arms which used to bother me a lot. They have evolved into beautiful ice dancers. BTW The Prayer was choreo’ed by Dean. No wonder I like it. Is it my imagination that Rene resembles Sarah Hughes? They could be sisters!
At the start of the second half, Jenny-Todd, Rene-Gorsha and Kyoko-John skated a group routine to ‘Something stupid’. It was very cute. It must be a part of the SOI tour.
Kyoko & John did sbs single axels in both their programs. I liked Glory Halelujah (sung by Elvis) a lot. This number was one of the highlights of the show. They did not do the last lift where Kyoko stands on his legs while he is in spread eagles. It was one of my less liked moves. You really see Tamara’s influence not only in their choreography but in the way Kyoko stretches her arms (John was always elegant). She used to be a jumper who never paid attention to lines.
Langlois-Archetto seemed a bit out of place in a group of mature skaters. They are not that developed and I wondered why they were there. May be another pair had canceled out at the last minute, or CBS just wanted to make the show longer, and no one else was available..? Woetzel-Stoyer or Sato Dungjen or Kazakova-Dmitriev or Brasseur-Eisler would have been more appropriate. Langois-Archetto skated well, however. I winced when they did the head banger in their second program. It is my most hated move in skating. They did the leap of faith and it was done well.
The show was well designed. Not only did it have dignity, but the order of skates was well thought out. In the first half Elena & Anton skated the last number. Just before that, Katia skated a Russian folk music number. Before her, Rene-Gorsha and Jamie and David skated their first number. In the second half, Jamie and David skated last. Katia skated before them, and Elena-Anton skated before Katia.
I had wondered before the show why Katia was there- in a couples’ show. After the show the reasons were clear to me…1)she is a big draw, 2)her presence diffused the attention from the two most talked about pairs, because her numbers separated their numbers. She was the darling of the crowd. Her edging is so soft and beautiful, her lines are so elegant and well developed. She was having trouble with the jumps because her body has changed so much. She had to redo 4 jumps at the end, and she needed at least 2 attempts for each (except for the double axel). That must have been exhausting.
At the end, each pair was reintroduced. The man from the new pair would give flowers to the lady from the first pair. J&D were already on the ice, since they skated last. So E&A were the last couple to step on the ice. David gave flowers to Elena. Next, Katia stepped on the ice and Anton gave her flowers.
They did not go around the ice like I have seen in all the other shows I have been to. I took a group photo when they all stood together on the ice at the end.
After a short break those who faltered during the performance had to redo it. From jenny & Todd we will see ‘First time ever I saw your face’. Jenny fell on the throw double axel during the performance and had to do it 3 times before getting it right. She looked tired and a bit frustrated at the end.
Of course Elena & Anton, and Kyoko& John had to redo their starting group number, after Elena got her dress fixed. It went beyond it, and Katia did pairs elements with John and Todd. Next, she and Anton started moving across the ice to do the lift but the people in charge asked them to stop because it was not needed. They looked disappointed and the crowd did too.
Verne Lundquist did an excellent job as the announcer. I really enjoyed the show. It was money well spent.
Vash
The show was FABULOUS. It was a night of PURE skating, without the silliness you see in SOI or the ‘cheap entertainment’ of COI. This event was not well attended- lack of advertisting may be? Even the small arena was less than one third filled. The crowd was very enthusiastic, however, so you could not tell from the noise that it was such a small group. Since this is going to be televised (CBS, Feb. 9th), digital cameras, flash photos were not allowed. The ice was flooded with purple light. Verne Lundquist did the intro.
There were 5 pairs (Berezhnaya-Sikharulidze, Sale-Pelletier, Ina-Zimmerman, Meno-Sand, Langlois-Archetto), 2 ice dance couples (Roca-Sur, and Krylova-Ovssianikov), and 1 soloist (Katia Gordeeva). Each performed two numbers- one before and one after the intermission. Even Langlois-Archetto- the Canadian amateur (eligible) pair did two numbers. Most of the cast was from Stars on Ice, so the numbers were from the show.
During the first number, which was a group number with all the skaters, a few took the ice at a time. First the dance couples. Next the pairs. First S&P and Meno-Sand. Elena and Anton waited for their turn on the ice, in a corner that was just 10-15 feet from where I sat. They and I&Z took the ice together and did star lifts, but Elena came down immediately because her dress came undone and she and Anton had to get off the ice to fix it. They redid it at the end so that it could be patched in for the telecast. Next, Katia came on the ice and did a pair element with each of the 4 SOI men. She did a pairs spin with John, a death spiral with Todd (I think), and a lift with Anton. She did a sbs spin with David, but they were far apart (not surprising for a 'pair' that does not train together).
What I liked about this show was that there was a nice mixture of serious and funny numbers but there was nothing cheap about the fun numbers. They were cute and required skill. Jenny & Todd’s “I am your man” was a lot of fun. I have always found Jenny & Todd boring on TV but quite good in live performances. They performed very well in this show.
Jamie and David’s first number ‘Come fly with me’ was fun. It was choreographed by Seibert and Dean. The second number was just OK, though the crowd seemed to like it a lot (not as much as the first one though). I discovered later that it was choreo’ed by Sandra Bezic. That just confirmed my belief that Sandra is a good choreographer for singles but not for pairs. J&D’s BODS was on a Huge curve and was very well done. Jamie landed both throws, but as always she just landed it and moved on to something else without holding the edge. Her dress in the first number was lovely- yellow and white. David seemed to be really enjoying himself, particularly the first number was very well skated.
Elena and Anton performed Meditation in the first half. They were really on. This was the last number of the half. They stood there for a long time, taking the bows. I think it was their way of thanking the audience. Meditation was one of the highlights of the show.
In the second half they performed ‘Mme T. after Dark. They stood on the ice as two covered statues in Madame Tussod’s wax museum. Gorsha Sur stood next to Elena who was covered with a sheet, then he stepped off the ice. Anton threw off his sheet first and skated toward Elena. Gorsha went to the ice and picked up the sheet. Elena’s sheet was pulled off from the top by equipment. The crowd absolutely loved Anton’s Elvis impersonation. They loved it when Elena started performing as Marilyn. She has rearranged her hair for this number (loose, short) to appear more like Marilyn Monroe and it worked much better than what I had seen on TV (earlier SOI, and Hallmark Salute to gold). When the music slowed down, the crowd became a bit quiet, but again when the music picked up (Hound dog), the crowd cheered louder. I was surprised that the upside down split did not receive much attention. From where I was, I could only see Anton’s back during this move. I will get to see it during SOI on Jan. 16th. This number is definitely meant to be a crowd pleaser. It is still evolving. They are now doing spiral into throw triple loop. I have to admit that I enjoyed watching this number, though it is not classic B&S. Meditation from Thais is the perfect piece of music and the perfect number for them. Everytime they perform it, they receive a HUGE response. Elvis & Marilyn also received a BIG response from the audience. BTW this number has been choreo’ed by Bobrin and Moskvina.
Another highlight was Krylova-Ovssianikov’s Ave Maria, which was simply exquisite. They performed it in the second half. In the first half they skated to Last of the Mohicans. I liked Anjelika’s new outfit much better than her last year’s bare back outfit. The crowd loved them and they got HUGE ovations. Anjelika is so tall ( 5ft 8 in.) and Oleg is so big and passionate- they both are- they fill the ice with their presence. Their speed and passion is amazing.
Roca-Sur skated the Prayer and the other number extraordinarily well. Rene has gotten rid of her stiff arms which used to bother me a lot. They have evolved into beautiful ice dancers. BTW The Prayer was choreo’ed by Dean. No wonder I like it. Is it my imagination that Rene resembles Sarah Hughes? They could be sisters!
At the start of the second half, Jenny-Todd, Rene-Gorsha and Kyoko-John skated a group routine to ‘Something stupid’. It was very cute. It must be a part of the SOI tour.
Kyoko & John did sbs single axels in both their programs. I liked Glory Halelujah (sung by Elvis) a lot. This number was one of the highlights of the show. They did not do the last lift where Kyoko stands on his legs while he is in spread eagles. It was one of my less liked moves. You really see Tamara’s influence not only in their choreography but in the way Kyoko stretches her arms (John was always elegant). She used to be a jumper who never paid attention to lines.
Langlois-Archetto seemed a bit out of place in a group of mature skaters. They are not that developed and I wondered why they were there. May be another pair had canceled out at the last minute, or CBS just wanted to make the show longer, and no one else was available..? Woetzel-Stoyer or Sato Dungjen or Kazakova-Dmitriev or Brasseur-Eisler would have been more appropriate. Langois-Archetto skated well, however. I winced when they did the head banger in their second program. It is my most hated move in skating. They did the leap of faith and it was done well.
The show was well designed. Not only did it have dignity, but the order of skates was well thought out. In the first half Elena & Anton skated the last number. Just before that, Katia skated a Russian folk music number. Before her, Rene-Gorsha and Jamie and David skated their first number. In the second half, Jamie and David skated last. Katia skated before them, and Elena-Anton skated before Katia.
I had wondered before the show why Katia was there- in a couples’ show. After the show the reasons were clear to me…1)she is a big draw, 2)her presence diffused the attention from the two most talked about pairs, because her numbers separated their numbers. She was the darling of the crowd. Her edging is so soft and beautiful, her lines are so elegant and well developed. She was having trouble with the jumps because her body has changed so much. She had to redo 4 jumps at the end, and she needed at least 2 attempts for each (except for the double axel). That must have been exhausting.
At the end, each pair was reintroduced. The man from the new pair would give flowers to the lady from the first pair. J&D were already on the ice, since they skated last. So E&A were the last couple to step on the ice. David gave flowers to Elena. Next, Katia stepped on the ice and Anton gave her flowers.
They did not go around the ice like I have seen in all the other shows I have been to. I took a group photo when they all stood together on the ice at the end.
After a short break those who faltered during the performance had to redo it. From jenny & Todd we will see ‘First time ever I saw your face’. Jenny fell on the throw double axel during the performance and had to do it 3 times before getting it right. She looked tired and a bit frustrated at the end.
Of course Elena & Anton, and Kyoko& John had to redo their starting group number, after Elena got her dress fixed. It went beyond it, and Katia did pairs elements with John and Todd. Next, she and Anton started moving across the ice to do the lift but the people in charge asked them to stop because it was not needed. They looked disappointed and the crowd did too.
Verne Lundquist did an excellent job as the announcer. I really enjoyed the show. It was money well spent.
Vash