I was turned on to YouTube practice clips

[icarus]

I have gone over to the dark side. I was told about skating practice sessions being available on YouTube, but it wasn't until I started looking for Irena Slutskaya's adorable 2006 Olympic Gala encore routine (the one where she's dressed up as a cowgirl?) that I stumbled across them.

I'm now watching Johnny Weir practice jumps. And skate to Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'. ETA: Oh, hey. A good example of skaters making up their moves to random music, like Hey Big Spender, Johnny taking his time to get into it. I don't think he dug this song.

Good lord, why didn't I check this out sooner?

Aha! Here's the full link to that 'My Way' routine. Kind of a crappy video, taken on someone's cell phone, but still cool.

Who's got the spins? Lambiel's got the spins. It's like someone told him, "Hey, Stephane. Icarus is writing this story and could really use your advice. Given you're known for the hottest, fastest spins in competition today, could you give her a tutorial?" -- "Sure!"

Oh, my, Johnny must be 14 years old here (and bursts into tears when he wins the Junior championships). Oh, and the shots of the mothers is revealing.

roaringmice, I haven't forgotten you, just was a little derailed by the family news.



Sound effects for tonight: Kitty munching his crunchies. All I can see is the fluffy tail on the floor from here.

Comments

[alyndra]

Yay links!

Thank you!

(I found a music vid somebody did of Johnny Weir, btw. Actually well done, but somehow I thought that was just a fandom thing. Silly me!)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, where?

I'm totally hooked on these now, and they take forever to spool for me.

[alyndra]

Sorry to take so long. Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx65K8kLR2I&NR

Whoever did it obviously likes him a lot. *g*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Hmm. These aren't really performances, though. Look up under "Figure Skating Exhibitions." Those are the more showy ones. But, you know, "Sex Bomb" is famous.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Here's a performance by Evan Lycacek 'How To Pick Music.' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESaoXmhat7Y&mode=related&search=) Hip-hop, anyone? How about Johnny Cash?

While I'm flooding you...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

If you watch any program, the ultimate in ice dancing is still Torvil & Dean at the 1984 Olympics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zbbN4OL98). I think this is the right link.

Re: While I'm flooding you...

[alyndra]

Wow. There might not be any jumps, but I don't think skaters these days achieve that level of moving together, either. They weren't even slightly out of synch for a moment, that I could see.

I just had to go watch it again. You know, I'm young enough that I never understood why the name would be 'ice dancing' rather than 'pair skating'. I think this just explained it to me.

Re: While I'm flooding you...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yeah. This is the quintessential ice dance. It answers that question for me, too. Lots of fancy lifts, holds, throws are not what this is about.

Icarus

Re: While I'm flooding you...

[alyndra]

Oh my god, Youtube is EVIL for providing all those links. I've been watching so much Torvill and Dean: The 1997 "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was the next thing, and it took me a while to notice but the really cool thing they do is make it seem natural that they can't bear to be too far away from each other for more than a second or two, not even arms' length, and it's not until you remember having seen others holding outstretched hands or working ten feet away for no real reason that you realize how special it is.

Then I watched their 1980 Olympics, in which they haven't yet got the sheer grace they will later, but they're so young and energetic! It's cute, and the announcer obviously doesn't think anything of them, which is kind of amusing too.

And they do wonderfully creative choreography (Song of India) and slapstick (Diablo Tango) and then there's the more angsty John Lennon piece . . .

Now if I could just figure out how I've managed to spend several hours watching several-minute-long routines, I'd be all set. (I'm not expecting you to necessarily watch all these (especially with a slow connection), even if you haven't seen them before, btw; just thought I'd throw some links out there!)

Re: While I'm flooding you...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

All I can say is: hee!

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

No worries. I was out of computer range for the weekend, am only back now. I'm getting caught up on flist, and have been writing up my own skating program for your fun and amusement.

Torvil and Dean are it for me. They are skating.

You looked up Stephane Lambiel's spins. Not only is Stephan hot, his spins are to die for. But have you looked up Lucinda Ruh? If you're looking for spins, do check her out. You will not believe what you see.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

have been writing up my own skating program for your fun and amusement.

I can't wait to see it. I have so far to go and I'm peeking through the keyhole. All the details are new. Even simple things, like, in the practice sessions during the competition, do they spool through everyone's music and you end up warming up to someone else's music until they come to your piece?

How different competitions have different flavors for the competitors. Sometimes they're wide open. Sometimes the old timers have a lock on the top spots.

But have you looked up Lucinda Ruh? If you're looking for spins, do check her out. You will not believe what you see.

I've heard of her. She was just recently coaching Evan Lysacek on his spins (I think it was Evan). I have a question: do a lot of people do that? Go to this specialist and that? Because I understand Kurt Browning is doing Evan's choreography, while Frank Carroll's his coach. Does Lysacek simply have the best of everything because of combination of his being in the top rung plus someone out there is pouring money all over him?

Icarus

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

Yes, nowadays, people do to go specialists for various aspects of their skating. Even at the more junior levels. For example, lots of kids at my rink do freestyle. Their main coach is their freestyle coach, but they will also work with my coach, who is a dance coach, to tweek their Moves In the Field so they can pass those tests.

Most elite level skaters will hire a choreographer who is separate from their coach. They may also work with different coaches for a couple of weeks during the year, either to get a different perspective, or else to work on something specific, like Evan and his spins. For example, Johnny Weir's had the same coach since he was a kid, but he spent time with Tatiana Tarasova a couple of years ago. Mike Weiss had the same coach for almost his entire career, but he hired my coach to work on his footwork. So that's pretty normal.

Lucinda Ruh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq8lOm0LJ0A