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

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!