Toller Cranston, Skate Canada 1975, SP. I heard that back in the day people said of Mick Jagger that he had the moooooooooves like Toller Cranston. Cranston looked at the perfectly nice and dull sport of figure skating and said, “what this sport needs is some gay,” and the rest, is fabulous, fabulous history. Thank kerrisht for him and for every skater who followed who didn’t think they should have to choose between being an athlete and a performer.
Michal Brězina, Worlds 2012, Nice, SP, “Kodo Drums.” So he’s been doing it for two seasons but it really took me two seasons to like this piece. Possibly it took two seasons for Michal to grow into Pasquale’s intricate choreography. And what choreography! It seems like every movement is designed to show off Brězina’s powerhouse skating. I can’t help thinking it seemed a little more fluid live than it does here in this video, but you can’t miss his amazing technical skills (in spins and footwork) and you sure as hell can’t look away when he jumps into the stratosphere. I don’t know that I would have said this last year, but I am really looking forward to seeing what he does this year.
Daisuke Takahashi, 2012 Worlds, Nice, FS, “Blues for Klook.” Watching this again is reliving it. And I hope I relive it for years to come! Being there, being in the crowd, having that moment where I was all, “OMG he’s skating brilliantly!” and thinking he was doing it just for me. He is so fluid on the ice, you’d swear he was having a short dance after a couple of whiskys and a cigar, not performing a highly technical athletic feat. The way he leans into the music. The way he skates with it rather than to it. Indescribable. We stood outside the arena having a smoke with Pasquale earlier in the week. We really should have shook his hand. The blues are a hard mood to pull off and yet they did it somehow. There’s a bit you don’t see in the vid but from our vantage point at the opposite end of the K and C we got a huge smile after the step sequence. Damn. It was a great week.
Meryl Davis and Charlie White, World Team Trophy 2012, Tokyo, FD, “Die Fledermaus.” There were two performances that raised the roof at the WTT. This is the one that wasn’t by some Japanese dude no one cares about (everyone gets that I’m kidding here and that I live and breathe Daisuke Takahashi on this blog and in my life generally right?). I am a little (just a little) miffed that they didn’t perform it quite like this at Worlds when I was there in the freaking audience but whatever, I was hardly disappointed at Worlds and Meryl/ Charlie being exceptional is only one step below them being GLORIOUS (as they are here). This was the best damned ice dance performance of the season. No question.
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, 2012 Worlds, Nice, FD, “Je Suis Malade.” Krylova is bawling and Kaitlyn is bleeding. THIS is why ice dance is so awesome. Watching it live, it felt kind of laboured at first as they went from element to element, but by the end you’re a believer. We were all on our feet screaming. If there’s a program of the year this is probably it. Also, it became our catch-cry for France 2012: Je suis malaaaaaade.
Dear Tumblr
I am gravely disappointed. It’s been days now and no one has giffed Fabian smacking Nathalie’s arse in the K & C after their free dance at the World Team Trophy. It’s like you’re not even trying.
Love SD.
Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat, Worlds 2012, Nice, SD, “Carnival in Rio.” They really were the darlings of Nice. They were like ice royalty wherever they went. And it wasn’t just the French. We were ALL holding our breath during those twizzles. That applause at the end is complete relief. I can’t believe, after all the trouble they had leading up to Worlds, that they pulled this off so well. That lift! I was all, “so that’s what it’s supposed to look like!” Nathalie is so many kinds of awesome.
Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte, Worlds 2012, Nice, SD, Volveras. Damn, those babies got some FIERCE for Worlds and it was good to see. In the practice sessions Luca was practicing his twizzles over and over, and we kind of laughed and said, Luca, if you ain’t got it now, you ain’t got it. I take it all back, Luca, you were a twizzling machine. Whatever you did, it worked. They were smoking. And that rhumba was smoothe like black sambuca.
