Bollywood - look at the arms in the second set. You won't see them again. Also, look at the traveling.
Farrucas
Phantom of the Opera - look at the unison -or not
Mahler
More to come - don't want to load too many gifs in one post. One post per season.
I'm also going to do more lifts because that flip-Meryl onto his back-Meryl pops up over his shoulder arms extended, bring her round so she descends in the same position for five freaking years should also be looked at. I want to find where the brilliance lies that has been kicking VM's ass every other year.
And then maybe just a set for Charlie's arm flinging, along with the number of times Meryl rotates rapidly in place to enhance the impression of speed in an element (such as the spin).
Must be nice to live in a world where you believe that your favorites have never recycled a move. I'm sure next year we'll get to gag about a new "love" program.
ReplyDeleteNever recycled a move? No.
DeleteBut of course, VM recycling a move here and there (usually with a legit variation) is equivalent to DW doing the same moves for years on end in every dance.
Just like the DW ubers starting saying "isn't it great how both VM and DW are doing mostly new lifts this year?"
Well yes. In sum, DW and VM did mostly (majority + 1) new lifts. Only, ALL of VM's were new - totally new, as in completely different from anything they'd done before or that almost anyone has done before. Completely new in terms of the entrances, positions, how they changed positions, the holds, the dismounts. And DW had a mix of new, old lift done exactly the same, and old lift with miniscule variations.
But as usual DW said "me too" and thus, it is the case that DW had new lifts.
You do know the difference between elements and "moves" don't you? The elements are where the points accumulate. DW do the same year after year. "Theme" ("in love") is different. What a shock that so many figure skating fans don't know figure skating but are still sure their favorites are best.
DeleteNot to mention - VM had a beautiful spin this year in Carmen and ended up going back to the "Mahler" spin because the ISU as usual was not getting it.
DeleteI don't think anybody is "making" DW stay in the box. That's where they like and want to be. They're getting rewarded for it and talked up as if they're different very year. It's a complete Emperor's New Clothes situation.
Another point - I chose twizzles because I wanted to look at the hype. It's either going to hold up or it's not. The point isn't "duplicating a move is wrong."
DeleteExhibit One in the DW hype is oh boy can they twizzle! The best in the world.
Is there a problem with actually looking at the twizzles? I didn't go into a vault - this is public domain. These are their skating performances, many of them their winning skating performances.
So, look at the twizzles. Do DW have the best twizzles in the world? They do NOT. VM's are right up there - where are DW's better?
The ISU simply keeps inflating the value of the DW twizzles they've always done so they remain at Level 4 while other versions done by other skaters have become obsolete, and as these gifs show, the quality is less than ideal.
- DW twizzle on bent legs.
- DW are pitched forward at the start of the catch foot set of twizzles - especially Charlie - with their thigh and leg stretched out behind away from their bodies. They have to straighten up and pull the leg in. They're in near see-saw position.
-DW's body lines don't come near to matching in that set and they are often not in sync in that set either. Meryl often travels in that set.
-DW don't twizzle close together - certainly not nearly as close together as VM.
-DW's second set slows down and doesn't cover nearly the ice of the first, and neither set, IMO, covers the ice of VM's.
On top of all that, these are the same twizzles DW have been doing for five years - one set of twizzles for ten programs over five years, and those twizzles still have the issues listed above.
VM have tight rotation, their body lines match, they twizzle in unison (if they get even slightly out of sync it's noticed while Meryl and Charlie can be half turns out of sync as a matter of course and it's oh how brilliant) and they vary their entrance and exits to their twizzles, with the exit from the Carmen twizzles a tour de force of skating skill.
Yet it's not reflected in the scores DW get.
DW do two sets. Their old twizzles remain level 4 apparently because they've added a hop.
So let's consider whether adding a hop actually adds difficulty. Based on other figure skating moves that use a non-edge lead in, the "hop" actually facilitates getting into rotation. So nice work ISU.
I can see how the twizzle situation and the "relationship" component of VM's non-skating performance are absolutely equivalent. Touche'!
It looks like there was no jump into these twizzles for D/W, so I guess that's where the others-needed-3-twizzles thing came in. Next season others added a third, D/W added a hop. Your point most definitely still stands though.
ReplyDeleteIf Gilles Poirier do a version of the "hop" (sort of a flying jump but the mechanics are the same - "jump" into the twizzle to launch the rotation) - then let's be real - it's the cheap way out.
DeleteI think a problem with the ISU and CoP is that those who assign levels don't know what's difficult and what isn't. Assign the highest level to an entry that aids rotational momentum - i.e. - stability?
Even if D/W wanted in another box or to climb out of the one they're in, I'm not sure they could do it. The one time they even thought about it, with the tango, they ended up with the same program (again) in the end. (Nevermind that in the end, they very nearly--or even quite possibly--got out done by a woman who'd just given birth months before and missed practically the entire season.)
ReplyDeleteThe spin is baffling to me. At SC, CoR, and the GPF, it was called a level 4 dance spin. At nationals, with no changes, it was mysteriously called a level 1 combination dance spin. No one could ever figure out why when discussing it afterwards. At 4CC, they'd changed the first position, and by worlds, obviously, it had been entirely replaced by the Mahler spin.