“In the Loop” is a column by Valerie Fang dedicated to the sport of figure skating.
Welcome to another edition of In the Loop! It has been a while since my last competition review, so let’s dive right into it.
The news of the week is that we have officially entered the Grand Prix series. Skate America is the first stop and is usually our first opportunity to watch some skaters’ new programs. Typically, some skaters struggle with their performances at this event because they are still trying to get comfortable with the new programs. It will usually improve as the season goes on.
This review will be focusing on men’s skating. Let’s review what went down at the first major competition of the season.
We’ll start with my personal favorites. Please promise me that you will check out Kevin Aymoz’s new free skate — Ravel’s “Bolero.” The last “Bolero” I saw being skated to was Kamila Valieva’s long program in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. If Valieva’s version is described as sophisticated and elegant, Aymoz’s rendition of the classic impressed me with its pure passion and magnetic force.
His “Bolero” had an emphasis on showcasing the music’s emotional progression. Aymoz started the show with an almost ballet-esque stability. The texture of the program then grew more and more intense.
As the music reached its climax near the end, Aymoz finished off his skate with a radiant knee slide and on-beat choreo sequence. His passion was contagious, as always. He was not even phased by the landing of his triple salchow and managed to give us an exciting performance.
Kudos to Aymoz for achieving an almost clean long program at the very first Grand Prix stop. I think his next goal would be improving his technicality to get his Grades of Execution even higher.
Another surprise for me was Deniss Vasiljevs’ free skate — “Blues Deluxe.” New season, new style for Vasiljevs. And wow, now he might just be the coolest guy in the house.
Despite making several major mistakes like popping the opening salchow and failing to connect a double axel to his triple axel due to a shaky landing, the program overall was still highly pleasant and entertaining.
In this era ruled by jumping machines, we often find some skaters can’t “skate,” despite achieving some of the highest technical scores out there. At least for me, a good way to help determine whether a program is “comprehensive” and “well rounded” or not is to see if it still feels engaging without the jumps. So, I recommend also checking out this preview of “Blues Deluxe,” where Vasiljevs skips all the jumps and instead focuses on giving the overall presentation of this program.
I see freedom in his every movement. It is as if he is dancing on ice. You will find that, as I have argued many times in this column, a good skate does not depend on jumping. As illustrated by this preview, what matters more is what comes in between the jumps, what connects everything and what makes the whole performance flow.
“Blues Deluxe” earned Vasiljevs a score of 139.50 at Skate America, but I’m not too stressed. He still has time to get used to and then improve the new program. I can’t wait to witness how it will mature over the course of this season!
On to America’s favorite figure skater right now, Ilia Malinin.
The good thing is that I think his team made a good decision to abandon his quad axel in the effort to improve his once-pathetic component score. The bad thing is about his choice of music because I’m not sure if he can handle it.
My jaw dropped when I recognized Malinin’s program music — selection from the soundtrack of “Succession.” If you decide to use the music from a highly prestigious television show, you better incorporate its dynamics and tension into the program, or you are just wasting time and the music itself.
As a character-driven and emotionally complex masterpiece, “Succession” stands at the pinnacle of television. It symbolizes the cosmic narrative power of our imagination. It represents a close observation of humanity and our society. But on the contrary and disappointingly, Malinin’s performance was shallow. It lacked basic expressiveness and emotional depth. It was another program of which the only notable aspect was the technicality and nothing more. In essence, it was a violation of the performative nature of this sport.
Does his choreo have a theme? There were a couple of weird arm movements that did not speak to the music whatsoever. I couldn’t see any intention. And let’s not forget that this show is, afterall, a tragedy. Whenever I stream its soundtrack, the music puts a weight on my heart.
If you don’t have the ability to command it, Nicholas Britell’s music will swallow you whole. The viewing experience got even more jarring with all the overexcited comments.
“Artistry”? I don’t think so, Tara. It’s probably too soon to use this word. Instead, I’ll quote the great Jeremy Strong, who played Kendall Roy in “Succession,” with a twist — I thought it did NOT make sense dramaturgically.
That’s a wrap on this year’s Skate America! Don’t forget to tune into Skate Canada this weekend if you get a chance. The lineup includes Cha Jun-hwan (2023 Worlds silver, 2022 Four Continents gold), Sakamoto Kaori (2022 Olympic Bronze, two-time World Champion), my personal delight Watanabe Rinka (2022 Skate Canada champion) and many more talents. Until then.
“In the Loop” runs every other Friday.