Off Season Fun 2016-2017: Favorite Free Skates

Off Season Fun moves onward!  Next up, my favorite free skates from last season.

5. Ashley Wagner: "Exogenesis"

Moulin Rouge was all kinds of fabulous but it was nice to see a quieter, softer side of Ms. Wagner.  The music was a great choice for her.  I love the quiet moments at the beginning of the program as well as the emotion and passion in the footwork section.  Ashley knows how to embody the mood of her music and choreography perfectly and even when the jumps weren't working, she never failed to perform and bring that feeling to her performance.  It's a talent that makes her stand out among the performers in the field.  This was a lovely program.

4. Mao Asada: "Ritual Fire Dance"

I loved this program for Mao.  It's not often that you see a skater use the same music in both programs in the same season, but Mao did it and did it brilliantly.  I love the different feel and attitude she brought to this program.  There was a mysterious and seductive mood to the choreography that blew me away simply because I'd never seen that side of Mao before.  I love the movements right after the layback spin as she goes into the footwork, which of course was a thing of glorious beauty.  I'm going to miss Mao SO much but I'm so grateful she gave us yet another gorgeous program to enjoy for years to come.

3. Anna Pogorilaya: "Modigliani Suite"

This is my favorite FS from Anna ever.  The music selection was perfect.  Anna is not the greatest performer but I feel like the music and choreography choices were clever in that they disguised some of that weakness.  There was a lot of passion and tension in the music and Anna was able to convey it well enough, although she'd sometimes go in and out of the performace.  Overall, however, it was a great vehicle for her.  For the second year in a row I feel like Anna had the strongest pair of programs for the Russian seniors.

2. Kaetlyn Osmond: "La Boheme"

I didn't realize how much I liked this program until I saw Kaetlyn perform it at Worlds.  She struggled to deliver a good performance all season long but when it finally came together, it was lovely.  Many of the jumps were landed in time with the music.  I loved the choreographic moments after the flying camel spin as well as the footwork (really illustrated the music well) and the choreographic sequence.  Kaetlyn has improved her overall performance over the past few years and it showed in this program.  It was a very well packaged program and I thought Kaetlyn delivered it beautifully.

1. Satoko Miyahara: "The Planets"

I think Satoko is one of the most underrated skaters in the field, if not the most.  People get so hung up on her jumps which doesn't make sense to me because, literally, everything else she does is fabulous.  I loved this "Planets" program.  The pacing is so good: it starts out quiet and calm, then the music changes mood to tense and powerful, then back to calm and then ends powerful.  It's brilliant!  So many lovely moments in the choreography (as usual) and exemplary use of her upper body throughout the performance.  Go back and pay attention to it; from the footwork to all of the in-betweens, it was phenomenal.  Another gem from the Tiny Queen.


Rounding out my top 10...


6. Marin Honda - "Romeo & Juliet"
This was a beautiful program for Marin.  There wasn't anything spectacular about the choreography but I loved the music choices and Marin's delivery made this one stand out for me. Gorgeous!

7 . Gabrielle Daleman - "Rhapsody in Blue"
Gabrielle has really improved so much over the past few years to the point she made this overused warhorse seem fresh and new.  I loved her personality in this one.

8. Carolina Kostner - "Nisi Dominus"
It's not possible for Carolina to put a foot wrong when it comes to a program.  She is able to bring any piece of music to life and I adore what she did with this gorgeous Vivaldi piece.

9. Wakaba Higuchi - "Scheherazade"
Wakaba impressed me with the improvements she made last season.  There was so much more commitment to the emotion and feel of the music. I thought her Scheherazade program was lovely.

10. Zijun Li - "Only For Love"
This was a nice program for Zijun.  I thought the music choice was absolutely beautiful and it fit Zijun's style of skating very well.


Which FS was your favorite?  Make sure to vote on the poll! 

And that's it for Off Season Fun this summer!  Just like that we are ready to gear up for the official beginning of this 2017-2018 Olympic season.  As always the season will kick off with the Junior Grand Prix series which begins with JGP Brisbane which will take place August 23-26 in Brisbane, Australia.

The main name to pay attention to at this event will be Alexandra Trusova (RUS), yet another Eteri Tutberidze student, who has gained a lot of attention for landing quadruple jumps and quad combinations. If Alexandra lands a quad at this event she'll become only the second woman in history to land a quad (the first was Miki Ando back in 2002).  Another notable name debuting at this event is Ting Cui (USA) who has grabbed attention as being a potential contender for the U.S. on the junior level.  The U.S. juniors have been rather underwhelming for the past several seasons so having a contender will surely excite the American fans.

I can't wait for this season to get started!