I’m new to skating so what are your top 10 programs of the last few years that are not from VM? I want to start educating myself more. Can be dance or pairs or singles or anything!
so these aren’t the top programs from the best or most talented skaters - if they were, it’d be nothing but programs from patrick chan and yuzuru hanyu. but they’re programs that have stuck with me or endeared me to a particular skater or created a Moment.
1. sui/han - bridge over troubled water lp. my favorite pairs program….of all time? she had a nasty injury and they missed most of this season and she falls on her 3s here, but the emotional vulnerability in this program is like genuinely moving and affecting. it made me really mad they did something as dry as turandot for the olympics bc they would’ve won with this.
2. paradis/ouelette - bridge over troubled water fd. this was a middling gadbois team who always came in like fourth or fifth at cdn nationals. they were ok, nothing too special about them, but i LOVED this fd and hot take: its the best fd marie-france has choreographed. like it’s one thing to give a program to world and olympic champions and have it succeed, but when you can give a program to a mediocre team and have it land so impactfully, that’s how you know it’s GOOD. or maybe i just like bridge over troubled water programs? that is a very likely possibility lmao
3. boyang jin - spiderman sp. blah blah boyang has no skating skills BLAH BLAH. still the best sp of the quad. every time he does that motherfuckin shimmy to the audience, i gain ten years on my life
4. marin honda - smile sp. PRINCESSA. she is like so special - her grace, her flow across the ice and out of jumps, her charisma.
5. patrick chan - a journey lp. when ppl talk about Exceptional Skating Skills, they’re talking about patrick. i have never seen a freeskater like him have such power and glide across the ice - it takes him half the time to get across the rink than someone like adam rippon does. he fully deserves every over-inflated pcs score he gets imo. like they were called Patrick Chan Scores for a reason!
tumblr won’t let me link any more so my other picks were:
6. papadakis/cizeron - to build a home fd. YEAH YEAH. i really resisted this program at the time knowing vm were coming back; it felt like a betrayal to like anything pc did lol. but with the benefit of hindsight and knowing vm ultimately triumphed, i can let myself enjoy this program in peace. bc it is like truly singular and innovative in the way it’s influenced the direction of ice dance. idk if vm would’ve won the olympics if pc had this fd instead of moonlight snorenata, i really dont
7. sui/han - stray cat strut sp. i debated putting their blues for klook sp here too bc that one is also super sexy and smooth and stylish, but i think i just like the music better in this one
8.marin honda - romeo and juliet lp. the ‘kissing you’ sequence starting at 1:55 makes me rly emo
9. ashley wagner - moulin rouge lp. i have issues with ashley but this was the most electric Moment of boston worlds. like when she lands that last 3lz she’s been whiffing all year and you know she’s got it? *chefs kiss*
10. javier fernandez - guys and dolls lp. y*zuru is like an objectively better skater but javi is just more fun to watch. like y*zu just skates exclusively to undistinctive background music. i’d find him more interesting to watch with more dynamic programs like his prince
honorable mentions: anna pogorilaya - scent of a woman sp, duhamel/radford - hometown glory lp (at worlds 16), seguin/bilodeau - cirque du soleil sp, james/cipres - earned it sp, shibutanis - fix you fd, polina tsurskaya - light of the seven sp, josh farris - give me love sp, carolina kostner - ne me quitte pas sp
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