Mao News - Off-Season 2012!

linglang wrote:

shikure wrote:

linglang wrote:

I found this link on FSU.

http://www.moksz.hu/moksz-h-frameset.htm

Mao's interview and photo in Budapest.
I used google translation from Hungarian to English.
Mao was there to have training with Zoltán Nagy.
If my understanding is correct, she wanted his help for dealing with muscles...

There is information that Zoltán Nagy is a ballet master and choreographer...so ppl guess he is choreographer for her program too.

If it's true, it's quite interesting.
I suppose Mao is already back in Japan, isn't she?

There is one more possible reason I think why there is little media coverage of Mao now.
It's already London Olympic season. So, there are plenty news sources about sports and athletes to cover and they don't have to bother Mao, I guess.

I think that happened during June that our forum member indicated that there was Russian source about her in Budapest.
and early this week, there is a Japanese girl lives in Hungary said she met Mao and Mao left Hungary couple days ago (maybe on the weekend)
Mai attended event early this week so Mao should be in Japan from this week.
something is very interesting that Team Sato disappeared from camera this summer.
Mao only attended PIW and only planed for the ICE.

zoltan nagy i have never heard of him, but he must be a great man if Mao consults him... I wonder how it all went, and what i find interesting is also the fact thathe also is a choreographer and balletdancer which means he may be possible alternative for Mao to use as choreographer!

http://maimao-asada.com/mao/private/2012/06/29/424/
she updated her blog with pics with lori and TAT.
looks like they are still main choreographers.

SP and EX are from Lori and FS is from TAT.

Thanks for the link, linglang!

Sounds interesting! From what I can understand, Mao chose to work with Zoltan because she heard great things about his work with Torvill &Dean and Regőczy & Sallay (Hungarian World champions 1980 in ice dance and great crowd favorites from that time). That's interesting - coach Sato mentioned that Mao recently started paying more attention to ice dancers and male skaters for inspiration when it comes to speed and skating skills.

I tried to run the interview through internet translation services and make it sound more English... Here it is, but I must warn you I don't understand a word of Hungarian, so I have no clue how accurate the translators are. Also, I can't figure out what was the final question, the translation just doesn't make any sense. If there are any native speakers here - you are welcome to correct the mistakes

Quote :

- What led you to Budapest?

I decided to come to Budapest to work with Zoltán Nagy, a ballet master, choreographer and physical trainer. I planned to work here for two weeks, but things were going so well I extended my stay by another week.

- Is it your first time in Budapest?

Yes, I've never been here before. I love the city. I saw the Parliament, Heroes' Square, the castle, and the city lights during the night, but the most fun for me was the Opera House.
Zoltan Nagy introduced me to the stage. I performed in a lot of venues, but I felt something wonderful there on the stage; the feeling of a huge audience, the sight of the beautiful lodges.

- How do you spend your days here? Did you buy some souvenirs?

I live close to the Opera. Every morning I start working here. I do ballet, conditioning and strengthening workouts. Zoltán Nagy monitors my every step, he advises and helps me. In the afternoon I do ice dance workout and skate in the Training Hall. Then I rest a little and head back to the Opera.
Of course, I have time for shopping as well. I bought some nice clothes.

- Can you tell us about the beginning of your career?

I started skating when I was five years old. I followed my sister, who is 2 years older than me, everywhere. We did swimming, ballet and ice skating. Finally, we decided to concentrate on ice skating. Today my sister no longer competes, but she's here with me, and she helps me with everything.

- You won 2005 Junior World Championships, and two years later you were second among seniors. Then, you became a World Champion twice. During the 2010 Olympics you didn't manage to stand at the top of the podium. What are your feelings about that event now, two years later?

In Vancouver for the first time I felt very sad at the announcement of results. It was very hard, because I worked a lot, but that is the nature of the sport; the Korean athlete was simply better than me.

- In the past two years, you placed only 6th in the World Championships, what do you think was the reason?

I haven't neglected skating, but I grew a lot and the muscles of my body didn't adjust accordingly. That is why I chose Zoltan Nagy. I have heard many good things about his work. He worked with Torvill/Dean and Sallay/Regőczy; two great ice dance couples. They were the best at that time. I feel the coach and I work well together. We are facing a very important year and complex preparation is necessary. That is why I have stayed a week longer in Budapest, because every hour spent in the new development helps me.

- It's two years before the Sochi Olympics. Do you plan to participate?

Of course, I will continue my career until then. I want to stand for the highest level of the podium.

- And then?

Right now I concentrate on the Sochi. What happens afterwards depends on the Olympics.

- A lot of Japanese skaters made it to the top recently. Is there some secret to the success of skating in Japan?

There's no secret. When many people are working diligently eventually this will be the result.

- [???]

This depends only on you. I plan to return to Budapest. If good competitions are organized, I certainly [???].

Thanks inskate! I also tried to translate using google translate but to Russian and obtained a bunch of nonsense.

Thanks inskate for the translation. I used google too but mine didn't make sense pretty much either.
It's good to know that she had good time there.
According to 2ch, both men were at THE ICE last year.
Mai might have suggestions for the program she will choreograph for the show.

Thanks shikure for the blog update.
I love both pictures

Mao wrote:
I went to Canada for short and gala programs and to Russia for long program.

I took a picture with Lori at her yard. Dandelion was blooming and we made wreaths together.
I also did canoeing, played tennis and ate sushi. I enjoyed my stay there.

Tatiana gave me a ride to my hotel on the last day of training and I took a picture with her.
She always gives me a lot of hugs.

I love all of the three programs. I will practice hard so that I will be able to show you good programs.

Thanks everyone for the news and translations!

Finally some news!

I'm happy that she likes all of her programs and I can't wait to see them! Hopefully she'll announce the music choices soon.
You can see in the picture how much TAT loves Mao. I really hope, she gave her a masterpiece (like those EX choreographies) for LP.

zarinaballerina wrote:

Thanks everyone for the news and translations!

Finally some news!

I'm happy that she likes all of her programs and I can't wait to see them! Hopefully she'll announce the music choices soon.
You can see in the picture how much TAT loves Mao. I really hope, she gave her a masterpiece (like those EX choreographies) for LP.

I was going to comment about that too but I wasn't sure if I didn't imagine it. There is something in TAT's eyes in that picture, that makes me feel she has some kind of motherly attachment to Mao. Very warm.

I love Mao & Lori picture too. Just imagining their picking and making flower wreaths like little girls made me smile.

I have a question. Does anyone have any idea about how tall Mao is?

Finally! Some news!

It's a pleasant surprise to hear that Mao will be working with a ballet instructor. Although I've never heard of Zoltan Nagy, the way Mao talks about him makes me excited to see how Mao developed under his three weeks of guidance.

You would think that after a disappointing 6th place finish at Worlds, Mao would be bitter. But no, she just moves on forward and concentrates on improving herself. Atta girl!

Also, the picture of Mao and TAT is so sweet. I'm one of those people who want Mao to try a choreographer other than TAT and Lori, but whenever I see them together, I want to take back my words. You can really feel that they've developed quite a bond from the pics!

linglang wrote:

I have a question. Does anyone have any idea about how tall Mao is?

5'4"(1.62 m) according to wikipedia

Yeah, that sounds about right. I am 5'1" and when she stood next to me, she was about 6 inches taller with skates on. Without skates, it would be around 5'4".

Ok. It's officially July here now. In less than a month we'll see Mao skate again in The ICE and I think in at least two week's time we'll be seeing a bit more news clips on Mao and the show if we base that in previous years' coverage of The ICE.

I'm excited! I wanna see the improvements Mao has made during the off season and hopefully it will also shed some light on her collaboration with Zoltán Nagy.

ElleluvsL wrote:

linglang wrote:

I have a question. Does anyone have any idea about how tall Mao is?

5'4"(1.62 m) according to wikipedia

Wow!!!!! SHE LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL IN THOSE PHOTOS! My mouth literally dropped!

i revisited Mao's wiki page and saw how drastic her weight loss was from 2010 to 2011, and until the 11-12 season she's still trying to regain her weight. i hope before this incoming season she gets into tip-top shape and gain weight (and muscles!) and my the way, i miss mao. does anyone know when her program list will be released?

I also hope that Mao regains her former weight and muscle, and i therefor really hope that Mao is team and zoltan will be able to achieve that, it would surely make a huge difference...just think of 2011 4cc when Mao had regained a bit of weight, that night she made one of the best 3A...

New year announcement from JSF, of course, Mao is still on the top list
http://skatingjapan.or.jp/national/national_list.php?sports_id=2
she is 163cm and the data here confirmed my memory is correct.
but they didn't update kanako's height yet since I remember she is around Mao and Mikis' height.

Apologies as this is a little off topic, but just wanted to share with you guys this amazing picture I found of Mao. I was browsing (illegally) at work for pictures of Mao to make my day a little better, when I saw this one. I loved it so much that I made it my avatar.

wow this is the first time i see this picture it's really beautiful, cero.

I've never seen that one either. That's a good one!

Thanks everyone for the info about her height.
I just thought she'd got taller than before.

it's not any news but i just watched this and i can't help but be soo fascinating seeing how Mao even when she was such a little girl was including 3-3 in her exhibitions! I also loved how her timing fits so perfectly with every note of the music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEKAofvWEZI&feature=relmfu

ballerinamao wrote:

it's not any news but i just watched this and i can't help but be soo fascinating seeing how Mao even when she was such a little girl was including 3-3 in her exhibitions! I also loved how her timing fits so perfectly with every note of the music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEKAofvWEZI&feature=relmfu

Ahh... the first of her Chopin masterpieces. Lovely. Just lovely. It's amazing how the double axel was just thrown in, and how that side lay back position twizzle fit in with the music cut. And her spiral extension on the forward inside arabesque!! This program had a childlike ring to it that was not quite present in Fantaisie impromptu and Tristesse/So Deep is the Night/Etude no. 3, and that childlike innocence was completely matured in ethereal Ballade.

How I miss Mao...

I can't wait so long, I want to see Mao

ballerinamao wrote:

it's not any news but i just watched this and i can't help but be soo fascinating seeing how Mao even when she was such a little girl was including 3-3 in her exhibitions! I also loved how her timing fits so perfectly with every note of the music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEKAofvWEZI&feature=relmfu

A little girl? Speaking of Mao's Gala programs when she was young:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm5xsi9Ypu0
13 years old Mao skating to Carmen! She attempted a 3-3-3 combo, and after missing it the first time (turned into 3-1) she landed it close to the end of the program. Plus, she landed a 3A (2-footed and UR, but still very impressive for such a tiny skater).

A year later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt4eqQPZgGE
(Pick Yourself Up, not my favorite music choice, but excellently skated - landing 3F-3T in the later part of the program)