THE ICE 2014

finale pics


opening?


source: http://weibo.com/maoasada

some more pics   

another short video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2x8KVa4p6s

I found some more wonderful pictures of Mao's exhibition at the following site posted by user ionap:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sho...o-Asada/page22

Does anyone know how you can see videos of the show because they are not currently available on youtube. I would be willing to be pay to get a video version via internet even if it is never loaded on youtube, but that seems unlikely.

I found it fascinating that Mao used an uplifting spiritual song about redemption, "I'm Going to Let it Shine," for her newest exhibition, since that is what she has come to symbolize in the wake of her nearly miraculous comeback in the freeskate at Sochi. The song was written in 1920 and is often thought to be an African American spiritual song based on The Bible. It became a Civil Rights Anthem for African Americans in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Significantly, the head dress that Mao wears resembles the ones that African American slaves or later servants wore when working as maids or in the cotton fields. The famous blind African American singer, song writer and composer Ray Charles also sang a secularized version of the song called "This Little Girl of Mine". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Little_Light_of_Mine.

I also found it interesting how closely a movie in which the song is played, Corrina, Corrina, bears some similarities to Mao's own life. In that movie, the African American actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg, who herself experienced personal redemption in her own life by overcoming drug addiction, plays the role of a nanny named Corrina who takes care of a little white girl named Molly, whose mother has passed away and whose father is an atheist. Molly and Corrina quickly form a close bond through the love of music and Corrina gives Molly inspiration and helps the little girl cope with the passing of her mother by explaining "that Molly's mother is with the angels and perhaps Manny (Molly' father) is jealous of the angels who get to spend all day with his wife. Molly finds comfort in knowing her mother is somewhere happy." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrina,_Corrina_
In, the movie, Molly's father was an atheist who undergoes a spiritual transformation.  

Corrina played by Whoopi Goldberg sings the song "I'm Going to Let it Shine" in church with a gospel choir at the end of the movie.

This is what I love about Mao so much: the spiritual depth and symbolism that matches her athletic excellence.

Thanks for all the updates, photos and vids everyone!!   

I am loving Mao's new gold/tan dress for her Light of mine EX! It's so pretty..ugh I would have loved for her to wear it as a competition dress.

The Bolero choreo from the photos look stunning. Not that I didn't love Mao and Jeff's princess and prince routines, but this is definitely a step in the right direction. There's only so many Disney duets to do, and I'm glad they chose a more mature look as Mao grows!

And Mao and Mai as Anna and Elsa! Yayy...what a perfect song for them.
Can't wait to see the show!

Mao and Jeff should to do a new ice dance team  , with all the craziness this off season in ice dance it would not be a surprise   

The videos from the Fuji TV broadcast can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn0jt61Kcp5aY7HDiOOrhlQ
Please watch quickly in case they get deleted soon '

I'm going to watch them now.
ETA:   And of course the sound in Mao & Jeff's Bolero got muted because of the copyright claim. There like 1000 programs skated to Bolero uploaded on YT, I don't understand why they muted the sound in just this one..?   

Thank you so much WowMao for your input. It's wonderful to know the backdrop of the music Mao choose to skate to.  I haven' watched the movie and now I'm very much interested in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qb-ZZPzcUM
This clip has her EX and collaboration program with Jeff.
The poster says the music is not original pieces and he/she replaced with tunes covered by someone else in order to avoid getting them muted.

The interview part:
Q: Is your motivation different to skate at the show when you are not a competitive skater?
A: Well, regarding the motivation, because this is THE ICE, a big summer event, my motivation has not changed even a bit and I'm filled with the motivation everyday that I want to skate well.

Q: This year, THE ICE is the last show for you because you are going to take a break. What kind of a new Mao Asada you would want to discover after it's over?
A: I've been practicing and continued skating for the show.  I have no idea what will lie ahead until it's really over, but I think I will go back to my usual school days.

Q: I heard from Mai that you are planning a trip.
A: Yes, we are planning a trip in Japan.

Mao's message to the viewers: The music and program for THE ICE are something new for me and I took up the challenge of expressing something new. I will be delighted if you can see the light in my heart and you are bright with it.

https://twitter.com/MaximkovtunJR/status/491165253061730305/photo/1
This is hilarious!   
Mao looks as if she's saying, of course who's not!?

I like her new ex, but I prefer Tat for her ex, definitely. And totally love her dress, she looks so beautiful!!

And I love Jeff and Mao Bolero, it was great and their costumes perfect

It was stupid of me to have high expectations for Fuji's TV program.
There were too many fluffs, and too few performances   
They disregarded the course of the show completely!



via tokitama tumblr

Practice for THE ICE   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF7K4AS5IR8

Quote :

Quote :

It was stupid of me to have high expectations for Fuji's TV program.

There were too many fluffs, and too few performances   
They disregarded the course of the show completely!



via tokitama tumblr

Ooooh silenceisgolden, these pics of Mao are perfection. Thank you so much for posting them.

Found this link of Fuji TV's The Ice Program on FSU forum:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21uhir_2014-the-ice-%EF%BC%91_sport

Complete on dailymotion!
Off to watch!   

sapphiresky wrote:

Found this link of Fuji TV's The Ice Program on FSU forum:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21uhir_2014-the-ice-%EF%BC%91_sport

Complete on dailymotion!
Off to watch!   

     

^ You're welcome! Thanks to FSU forum of course!

The sound on Mao and Jeff's Bolero was taken away in Youtube, but here it is on Dailymotion (part 4 of the link sent above):
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21ukse_ice-%EF%BC%94_sport

I watched most of the performances:
- I really liked Mao's Let it Shine EX! That dress will be one of my favorites from Mao! The program is so upbeat, and Mao has become so mature and expressive. It made me smile the whole way through   Lori's style here is similar to I've Got Rhythm, but I think Lori could have put more into the program.

- Mao and Jeff's Bolero! They make a wonderful pair, loving Jeff's choreography, and their costumes   The photo stills are quite amazing

- Jeff and Patrick! They really should make a pair in competition   

- Meryl and Charlie- ahhh I can never get tired of Scheherazade, I liked the shortened EX version too.

- Satoko being able to do her whole LP under spotlight! Impressive! I do wish her jumps will get bigger in the future though!

- Mao and Mai!!! I love their connection in life and in skating, I'm so happy that they have each other. Their costumes were quite beautiful

- It's annoying they didn't show the whole show in sequence from the opening to the end...I wish we could see the entire opening and entire closing.

One of these days I need to get myself to a live show. This reminds me of how much I'm missing Mao's skating!!! I want Mao back now :'( this next season will be so empty without her, but I know she needs a break.

ETA: And when Mao does come back, I hope Jeff choreographs a program just for her!   

Thank you to all who uploaded links to The ICE 2014.

Look at her!

Mao exudes joy and contentment of performing sans competitive pressures. It is at these times
that the greatest part of her artistic soul emerges and graces us with beauty and wonder. She
possesses the ability to impinge on our sense of what is precious in this world. In a different context, she reminds me of Botticelli's, Birth of Venus.

And isn't Mai's arabesque just as gorgeous as Mao's?

I love her Bolero number with Jeff... Still on the fence about the new ex, but I love how she loves it and seeing her smile as she dances through the program is enough for me

guys did THE ICE was originally ice show that highlighted mao or her signature show

or it was just IMG show that later became identical with her

cuz i just stumble this vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeqkvhN92P4&list=UU-2sgak1hf41c2_-QFnIMrw

it was THE ICE 2007
and beside mao there's also miki n daisuke

i thing that was the only one that daisuke include in the cast

My favorite part   



And this one makes me smile   


made by heltra91  

I

This blogger gathered many of their off ice pictures in Nagoya.

http://daragorocopanda.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-926.html


@jabbott2014

@asadamai717

I went to both shows today in Osaka. Mao looks healthy, genki, full of joy and energy. Perfect hostess in the super house   . Her "Let it go" with Mai was really cute   . But her Bolero with Jeff I found quite dull.
She skated her new EX with no single mistake. Mao is the best dancer in Ladies and she can pull anything. But Lori clearly has run out of ideas. There are too many already seen/used moves taken from Smile, Mary Poppins, I got Rhythm that Lori tried to hide behind a new style of music and unusual start/finish of EX. Lori, you are not fooling anyone. Mao, deal with new guys like Kenji or Camerlengo. Or go to TAT for the next EX.  
Great show as usual with everyone having such a fun!    

zarinaballerina wrote:

silenceisgolden wrote:

So there is no possibility of  Madame Butterfly  

oh, I would love to see her Madame Buterfly EX, but Mirai is using this music for her LP, so Mao might not want to skate to the same music.   Or, and I prefer this version  , since she usually does two programs at her shows, (and since this year she does not have a new SP) she might still do it. I'd love it if this were the case. Something fun and upbeat for one program, and gorgeous Pucini for another.   

silenceisgolden wrote:

Sorry Mirai, but I really want to see Madame Butterfly by Mao   

zarinaballerina wrote:

"O mio bambino caro" would be nice as well, I agree, but I'm dying to see her Madamme Butterfly EX. I wonder why she never skated to it.

I was wondering why Mao has never used the "Madame Butterfly" EX choreographed by TAT as well... However, as I was rewatching some of my favorite parts on Youtube I suddenly realized: while most people concentrate on the failed love story between Pinkerton and ChoCho-san, the finale of the opera is about a mother who sacrifices her life in hope that her child can live happily.

Madame Butterfly (Un Bel Di) was reportedly choreographed for 2010-2011 season, and at that time Mao's mum's condition was getting worse. What's more, a hepatic transplantation was considered and Mao & Mai both offered to be the donors (as they were young, healthy and Kyoko's closest family by blood, the liver provided by them would give Kyoko the best chance of recovery). However, Kyoko refused to accept donation from her daughters, because she didn't want them or their careers to be at any risk - while the vast majority of donors recovers fully, it still takes some time to achieve full recovery (2-3 months at the very luckiest, and probably much longer for an athlete to return to competitive form) and there's a 0.5%-1% risk of dying as a result of the complications after the surgery. In the end Mao's dad was the donor, but he wasn't as good a match and the transplantation was not successful.

So I wonder if the story of the opera made the music simply too painful for Mao to skate to...