Last season was an absolute goldmine for me in terms of discovering new appealing skaters, or recalibrating my opinion of hitherto unappealing skaters. Specifically, last season, I fell hard for the skating of Alena Kostornaia, Emmy Ma, Wakaba Higuchi, Apollinariia Panfilova/Dmitri Rylov, Dmitri Aliev, Eun-soo Lim, and Anastasia Tarakanova, among others. Although some of these skaters have stumbled this season, their skating still speaks to me and I would readily start a flame war defending them on Twitter, or whatever.
This present season has not yielded quite the embarrassment of riches when it comes to new discoveries. Perhaps it’s because the 2018-2019 season is a post-Olympics season, which tends to be a rebuilding year. Or perhaps it’s because skaters and choreographers are still adjusting to the flood of new rules this season. Nonetheless, all is not lost in this valley of tears, for there are still skaters who have newly caught my eye this season:
Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii
I for one am very pleased to see such a promising young pair coached by the legendary Tamara Moskvina come to the forefront after so many years of the blah Mozer Era of Russian pairs skating. Love Boikova/Kozlovskii’s gorgeous lines, speed and power over the ice, airy twists and throws, and beaming charisma (especially on Ms. Boikova’s part). With more consistency and better programs, I can see Boikova/Kozlovskii moving up to the #2 Russian pairs slot as early as next season (especially if they can incorporate those side-by-side 3Lz seen in practice!). Also, if you haven’t already seen it yet, Boikova/Kozlovskii’s exhibition program at Europeans last weekend is pretty awesome.
Polina Kostiukovich/Dmitrii Ialin
I attended the Grand Prix Final in Vancouver in December and was blown away by Kostiukovich/Ialin’s dynamism, skating skills, and huge elements upon watching them live. Frankly, I preferred Kostiukovich/Ialin to gold medalists Mishina/Galiamov, who were far more polished but rather soporific. That said, however, I am attempting to temper my enthusiasm with the occasional dose of cold hard reality given Kostiukovich/Ialin’s young age, current heights, and the very real possibility that they may outgrow each other in a few years (I’ve had my heart broken before before–Exhibit A: Davankova/Deputat).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVdnPEdOHrc
Kaori Sakamoto
Although I had previously watched Ms. Sakamoto’s The Piano LP on multiple occasions during the Grand Prix season, something clicked for me as I watched Kaori Sakamoto’s gold medal-winning performance at Japanese Nationals: immediately after the competition ended, all I wanted to do was re-watch the final minute of Ms. Sakamoto’s The Piano LP over and over again, watch from the exit of the combination spin as the music builds and builds towards the soaring spiral sequence and the triple loop (perfectly timed to another crescendo!). I don’t even care that some of Ms. Sakamoto’s spiral positions are more Miki Ando than Michelle Kwan! I tend to be skeptical of Benoit Richaud’s choreography (see, e.g., Ms. Sakamoto’s marionette Amelie from last season) but he has definitely created a Moment for Ms. Sakamoto (and me) here.