November 9, 2002
DIVAS ON ICE
by Sylvia
I attended the "Divas on Ice" show in Trenton, NJ last night, and here are some quick tech. notes on Katia's performances for now...
For her first solo number (I'm guessing the music was Kaci's "Paradise"), she wore an orange dress and had her hair up in a ponytail. She did an interesting forward bent leg spin, double loop, triple toe (fall--she redid this jump in the retakes at the end of the show), flying camel into a layover position-down into back sit-rise holding knee of her free leg behind her, footwork sequence down rink highlighted by a half jump (both legs bent in the air) down into a forward lunge, inside axel jump (I think--it was very cool-looking and happened out of nowhere!), forward outside edge spiral to back outside edge spiral sequence, butterfly into back sit, forward scratch spin (good speed!), some toepick hopping, forward lunge, double flip, layback spin to end. An upbeat, perky number and a youthful look for her.
She had a short solo in the group (trio) number that opened the second half, performing to the live jazz singer, Cassandra Wilson, and wearing a light blue dress with a flowing skirt and her long hair down. Katia came on after Yuka's solo and skated a brief solo to an upbeat song that seemed to have "last train" in the lyrics. She was joined by Kristi for a brief duet and they skated in very good unison together! I really hope this ensemble makes it to TV! (scheduled to air on Jan. 4, 2003, 4-6 pm EST on NBC).
Katia's solo in the second half was to a slow, elegiac violin piece that I've heard someone skate to before (possibly by the group Secret Garden? it's driving me nuts that I can't identify it! ;-) -- not traditionally classical. She had her hair up in a bun and the light blue/grey, one-piece "catsuit" she wore had a small (teardrop-shaped?) cutout on chest in her front and a larger, circular cutout on her back. She did: double loop, double axel (a beauty!), camel-back camel, back semi-spiral into a double lutz (a cool new entry!), bent knee spin, a deliberate sliding fall, a series of half jumps/hops, forward inside edge spiral with a skid stop on the same foot (such control!), layback (I think--I may have missed another spin combo in there somewhere) to end. This piece was vintage, "classic Katia" and I enjoyed it very much, but I don't believe Marina Zueva choreographed it (they haven't worked together recently, as far as I know).
The closing ensemble numbers to Sister Sledge's "We are a Family" and a live rendition of Gloria Gaynor singing her classic "I Will Survive" showcased a very happy looking Katia with an almost sassy attitude -- it was great to see her so loose with the others and enjoying herself out on the ice. Yay! :-)
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