Chapter 96 Giselle Finds Her Own Style
After the World Team Championships, the Skating Association held a group training session in Beijing, inviting a former Russian ice dance world champion to teach skating. All senior skaters in all four events were invited, and junior skaters were also allowed to attend the training.
Xia Yuezi, as the jumping coach, did not follow up on this matter and stayed in the team to train the children.
Yan Rui sluggishly skated half a circle on the ice, then put his left leg behind him and did a triple jump on the ice.
After a season of training, Yan Ruicai gradually mastered the method of using momentum to jump 3lo, but like Yang Yiyan, she didn't have a very good sense of aesthetics when it came to jumps that she wasn't good at.
However, the jump in Lo is always a matter of personal preference. Those who are good at it can do it like it's nothing, while those who are not good at it will look like they're making noodles in mid-air. Xia Yuezi's requirements are not high. She just needs to be able to keep her balance and not fall.
The domestic qualifiers for the Youth Grand Prix have just concluded, and Yan Rui won first place, giving him priority in selecting the stations. He directly chose the first and fifth stations, with ample time to rest in between.
Besides her, the Beijing team also has a youth men's singles player named Song Ziqi who achieved a triple A last season and also won two tournaments.
Although he wasn't a member of the Summer Team, the higher-ups paid close attention to him and sometimes trained with Feng Simai, hoping he would learn the techniques of quadruple jumps.
Xia Yuezi had no objections. In any case, they were all promising talents, which would reduce the pressure on the adult group. It would also be good to have an extra player to use in future lineups.
Yan Rui performed the choreographed free skate program on the ice, then skated over to Xia Yuezi and said with pursed lips, "Coach, I feel like the 3-lo is still a bit awkward."
Xia Yuezi patted her shoulder: "Be confident, your spinal cord is much better than before."
Yan Rui is introverted, but unlike Feng Simai, she is not a slow-to-warm-up type. Instead, she is truly quiet and reserved, which makes it difficult for her to fully express her emotions when she is on the ice. Her skating is also very tight, and her program content scores are not very high.
Even now, Xia Yuezi hasn't figured out her preferred performance style. The songs chosen for her this season are all suitable for her age and not too prone to mistakes.
With the new season approaching, Yan Rui himself is extremely nervous.
She hasn't achieved great results yet, and the team's subsidies for her are within the normal range. However, after discussing with her parents, Xia Yuezi still invited top-tier choreographer Mi to choreograph the program, while Yang's mother produced it for Kosten.
To thank the coaches of Xia's group for taking care of Yang Yiyan, children introduced by Xia Yuezi will receive a discount on their Costuming treatments at her clinic.
Yan Rui knew that this was her last season in the youth group. What kind of treatment she would receive in her first year in the adult group, and how many Grand Prix stages there would be, would all depend on this season.
At the end of August, the first leg of the youth group competition began.
The main European and American players are not in this tournament. The player we should pay some attention to is Akina Koike from Japan.
The two faced off in the Japanese leg of last season, and Xia Yuezi doesn't need to go into too much detail about the match.
"Xiao Ke's 3lz was not consistent last season, and she only had to use it because of the strict requirements of the World Youth Championship. But this year she has already released a 3lz+3T satellite, and the success rate should be quite high. It's just unknown how well she will perform on the show."
"Your 3LZ+3T was also only learned this year. There's another 3LO to watch out for in the free skate. If we're talking about the probability of a clean skate, neither of you is particularly high."
Yan Rui nodded blankly, and her mother, who was traveling with her, couldn't help but hug her daughter tightly.
As soon as the group arrived at the hotel, they saw Ms. Chishima pushing her luggage, with a drowsy Akina Koike standing next to her, still jet-lagged.
She sniffed, opened her eyes slightly, and saw several unfamiliar suitcases standing in front of her.
Koike rubbed her eyes, and after recognizing the person, greeted her familiarly. Yan Rui gripped the luggage handle and nodded slightly at her.
Mina Koike didn't seem to mind Yan Rui's restraint. She had witnessed it during the exhibition skate in the finals. If it weren't for her senior, Feng Simai, guiding her and allowing her to join the other Chinese skaters, she might have been pushed to the very edge during the group photo.
Given Yan Rui's height, it's possible that she might not even be found in the final photos.
Ms. Chishima was holding the room key and was about to take her contestant away when she heard her say "fight" in English and make a cheering gesture.
Xia Yuezi was talking to the receptionist and didn't notice them. Yan's mother quickly nudged her daughter, and Yan Rui finally raised his head slightly, a small smile curving his lips: "You too."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two teams went to their respective rooms, with children accompanied by their parents sharing a room with them.
While packing her luggage, taking out her ice skates and kaostons, Yan's mother said softly, "Rui Rui, I think that Japanese athlete is quite cheerful. We can chat before and after the competition. Coach Xia and I can't be by your side all the time when you go abroad for the competition. You can't turn yourself into a silent person."
Yan Rui simply nodded silently, sat on the edge of the bed, and hung up his coat hanger.
Seeing her daughter's utterly indifferent demeanor, Yan's mother sighed inwardly, recalling her earlier conversation with the coach.
When Xia Yuezi first took over Yan Rui's job, she noticed that Yan Rui was somewhat unsociable. Only when he was on the ice could he show a little bit of his emotions. She even asked Yan's mother about this.
Speaking of Yan Rui's personality, his mother also has a headache.
She and her father were both ordinary wage earners. Because of their work, they lacked a lot of care for their daughter. Coincidentally, their place was very close to an artificial lake, which would freeze over in winter. Yan Rui spent her childhood on that lake.
Throughout her life, Yan Rui hasn't made many friends or developed any particular hobbies. Perhaps due to the influence of her childhood memories, the only thing she can't give up is ice skating. Only when she's ice skating does she seem like a teenager again.
On the day of the match, the stadium was not very full, but the VIP seats behind the referees were full.
Xia Yuezi glanced around and saw that the girls sitting in the middle had raised the Chinese flag. When the referee started his work, they stared at him intently, like a mobile camera.
Yan Rui wasn't having the best luck; he drew the first spot in the second group. Given the judges' tendency to score based on group and nationality, his performance score this time will likely be lower.
Xia Yuezi stood behind the barrier, saying nothing, only giving the contestant a hug, feeling each other's breath.
"Go ahead, just be yourself."
In a daze, Yan Rui heard her name being called over the loudspeaker. As she skated onto the ice, she looked at the national flag, touched her heartbeat, and let out a long sigh of relief.
Her short program, taken from the ballet "Giselle," weaves together two worlds—one human and one ghost—and uses contrast to depict the conflict between idealistic dreams and real life.
This is also a piece of music that many pairs skaters and ice dancers like to use, because there is a world-famous pas de deux in the middle of this ballet.
When Xia Yuezi chose this piece of music, she asked the choreographer to focus on the pastoral scene in the first act, to showcase Giselle's original character traits as much as possible.
As the music started, Yan Rui pushed forward, mimicking opening a door, his expression gradually becoming shy and bashful, before finally running away slowly.
Her skating wasn't bad, but after a few lessons with a Russian foreign teacher, it became even smoother, and her hand movements gave it a lively feel.
As I glided and built up momentum, I landed the first set of jumps, 3LZ+3T, and the height was pretty good.
Xia Yuezi breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her heart was not completely at ease. There were two jumps in the second half of the program, and most of the first half consisted of spins.
After landing on the third floor, the music gradually sped up. Yan Rui jumped into a new phase, leaned slightly forward, imitating a ballet move, and put her hands behind her ears to indicate that she heard a knock on the door and that her sweetheart was about to arrive.
This footwork imitates a duet in a ballet, except that Yan Rui is the only one on the ice rink, but her joyful movements convey her happiness at this moment.
Ultimately, Yan Rui isn't suited to playing love-themed pieces; the emotions aren't intense enough. However, the entire piece focuses on a story woven from lies, and the protagonist is a deceived, innocent young girl, which makes it less strange.
Yan Rui stopped on the ice at the beat of the music, she withdrew all her expressions, and gradually increased the range of her movements.
By this time, all the lies had been exposed, and she was alone in the house, half-crazy and half-awake, repeating all the actions she had skipped before.
The girl on the ice rink struck a swallow pose, arms outstretched, then flung them away forcefully, as if discarding all the past that was not worth cherishing.
The crazy moment ended with a 2A, where Yan Rui leaped over five chairs' lengths, a distance that is quite good for a youth group athlete.
Xia Yuezi frowned slightly. She acted very well in the first half, portraying innocence, naivety, and fantasy, but she failed to bring out the gradually increasing emotional tension in the second half.
In the second half, Yan Rui simply kept a straight face, without any expression, and could only convey emotions through body movements. This kind of skill-based communication is unlikely to resonate with the audience, and even the skater himself may not know what he is skating.
She stroked her chin, roughly thinking of a performance style that would suit Yan Rui. If she had time when she got back, she could let her try other songs.
As the music ended, Yan Rui stood in the center of the ice rink, slightly out of breath. Applause rang out politely, not particularly enthusiastic, and only a few dolls were scattered on the ice.
She bowed to those around her, bent down to pick up the doll, and slowly skated away from the ice rink.
Xia Yuezi handed her the jacket: "You did very well, but you were a little too tight on the skates today, so your score might not be very high."
Yan Rui pursed his lips and nodded, then silently walked to the waiting area and sat down. The score quickly appeared on the large screen.
With a technical score of 34.82, a program content score of 25.11, and a total score of 59.93, he is currently ranked first.
Seeing this score, not only Xia Yuezi frowned, but the ice skating fans in the stands also felt strange. They had expected the P score to be low, but this technical score was almost three points lower than the real score.
Xia Yuezi glanced at the still emotionless contestant and led her away from the waiting area.
"Let's go take a look at your sub-status."
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