COI     Summer     Tour     2000

Date:       Friday, April 7th (8:00pm EST)

Venue:     MCI Center (Washington D.C.)

Classification:     Professional/Amateur Show

OPENING NUMBER NOTES


The opening of the show had an Olympic theme, and Surya appeared about halfway through it. She had a gorgeous costume on (Black & White mixed, with one sleeve and the other arm bare) and had a lot of energy. She did a few Half Walleys into a Triple Salchow, and then into a running camel. She had great energy throughout.

SURYA'S PERFORMANCE

Music:

          Exotica & Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace Soundtrack (John Williams)


Costume:

          Black, Purple, and Orange Body Suit (Same as Technical Program Costume at 1999 World Pros, but without the Pant Legs or Left Sleeve)


Elements:
         

My Notes:

          Surya chose to skate to her Professional Techincal Program from this season for her COI number this year, and she executed it wonderfully. She wore the same costume as she did for the Technical portion of the 1999 World Professional Championships, but modified to exclude pant legs. Surya participated in both the Opening and Closing acts, and she skated her program in Act II.
          Exotica was a great program this season for Surya, and this gave me an opportunity to see it live twice this season. She had all the flair and energy she always does, and she really got the crowd going. I absolutely love this music - it's haunting, energetic, powerful, and perfect for Surya. She opened up with a strong Double Axel, followed by a Half Loop, and then a preparatory hop into a powerful Triple ToeLoop, which was landed right in front of me. She skated with great speed tonight. Next was her One-Footed Backflip-Triple Salchow combination, which really lit up the audience. She skated down the ice into a Split Jump-Triple ToeLoop-Triple ToeLoop jump combination. In the second Triple ToeLoop, she had a slightly bent over landing, which most skaters would fall or put a hand down on. Not Surya! Everyone was amazed that she was able to grind out the edge and not put her foot, hand, or anything else down on the ice. As the music transitioned into the softer, more lyrical section, Surya showed off some good spirals, including a very fast Back Spiral which led right into a light, airy Triple Salchow. She would include another One-Footed Backflip to close out a great performance. The highlight of this program to me was her combination spin, which went on forever! There were 50+ revolutions and 5 changes of foot! The positions were difficult and creative, and she maintained the speed and integrity of the spin throughout. This spin was dubbed the "eternal" spin by someone behind me in the stands. The other highlight was the Back Spiral-Triple Salchow combination. Not only did she carry a huge amount of speed throughout this combination move, but there was very little preparation of the Triple Salchow. Many do not realize just how difficult it is to be able to pull off a Triple coming right out of a spiral of any kind, not to mention a well-held Back Spiral! Surya did a marvelous job on this night!
          There have been reports that I have received from other Surya fans that on later stops of the COI tour (Baltimore, NYC, etc.), Surya landed the Triple Loop in her program, just as at the Goodwill Games! Bravo, Surya!          


CLOSING NUMBER NOTES


I think I preferred last year's closing number of the COI tour to this year's closing. The music they picked was Bolero which turned out to be very repetitive and at times too loud. Surya started the whole thing off. She was in the middle of the rink, all alone at the first note of Bolero, in a handstand position on the ice! She rotated clockwise to the beat of the music on her hands and then got up and did a couple cartwheels. Then she started skating and doing some turns when more skaters started coming onto the ice. Later she would complete her One-Footed Backflip in unison with Dan Hollander and Phillipe Candeloro's Two-Footed versions. Towards the end the whole group got into a big cluster at center ice and created some nice shapes by all moving to the same beat and rotating together. Michelle Kwan then got hoisted to the center of the group and was flipped around. It all ended nicely, and everything was well thought out, but I still preferred last year's closing to the Swing Kids soundtrack.

PICTURES


** Unfortunately, I made the dumb mistake of leaving my zoom lens at home. I had a good seat, but without a zoom lens, the pictures aren't so good. Also, I recently got a new camera, so am still trying to figure out which settings work best for which situations. These pictures are *very* poor. But I will post them anyway. Just don't expect much! :) **

                   

                   


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