Johnny during his stunning SWTS finale performance
with Jennifer Wester, Denis Petukhov, and Keauna McLaughlin,
choreographed by Laurieann Gibson to Alicia Keys'
"Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart."
Special thanks to "Puri Monsta" on Facebook
for the screen cap!
Please watch this:
OMG.
This.
This is skating.
This is skating unfettered by points and politics and petty power plays.
This is skating as performance art--as Cirque du Soleil meets the Bolshoi meets Lady Gaga in an explosion of passion and athleticism and beauty and artistry so spellbinding that you are absolutely mesmerized and all you know is you can't explain it--you can only experience it--and Sweet Weirsus, you wish it would never end.
And also that you would pay big, big money to see hours of this nonstop. Like, say, in a Skating Spectacular starring the only man on the planet who can create this kind of art on ice. Who is so dazzling, so captivating, so expressive, and who so embodies every note of music that you are completely transported into another world--an exotic, erotic, deliciously dangerous place that slices right through your soul and leaves you ...
... spent.
Wow.
And so.
I'm back where I started all those months ago.
When I wrote, in my very first entry on this blog, the exact same thing I thought last night after watching this performance--even on that teensy tinsy rink (and BTW Denis, Jennifer, and Keauna were all fabulous as well):
[Other competitive skaters are] Math on Ice.
Johnny is [beautiful, blazing hot, poignant, leaving you out of breath and always wanting more] Sex on Ice.
Yes.
So much yes.
(Oh, and Rebecca won! Yay!)
Caged no more ...
The cover art for "Dirty Love" is now
Congratulations to winners
Rebecca Budig and Fred Palascak!
(Dear Santa: Thank you for the early Weirmas presents--
Rebecca's win and Johnny's performance!
Now could you please give Johnny his own skating show
that airs daily on my TV...? )
Rebecca Budig and Fred Palascak!
(Dear Santa: Thank you for the early Weirmas presents--
Rebecca's win and Johnny's performance!
Now could you please give Johnny his own skating show
that airs daily on my TV...? )
Designer T. Rains and Johnny have teamed up to raise money and awareness for The Trevor Project! This organization is "determined to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources." Proceeds from the "Army of One" t-shirt sales will go to The Trevor Project foundation. Order yours today! Your support is greatly appreciated!For more information, please visit www.thetrevorproject.org.
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the Artbook when you sign up!
13 comments:
Great. Love it. I still am happy about Rebecca´s win and, of course, Johnny´s, Dennis` and the girl´s performance. That.was.stunning! No need to say more.
Being self-employed - as you know Binky - sometimes leaves you overwhelmed, overworked, and with less "me time" than you would ever prefer. After about two years where I lost my "regular" job, and being self-employed couldn't collect, having to beg like Oliver Twist for more, and barely getting the scraps off the floor, I have found myself in the position where I have too much work for the time that I have. (a good problem to have all the same)
Saying all that, I'll get to my point. I was unable to watch the show last night. so, thanks for posting this. That was DAMN HOT!!!!
Shit That Was Stu-friggin'-pendous!!!!!!
Thanks again!!
Trish Misiura
I've been pondering since I saw Johnny Weir's performance last night why I thought it was so...so...I'm not even sure I can begin to describe his performance and my reaction to it.
I think germansoutmate's "stunning" came to mind. Stunningly beautiful. But also stunning as in: making me stunned, unable to move, to think, leaving me not fully aware of time and place, mesmerized.
Another word that comes to mind is "electrifying," with zaps of electricity making my senses tingle and my brain a bit dazed.
Over the years, I've come to realize that the works of art, dance, theater, that affect me the deepest, and the longest, are always those that affect me viscerally AND engage me intellectually.
Mostly these works expose me to the unexpected, and in doing that, reach parts of me that I didn't know existed, and teach me things that I had never thought of learning.
That skating performance last night--that was one of those works.
I think that is the darkest, and most disturbingly beautiful performance I've ever seen by Johnny Weir, or indeed any skater.
I thank Johnny, Laurianne Gibson, and the other skaters for giving me last night's performance. I thought about it most of last night, am still thinking about it this morning, and I know I will never forget it.
Johnny has always said that while he was an athlete, he also was an artist. And last night was one of his masterpieces.
I loved this performance! SO SO HOT!! loved the skating,loved the choreography,loved the costume,loved the cage,loved the song!! Loved it! Johnny would be amazing in a spectacular just as he would be amazing competing again, whatever he wants and chooses to do, I AM SO THERE!
great great blog MM!
Beth (BSontwit)
An inspired skating performance and an inspired blog. Everything meshed together in that program and had an incredible energy and intensity. Riveting.
Johnny's wild and birdaceous skating costume last night was not split into two halves tied together, but was an integrated whole. Wonder if he designed that gorgeous costume himself. Rara avis.
Yes! Absolutely! Every word you wrote, Binky.
THIS is what so many of us see underneath the trappings of all those federation rules and regulations...while they provided an temporary outlet for his growth, he an artist/athlete so gifted with intelligent expression and passion; that simple competition had lost it's ability to contain and define his gifts.
Martin Scorcese offered a definition of artistic genius once, and I paraphrase it here; because that is what, at least in my mind, Johnny Weir has:
'Genius is having the ability to express what you need to express, and having command of the medium in which you work. Your vision tells you where you need to go...and people may not want to follow, but you need to go there, as an artist you have to go there.'
I love that Johnny is not resting on his monumental accomplishments in figure skating, but is in a constant state of "becoming"...How exciting, how fresh, and how wonderful that we are fortunate enough to witness it.
I did that backwards...LOL.
SWTS...not the other way around. bah.
OMG! So for the last 2 nights I was able to view the SWTS with my boyfriend...
He appreciates all sports and the work that goes into performing, he comes from a somewhat famous sports family (football) and played himself in high school and college, so I wasn't sure what he would have to say once he saw "my real boyfriend" (as he refers to JGW) actually perform.
He was AMAZED and AWED at the way JGW skated. He said he had never seen anything like it before! He went on then to discuss with me the athleticism that went into several different parts of JGW's performance...
The biggest deal was of the JGW signature slide..."how did he do that", "wow that guy (JGW) IS really TALENTED!"
Johnny, as I have said, has CHANGED MY LIFE and still continues to do so! Thank you Binky!
I LOVE LOVE YOU BINKY!!!
I always have faith in Johnny that future skates will always improve - but he simply doesn't get 'better', his performances improve exponentially!
I sat spellbound during this performance once again transported directly on to the ice. There was no more husband in the back room, hacking up a lung from his Winter cold. No unemployment, no dirty dishes in the sink, no cat hair on the sofa. Just me, Johnny, Denis, Jennifer, and Keauna on the ice, reveling in the sheer joy of the moment.
Thank you Johnny & Laurieann! ♥
So beautiful. You fed my senses and my soul.
LOVED Johnny's performance! So memorizing and enchanting. I thought the use of the cage really helped with visual symbolism and added so much to the performance.
My father started watching just as Johnny finished, and he actually remembers Dick Button's Olympic Performances, and he was very impressed.
I liked Vernon as a host, however I'm pretty used to his brand of humor. (I refer to the British style of humor. It's very dry, and can sometimes be offensive to some people.) I think he was a bit nervous in the beginning, I noticed a significant change towards the end. It might have to do with the atmosphere and ambiance. I think Vernon just needed to relax and have some fun.
I defiantly enjoyed this show, although next time I hope there will be less drama and more excitement.
"This is skating as performance art.....an explosion of passion and athleticism and beauty and artistry so spellbinding that you are absolutely mesmerized and all you know is you can't explain it--you can only experience it--and Sweet Weirsus, you wish it would never end". Binx, so totally:-)
I watched, I gasped, then sat in stunned silence, my breath taken away, as I was dazzled and held spellbound by the skating unfolding before my eyes.Then...OMG!!! Was what I saw real? Did I really just see the one of the most evocatively exquisite figure skating performances I've ever seen?
Thankfully, the clip was already online. I watched it again, then again, then once more as I reveled in the absolute beauty of Johnny as he skated the role of a sensual and exotically beautiful bird set free from the confines of its cage skating in joyful and exquisite freedom resisting the pressure to be confined again.
That Johnny is a creative genius is beyond doubt, for it takes such genius to be able to breath such passionate fire and life into the steps laid out by a choreographer. I am certain that Laurieann was thrilled beyond measure to see her work brought to such powerful life by Johnny's artistry. All of the skaters were beautiful to watch. The entire piece was gorgeous. Dennis is a beautiful skater, as well. I am completely looking forward to more collaboration between Johnny, Dennis and Melissa, for lasts night's skate reminded me of the trio's Fallen Angels.
Johnny is simply my Nureyev on ice.
I was only able to watch the video later as I could not see the peformance live. It would have been so much better had I seen it on the big screen TV in the living room, yet it was still stunning on the computer. And on that incredibly small surface! Amazing! (And you too Denis! LOL!) I see the cage as symbolic of his being confined by the USFSA and the ISU and being set free. He doesn't want to go back in the cage for certain, but still has so much more to give. He amazes me, he constantly surprises and thrills me. He's Johnny Weir, what else do any of us need to say? He is completely, totally and amazingly unique! As Judith says here and I have agreed with her before, Nureyev on ice!
If this is an example of what we might see at Johnny's own spectacular we definitely need it, and we need him to work with Laurieann and Denis and Melissa again!
Thanks again MM, for a wonderful Blog. You never cease to amaze me either!
That mini-program packed a helluva lot of heat for such a little thing. I've never seen anything like it on ice, that's for sure. Hot like fire. Wowza.
I'm gonna miss SWTS. Really! I could have lived without some of the grief, but it was a fun show. Hey, it's figure skating.
xoxo
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