Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner More fallout from Yuja Wang

In case one hasn't followed the thread on the upcoming recital page, Yuja Wang recently performed in SoCal (at Disney and Segerstrom). After which she traveled to Vancouver but was held up by border officials. The experience unnerved her so much she played with dark sunglasses on to hide her red eyes from cyring, She was next scheduled for San Francisco, but she then cancelled. Along with her next 4 venues.
Here's the article from Mark Swed of the LA Times contrasting her recital with Helene Grimaud's which was held a week later:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=yuja+...mp;cvid=59232127a66d46c29b34ef2e4bdc53ec

I didn't know the concerts in LA happened before Vancouver. I think this article is totally missing the point and terribly unfair. Does he even know how terrible the situation is in Yuja's home country and her home town in the past month and it seemed to get worse every day? This is not a question about stardom or musicianship, couldn't be any further from it. I am surprised Yuja did not cancel earlier.

From the title I thought maybe her top was too loose.

(Sorry, everybody.)

LOL

I'm sorry she's going through a tough time.

I hope things improve for her soon.

Good one! No, sorry to disappoint, but Yuja prefers everything very tight and form fitting. It's a wonder she can manage double octaves and hand leaps without splitting her dress. (And not much to fall out from in any case),

Yes -- and even forget about splitting her dress; I've wondered how such attire doesn't just badly restrain her physical movement, but evidently somehow it doesn't. If I wear anything half that tight, it does.

A little Lycra does wonders to fabric............as in 'stretchy'

But "stretchy" still restrains some -- doesn't it??

🙄🙄🙄

omg

absolutely not. I actually find it less distracting than loose clothing that's constantly moving around.
My experience comes mostly from cycling and running gear but still...
Also, there's plenty of dress shirts with some stretchy stuff instead of pure cotton or whatever, I can only recommend you try it. Even jeans - it will improve your life

+1

Her outfits look very stretchy and probably very comfortable, assuming she's happy with the style, which she very clearly is. As someone who has a pretty decent side hustle in ballet costuming, I can tell you that you can make something look very difficult to wear that is, in fact, very comfortable and moves with you in every direction you need it to. I can make something look incredibly structured, and actually BE structured where it needs to be, but allow for extreme movement in every way it has to without being uncomfortable or restrictive. I can also make it very skimpy and daringly cut, and have it stay within a centimeter of where it is supposed to be no matter how you move.

But nobody--NOBODY--can tell me those shoes are comfortable.

Yuja Wang is entitled to dress HOWEVER SHE WANTS, and modern fabric choices have all but eliminated discomfort, but those shoes look torturous and she's welcome to them!

This thread is disturbing, can we please stop talking about her outfits, her choice of dress, etc and focus on her music and playing skills?

So what I gather from the OP's post was that Yuja got all upset about the fact that she was detained by authorities at Vancouver's Airport due to possible concerns over the Coronavirus , right? I wouldnt be upset if I was in her shoes, the fact is Customs and Border Enforcement workers are going to be questioning people from Asia who may be carrying the virus and not be aware of it. Doesnt she understand that?

It's not unreasonable to talk about side issues some, but your emphasis is well taken.

I'm a big fan of Yuja Wang the pianist, and I believe she's entitled to wear whatever she wants. But discussion of the "trimmings", whether they're used to express individuality or used as a marketing angle, is the price that comes with it. I'd bet Paganini and Liszt dealt with the same thing, only without the wall-to-wall media coverage we have now. And I'd bet Yuja Wang couldn't care less as long as she has an audience and can play.

At first I also thought she had a big reaction to being questioned by authorities at Vancouver. But why was she detained for an hour? She is actually not from Asia. She was born in China but studied in the US and now lives in New York. Before arriving in Vancouver she was just in Southern California after concerts in the US in February. In the month prior she had been on an European concert tour.

Yeah, not to get into yet another political debate (Heaven forbid) but I take it that the essence of the complaint is "profiling". I think she's probably right to be upset.

I don’t believe the review stated she was detained for coronovirus screening. In fact, I have been questioned more than once at Canadian immigrations for entry into Canada. They can be sensitive about whether Americans can be taking away Canadian jobs from Canadians). I worked for a US company with an office in Canada, carried business cards and a letter from my employer. Still had secondary screening.