Musical Selection

[Joesitz]

Whatever the music, broadway, pop concerts, high or lowbrow music, the skater must choose music that is easy for the skater from whatever source and era.

Until a skater reaches 25, he/she should avoid dramatic music which requires some kind of living experiences to characterize. Most young skaters do not have real life experiences to actually feel any emotions towards the music and in its changes in rhythm. A few, Jenny Kirk, Angelina Nikidinov, etc., may have some dramatic feelings due to the sadness in their lives but only if it brought out in the music.

Young skaters can, and often do, mimic something they saw in the movies or from a distinguished older skater. That's ok. Shows potential but not artistry.

Joe

[JonnyCoop]

On that note -- so to speak -- I've always had a problem with coaches who choose the music for their skaters and assume this "You vill skate to this and you vill not ask any questions" attitude. This has by and large fallen by the wayside more and more over the last 10, 20 years or so, but there are still some out there. I have to wonder if some of the lackluster programs that we see might be due to the fact that they are skating to music that they just flat out don't like, never did, and never will.

[CDMM1991]

On that note -- so to speak -- I've always had a problem with coaches who choose the music for their skaters and assume this "You vill skate to this and you vill not ask any questions" attitude. This has by and large fallen by the wayside more and more over the last 10, 20 years or so, but there are still some out there. I have to wonder if some of the lackluster programs that we see might be due to the fact that they are skating to music that they just flat out don't like, never did, and never will.

I completely agree with this. For years, since I was younger, my coaches always picked my music for me and I skated to it, because I didn't have a problem with it, or at least not enough of one to put up a fight to any of the pieces, but I never enjoyed my performances as much as I could have, in my opinion. Anyway, at the end of this season my coaches came to me and told me they wanted my input this time around, and luckily enough the music I found was a piece that they loved too and thought suited me perfectly. We've started choreographing and I already can tell that I connect to this program more and can present this program better than any of the ones I have had in previous seasons.

[JonnyCoop]

I should imagine it makes practice sessions during the season a lot easier, too, if one is skating to something that they LIKE, as opposed to some random thing that they may not even like. If you're going to have to listen to something hundreds and hundreds of times over the course of the season, it darn well BETTER be something that you like. I've heard a LOT of music over the years at competitions that I honestly don't know how the skater put up with it for that long. Personally, if handed a piece of music I didn't like and was told I HAD to skate to it, I would either go on strike or fire the coach. Then again, nothing sets my teeth on edge faster than music I don't like. (Well, a few things do, but it's definitely in my top 10 list )