The Shift towards Single-Themed Programs

For many years in skating, skaters would skate to programs that were, quite literally, programs (according to one of dictionary.com's definitions-- an entertainment with reference to its pieces or numbers: a program of American and French music. ) with multiple cuts in music to show off a skater's versatility in skating different rhythms. Somewhere in the late 80's, skaters seemed to start using the single-themed programs (there were still those who had multiple cuts in the music, like the late Kira Ivanova, Jill Trenary...and Tonya Harding was criticized for having multiple cuts in her 1992 Olympic FS). Why do you think this occured? Is it easier for a skater to skate to one theme? Is it easier for the audience to follow? Easier for character development, etc?

Nowadays, not only do skaters seem to skate to one theme, but each program seems to be laid out the same way (jump combo jump, spin, jump jump combo jump, spin spiral jump footwork spin), and many blame the new system. Perhaps this could be made more exciting by returning to the multi-cut program? or are today's skaters, perhaps, not versatile enough to attempt multiple rhythms in the same program?

blue dog said:

or are today's skaters, perhaps, not versatile enough to attempt multiple rhythms in the same program?

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Yeah, that's the reason! Unfortunately they are not versatile enough. Probably also because they are not encouraged by some influential choreographers. They are to blame too. It's not only the CoP system.

There are ways to stimulate versatility and I proposed it in a thread. The LP should be free choice, but not the SP.

Versatility is a serious problem of the Ladies and Pairs category, less of the Men category (but that was thanks to Lambiel, Daisuke and Buttle). Dance is not affected and I think this is thanks to the OD, which stimulates versatilty, because skaters have to master skating to different pieces of music.

Less versatility is also connected with less originality (which CoP affects too). This mix of declining originality is probably also one of the reason of the decline of popularity of FS.

I think some skaters believe (wrongly as far as I am concerned) that crescendos in a sweet melody show versatility. They don't want to get involved with change of rhythm, tempo, and beat.

Do you mean cuts of music from different themes?

Unless, one is skating to a film score, which leaves room for multiple cuts, I think cutting the music to fit seamlessly might have an affect. Though, that's just me and being too young to remember. A good cut of music from today would be Kimmie's FS for this season, using two different orchestral pieces.

I think the move toward single-theme programs came first from ice dancers. E.g., Lorna Wighton & John Dowding skating a free dance all to music from Swan Lake in 1979; Torvill & Dean's Mack and Mabel (1982), Barnum (1983), and especially Bolero (1984) free dances; Blumberg & Seibert's Scheherezade (1984), etc.

John Curry's Don Quixote in 1976 was thematic. By the late 80s, a number of singles skaters were using music from a single source for their long programs and suiting costume and choreography to the theme, e.g., Katarina Witt's Carmen.

By the 1990s, splicing together unrelated pieces of music in such a way that emphasized the seams between the sections began to seem incoherent and old fashioned.

But long programs to a single piece of music with little or no change in tempo and dynamics could get boring and keep skaters from demonstrating ability to skate to more than one style or tempo.

The most successful theme programs use several different pieces of music from the same larger work or edited versions of longer pieces that have variety within themselves.

Overtures from ballets, operas, or musical comedies work well because the composer already made the effort to blend the different themes together with appropriate transitions.

Some choreographers work with music editors who can take pieces that were never intended to go together at all and edit them coherently by choosing pieces in the same key, etc., sometimes separate pieces by the same composer. Some choreographers can do this editing themselves.

That way the music can have coherence as a 4-minute piece (or whatever the length of the program) and also show variety.

Sometimes the music editing might be no more coherent than was common in the 1980s and earlier, but there's still an intellectual or choreographic theme that ties the program together. Vanessa Gusmeroli's circus LP from 1996-97 and her "Four Elements" program from 1998 come to mind.

gkelly said:

Sometimes the music editing might be no more coherent than was common in the 1980s and earlier, but there's still an intellectual or choreographic theme that ties the program together. Vanessa Gusmeroli's circus LP from 1996-97 and her "Four Elements" program from 1998 come to mind.

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Or, like Michelle's 1997 LP, Taj Mahal, which none of the selections were even written about the Taj Mahal, but the mood of the music was certainly "Indian." I think her SP of the same year had that certain intellectual/choreographic theme, where it was about Desdemona, but the music was "The Red Poppy" and Melodrame by Saint-Saens.

I think that in order for a skater to show to create a real CoP worthy program he/she/they have to stick to one theme. The costume has to fit, the hair, the mood etc. The outdated way of hopping from a modern psychedelic soundtrack to mozart is gone (and good riddiance). with program like that it was impossible for a skater to connect to the emotion of the music never mind tell a story or make the audince feel something. I think that is one of the things that made Kwan so great. She was one of the first to use one theme or one piece of music all the way through and we could connect with that.

Tinymavy15 said:

The outdated way of hopping from a modern psychedelic soundtrack to mozart is gone (and good riddiance). with program like that it was impossible for a skater to connect to the emotion of the music never mind tell a story or make the audince feel something.

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I can agree but also disagree. I disagree because Robin Cousins 80 LP was great!
I agree because programs with a single theme or the same music can be very interesting, if you are Kwan or Cohen, but can become extremely boring if you are .... (I don't want to say any name).

blue dog said:

I think her SP of the same year had that certain intellectual/choreographic theme, where it was about Desdemona, but the music was "The Red Poppy" and Melodrame by Saint-Saens.

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Wasn't 'Dream of Desdemona' cobbled together from various pieces by Massenet?

No. There was a Reinhold Gliere section in DoD

goldenpleasures said:

Wasn't 'Dream of Desdemona' cobbled together from various pieces by Massenet?

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Yes (along with the Red Poppy). It was called Heriodade and I think it was an opera about Salome, perhaps left over music not used from the previous season? Music from this was also used in the footwork into the second lutz of Ariane.

I personally think that music from different pieces can be creatively edited together (like Michelle's Taj). Then, there are some programs from the same music/work that are not as smoothly put together, like Irina's Carmen.

Part of me wishes that skaters would try different rhythms in a program--but I guess the name of the game with the CoP is to try as many elements, and not necessarily showing versatility as a performer.

Dream of Desdemona

Michelle Kwan's 1996-1997 short program was made up of selections from "The Red Poppy" ballet suite by Reinhold Gliere, and Orchestral Suites by Jules Massenet. Personally this program is my favorite of Michelle's short programs, followed closely by her 1995-1996 "Romanza". Beautiful musicality, great choreography, and brilliant interpretation!