Antares is amazing
Antares is amazing
This is so funny! Bolero's not my favorite piece of music by a long shot, but that dance, in that year, in the context of what ice dance was at the time, was truly revolutionary. Until T&D, free dance programs as a rule were a grab-bag of unrelated pieces of music chosen to show versatility. Torvill and Dean's programs for the 2 years preceding the Olympics featured music in a variety of styles that all came from the same Broadway/West End score (Mack and Mabel one year, and Barnum the next). Their programs captured a mood or told a story. With Bolero, they were really innovating, pushing at the rules and the limits of the sport. The dance was pretty mesmerizing at the time--and very original.Originally Posted by Buttercup
And now, I have to confess to what appears to be the very worst thing a FS fan can feel; worse even than not really thinking Kwan was that great. Maybe because I didn't see it in real time... I never liked T&D's Bolero that much. There, I've said it! Now I will run and hide.
My very favorite thing that T&D ever did, I think, was in a short film shown as a public television special, with Yo Yo Ma playing one of Bach's unaccompanied cello sonatas. One of the movements is on YouTube (starts with "Bach" recounting a tragic event from his life):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g-uf81SUko
My other favorite is this original dance rumba. Shows what good actors they are, and how they can capture the style of a particular dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19CYCcmA2Y0
And who can forget:
Their original set pattern Rock and Roll--imagine doing this once, let alone three complete patterns!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEHsR679g1M
What a great resource this thread is--thanks for coming up with the topic!
My favorite routines of 'all time'
Michelle Kwan 1998 Nationals - both Rach SP and Lyra Angelica LP
Michelle Kwan 1996 Worlds - Salome LP
Chen Lu - 1996 Rach. LP
Chen Lu - 1995 Last Emperor
Kristi Yamaguchi - 1992 Oly's SP - Blue Danube
Sarah Hughes - 2002 Oly's LP (the only skate of her's that I've enjoyed.)
Sasha Cohen - 2006 Oly's SP
Alexei Yagudin - SP Winter
Brian Boitano 1988 LP Olympics
Torvill/Dean - 1984 Olympics Bolero
With regards to non-competition:
Torvill/Dean - Encounters, Red Hat
Kurt Browning's Brick House
Brian Boitano's Carousel Waltz (I think he did this in competition as well), Wild Elephants (Gap commercial song)
Kristi Y - Doop Doop, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Some Day I'll Fly Away
Gordeeva/Grinkov - The Man I Love
Scott Hamilton - Hair, Figaro
Thanks for such an informative post.
I have heard similar "what was so special about her" remarks refering to Janet Lynn. But to appreciate Janet or T & D one has to be familiar with the skating of their era and not just from the last 5-10 years.
It is important to acknowledge the skaters who brought about change to figure skating through their artistry and innovation. Their influence is still felt today and any newer skating fan could enrich their appreciation of figure skating by taking a little time to become more familiar with some of the skating legends of the past.
I've started watching the ice dance videos, and I gotta say, they look fun. Might as well start with the most definitive program of them all (or so I've heard) Torvill and Dean's Bolero. Pretty cool moves, which I think (although Im not sure) would still be pretty cool if performed today.
Although what really caught my attention was the anissina/peizarat R&J program. So fast and seamless. I loved it.
Aesthetically, I'm starting to get ice dancing. For me, its beginning to feel like the very thing I can't do in ballet - freedom in movement where you almost float on your feet without ever stopping.
I think what I meant about not knowing what to watch for in ice dance is that I don't know how to judge a program's difficulty without the jumps and the throws.
I can't thank you guys enough for the suggestions!
Actually, as I was writing my "I don't like Bolero" post, I was thinking that I had the opposite reaction to Janet Lynn. It was a different era of figure skating, but the programs she skated remain beautiful and engaging, and her skating is still wonderful to watch. A shame she competed under a system in which figures counted for so much.
yeah why have figures, it's only FIGURES skating...
Actually, in many languages it's called either ice skating or artistic skating (e.g. patinage artistique in French). Janet's performances were certainly artistic, and not in the voidy sense of the word.yeah why have figures, it's only FIGURES skating...
As for the figures - yes or no question, they were gone by the time I started watching. Maybe it would be better to bring those back, at least for younger skaters, but not to have a situation in which a skater builds up an insurmountable lead in the figures, like Trixie Schuba usually had (and deservedly so).
Last edited by Buttercup; 06-27-2009 at 04:02 PM.
so the sport took the name from figures?Just curious..cause in other languages figures are not included in the name.
edit:sorry B i had not seen your message, i said the same
Last edited by seniorita; 06-27-2009 at 04:20 PM. Reason: ooups
it was a skill and a showcase of control on the blade. I think it's extremely important, and I am not a figure skater...
I have never seen or read Janet Lynn's recent address to US Skating - but I believe she surprised many with the views she expressed.
I think Janet came out very strongly in support of school figures amongst other somewhat surprising views about the state of US Skating - and skating in general. I think mathman knows about this and I would appreciate any views he or others would care to share about Janet's speech.
It's available online:
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum....skate&tid=1977
Thanks - but I have seen that link before. I get as far as the password - but I don't have it. Any suggestions ?
Gosh, I don't get asked for a PW. Here's the direct link to the doc.
http://forums.about.com/n/docs/docDo...b-99893757d0c8
ETA: If that doesn't work, PM me. But please, GS experts: figure this out before I get inundated. And maybe start a new thread for this topic? It seems we should be discussing this speech!
Last edited by Spun Silver; 06-27-2009 at 08:04 PM.
The first link should work without having to register or log in. Main page->Famous skaters->Janet Lynn's speech (the thread with the paper clip)->full transcript.
However, I think you need one of the newer vesions of Acrobat Reader to open it (I can open it on my new computer but not on my old).
IIRC this speech was given at the skaters' banquet at the annual meeting of the USFSA, and it ruffled some feathers. These banquets are feel-good affairs where speakers are expected to get up and say how wonderful the sport of figure skating is and what awesome people we all are.
Instead, Ms. Lynn basically said that compared with the quality of skating in her day, what skaters are putting out there now is crap. This was not well received by the audience, who, after all, comprised the very skaters that were being so severely critiqued.
When asked later to clarify her remarks, she committed another public relations faux pas by refusing to allow the transcript of her speech to be published by the USFSA. Instead, you could contact Ms. Lynn by email and, for a fee, she would send it to you (and by the way, do you want to buy some of my other self-published essays?).
So it took a little while before everyone settled down to actually read what she said in an objective way.
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