Rachael Flatt's New SP

To answer your question, aftertherain, in *my* humble opinion Rachael's style is joy/effervescence/a connection to the audience. Then again I'm biased, I've been a fan of hers since her senior debut at Nationals in 2007.

At this past Skate America my eyes were glued to Rach during warmup. I recall most of all how focused she was, nothing distracting her, getting the job done, but at the same time Rachael had her trademark half-smile on her face. But you could see she was going through her routine in her mind, totally focused on what was in front of her. Then when it came time for her to skate, it was as if God turned the light on ~ truly wonderful to see first-hand in person ~ the absolute highlight for me. I'm soooooo glad I went to Skate America this year!

If her new SP has even a quarter of what her Beatles exhibition skate had this season, I know I will be in tears: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUP4sjFI4b0


p.s. for the men, I was thinking it would be great if Ryan Bradley skated to Christina Aguilera's updated modern version of the Andrews Sisters classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCxJZKhXVZ8 arty:

ibauer said:

I'm not trying to be pedantic here, but the structure is A-A-B. "St. Louis Bluse" is a good example:

I hate to see that evening sun go down
I hate to see that evening sun go down
'Cause my baby done left this town
etc.

"It Ain't Necessarily So" is much closer in structure to a genuine blues tune, but yes, "Summertime" has a blues feel to it even though it's not an out-and-out blues.

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Whoops! Thanks so much for the correction. I got things flipped around in my mind. And I love your point about "It Ain't Necessarily So" being closer to a true blues melody.

And Serious Business, thanks for the extra insight about the pentatonic minor scale. I never learned music theory, and it's great to know that there are people on here that I can ask. I've always felt that my understanding of music would be so enriched by a knowledge of the technical tools that composers use.

Joe, to me a lullaby isn't a special rhythm or tempo, like a march or a waltz, but rather a special purpose. Because a lullaby's main aim is to calm a kid down and get him to fall asleep, it tends to be slow rather than jaunty or full of surprises. Of course in the case of "Summertime," it also advances the narrative of an opera. So "Summertime" is more dramatic and over the top than a piece like Brahms's Lullaby. As several other posters have pointed out, "Summertime" can be used in other ways depending on the arrangement and the singer's interpretation. What do you bet that if we made a list of the top 20 pieces of music in 20th century America (probably excluding rock, but maybe not), "Summertime" would be in the top ten?

Interesting that many of us are a bit anxious about Rachael's skating to "East of Eden," because it's Michelle's song, but that nobody's making the same complaint about "Summertime," which so calls to mind Kurt Browning and Torvill and Dean. I guess "Summertime" is one of those universal pieces that belongs to everyone?

I'm so excited. Go Rachael.

Just skate to it and get it over with. It doesn't matter what system (6.0 or COP) because there's a different level of skating when it comes to Michelle.