Meryl will not be trying to be Anissina. She will be trying to be Esmeralda, as danced by Meryl.
Meryl has studied dance, and she now moves really like a ballerina.
To be frank, I was a little tired of this business of not announcing D&W's FD when they had already shown it at Champs Camp and it was apparently "approved" by USFS.
I can understand keeping it quiet until Champs Camp, but really, not after. I joined the teleconference a few minutes late, but I don't think anyone had previously asked about their FD, (perhaps Lynn can correct me) so as soon as I could I simply asked if they were skating to Notre-Dame de Paris. There were 14 people on the call, but only a few of us actually asked any questions.
Don't they tend to wait until about a week and a half before Skate America to make some big announcement to drum up excitement for their debut? I'm assuming it's a D&W / USFSA decision as Marina doesn 't seem to do this with V&M or Shibs. The way it's done, with all the quotes gathered and saved for one big announcement, makes it appear Marina is putting her weight behind them and because it's done so close to Skate America people don't have time to forget about them so the anticipation and excitement carries over to their debut.
You might be reading too much into things and overanalyzing a bit. Sometimes articles are published on certain dates because that's when the reporter happens to finish them.
Charlie is supposed to move like a hunchback in Notre-Dame de Paris, yes? Clearly, he will not have ballet lines.
He says he won't be costumed as the hunchback. Don't know if that means he'll be playing a different character, or he just won't wear a hunchback costume.
I can't imagine performing Danse mon Esmeralda without Charlie portraying the hunchback character. I asked Charlie, You're not going to look too much like the hunchback are you? He laughed and replied, "no", so not too ugly a look on Charlie, thank goodness.
I'll probably be lambasted for saying this, but I've always seen Moir and White as the contemporary personifications of Fred Astaire (Moir) and Gene Kelly (White). Given that, I've never understood why Zoueva doesn't mine the music of Kelly's wonderful MGM musicals (and not Singin' in the Rain--no need to trot out that warhorse again). Davis and White to me embody a particular kind of theatrical American style of dancing, so why not play to that strength? Not the "ballet" musicals (maybe it's me, but so much of An American in Paris is just pretentious), but something like The Pirate could be wonderful. It's Cole Porter, it's eminently danceable, it's big, it's character driven. And I wish someone would tell Charlie to take an acting class or two. I think it would do him a world of good. His dancing over the last 2-3 years has lost so much of that *frantic* quality and has loosened up. I think an acting class or two could do the same for his expression. Just my two coppers...
Well acting may help presence, presentation, communication with the audience, and interpretation. But things have to be exaggerated on ice. I do admit sometimes seeing Charlie do a real heavy piece like even Carmen might seem a bit comedic just from his demeanour. I guess you need to work to your strengths. .
Do athletes in other sports take acting lessons?
What is it about figure skating that makes some of us want these athletes to take acting lessons?
Michael Jordan never took acting lessons. Usain Bolt to my knowledge has not taken acting lessons nor has Gabby Douglas.
Certain athletes have a degree of charisma that is not taught to them in acting school. It is real and that is why fans like it.
When I want to see fine acting I can watch Robert Dinero or Meryl Streep.
Maybe it's me but I don' t equate Charlie White with Al Pacino. One is an athlete and the other is an actor.
Do we need skaters taking acting lessons under the new scoring system? I thought it was all about sport now :think:
If it were strictly a sport, everyone would be skating to the exact same music, the same choreography and the same costumes. I think that's what makes figure skating unique - yes the athletic side is now more valued but you can't totally ignore the aesthetic. Not everyone is taking acting lessons but as a dancer whether in a ballet, modern-dance, ballroom dance, broadway etc - facial expressions and interpretation is part of the equation so I am not sure why ice dancers wouldn't want to emulate that as well. My two cents..
Thanks and I can't really disagree with you. But why limit it to Ice Dancers?
Is Ice Dancing less of a sport than the other disciplines?
Is a charasmatic performance more important to Charlie than Dai?
When it comes to V/M and D/W what will determine who wins? The skating or the acting?
Hi Janetfan - you bring up great points which I think that even the figure skating fans have disagreements on. For me ice dancing is not less of a sport than the other disciplines. So it doesn't have the jumps - but holycow the footwork, lifts and stamina is ridiculous. Charasmatic performance should be equal for all skaters. As for the V/M vs. D/W debate - well obviously the skating is more important.