- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Truth be told, Carmen has never worked as an ice dance for me.
I think you've hit on the problem, Carmen is not a pas de deux.
The title of the opera is not "Carmen and her boyfriends"
Truth be told, Carmen has never worked as an ice dance for me.
A Fine Romance?
Virtue and Moir attempted a “new” interpretation of Carmen (an oxymoron).
I like the attempt at skating this warhorse in a modern, dare I say “voidy” way but to my eyes it falls flat both technically and artistically.
The lifts ended up looking awkward and borderline pornographic. There’s too much side by side skating, too many hand to hand holds, the dance spins look slow and labored, the gap between the two skaters looks much wider than ever before…technically it’s a step backward for Virtue and Moir who used to skate with so much more technical difficulty than we currently see in (this version of) Carmen.
I appreciate that they were going for something edgy and modern but the chemistry and connection between the two skaters seems greatly diminished in this Carmen program.
Carmen without romance, without passion, without fire or strong connection comes off looking…odd.
Truth be told, Carmen has never worked as an ice dance for me.
The Duchesnays did edgy and modern so, so, so much better (and they had the good sense to avoid Carmen completely).
Yeah, right, here she kills him (see at around 8 minute): www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q800XvZNe5g Pure art!Well...the theatre/stage is full of oxymorons.
Yeah, right, here she kills him (see at around 8 minute): www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q800XvZNe5g Pure art!
A master performer distinct itself by the choice he/she makes. The program picked the purity of emotion and essence of Carmen and revitalized into the 21st century. In doing so, they made it uniquely their own. It is a testament to their growth and journey as a leader of this sport to able to take risks pushing for this direction. Hopefully they will be rewarded by the judges at worlds. It challenges the audience and the judge's perception of the material, but I think in the long run, this is a worthy effort that can distinct themselves from the pack. One can certainly scrutinize over techniques and the execution, but the elite art direction and the creative decisions of this program is superb (comparatively to say D/W Notre Dame). I love it!
Well...the theatre/stage is full of oxymorons. What do you call all the Shakespeare plays and its various manifestations through out the world in all sort of medium? I think the big question is what is the difference between a masterful rendition of a classic vs an amateur version? I'd say creative decision, thoughtful process are key components of the criteria.
I have a complete different reading of the story of Carmen from you. It was never about romance or passion for me, but about dangerous seduction, manipulation of emotions, dark obsession, sexual conquests, cold jealousy, gender politics, unhealthy relationships where one always strives to domineer another but at the same time at the mercy of the other (succinctly summarized in the final pose). It is the push and pull of lust, obsession, doom and death, the darker side of 'love'. Carmen has always been a profoundly dark story for me, but has been primed too much in the past with the romanticism and the fetish of the period/ exotic scenery / political background where it became more about the glam, the props/the kit, the ambiance of theater/performance environment, where its core concepts has been watered down following the culture of commercialization of Carmen. It is the equivalent of performers putting on their own Halloween costume playing 'trick or treats' doing a superficial reading of the story without getting into the honesty, the truth of the material; the heart, the blood, the guts of Carmen in its bare essence, its interdependence.
The main difference between C/L's version is they are so focused on its literal story telling, scene changes, it missed out the big picture. Their interpretation is skin deep and conforms to a theatrical version of Carmen the judges probably expect. Tessa and Scott's version on the other hand cut away the trimming, the fats and got to the heart of the emotions, exploit the fundamental concepts and realized it in a new form of a dance. It is not edgy for edgy's sake, but it with purpose and meaning.
A master performer distinct itself by the choice he/she makes. The program picked the purity of emotion and essence of Carmen and revitalized into the 21st century. In doing so, they made it uniquely their own. It is a testament to their growth and journey as a leader of this sport to able to take risks pushing for this direction. Hopefully they will be rewarded by the judges at worlds. It challenges the audience and the judge's perception of the material, but I think in the long run, this is a worthy effort that can distinct themselves from the pack. One can certainly scrutinize over techniques and the execution, but the elite art direction and the creative decisions of this program is superb (comparatively to say D/W Notre Dame). I love it!
And that killed me!
Michelle's 1999 short program was utterly unique in that it did not use the music of Bizet at all. Lori Nichol pieced together material from the "Carmen Suite" by then-avant garde Russian composer Rodio Shchedrin, scored for strings and percussion (mainly percussion ); from the Carmen Fantasy, adapted by Nichol's favorite violinist, Nadia Salermo-Sonnenberg, from the score of the 1947 Joan Crawford movie Humoresque by Franz Waxman; and from the score of the 1983 movie "Carmen" which featured a dual story line of two modern people playing out the Carmen tragedy in real life.
Michelle did not try to portray a character of tell a story at all. Unless the story was, awesome athlete tries to win national championship.
Actually, one pleasant surprise is Christina Gao and her SP music. I have never heard of the song, "Close without Touching," the album it came from, "The Spirit of Olympia" or the artists that did it, David Arkenstone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Arkenstone <---- he sounds absolutely fascinating. And the guy has FORTY studio albums, so plenty to choose from.
Mrs. P, Karen Kwan skated to this music in 1997. I immediately thought of her program when Christina's music selection came on the screen. Here's a link to Karen's program. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MbpNJxQutc
Yes I see that now. Just got to that part of the thread and came back to delete my comment, but alas you have already seen it. Oh wellYes it's quite beautiful! Many people have pointed it out to me -- clearly I understand why. Still 15 years between programs is not bad...Christina Gao would only have been three years old at the time.