Michelle skating to Bolero - good or bad choice? | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Michelle skating to Bolero - good or bad choice?

Tony Wheeler

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Some random comments from reading through this thread, apologies in advance if anything had already been answered.

First off, no, I can't say for certain who the choreographer was for Michelle's programs. I'd remove David Wilson from the speculation list, though, with pretty much 100% certainty.

Joe- Abt skated to Bolero when he was with Zhulin, not Artunian.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
JonnyCoop said:
I feel that in general if one is going to skate to "Bolero", better to use it as a long program and don't even go there with a short program. The appeal of "Bolero", musically, is that it builds on itself and builds on itself to the climax, and one has a better chance of translating this aspect of the piece in 4 minutes rather than 2 1/2. Every short program I've seen of "Bolero" gives the impression that they started in the middle (which they did) and I don't think it's a good effect overall; it just seems disjointed.

As for Michelle using it -- in part it will depend on who's doing the choreography.

Plushenko did quite well using Bolero for his SP. I think MK could do it, but I prefer to see her use original music, the way she did in her Lori Nichols days.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Vash01 said:
I prefer to see her use original music, the way she did in her Lori Nichols days.
Me, too. But I think it was Lori Nichol who was the creative genius in that collaboration.

It's really too much to ask of a teenage or early-twenties athlete that she already have a mature sense of musical appreciation. Nichol was known for searching long and thoughtfully for music whose possibilties only she could see. Sometimes Michelle fought the choice, as for instance for Lyra Angelica and Song of the Black Swan, and it took her the whole seaon to really get into Lori's vision.

Mathman
 

cianni

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Skating to Belero

I watched Torville and Dean skate to Belero today. Is this the same music Michelle will use? I find that music boring and it seems to just repeat the same thing over and over. I cant imagine that music being used by a single skater. I sure hope this isnt true. Can anyone verify the music for sure and if this is the version she will use? thanks
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I find it interesting that ever since Michelle left Lori Nichol she has been using well known music skated to by other skaters (Scheherazade, The feeling begins, Aranjuez, Tosca, etc.). It is not a big surprise if she is going to skate to Bolero. T&D were the most famous but not the only skaters to have used it. There is no reason why Michelle should not use it.

Vash
 

thvudragon

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
cianni said:
I watched Torville and Dean skate to Belero today. Is this the same music Michelle will use? I find that music boring and it seems to just repeat the same thing over and over. I cant imagine that music being used by a single skater. I sure hope this isnt true. Can anyone verify the music for sure and if this is the version she will use? thanks
It has been verified by a very reliable source that it is Ravel's Bolero.

lol, the music IS repeating over and over. Fully 18 times to be exact. I must be the only one who loves the monotony. :laugh:
 
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BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Bolero: Good or bad? Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see. I thought Scheherazade, SOTBS and Tosca were all bad choices when I initially heard about them. However, Michelle gave them all something special and made me respect the selections (and in some cases I actually began enjoying some of the music). If she is comfortable with the music and it allows her to reach that "zone"....I say skate to anything damn thing you like, Michelle! (YES...even the horrific, dreaded "Swan Lake", LOL!)

I also could care less whether Michelle skates to unique pieces or not. She's already shown she can skate well to overused pieces and lesser known selections. She is an adult now and has every right to make her own decisions (lol, or at least decide who is the best person/team to choose for her). Whatever the case, I can only expect that Michelle will bring the same fire and intensity to "Bolero" that she has brought to every other program she has skated.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I did not care for the Scheherazade music for Michelle. I did not feel it suited her skating style, regardless of how she skated (completed jumps, etc.). However, The feeling begins and Aranjuez worked very well for her. I have mixed feelings about Tosca. She skated well to it but the program was choreographically empty till the last part. I think Bolero can work for her, either as SP or LP, but SP would be better (as it was for Plushenko).
 

floskate

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
When I first heard this I was like OMG NOOOOOO!

But the more I think about it, the more it intrigues me how she's going to pull this off. She is capable of amazing musicality and choreography IMO but hasn't really tapped into these areas over the last few years. That said, this music requires mesmeric skating that just builds and builds and Kwan can pull that off. I'm quite psyched by it now, although if it were to turn out to be the Moulin Rouge Bolero I'd be even happier ;)

But with Amber seemingly changing her music, it does seem more and more likely that Ravel will be the one.
 

RIskatingfan

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
floskate said:
But with Amber seemingly changing her music, it does seem more and more likely that Ravel will be the one.
I don't see how this has anything to do with Michelle Kwan using or not Bolero LOL I highly doubt that skaters would change their musical choices because of other skaters. That would be an awful lot of work considering how many skaters there are LOL And if they did care about it we sure wouldn't hear so many overused music every year LOL
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
RIskatingfan said:
I don't see how this has anything to do with Michelle Kwan using or not Bolero LOL I highly doubt that skaters would change their musical choices because of other skaters. That would be an awful lot of work considering how many skaters there are LOL And if they did care about it we sure wouldn't hear so many overused music every year LOL


Exactly; it doesn't mean anything at all. After all AP and SC had the same long last year. I'm almost sure it was changed for different reasons.
 

floskate

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
I didn't mean to imply that Amber changed hers just because of Kwan. Excuse my wording there. However, that decision is free to be speculated upon. But she was listed to skate to Bolero and now as evidenced at Golden West or wherever it was, she's doing Polovitsian dances. Those are facts. And this thread is about whether Kwan should use Bolero or not and whether or not this rumour is even true, so the fact that Amber has changed from Bolero to something else is relevant to the topic at hand IMO!
 

pennyfromheaven

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 21, 2003
Personally I think 'Bolero' should be retired as a music choice for skaters out of respect for T&D, kind of like in other sports they retire the guy's jersey and number after he is no longer playing. I don't think anyone could ever skate it better than they did, their program was one of the skating masterpieces of all time. But since Michelle has already apparently decided to use this, I can't wait to see what she is going to do with this beautiful piece of music!
 

RIskatingfan

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
floskate said:
But she was listed to skate to Bolero and now as evidenced at Golden West or wherever it was, she's doing Polovitsian dances. Those are facts.
But skaters do this all the time, we just don't know because we don't follow their training. Many times they work on a program and they ditch it before they even debut it. Other times they even train two different LPs. There is a number of reasons why this sort of situation happens but surely it doesn't have much to do with what other skaters do.

Besides, about Amber Corwin, I don't know where the information she was doing Bolero came from, but it could also have been un unsubstantiated rumour.
 

RIskatingfan

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
pennyfromheaven said:
Personally I think 'Bolero' should be retired as a music choice for skaters out of respect for T&D, kind of like in other sports they retire the guy's jersey and number after he is no longer playing. I don't think anyone could ever skate it better than they did, their program was one of the skating masterpieces of all time. But since Michelle has already apparently decided to use this, I can't wait to see what she is going to do with this beautiful piece of music!
I didn't think anyone could skate to Turandot better than S/Z in 2003 and just the following year Shizuka Arakawa blew me away with her LP. This reasoning doesn't make much sense. Fabulous skaters arrive all the time and their interpretation can vary and create another masterpiece to an overused piece of music.

Besides, people, put yourselves on the shoes of the skaters. Who are we to stop them from using music they enjoy? I adore Swan Lake. I've watched the ballet over and over and I listen to the CD all the time. It's a classic and like all classics, it's timeless. If I was a skater and I wanted to use this music because I love it, even if I couldn't interpret it like Oksana Baiul, to say I would be disappointed because some authority decided they didn't want more Swan Lakes would be an understatement. It would be MY program and MY interpretation and too bad if fans wanted to hear something different. I think we fans are sometimes a little selfish. We need to think a little about the skaters and why they do the choices they do, instead of whining all the time about what we don't like and demand measures from the authoriries to satisfy us. First the skaters, then us. That's why the ISU is there (or should be).

Asking to remove music from skating is the same as asking ballet companies to stop performing Swan Lake or The Nutcracker because it's "overused". It would be the same as asking a pianist never to play Chopin ever again because it's "overused".
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I agree RI. Much depends on the interpreter of a War Horse.

However, after seeing at least 75 Swan Lakes live, and from different ballet companies and with the different nationalities dancing the swan queen, it becomes boring. One or two do stand out but this is not a ballet forum. It saw Nutcracker twice. It's for little girls. Over and out. The skating one was horrendous.

The War Horses in figure skating are without a doubt, Swan Lake, with imitation 19 centrury ballet moves; Carmen, with eyelashes batting away. Un bel di with a mock stabbing, and so on and so on. All of which is totally out of context.

Yes, I am jaded. Been there saw that.

I'd like to see a War Horse without reference to the stories. I think Sasha Cohen did a step in that direction with her SL, and it got me interested. I'm not at all sure what Irina was doing in Tosca, and I give MK some credit for not playing that role when someone like me has seen 20 different Toscas, including Callas.

The above is just me. I don't speak for the young ones who have yet to go to a ballet or opera.

Joe
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
pennyfromheaven said:
Personally I think 'Bolero' should be retired as a music choice for skaters out of respect for T&D, kind of like in other sports they retire the guy's jersey and number after he is no longer playing. I don't think anyone could ever skate it better than they did, their program was one of the skating masterpieces of all time. But since Michelle has already apparently decided to use this, I can't wait to see what she is going to do with this beautiful piece of music!

I totally disagree with this. Why should a piece of music be 'retired' just because someone had a great skate to it? Does that mean Don Q. should not have been skated to after John Curry's 1976 performance, or nobody should ever skate to Moonlight Sonata because G&G skated great to it? Music is just music and anyone should be allowed to interpret it in his/her own way. Some people may have difficulty accepting someone else skate to their faves' music but that is their problem. Music is forever and it should never be retired, no matter how well anyone skates to it.
 

Pau-goodle76

Rinkside
Joined
May 11, 2004
Vash01 said:
I totally disagree with this. Why should a piece of music be 'retired' just because someone had a great skate to it? Does that mean Don Q. should not have been skated to after John Curry's 1976 performance, or nobody should ever skate to Moonlight Sonata because G&G skated great to it? Music is just music and anyone should be allowed to interpret it in his/her own way. Some people may have difficulty accepting someone else skate to their faves' music but that is their problem. Music is forever and it should never be retired, no matter how well anyone skates to it.

I so agree with your post Vash01! Aint' it tha truth!!! :)
 
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