Nutcracker vs. Bolero

Joesitz (RIP) · Jan 16, 2005

I was not pleased with these two choices of music for the two divas.

Nutcracker cries out for a pas de deux and I don't think it really holds up for a solo. Too romantic!!

Bolero music, imo continues to be monotonous although Kwan did get to the character of the music.

For both Sasha and Michelle I preferred their SP music and their choreography. How do you feel about these music selections?

Joe

Tonichelle · Jan 16, 2005

Joe, we're agreeing on something... has hell frozen over? :laugh:

I, too, preferred the SPs to the LPs... but I didn't really think either lady was stellar this week. Maybe because I don't care for their skating, but even for them they were bland... JMHO...

I honestly didn't like either one over the other... oh well :laugh:

Fossi · Jan 16, 2005

I don't like either of these programs. Both are B0RING to me. I think both ladies are capable of much, much more.
With Worlds being in Moscow where Irina will probably be handed this title, I don't think Michelle or Sasha stand a chance to challenge her with their LP's.
They both need alot of work.

elingrace4eva · Jan 16, 2005

I thought nutcracker music was an interesting choice for Sasha, and she pulled it off to some extent, but it's almost too sweet for her. With that pink dress, and the small music cues, I thought it kind of didn't fit her. She works better with music like Rachmoninov and Carmen, and this was almost too slow.

I've hate the "Bolero" music for much longer than Michelle has skated to it, and I don't really care for Michelle's skating, so I found the program rather boring. The music is so well known, and obvious that it doesn't really fit her.

With both the women, I thought that they picked music that didn't cater to their own particular styles. Sasha works better with bolder music, and Michelle works better with softer, less obvious music. It was really interesting to see them choose music like this.

heyang · Jan 16, 2005

I definitely prefered both ladies' SP music and programs.

Nutcracker seemed too 'soft' for Sasha's skating.

As for Bolero, I don't like the program that was presented. MK seemed too tight, like she is at the Olympics. Bolero seemed better at the beginning of the season. I did notice that she substituted circular footwork instead of straightline. I thought her original ending pose was more fitting to the music, but it could have lead to going over the time limit as the pose didn't allow for precise stopping.

EDITING TO SAY OOPS - I blanked and put the circular footwork in Bolero. It was actually in the SP.

kyla2 · Jan 16, 2005

Don't Agree

Sorry, I don't agree. In fact, I like their LP's but not their SP's. Michelle's SP music is uninspiring and Sasha's Sp music is loud and over the top to me. I like both LP's music and I think it suits their individual styles. It's all going to be a moot point if they don't add some triple-triples to their LP programs. Irina is going to be in fighting form I suspect, as she has been all season. Shizuka may have her jumps back as well. It's going to be a very interesting Worlds.

R.D. · Jan 16, 2005

Nutcracker, zzzz.

Bolero- As I've said in other threads I like this song but in my eyes Kwan has not done this song justice yet. I wanted to see if she could do it at Nationals but the pressure prevented her from going all out. Let's see how worlds goes about...

IDLERACER · Jan 17, 2005

Points should automatically be deducted for any skater who uses The Nutcracker, Bolero, Carmen or Swan Lake. It baffles me how someone like Sasha Cohen, who never fails to come up with some sort of inventive spin variation, is always so completely uninventive when it comes to choosing her music.

Jaana · Jan 17, 2005

About LP´s, I like both musics very much and have never had problems that some great music is used again and again...

WOW, although a couple of mistakes, I really prefered Sasha´s performance! She definetely has the feeling and the right choreography to interpret the music. If things work well in Moscow, this could be the winning programme, and the audience will love it, in my opinion.

About Kwan´s LP I have to say that my impression is that even if her life would depend on it, she would be incapable to interpret "Bolero" music. The mold into which her skating has originally been polished and polished, does work with a certain kind of music only.

Vash01 · Jan 17, 2005

Interestingly, both music choices (Bolero and Nutcracker) are more suitable for dance or pairs. IMO Bolero does not work well for a singles LP, although it can for an SP- obviously being shorter. I may be pleasantly surprised at worlds if Michelle pulls it off there. Still, I feel next year she will need a better choice of music.

jesslily · Jan 17, 2005

Bolero is not a good choice for long program since the tone is repeated too much and the not much change. The choreography has been changed since Michelle skated at cheesefasts. The program is really just so-so.

Michelle's short program is better than the long, but it seems similar to her previous longs or shorts, the music is new, but the program is old. I think Yebin Mok's 2003 long interpreted Spartutas better.

Sasha's short is pretty good. The long's in-between is very lovely and suitable to her, and it's a lot better than the long TT gave to her when Sasha just switched to her. That program is just leftover from Yags.

chuckm · Jan 17, 2005

Both pieces of music are extremely repetitive.

"Nutcracker" repeats the same musical phrase over and over again, and is best suited to Pairs skating, where the crescendos are perfectly suited to dramatic throws and lifts. Singles skating, at least for ladies, doesn't have any moves dramatic enough for the multiple crescendos. One spiral, and then what? Moreover, "Nutcracker" doesn't have much in the way of changes in tempo. It starts off slow and continues to be slow throughout.

"Bolero" has a more insistent rhythm, but it too is repetitive in much the same way as "Nutcracker", although its overall impression is exotic rather than romantic. I'd like to see Michelle do "Spartacus" for her FS and "Bolero" for her SP. I didn't like the musical cuts in "Spartacus" anyway.

I thought that was a horrible selection of "Dark Eyes"--too choppy, too modern, and the cuts were bad. The program is OK, but I just don't like that version of the music.

Jhar55 · Jan 17, 2005

I likes Sasha short Dark Eyes it seemed to fit her. The dress was very pretty expect for the cut out and her make up mde the final touch.

Bolero: I just don't like the music don't care whos skating to it. :eek:

hwell:

SkateFan4Life · Jan 17, 2005

Joesitz said:
I was not pleased with these two choices of music for the two divas. Nutcracker cries out for a pas de deux and I don't think it really holds up for a solo. Too romantic!!

Bolero music, imo continues to be monotonous although Kwan did get to the character of the music.

For both Sasha and Michelle I preferred their SP music and their choreography. How do you feel about these music selections?
Joe

I agree with you in your assessment of Sasha's and Michelle's long program music. :agree: I could imagine the legendary Gordeeva & Grinkov skating to "Nutracker" or any pairs team that can really connect, emotionally, as they skate. It just doesn't work so well for a solo skater.

And, "Bolero", quite frankly, was a poor choice of music for Michelle, IMHO. It stays on one level and gets to be a bit boring after a while. And, as wonderful as Michelle is, there's just nobody out there who can skate to this music the way the legendary Torvill and Dean did.

Ladskater · Jan 18, 2005

Vash01 said:
Interestingly, both music choices (Bolero and Nutcracker) are more suitable for dance or pairs. IMO Bolero does not work well for a singles LP, although it can for an SP- obviously being shorter. I may be pleasantly surprised at worlds if Michelle pulls it off there. Still, I feel next year she will need a better choice of music.

We always think of Torvill and Dean skating to Bolero as a duo, but actually the first time Bolero was used as a dance it was done as a solo by ballet dancer
Ida Rubinstein.

Bolero was written by Maurice Ravel as a ballet to accompany physical activity, rather than to listen to. Famous dancer Ida Rubinstein commissioned it in 1928 for a dance recital, although it took on an independent existence to become the most popular work Ravel ever composed. It has been called "hypnotic," "boring," "nerve-wrecking" and "captivating." Undoubtedly it has been all these things to different listeners.

Bolero is defined as a lively Spanish Dance but Ravel's version was in no way a Spanish Bolero. The basic rhythm pattern remains, but the tempo of this work is much slower than the bolero dance. Ravel's Bolero is basically built upon two tunes repeated about eighteen times in the piece.

Imagine this rhythm:
"Dum diddle di dum diddle di dum dum Dum diddle di dum diddle di diddle di diddle di"

Repeated without a break for fifteen minutes. This is the relentless, driving rhythm of the snare drum. The first part of the basic theme is presented by the flute. Then beginning with the bassoon, the wind instruments in turn take up the melody or some variation of it. The tunes are passed around the orchestra, from the oboe to the flute to trumpet to tenor and soprano saxophones. This repetitive tune gradually grows in volume until the full orchestra plays as loud as possible. Most of the piece sticks to one key, C Major. This explodes into a powerful, cumulative and liberating discord in G Major, announcing the finale. It is, in any event, the world's longest musical crescendo. Ravel himself always conducted it with rigorous precision and did not allow the slightest variation in tempo.

Bolero was used in the film 10, with Dudley Moore wooing Bo Derek. Here, it was used to accompany a different sort of physical activity. It was also used in Torvill and Dean's 1980s Ice Dance routines.

Eeyora · Jan 18, 2005

I like Bolero the first time at Campbells. But it hasn't progressed at all. I think it would have either benn good as a "one time only performance". It is not good for a major eligible competitions.

I think "The Nutcracker" would have suited Sasha better a few years ago. However her style has changed. I think she needs to remove the "Beaver Cleaver" spin. It doesn't go with the music at all.

I liked Spartacus. However it does need to be upgraded fror Worlds a bit.

I also really liked "Dark Eyes" The costume is beautiful. The audience will go crazy in Moscow over it.

Petlover · Jan 18, 2005

I agree with the posters who really liked Sasha and Michelle's short programs - the music choices fit the skaters well, the costumes were gorgeous, and both skaters looked like they were really into the programs.

IMHO, the long programs were a different story. Nutcracker music does not suit Sasha - she needs bold, strong, and playful, and the Nutcracker took away from her strengths rather than complimented them. I felt she did a fairly good job in spite of a poor music choice, but I hope Mr. Nicks will replace that music soon.

I was impressed with Michelle's interpretation of Bolero, her skating is awesome, but I think she must have chosen the music to challenge herself instead of finding music that compliments her skating. However, if this is what it takes to keep her skating and continuing to raise the skating bar I hope she continues!

Dee4707 · Jan 18, 2005

At first I wondered why Michelle even chose Bolero considering how T&D staked a claim to it. I wasn't moved by it as much as I was with Tosca, that program at Nationals gave me goosebumps.

Dee

Nutcracker vs. Bolero

Joesitz (RIP)

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

Fossi

elingrace4eva

heyang

kyla2

R.D.

IDLERACER

Jaana

Vash01

jesslily

chuckm

Jhar55

SkateFan4Life

Guest

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~

Eeyora

Petlover

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin

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