Figure Skating and Classical Ballet

[Weathergal]

Tessa Virtue was, AFAIK, equally into ballet and skating when she was young. Apparently she passed up an opportunity to train at the National Ballet School to focus on her skating but I have seen pictures of her in pointe shoes so she must have continued dance to some extent. I think Scott became involved to a degree as well to improve their skating posture and carriage. At one point they did an exhibition programme that was fun which started with them exercising at a portable barre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9zAnA0H9bs

That was amazing! And what an incredible program for them to do when they're were so young! Thank you for sharing that. I hadn't seen that before. Any idea who choreographed it?

 

[Anna K.]

I just discovered an interesting thread called Ballet Music in the forum archives (some of you probably remember it). It's a thread about unusual and lesser know ballet music suggestions. Sadly, the thread is rather short - and we know that the argument "this piece is not recognizable enough" is popular with skaters and/or coaches and so there is a fairly small chance that such suggestions might be heard.

However, the request "to be creative" still exists. As the current stage of FS development requires that singles' programs are basically jump courses, choosing attractive and unusual music may be a way how to leave a fresh and creative impression.

If I should pick such music, I'd say... Cards' Dance from Alice in Wonderland!



It's very jump-friendly imao

 

[viennaskater]

Muramoto/Takahashi La Bayadere program with its ballet ambition was obviously chosen to be judge-friendly and raise the PCS of the sophomore team. I'd say it worked especially internationally where they constantly scored higher than their rival team Komatsubara/Koleto while technically being about the same level. It did not work for the national federation though who decided to send Kp/Ko to Olympics. Judge-friendliness not an argument for Japanese Fed?

I adored that programme because they performed it so beautifully and it's ballet music which has hardly been used, unlike Nutcracker and Swan Lake (which frankly I'm a little sick of hearing).

 

[flipsydoodle]

To me ballet programs are definitely more about the posture, and how you lift your arms and legs. But edges and knee bend are a unique aspect of figure skating that is not about ballet. Personally I'm dying for more well-done ballet programs, exclusively by skaters who have that beautiful posture (looking at you Kostornaia).

BBM

Knee bend is an essential element of ballet. It is one of the first things taught. No knee bend=no ballet. No knee bend also = guaranteed injury.

In my experience, from doing both, ballet is about mastery and control, and skating about power. I loved both, but got entirely different things from each.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

BBM

Knee bend is an essential element of ballet. It is one of the first things taught. No knee bend=no ballet. No knee bend also = guaranteed injury.

In my experience, from doing both, ballet is about mastery and control, and skating about power. I loved both, but got entirely different things from each.

Yes to the importance of pliés!

I think the emphasis depends on what sort of ballet/style of skating you're doing. Power is very evident in male ballet roles like Basilio, while there is less emphasis on grand allegro in women's repertoire. Good step sequences and pattern dances are extremely precise; skidded turns or deviations from the pattern are heavily penalised. In ballet it matters less if a double tour is a quarter short, or if you don't completely fill out the stage during a variation, but it is more particular about the placement of limbs to create optimal line.
Skaters like Jeff Buttle or Satoko Miyahara generally give me a very controlled feeling (compared to e.g. Keegan Messing). Natalia Osipova is an frenzied manic Giselle, while Alina Cojocaru's interpretation is more along the lines of an ethereal heartbroken waif.

 

[mrrice]

I'm going to give a shout out to Adam Rippon, I loved this program from 2010. He was fresh out of Juniors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm58WZcsQ0k&t=248s

 

[Anna K.]

Natalia Osipova is an frenzied manic Giselle, while Alina Cojocaru's interpretation is more along the lines of an ethereal heartbroken waif.

Haven't seen them, so I looked up the videos and then I thought... Why not to share the links?

Natalia Osipova:

Natalia Osipova Giselle Mad Scene

www.youtube.com

Alina Cojocaru:

Giselle: Giselle's death (Alina Cojocaru, Manuel Legris)

Giselle: Alina CojocaruAlbrecht: Manuel LegrisHilarion: Kazuo Kimurawith the Tokyo Balletat the World Ballet Festival in Tokyo, August 15, 2006original chore...

www.youtube.com

Then I thought about a frenzied manic skater...

Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) | Ladies Short Program | NHK Trophy 2020 | #GPFigure

To license ISU footage: https://bit.ly/3M7bcaF Visit https://isu.org/WhereToWatchGP for more information.SUBSCRIBE to our channel:https://www.youtube.com/Ska...

www.youtube.com

and ethereal...

Mai Mihara (JPN) | Women FS | ISU FC FS Championships 2022 | Tallinn | #FigureSkating

To license ISU footage: https://bit.ly/3M7bcaF SUBSCRIBE to our channel:https://www.youtube.com/SkatingISU?sub_confirmation=1LIKE us on Facebook:https://www....

www.youtube.com

...and now I'm thinking how to get back on topic

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Haven't seen them, so I looked up the videos and then I thought... Why not to share the links?

Natalia Osipova:

Alina Cojocaru:



Then I thought about a frenzied manic skater...

and ethereal...


...and now I'm thinking how to get back on topic

Hmm, I was thinking more about the Wilis transformation scene. There they have to convey the character through dance more than miming, so it helps show how the same technical steps can be given different flavours.

 

[Anna K.]

Hmm, I was thinking more about the Wilis transformation scene. There they have to convey the character through dance more than miming, so it helps show how the same technical steps can be given different flavours.

I could imagine that ("ethereal" sounded very Act II and I would wish to see more dancing anyway) but I could not find suitable videos.

 

[Anna K.]

Hmm, I was thinking more about the Wilis transformation scene. There they have to convey the character through dance more than miming, so it helps show how the same technical steps can be given different flavours.

If we don't focus on two specific dancers doing this particular scene, then of course comparison videos of same steps with different flavors exist.

In example, a variation from Sleeping Beauty pdd, male

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

and female

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

comparison videos. I don't know if you can spot there what illustrates your exact point. But you can find also 9 Esmeraldas back-to-back vid on the same channel

 

[gliese]

BBM

Knee bend is an essential element of ballet. It is one of the first things taught. No knee bend=no ballet. No knee bend also = guaranteed injury.

In my experience, from doing both, ballet is about mastery and control, and skating about power. I loved both, but got entirely different things from each.

I'd say it's a completely different knee bend. In ballet, your default is a straight leg with plies when needed. In skating, your default is to stay down in your knees with rising when needed. This difference is very obvious when you look at warm-up exercises. The first exercise in ballet is always plie: you start with straight legs and the intended movement is to bend them. In skating, most peoples first exercise is crossovers with some form of raise: you start with bend legs and the intended movement is to straighten them.

 

[Trusova4Ever]

Does anyone know the beautiful (I am assuming balletic) music these beautiful spins were set to?



At 0:59 & 8:43

 

[elektra blue]

tchaikovsky nutcracker waltz of the flowers, the second one i can't tell but it sounds like tchaikovsky too

 

[Warwick360]

When I hear ballet and figure skating together, I'll always remember Dick Button going 'Turn your foot out my dear', when Yuna enters her Arabesque spiral.

For me, for all her faults in terms of being unable to go clean, I have to say I have never seen a more balletic figure skater like Sasha Cohen. The positions, the lines, the exits, the posture, the splits.

 

[Warwick360]

Also, since someone mentioned Natalia Osipova here in this thread.

For me there is no Giselle like Natalia. None. Yes, different ballet dancers have different interpretations, and each will have one they prefer.

While people might call her 'maniacal' in terms of the energy she brings to the ghostly 'willis' character, her interpretation is nothing short of supernatural. I have the blu ray, but I also had the privilege of seeing her live last year at Royal Opera, and she was worth every penny. A consummate goddess on stage.

But aside from her technical prowess, her interpretation of Giselle breaks me to pieces every time and yet I keep going back. Hope to see her again some day.

 

[elektra blue]

Also, since someone mentioned Natalia Osipova here in this thread.

For me there is no Giselle like Natalia. None. Yes, different ballet dancers have different interpretations, and each will have one they prefer.

While people might call her 'maniacal' in terms of the energy she brings to the ghostly 'willis' character, her interpretation is nothing short of supernatural. I have the blu ray, but I also had the privilege of seeing her live last year at Royal Opera, and she was worth every penny. A consummate goddess on stage.

But aside from her technical prowess, her interpretation of Giselle breaks me to pieces every time and yet I keep going back. Hope to see her again some day.

i do love Natasha, she's my favourite active ballerinas, but i think the best Giselle in the last 10 eyars is Diana Vishneva

 

[Warwick360]

i do love Natasha, she's my favourite active ballerinas, but i think the best Giselle in the last 10 eyars is Diana Vishneva

Each to their own. I had heard of her, but had never seen her, she's nice too from what I saw on youtube. It's wonderful that there are so many varieties to choose from.

But truly for me, if not Natalia Osipova, then it has to be the other namesake in that role....Natalia Makarova. Even with so much changes in the techniques over the years, I still am transfixed when I see her with Baryshnikov, just like seeing Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake even though ballerinas these days can outdo the techniques in their sleep.

 

[Anna K.]

In the mode of JGP series that just started... How do you feel about the fact that so few girls are skating to ballet music or using ballet choreography/images?

I have mixed feelings. In general, I like current aesthetics and music choices. I find it entertaining. But what has happened to what once was a popular little girls'dream to be that ethereal flying ballerina and wear those tiaras and tutus? Where has it gone? When did it go?

 

[labgoat]

Some ballet programs by 1990s ladies:

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

Alizah Allen - 1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate

Nashville, Tennessee, USA - 1997 United States Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate - Alizah Allen, who once was coached by John Curry, the Men's...

www.youtube.com

Nicole Bobek - 1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate

Nashville, Tennessee, USA - 1997 United States Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate - Nicole Bobek skated a strong performance that was good enou...

www.youtube.com

And a pro program:

Ekaterina Gordeeva 1997 Giselle - The Art of Russian Skating

Ekaterina Gordeeva / ÐкаÑеÑина ÐоÑдеева / ã¨ã«ããªã¼ãã»ã´ã«ãã¼ã¯The Art of Russian SkatingMusic: Giselle No. 7a - Moderato; Allegro moderato; Viva, - London Symphony ...

www.youtube.com

Alice Sue Claeys is a great example. Her programs were wonderfully choreographed with great sensitivity to the musical phrasing and very audience pleasing.

 

[labgoat]

How can we forget Rudy Galindo in Swan Lake as the evil Rothbart...


and Gordeeva/Grinkov - Romeo & Juliet