Is It necessary to skate to boring music?

[labgoat]

I have a different perspective on this, especially for singles and pairs. The sad/emo music at the beginning represents the focus and hard work, or the more melancholy start, with also the hope that the less "lively" music helps the skaters focus and be able to land their jumps. And then, once all the difficult elements are done, it's time for the music to come "alive" . If they landed or did everything right it symbolizes triumph, right on time for what are usually the most interesting elements of the program: the choreo sequence and the step sequence. And if all of this are done right: the crowd goes wild.

So usually this structure helps skaters focus on their difficult elements and give the judges and audience a great "last impression". I also think about Matteo Rizzo's FS this season with Coldplay which uses the full song of Fix You, it has the melancholic --> triumphant structure. A similar structure is Nathan Chen's Phillip Glass FS- starts with the usual introspective Glass and ends with a techno remix (right on time for his choreo sequence).

To me, the Introspective --> Triumphant music structure is commonly used, aside from the Fast-Slow-Fast structure. I think now that it is very important to land all the jumps, the start of the program becomes important for focusing on making sure those jumps are landed. And the compensation would be to make sure to fire all the choreographic cannons at the end, to make sure we all leave with a good impression.

I like it when you make me think…

 

[Anna K.]

Some have mentioned Schoenberg or Berg or contemporary music

How is this boring ? Maybe not a first choice for skating but better than some of the stuff we hear anyway



or this

To be painfully honest, this music is as fit as any other music for "a little bit of choreography at the beginning, then go, skate, quad! A little simple transition on the music — not too physically taxing — go, boom, quad!" (David Wilson's quote which was kindly made available above by @rabidline ).

But would you prefer seeing either of these pieces choreographed as "a little simple on the music — go, boom, quad!"? Why to choose new music if there is so small space to say something new or to say anything at all?

Sometimes I feel that the warhorse music obsession we are experiencing today directly stems from choreographers being aware of how limited their say is: they choose well known pieces because there is only a little something needed to remind the audience (and the panel) that this is i.e. Carmen or Dune. Everybody knows what's Dune

 

[DancingCactus]

Let's praise Benoit for the bold choreographic choice of having Adam lie on the ice, then

 

[4everchan]

To be painfully honest, this music is as fit as any other music for "a little bit of choreography at the beginning, then go, skate, quad! A little simple transition on the music — not too physically taxing — go, boom, quad!" (David Wilson's quote which was kindly made available above by @rabidline ).

But would you prefer seeing either of these pieces choreographed as "a little simple on the music — go, boom, quad!"? Why to choose new music if there is so small space to say something new or to say anything at all?

Sometimes I feel that the warhorse music obsession we are experiencing today directly stems from choreographers being aware of how limited their say is: they choose well known pieces because there is only a little something needed to remind the audience (and the panel) that this is i.e. Carmen or Dune. Everybody knows what's Dune

I wasn't suggesting skating to it but simply responding that it is not boring music. The reality is that music in skating is not important at all except perhaps in dance. It is indeed all crossovers then quad and repeat as many times as you can while skating to anything. My point was that anything could be beautiful Berg or Schoenberg unlike popular belief

 

[Anna K.]

The reality is that music in skating is not important at all except perhaps in dance.

How can you say that? It is an official bullet point when GOE of a jump is awarded: "executed in great connection with music"

 

[gkelly]

I wasn't suggesting skating to it but simply responding that it is not boring music. The reality is that music in skating is not important at all except perhaps in dance. It is indeed all crossovers then quad and repeat as many times as you can while skating to anything. My point was that anything could be beautiful Berg or Schoenberg unlike popular belief

Well, women's singles tends not to include quads. But it often is mostly crossovers and jumps.

On average I think the men do better with making the step sequences interesting, but it depends on the skater.

 

[4everchan]

Well, women's singles tends not to include quads. But it often is mostly crossovers and jumps.

Fair enough... So why don't they do better ? Are they significantly slower so that still, setting up for jumps does take up too much time to include much else than crossovers ?

On average I think the men do better with making the step sequences interesting, but it depends on the skater.

 

[Arigato]

Let's praise Benoit for the bold choreographic choice of having Adam lie on the ice, then

Looks like someone didn't watch a particular scene, involving Paul, in Dune 2.

 

[Mathman]

I wasn't suggesting skating to it but simply responding that it is not boring music.

I agree with the sentiment in this post.

In my opinion the reason that this type of music is not suitable for figure skating is that it requires too much of an investment on the part of the listener. A figure skating audience just doesn't want to work that hard.

To me, all we are looking for is music that charms the ear, uplifts the spirit, soothes the soul -- or makes you want to jump up and shake your booty.

 

[Anna K.]

Be as it may, I don't think that figure skating is done with music yet. The music not just entertain the general audience which would be otherwise forced to view monotonous repetition of elements; it also gives skaters a chance to demonstrate better control when they match elements with music - or, an undemanding piece of music can serve as a certain "blemish cover" if the skater lacks said control.

However, the current development of competitive figure skating shows visible simplification of literary everything: simple jump entries, minimum spins, minimum steps, and accordingly the simplest musical and choreography choices. I think that this happens because of increasing physical loads that, to quote David Wilson again, demand that skaters push themselves to the edge of what is humanly possible. So, the process originates within the community of competitive figure skaters/teams and has nothing to do with demands or wishes of the public. This development is new; the competitive figure skating has never been there before. There will be more to discover, and unfortunately not only historic firsts and record breaking scores. Sooner or later, as the human possibilities close-up to their breaking point, this development will reveal unequivocally damaging effects on health and safety which will lead to new decisions about regulations.

Will these new regulations impact the music choices anyhow? We'll see.