Any suggestions on choreographers/music choices for Daisuke 2012-13 season? | Golden Skate

Any suggestions on choreographers/music choices for Daisuke 2012-13 season?

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Any suggestions on choreographers/music choices for Daisuke 2012-13 season?

I have created a new thread for you: something to suggest, discuss, agree, or disagree to agree (as usual :biggrin:), so that we don't get bored during the off season.

In order to prepare for new programs next season, it seems (to me) that every male single skaters will rush to CoP mastery, and ask for its choreography to either David Wilson, Pasquale Kamerlengo, or 'Patrick-free' ;) Lori Nichol.

I really loved Dai's SP by David with that unique music choice and its choreo this past season. I loved David to let Takahiko get out of his comfort zone with Inner Urge. I appreciated what Pasquale has done for Dai over the years and I loved loved all of them; La Strada, Blues for Klook.

But there are two seasons until Sochi Olympic Games. One more season available before preparing so-called 'winning programs' for the Olympics.
For that matter, I really want Daisuke once again to TRY/EXPERIMENT different style with new music choice next season (2012-13). If that means working with different choreographers, I would say go for it! Int'l judges may not like new programs/styles, or it may end up a failure. But he can at least expand the range of his style and worthy to try for him, I believe. He will always have Pasquale and David to count on and help him out to prepare programs for the Olympic season. :)

For instance, Hip Hop Swan SP in 2007-08 season was an epic program for Daisuke as everyone would agree: no one but Dai could do justice to this piece of music and its choreo.
While I very much enjoyed his dance ability, loved its uniqueness, and appreciated Nikolai Morozov to make Dai truly special as a skater, to be honest I did not buy it as a whole program myself; why did such classical masterpiece like Swan Lake have to be arranged to hip hop music like that?, I still wonder to this date. Could have been more appreciated by me if Nikolai simply picked up hip hop music and did its choreo.

I loved this season's SP to VAS music to death. As for the finger thing, which some of you discussed in a heated manner :p in other thread (btw, I was not in that discussion myself!), I just don't know whether it was necessary or appropriate, and I agree with bluebonnet on this issue. The difference between blue and me is, however, that blue hated the whole program for that finger thing, for me it was only a second (or two) to interpret or highlight the feel of the music out of a 2-minutes-40-seconds-long work of art, and I loved it as a program anyway with or without that choreo. ;)

Do you have any suggestions or advice on choreographers/music choices that you would like him to try/experiment next season?
With a specific reason(s) or with any video links of other skaters' program would be more appreciated. Thanks!

P.S.
Fyi, David will choreograph programs for Autur and Liza. Is also rumored to do choreos for Yuzuru, due to his coaching change to Orser.
Pasquale has got contracted with Evgeni for two seasons, so that means he will do choreos for Evgeni including programs for the Olympics.
And we have Lori who is the master of CoP. She of course will do choreos for many skaters, including Evan's LP to Samson and Delilah.
 
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Joined
Aug 16, 2009
What fun to contemplate! It occurs to me that Brahms and Schumann would be very compatible with Daisuke, as they can be rather somber but are also very strong. As for choreographers, I wonder whether something by Christopher Dean would suit him. I haven't seen anything done by Dean lately, so I don't know if he even does CoP programs, but he's so innovative.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Thanks a lot for your quick reply, Olympia and ImaginaryPogue!:)

Let me post my idea.

As for choreographers, I would really like Daisuke to work with someone from Muriel Boucher-Zazoui camp next season!
Last autumn Daisuke showed up as a completely different skater to me with his EX 'The Crisis', and I a lot appreciated Madam Zazoui and her team to help him a great deal to improve his skating skills.
Besides, I always have loved European ice dancers and its progrmas with European tastes or French flavours, especially done by Madam Zazoui and her team; e.g. Anissina & Peizerat, Delobel & Shoenfelder, and Dubreuil & Lauzon! :love: If Dai can work with Olivier, I will be over the moon!!! :yay:

My other suggestion is Evgeni Platov.
Because I just loved young Dai's step sequences done by Platov in Khachaturin's Sabre Dance!
SP 2004-05 season, from Eric Bompard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leFAgGvCRxs

I always loved The Kerrs and their programs done by him. Also liked Lion King by the young british ice dancers Coomed & Buckland in 2010-11 season, though I just have no idea how they were CoP friendly.
I look forward to how Platov will come up with ideas, how creative he can be by using today's Daisuke.

Also, Tom Dickson!
If Tom does a choreo, I am sure he can do a wonderful work to create a new image of Daisuke and his skating. Dai may show up as a completely new skater again next season!

As for music, I would like Dai to try something dark for his SP.

I love fun programs, such as Dai's Mambo, Jeremy's SP and Javier's SP this past season. But I would prefer them as Gala programs in general. My belief is fun music is less suitable for competitive programs, because skaters normally can sell it really well during the regular Grand Prix series, but may lose its sparks when a big competition time comes and skaters get nervous...

One piece of music I can think of as an unknown piece to skating world is

-'Paris is burning' by Takashi Kako:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjg8ZQTVnp4

Sad, dark and monotonous overall, a bit too much for some people maybe...
But it's still a beautiful piece, the sound eventually grows towards the end, and I think it would suit Dai's dramatic skating.
 
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evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
What fun to contemplate! It occurs to me that Brahms and Schumann would be very compatible with Daisuke, as they can be rather somber but are also very strong. As for choreographers, I wonder whether something by Christopher Dean would suit him. I haven't seen anything done by Dean lately, so I don't know if he even does CoP programs, but he's so innovative.

Christopher Dean definitely does CoP programs, but IIRC, he has recently only done CoP ice dance programs--e.g. for Gilles/Poirier (Sweet Dreams), Crone/Poirier (Eleanor Rigby). I'm not sure if he's done much CoP programs for singles skaters, I only remember that he did Michelle Kwan's Bolero a long time ago.

Personally, my dream would be to see Tom Dickson and David Wilson choreograph Daisuke's programs next season. The music doesn't matter--I am sure Daisuke can skate to anything.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
What fun to contemplate! It occurs to me that Brahms and Schumann would be very compatible with Daisuke, as they can be rather somber but are also very strong.

Symphony No.1 by Brahms has been always picked up as the most favorite piece of music for him by Dai(die)-hard fans in Japan since he was still a teenager.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qni4kcS_l7k

Will be a great LP in the Olympic season! :yes:
Just imagining Dai hitting a perfect 4F or two 4T with this piece at Sochi, I am dead with joy already...:love:

The other piece is: Adagio for strings by Samuel Barber

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV3SHBFyDZM

This one was used in the first half of Alena Leonova's LP this past season.
A couple of times in the past Dai himself mentioned this piece as one of his favorites to skate to someday.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I'm probably having the most impractical thought, but here's the third movement of Brahms' piano quintet in F minor. This recording is missing the first few notes, but it's sublimely played, and there's plenty of scope for CoP fireworks and embellishments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmvY--n5nTk

It's too long, but there are parts that could be extracted for a short or long program...in my dreams, at any rate.

Here's the first movement of Brahms' first string sextet, opus 18:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWqae2y4Hvo

I agree that Brahms' first symphony has a lot of possibilities. As for the Takashi Kako piece, didn't Dai once say that the music he liked best was way too dark to skate to? So he'd probably love that.
 
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Butterscotch17

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
The other piece is: Adagio for strings by Samuel Barber

Didn't Daisuke say that while he liked this piece, he thought it was too dark and gloomy to skate to? I personally think it would make a beautiful program.

I'd like for one of Dai's programs to be a fun one like his mambo or Swan Lake, and then his second one to be a serious, emotional one. I haven't come up with any music ideas, though. I'll work on that.

Oh, by the way, in which thread were people discussing the finger licking thing? I'd like to read it.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Thanks, Olympia.
I have just finished listening to the pieces you linked during my lunch time ;), and liked both! The first one would suit him well, I agree.

I really liked the second one, too. Beautiful, at the same time very nostalgic as if recalling good and old days of one's childhood... :yes:

Here's the first movement of Brahms' first string sextet, opus 18:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWqae2y4Hvo

This kind of piece is usually picked up for lovely, feminine and ballerina-like female skaters, e.g. Mao, Caroline or Alissa, but would be predictable and is not interesting to me...my idea a bit differs.
I would love a MALE skater to skate to this piece, who tends to get criticized as a less lyrical/artistic/expressive skater by the most knowlegeable fans; for instance Stephen Carriere, Samuel Contesti, orNobunari Oda, and surprise these 'professional' fans. :p

Honestly speaking, one of the best moments for me as a long time skating fan, is I did not care or pay special attention to him/her/them the previous season, and then to get surprised by that skater(s) who shows up as a completely different skater to me next season!

Ashley Wagner in 2008-09 season was the best example for me in the recent years. After switching to Priscilla Hill, Ashley showed up at NHK trophy at Tokyo as a completely new skater to me...When she started skating to 'Somewhere in Time' in front of me ( I was there), I was like :jaw: then I fell in love with her at the end of that performance! :love:
Unfortunately Ashley did not get any remarkable/good results under Priscilla, but she improved tremendously both as a skater and as a young lady thanks to Priscilla. Without her time with Priscilla, we may not have seen today's Ashley, such strong yet very elegant as a skater, well, that's my belief at least.

As for Takashi Kako, Dai does not have to specifically pick up Kako's music, of course. But I wish Daisuke to skate to a piece, preferrably a classical one, composed by a Japanese before he retires from competitive skating. It may be too risky for a competitive program, because of its unpopularity to the world's music scene, though...but still, me remembering Dai's splendid SP to 'eye' by coba in 2009-10 season.
 
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deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Thanks a lot, Butterscotch for your idea! :)
Yes, he said so; too dark and gloomy.

As for the discussion on Dai's specific choreo, you will fnd it in WTT Men SP in the 2011-12 Competitions & Events threads. But mind you, it's not that pretty reading it through.

P.S. Not appropriate for children, probably. But I just do not care that choreo personally because we've seen worse from ice dancers 85,961 time, I would say...
 

OS

Sedated by Modonium
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
I love Dai, the most versatile male skaters around, capable of a great deal of sensitivity, showmanship and class, very rare among the men.

I think it might be refreshing if he do something totally European this year. Something classical vs something bit modern. Something pensive vs something theatrical. Something masculine vs something ephemeral?

FS, I am going to recommend something by Vaughan Williams... since I can't get enough of Mao's Jupiter by Gustav Holst and think his English colleague (they were fellow students) deserve to his turn.

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFpyuZUSUPI (from 1 min on... the music need to be majorly edited but there are enough highlight can be used for the program)

SP, may be take inspiration from classic ballet story program like Coppelia where he could play multiple roles, maybe as Dr Coppelius or perhpas imagine if Coppelia the doll is a male, I'd love to see that version of the program with Dai interpreting the beautiful, perfect doll in the beginning as the program progress, slowly break apart, you soon realise he is fragile, robotic but fantastic and nothing human like. The ballet has fantastic music enough to be edited into a great SP, or perhaps a gala.

Take this new production interpretation of the role of Dr. Coppelius http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkCxQYi3Cx4 which is always exciting when they try some reinterpretation.
 
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ImaginaryPogue

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Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Which Jupiter are referring to you re: Mao? I know of her gala, which is titled "Jupiter" but the music is actually "I Vow to The, My Country"
 

OS

Sedated by Modonium
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Which Jupiter are referring to you re: Mao? I know of her gala, which is titled "Jupiter" but the music is actually "I Vow to The, My Country"

The lyrics was originally a poem by the diplomat Sir Cecil Spring Rice in 1908, but it has been adapted into Holst's Jupiter suite in 1921 to create what is now one of the important national hymn of Britain.

I Vow to Thee, My Country is a British patriotic song created in 1921 when a poem by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice was set to music by Gustav Holst.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Vow_to_Thee,_My_Country
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I love Dai, the most versatile male skaters around, capable of a great deal of sensitivity, showmanship and class, very rare among the men.

I think it might be refreshing if he do something totally European this year. Something classical vs something bit modern. Something pensive vs something theatrical. Something masculine vs something ephemeral?

FS, I am going to recommend something by Vaughan Williams... since I can't get enough of Mao's Jupiter by Gustav Holst and think his English colleague (they were fellow students) deserve to his turn.

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFpyuZUSUPI (from 1 min on... the music need to be majorly edited but there are enough highlight can be used for the program)

SP, may be take inspiration from classic ballet story program like Coppelia where he could play multiple roles, maybe as Dr Coppelius or perhpas imagine if Coppelia the doll is a male, I'd love to see that version of the program with Dai interpreting the beautiful, perfect doll in the beginning as the program progress, slowly break apart, you soon realise he is fragile, robotic but fantastic and nothing human like. The ballet has fantastic music enough to be edited into a great SP, or perhaps a gala.

Take this new production interpretation of the role of Dr. Coppelius http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkCxQYi3Cx4 which is always exciting when they try some reinterpretation.

Oh, the thought of the Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia! One of my favorite pieces in the whole world. I don't know whether the stately rhythm, which doesn't vary much, would cause problems, but wouldn't it be magnificent if someone could pull it off.

The Holst Jupiter is another of my favorite pieces. Set in the contemplative version as the hymn "I Vow to Thee," it was a lovely piece for Mao, but the full orchestral version is more robust and upbeat--in fact, its full name is "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity." (Keep in mind that Jupiter's other name, Jove, gives us the adject jovial.) In this symphonic form, Jupiter actually has a lot of potential for a long program. It's got several variations in tone and rhythm.

Actually, I think a Canadian production years ago used the eintire suite of The Planets. Orser and the Duchesnays were in it, as I recall, and maybe Toller Cranston as well. Which is to say that the music has eminent potential for skating.

And yeah, why couldn't the doll Coppelia be a male! Great thought. A few years ago there was a well-known production of Swan Lake where the swans were male. Adam Cooper portrayed the main swan, and a small part of his rendition is shown in the final moments of the movie Billy Elliot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFA6NRrgxnc&feature=related

And Dai playing multiple roles...brilliant! I think that often in the ballet, one girl plays several roles, including the doll.

Dai should listen to us! We'll pave his way to Olympic gold.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
I loved Vaughan Williams, too. Thanks, os168!

Actually, Holst's The Planets (orchestra version) has always been my best pick as LP for male single skaters.
The opening of The Jupitar, especially, would suit for a quad, and if the skater can hit a perfect 4-3 right at the tone, I am sure everybody is gonna be :love::love:!
I would be over the moon if Daisuke is going to skate to the Seiji Ozawa with Boston Symphony Orchestra version. :party2:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=146669

:agree: to
Dai should listen to us! We'll pave his way to Olympic gold.
 

ImaginaryPogue

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Oh, Matthew Bourne. A fantastic modern choreographer (the guy who did the Swan Lake Olympia refers to). He could something thrilling for Dai.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Oh, please no Malaguena! I hope Dai continues on the more original musical choices.
 

Butterscotch17

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Here are a few music ideas that came to mind -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5QAKup4jxM Reverie by Claude Debussy - a beautiful piece of music, and very emotional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiyKgeGWx0 Carmina Burana: O Fortuna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF1iZH1F40s Requiem for a Tower. I know that Alena Leonova used it last year in her free program (I think Song Nan may have used it, too) , but in my opinion, Alena didn't do it justice. This song is one of my favorites.

I'm new at this, so please forgive me if these are bad ideas! Anyway, I'm sure I'll end up loving whatever Dai decides to skate to :)
 
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