Nathan Chen | Page 995 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

I guess when discussing Bach we should probably distinguish between some of his popular works and the rest of his works. Many of his popular pieces are "easy listening classical music", but much of his keyboard compositions are some of the most structurally complex musical works ever written, and also much more intellectual (sometimes I feel studying his fugues, for example, is like studying science rather than music) than emotional and difficult to grasp and interpret even for seasoned musicians (same goes for Brahms, which would be like the polar opposite of Philip Glass or Avro Part). For me visualization of music in the form of movement is easier when there's a clear melodic line, phrase or rhythm, and that's why some music are great for skating and some just aren't. For that reason I don't know how some of these complex music would translate well onto the dance floor, much less the ice where room for creativity is even more bound by technical requirements... I really like the Sibelius violin concerto though, that would be an example of a very "skateable" piece.
 
Last edited:
shine said:
I guess when we discussing Bach we should probably distinguish between some of his popular works and the rest of his works. Many of his popular pieces are "easy listening classical music", but much of his keyboard compositions are some of the most structurally complex musical works ever written, and also much more intellectual (sometimes I feel studying his fugues, for example, is like studying science rather than music) than emotional and difficult to grasp and interpret even for seasoned musicians (same goes for Brahms, which would be like the polar opposite of Philip Glass or Avro Part). For me visualization of music in the form of movement is easier when there's a clear melodic line, phrase or rhythm, and that's why some music are great for skating and some just aren't. For that reason I don't know how some of these complex music would translate well onto the dance floor, much less the ice where room for creativity is even more bound by technical requirements... I really like the Sibelius violin concerto though, that would be an example of a very "skateable" piece.
Click to expand...
This is a such a well-written post :clap: As you said, visualization of music with "a clear melodic line, phrase or rhythm" is easier and that's why we're seeing a lot of them, both on the ice and on the dance floor, but there're always people who're thirst for more, for works that do not follow the beaten tracks. I look forward to seeing more Bach on ice precisely because of the complexity of his works and the unique opportunity for creative choreography that comes with tackling such challenges. Just as with using music of a single melodic line, choreographers need to make decisions about which notes or beats to capture and which ones to let go, they can also decide how to represent structurally complex music through a process of reduction and enrichment. For example, they don't need to express every single line in a polyphonic keyboard piece by Bach, and instead they can focus on (and develop a coherent theme around) just one of them (or switch back-and-forth) and let the other "voices" settle naturally into the background. To me dancing to "undanceable" music is one of the most fascinating things about modern choreography. While I understand it's too much a challenge to ask of skaters already quite taxed with pushing the technical envelope, I still dream of seeing it on the ice :laugh:

ETA: This short video of rehearsing Agon is a nice example of how to turn the challenges of choreographing a rhythmically complex piece of music in your favor and create unprecedented tension. I'm happy if I get to see just a small fraction of this level of intelligence and originality in any choreography on the ice. It doesn't have to be in a competitive program.
 
Last edited:
LutzDance said:
As you said, visualization of music with "a clear melodic line, phrase or rhythm" is easier [...]
Just as with using music of a single melodic line, choreographers need to make decisions about which notes or beats to capture and which ones to let go, they can also decide how to represent structurally complex music through a process of reduction and enrichment. For example, they don't need to express every single line in a polyphonic keyboard piece by Bach, and instead they can focus on (and develop a coherent theme around) just one of them (or switch back-and-forth) and let the other "voices" settle naturally into the background.
Click to expand...

I agree with Shine. I love counterpoint in music and I enjoyed playing Bach's pieces on the piano, because they were more captivating than other composers (not a fan of Mozart f.i. ;)). But I do think translating it onto the ice, into a competition program at that, would be quiet challenging. I don't think it would work well for a free skate, unless it's just part of it, say the step sequence. So rather a short program?

I think Shae would in theory be up to it. 'La Boheme' was actually a program a bit in that vein, although easier to digest of course, with its more melodious and chanson character. But I still maintain, that the song and Shae's choreography to match it, was very difficult to skate to (never mind while doing two quads on top of it). And I think there were many people who didn't respond to it as readily, because Shae had Nathan switch between moving either to the melody sung by Charles or to the melody of the accompanying instruments, so the choreo didn't feel as straightforward (even though in certain parts of the program his movements were choreographed to match what felt like almost every single syllable/note, so much for reduction, huh 😄).

That being said, I don't think Classic music is something they will be go for, and if they do, it's likely not going to be a non-popular piece by Bach. It lacks the crowd-pleasing appeal that some of his past programs had and that's sth. they will want for the Olympics, I would think?

I do hope I will like whatever music he ends up skating to. 😥
Chances aren't that bad considering the only program music of his that I truly hated was his Rocketman medley (and I mostly hated "Rocketman" itself), but you never know.
 
1111bm said:
But I do think translating it onto the ice, into a competition program at that, would be quiet challenging. I don't think it would work well for a free skate, unless it's just part of it, say the step sequence. So rather a short program?
Click to expand...
I was thinking of a short program for sure. Also, while Bach's complexity is captivating, many of his music were literally Baroque dances, which in theory shouldn't be too hard to move to.

1111bm said:
I think Shae would in theory be up to it. 'La Boheme' was actually a program a bit in that vein, although easier to digest of course, with its more melodious and chanson character. But I still maintain, that the song and Shae's choreography to match it, was very difficult to skate to (never mind while doing two quads on top of it). And I think there were many people who didn't respond to it as readily, because Shae had Nathan switch between moving either to the melody sung by Charles or to the melody of the accompanying instruments, so the choreo didn't feel as straightforward. (even though in certain parts of the program his movements were choreographed to match what felt like almost every single syllable/note, so much for reduction, huh ).
Click to expand...
I feel this way about the Caravan step sequence, where they sort of switch between moving to the vocal section and the brass/percussion section, and that's what gives me some confidence in their ability to pick out the layer of music to move to 🙂 And yes, La Boheme is definitely not a straight forward piece to skate to. The accompanying instruments are loosely connected to each other most of the time instead of moving in unison. It also doesn't have strong rhythmic cues and even the triple meter beats from the cymbals are quite subdued. I think it's a song you're meant to listen to while sitting in a cafe instead of moving with...And yeah, the pace and density of movement in the step sequence were not something I expected when I listened to the song before we got the video. Now I think about Shae's step sequences for Nathan, I agree they tend to respond to most of the notes/chords/phrases in the melody. Perhaps the variety of ways to move to the music is what made me feel they don't look quite as cluttered.

Bach is something more on my wishlist than what I think they'll do (well, same goes to basically all of my suggestions). Although I also thought minimalism music was just something on my wishlist and it turned out happening. So who knows :p
 
LutzDance said:
while Bach's complexity is captivating, many of his music were literally Baroque dances, which in theory shouldn't be too hard to move to.
Click to expand...
This! Unless you take some mind-boggling contrapuntus from 'The art of fugue', of course! :biggrin: I don't think any fast music from, say, a Brandenburg concerto is THAT hard to move to. After all, we do have a fair number of modern ballets on Bach's music. There's Balanchine's famous Concerto barocco, there's Kylian's Sarabande, there's Tomasson's "7 for 8" which I mentioned earlier, etc etc. I think Balanchine's choreographic language in particular would suit Nathan's style.
I was thinking either SP or one part of FP (StSq?). But of course these are just my phantasies - in the real world Nathan & his choreographer are constrained by it 1) being a figure skating program; 2) even worse -- an Olympic program. :biggrin:
 
Hronop said:
I think Balanchine's choreographic language in particular would suit Nathan's style.
Click to expand...
Preach :biggrin:

ETA: Balanchine is a good match for Nathan not only for his choreographic language, but also for his idea of a perfect costume combo: white T plus black pants 🤣 Basically practice clothes in ballet.

Cool interview with fellow Yalie: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1587631/8448545-icy-blue-nathan-chen

Nathan mentioned considering retiring after 2016 Nats. Thankfully it was just a thought. Also discussed quite a bit about how he viewed the balance of technical elements and artistry and said that he found learning new jumps "at his age" challenging (so are you learning new jumps, Nathan?:laugh:)

The host said he met Nathan from a stats lecture. They wanted to study together and exchanged instagram, and the fellow Yalie was duly shocked when he discovered Nathan's identity 😂

I always enjoy it when Nathan talks to his peers. He sounds so relaxed :) It's also refreshing to hear him talk to someone outside of skating.
 
Last edited:
Nice interview. A few interesting questions from an outsider. I have not been on twitter much. Is it true most Nathan fans love long hair on him?
 
Hronop said:
For all ballet and Glass lovers here: did anyone see this? It was uploaded just a few days ago. Metamorphosis #2 starts at 8:22.
Click to expand...

Thank you for mentioning Metamorphosis ballet. It’s very kind of ballet choreographers to set choreography to some of my favorite music. :)

---

I like this for SP. Please don’t mime any puffing on cigarettes. LOL

Tank (opening) Cowboy Bebop OST

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com


Tank can be part of a long program that includes:
Road to the West, Cowboy Bebop OST

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Road to the West can be a slower middle section of a long program that serves a similar purpose to Truman Sleeps?
 
LutzDance said:
Cool interview with fellow Yalie: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1587631/8448545-icy-blue-nathan-chen
Click to expand...
RJ's grandma's observation was so precious! 🥺
When RJ started his sentence with "She wanted me to ask you this, because the one thing when she watches you, that she says, seems a little bit different than a lot of other people..." I for sure expected another trite comment about his costumes or lack of extroversion and emotions (f.i. in the KnC area - of course he would have phrased it a bit differently, more along the lines of "you appear collected and focused"), because you know, that's what the 'typical' figure skating loving grandma would notice is lacking, right? ;)
So I was really touched when it turned out to be the exact opposite. You can also tell how unaccustomed Nathan must be (I think? 😅) to someone complimenting him on exuding joy on the ice/at competitions, the way he prefaced his answer by acknowledging that he's "not the most emotive person", almost like a knee-jerk reaction (and he again seemed kind of apologetic about it).

What I found interesting is how involved USFS was in the whole process of making sure he'd have adequate training conditions at Yale. I mean, I guess it makes total sense, but I was just thinking of the adverse conditions that Vincent described he encountered at Brown. Maybe USFS was "ok" with it, because it was supposed to only last one semester anyway?
 
Last edited:
luckyu2 said:
Is it true most Nathan fans love long hair on him?
Click to expand...
Well, I think most fans want some amount of curls, not sure how people (and Nathan himself) defines "long" though

Gilligan said:
I like this for SP. Please don’t mime any puffing on cigarettes. LOL

Tank (opening) Cowboy Bebop OST
Click to expand...
I also like this. Tomoki Hiwatashi skated to this in the Peggy Fleming Trophy last summer, which was one of the highlights for me.

1111bm said:
RJ's grandma's observation was so precious!
Click to expand...
I know! Forgot to put it into my original post. To unpack it, 1) Grandma watches Nathan, probably under RJ's recommendation; 2) Grandma thinks Nathan's smile is more genuine than others (how true! Nathan either smiles from the heart or doesn't smile at all); 3) Grandma wants to know if he is happy as he looks, which is just a lovely thing to say. I wish all fans can be like RJ's grandma. I also hope Nathan realizes that there're people out there loving his un-put-upon expressions.
 
Haha that gift guide at the end is super cute, though I’m not sure why fans get him Nike things when he’s sponsored by them so would have access to any Nike stuff already I presume. Still sweet of them. He gets so much free stuff, I wonder if he actually ever has to spend his own money on anything ever 😂
 
heyheyhey said:
Haha that gift guide at the end is super cute, though I’m not sure why fans get him Nike things when he’s sponsored by them so would have access to any Nike stuff already I presume. Still sweet of them. He gets so much free stuff, I wonder if he actually ever has to spend his own money on anything ever 😂
Click to expand...
Nathan is careful with his money (why else would he wear Shae’s blouse). His fans give him very wearable stuff. Between the fan gifts and Nike clothes, no need to buy anything. I was with the President of one of his Japanese fan clubs when she gave him a nice blue shirt, which he later wore (on Instagram). He also said he got some of the YSL sweaters that he modeled for SPUR in 2018.
 
sheetz said:
I think because there's actually a good chance he will wear the Nike stuff someday. He's worn many fan gifts in the past.
Click to expand...
That makes sense. I think he’s probably required to wear the Nike gear in official competitions as part of his contract so he’s less likely to wear non Nike stuff during the season.

He can save his money for Med School
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

dorispulaski
2026 U.S. Nationals Novice Pairs
Replies
7
Views
1K
Silevril Ilumire
Silevril Ilumire
4everchan
2026 Canadian Nationals : Women's Short Program
9 10 11
Replies
200
Views
9K
4everchan
4everchan
rabidline
Shoma Uno
105 106 107
Replies
2K
Views
37K
Figskater23
F
4everchan
2026 Canadian Nationals : Senior Rhythm Dance
10 11 12
Replies
236
Views
9K
viennaskater
viennaskater
4everchan
2026 Canadian Nationals : Women's Long Program
12 13 14
Replies
276
Views
10K
4everchan
4everchan
Back
Top