I read in a Russian forum that it is Tracy Wilson from Toronto cricket & curling club.Here is the free dance: H/K FD 2019 SC
As I said before, I think that this FD is a hell of a program, but I know I'm biased, that's why I was so happy listening to the commentator saying that she thought this program is a masterpiece. Anyone knows who's she?
Sara and Kirill did two competitions bur their costumes didn't go the customs' clearance back then.What is the reason H/D has only done one senior B recently and not with the final costumes? It feels they put themselves at a disadvantage and their competition readiness is lagging behind.
Spanish aunties
For the FD: ... if they can resolved the beginning of the dance, I think it would go a long way. It shouldn't have to take until the CCSS to realize this is a modern take on flamenco. It's a first rate CCSS, one of the best I've seen this season. Why aren't they setting it up better in the beginning, which is far more generic "Sorta Spanish." And I do like the concept of black and white costuming they used earlier. It was sleek. Minimalism in the costuming would help put the focus on the dance, which is where it belongs.
I'm not sure how Sara&Kirill, or Najarro, would answer to your questions, I only can tell what I see and what I understand when I watch their FD. They begin with movements that resemble birds and flamenco music and with that they create a very iconic image (at least in Spain): flamingos in Doñana. Doñana is a National Park in the south of Spain, where millions of birds stop in their migration north of Europe in summer-Africa in winter. Flamingos are not the only ones but are the most iconic and their name in spanish is "flamencos". Doñana Park is in the provinces of Huelva, Cádiz and Sevilla: homeland of flamenco music. I wouldn´t choose a black dress with this image in my mind: I would love red&white, but as minimalist as possible
If you need a rational interpretation, here is a possible one: you can think of their free dance as the migration from the place of birth of flamenco to other musical traditions (rock, pop, morocan, arab, cuban son, latin [=from latinamerica], classic, contemporary… you name it), there're lots of musicians with flamenco roots making fusion music. And the few words that Sara&Kirill said about Najarro's intentions were that he wanted to show that flamenco can be contemporary too, that flamenco is more than tradition.
Any good program is full of little images and references, sometimes I can understand them in a rational way (or I think I can), but not always and that's not a problem to enjoy them, if they are able to transmit emotions. In fact writing these paragraphs felt like translating from emotions into words.
This was a very long argument to explain why I think that the beginning of the FD is perfect… yeah, I know, I need to learn to summarize…
No, no, it was very interesting and I learned something new. But perhaps they are having a similar problem with their FD that Hubbell and Donohue are having with theirs: it's too culturally specific. I had no idea of the flamingos in Donana, so the entire first part of the dance, if you pardon the expression, went over my head.
And yes, I like the idea of a contemporary flamenco. Which is why I really liked the original black and white costumes: they fit that vibe.
Very interesting post. Thank you!
I'm gonna have to desagree about H&D because, after being bombarded for near a century by US movies, music, food… I don´t think that "culturally specific" is a term that US can use in the sense that the rest of the world (with access to mass media, of course) do not understand their references . But this is not the place to talk about H&D, maybe I'll expand in their own thread later…
What I'm going to expand here is some thoughts about contemporary flamenco. The thing is that I've been reading comments here and there about this season's flamenco programs and I don't want to look like a snob, because I'm no expert or as a impartial judge, because i'm very partial, but I want to share some opinions and this looks like a good place for that.
I'm not really into flamenco so, it's better to take what I said and what I'm about to say as a very personal opinion, I have just the little advantage of being spanish: flamenco it's not everywhere in Spain, but it's present in the culture, TV, music...
The thing is that the most recongnized flamenco talents, including singers, musicians, dancers and choreographers are very good at tradition but they like to explore new ways, styles and collaborations, there are amazing products of that, masterpieces in fact, but lots of criticisms too from the most traditional sectors. Najarro is a clear advocate for making flamenco more contemporary and his collaboration with figure skaters for so long is a clear example of that, because, let's be clear, even when it looks traditional, there's nothing traditional in flamenco "on ice".
The problem is that you need to be extremely good to make contemporary and, at the same time good flamenco. I think that the key for good flamenco is not the search for "tradition" at all cost, but the search for authenticity, so if you can master the art, you can adapt it to (almost) anything and make it work: a fashion show with electronic music and flamenco dancing, a stage play of ELECTRA, the classic greek play, with contemporary music and flamenco dancing, a song that uses flamenco vocals and motorbikes sounds... In fact, compared with this examples (a bit extreme, I know), Sara&Kirill's fantastic FD looks "traditional"