Grand Slam musicality (long)
Lorrie Kim
broadcast, but on mute (oops), which made for a very interesting viewing
experience. I have no idea what music anyone skated to.
It was surprisingly easy, or at least interesting, to compare the
skaters' musicality with no sound. I think often the music "fills in"
skaters' movements for me, so that I might think a skater has flow when
it's actually the music carrying the program in spots. I watched to see
which skaters made me get a feel for the individuality of the program.
Soldatova: boring, boring, boring. She could have been skating to
anything. Tricky footwork and steady power, but she didn't make me care.
Butyrskaya: superbly musical! Usually I am distracted by her falls and
stiff landings, so I don't appreciate her quality enough. But this time,
I was deeply impressed by how much she cares about the variety of shapes
her body makes in space. She very often moves her head and torso away
from their default positions in order to make meaningful, expressive
statements. Her programs are packed with them. They are not mandatory --
they are art. Her arm movements, also, are not excessive -- she uses them
with intent. Somehow I feel that her attention to dance detail is very
respectful of the viewing audience -- she wouldn't skate a program element
to element, as though no one were watching for pleasure. Even though,
like all skaters, she recycles a few moves, I do not get the feeling that
I'm watching the same program all the time.
Bobek: surprisingly, I did not find her as musical as I expected to.
She did impart some characteristics of the music (was she skating to
Zorro?), and her emphases looked as though she probably hit the
highlights. But there was a little bit of generic quality. And her arms
and wrists drove me nuts. When I hear the music, I kind of ignore them,
but in the silence I could not avoid seeing that her arm-flailing is
excessive (it's not just Russians!) and her wrists go boing-boing like
they're made of rubber. Oh well -- without music, I was noticing arms and
wrists a lot, but I doubt they will affect the scores much.
Hughes: very raw compared to the others, yet I preferred her musicality
to Soldatova's. Even though technically her program was probably not as
packed as Soldatova's, it looked like it had more somehow, and there was a
very promising airiness to her moves despite their lack of smoothness.
Yagudin: by far the best skater and program on mute, even if the air
instruments were annoying and will grow stale by mid-season. Maybe it's
not great art, but it is a PACKED program. He is doing so many different
things, set off from each other as though by musical bars, that it
requires great command of musicality; he frequently switches modes of
expression, and in between he sneaks in his massive elements. Some
skaters spend so much time setting up for jumps, or do such nondescript
footwork, that nobody will notice if they're off the music; that will be
impossible with this program.
Plyushenko: somebody stop the choreographer who is making him do those
dorky robotic up-and-down hand movements. I couldn't focus on the
program. The catch-foot spins are also looking increasingly wrong-headed.
Oh well, Plyushenko is killer-footwork man and his arm movements are not
going to hurt his scores if he lands his jumps well.
Urmanov: maybe I missed hearing the music most with him. I think in
comparison to Yagudin and Butyrskaya, I wanted to see more variation in
the axis of his torso. But I can't bear to say anything bad about his
gloriously strong torso, or to detract from the power he conveys.
Weiss: with the sound off, he didn't look so good compared to the
Russians. His repertoire lacked variety in comparison, and I felt like he
could be skating to any music. I think with or without music, this is a
skater who is best appreciated live so you can see his thoughtful pacing.
Lorrie Kim
lor...@plover.com
MJsk8
How very interestingt. I think I will have to take a look at skaiting with the
mute button on, It propably will give a whole new perspective to the purity of
the skating.
On slighly different note it reminds me a phenomenon that occured last year
while I was watching skaitng with the sound off. The Masters was being aired
and I had the picture on but I was taping it and doing some housework while
listening to my stereo blasting. My son started calling to me to watch what
was going on and Illia was skating his Palliachi program in perfect sync to
Celine Dions Oh Holy Night. It was quite bizarre. The both of us stopped to
watch and the program worked in perfect sync, he jumped at the right times, his
Ina Bauer was stretched to a perfect place in the number , spins everything,
It even ended at the exact right time! By the end of the program my son and I
were whooping and hollering like you do when you see the perfect program. We
have recreated it and now know the exact moment when we unpause the tape( it
doesn't start from the beginning, and unfortuately he had a knee slide in it
that doesn't go to the " fall on your knee part, that would be too perfect.) My
older son is going to dub the tape with the Oh Holy Night music for me someday
if he ever gets around to it.
Has anyone else ever experianced this?
MaryJo
TCAXEL
different performances without the *distractions* of music. Uhhh... does this
mean I might have enjoyed more of Brian Orser's programs if I didn't have to
listen to Mr. Solitary Man??? : O )
Wendi Dunlap-Simpson
(MJsk8) wrote:
> On slighly different note it reminds me a phenomenon that occured last year
> while I was watching skaitng with the sound off. The Masters was being aired
> and I had the picture on but I was taping it and doing some housework while
> listening to my stereo blasting. My son started calling to me to watch what
> was going on and Illia was skating his Palliachi program in perfect sync to
> Celine Dions Oh Holy Night.
<...>
> Has anyone else ever experianced this?
Not with a skating program... but once with an old (Fleischer) Superman
cartoon video tape and a They Might Be Giants CD on random play. :) It was
during a party, and everyone stopped to watch. It actually lasted for 2 or
3 songs -- very surreal. We were never able to recreate it.
It would seem that a song like "Oh Holy Night," very skateable and
dramatic (though Celine wouldn't be my choice of performers, oh well :),
would work well while watching many skaters!
--
Wendi Dunlap-Simpson * litlnemo*@*slumberland.org * www.slumberland.org
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Lorrie Kim
Who's "Mr. Solitary Man"? If that's Neil Diamond, I confess I
enjoy Orser's programs more without him, too.... But interesting you
should bring up Orser, because he was the first skater for whom I noticed
this, a couple of years ago. I was in a sports bar and a Legends repeat
was on TV with the sound off. The men were up and Hamilton, Petrenko, et
al. were doing the programs we all know so well. Petrenko's program
looked silly and empty and full of posing without the music to carry it (I
think it might have been Cult of Snap). Hamilton's was a bit fuller, but
he was mugging to the music and the choreography didn't make sense without
it. Orser's choreography, on the other hand, had flow and integrity.
The program made sense and was beautiful to watch even without the music.
Lorrie Kim
lor...@plover.com
ZAZZ
wrote:
>The VCR gods were not with me. I recorded the Fox Grand Slam
>broadcast, but on mute (oops), which made for a very interesting viewing
>experience. I have no idea what music anyone skated to.
I'm fascinated. The signals feed directly from antenna or cable to
the VCR. How do you manage to mute a tape?
Lorrie Kim
ZAZZ <za...@toobored.com> wrote:
>
>I'm fascinated. The signals feed directly from antenna or cable to
>the VCR. How do you manage to mute a tape?
As far as I can tell, it was because I had the cable on mute when
I programmed the VCR to record.
Um, can we talk about something other than my ineptitude now?
Lorrie Kim
lor...@plover.com
Ellen B. Edgerton
: wrote:
: >The VCR gods were not with me. I recorded the Fox Grand Slam
: >broadcast, but on mute (oops), which made for a very interesting viewing
: >experience. I have no idea what music anyone skated to.
Why don't you play the CD of Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON while
watching the routines, and see if they synch up? :-)
(for the uninitiated... try DARK SIDE OF THE MOON with THE WIZARD OF OZ
sometime... whoah.)
ZAZZ
wrote:
>Um, can we talk about something other than my ineptitude now?
Gladly. Just wanted a little technical insight.
TCAXEL
> Who's "Mr. Solitary Man"?
If that's Neil Diamond,
Yup,
>Hamilton's was a bit fuller, but
he was mugging to the music and the choreography didn't make sense without
it**************.
Of course audience connection is one of those intangibles which can raise a
performance, but from a purely choreographic point of view, sometimes Hamilton
get's away with the mugging shtichk more than many of his fans care to admit.
THEO
Dave Amorde
Ellen B. Edgerton wrote in message <38034...@news.syr.edu>...
>: On Tue, 12 Oct 1999 03:11:48 GMT, lor...@plover.com (Lorrie Kim)
>: wrote:
>
>: >The VCR gods were not with me. I recorded the Fox Grand Slam
>: >broadcast, but on mute (oops), which made for a very interesting viewing
>: >experience. I have no idea what music anyone skated to.
>
>Why don't you play the CD of Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON while
>watching the routines, and see if they synch up? :-)
>
>(for the uninitiated... try DARK SIDE OF THE MOON with THE WIZARD OF OZ
>sometime... whoah.)
>
Add a bong and a pony keg, and you've just described my high school
experience.
-Dave-
Trudi Marrapodi
<dave....@startelcorp.com> wrote:
You know, I tried playing Brian Orser's "Night Moves" special with the
sound down, playing an album, and it was pretty freaky how well it was
working. I can't remember what the album was now, though. (For the record,
it wasn't anything by Neil Diamond.)
--
Trudi
A few hours northwest of New York City
Posted from my private ISP
Carmen Tennison
>I was in a sports bar and a Legends repeat was on TV with the sound >off.
WHAT?! A sports bar exists on this planet that wasn't showing hockey
instead?
And then Dave wrote (about the synchronicity of Pink Floyd's Dark Side
of the Moon album as a soundtrack for Wizard of Oz):
>Add a bong and a pony keg, and you've just described my high school
>experience.
I've simply got to get out of the arctic...I've missed all the good
stuff :(
Jocelyn
>turning the sound down on a program. If I have no feel for what kind of a
>program it is, or what the music the skater is using might be like, I know
>the skater is not very musical.
I felt like putting on my cd of Dante's Prayer to Michelle's performance. The
R+J song ached, moaned and released. Michelle *placed* herself in these
positions, and that really bothered me. She was too fast movement-wise, and
needed the taut tension and exalted release that the music expresses. Perhaps
that is why I was so dissatisfied. Usually standard Kwan fare is fine for me,
but this music was *not* standard fare and should've been expressed better.
Also, she was ahead of the music in parts where it was very obvious, and
annoying.
Jocelyn
--
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am...@yahoo.com
program. I think she's actually still improving artistically. I pretty
much agree with everything else Lorrie said in her original post. NB has
a feeling for music but often doesn't challenge herself musically or
choreographically. I think Sarah's got it! I wasn't bowled over by the
music or interp of any of the guys, but think that Yags & Urmanov are the
most musical in general.
For me, one of the frustrating things about watching a documentary (like
the HBO special Reflections on Ice) is NOT being able to hear the
original "soundtracks."
BTW My ex-brother-in-law used to parody the macho-ness of football by
turning down the sound during games and playing classical music.
Think I'll try watching a Wings game with musical accompaniment.
---amy
In article <3802a6f2.1af2$1...@news.op.net>,
lor...@plover.com (Lorrie Kim) wrote:
> It was surprisingly easy, or at least interesting, to compare the
> skaters' musicality with no sound.
--
"That's no place for a nervous person."
Detroit Red Wings TV commentator Mickey Redmond on playing in goal.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Yamstep
> The VCR gods were not with me. I recorded the Fox Grand Slam
>broadcast, but on mute (oops), which made for a very interesting viewing
>experience. I have no idea what music anyone skated to.
You're very lucky. I've never heard such consistantly bad choices for a skating
event. The costumes ranked just as bad. No imagination, nothing new. And TACKY!
I swear I thought I was seeing a tape from the early '80's when I heard the
music and saw the costumes. Big step backwards. Makes me very scared for this
season! The men were particularly at fault!
Janice
>I programmed the VCR to record.
I did that once. I had no idea that the cable box would do that. Oddly
enough, the program I accidently muted was Maria Buterskaya's.
Janice
Written on blackboard by an enterprising eight year old young lady:
"Girls rule, boys drule (sic)"
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