Let's Talk Music - Chapter 4, Tracks for the Storytellers
A friend recently asked me what the best music for figure skating is. I replied that the answer to that is too complex for me to crowd in one genre. However, now that I've had a chance to actually think about it, I believe that there is such a thing as the perfect figure skating music; it's called soundtrack.
That's not to say though that soundtracks are for everyone or that they should be used more often than other genres - every skater is unique and has their own style, so the music they use should be as varied as they are. I do believe though that if you are talking about the sport in general, soundtracks are the best musical fit at this moment in time.
First of all, they are as close as modern music gets to the classics. That means that they can provide an alternative to classical music for those skaters who want lyricism and grace, but aren't big fans of the likes of Tchaikovski.
Secondly, they come with a story of their own, which fits right into the storytelling side of figure skating.
There are a lot of other reasons: they encompass different tempos without changing the theme, they bring the audience closer to the programme by showing them a story they're already familiar with, there are millions of them out there so you can have your pick and they can make it easier for choreographers to come up with the steps. The bottom line is: soundtracks are the most popular musical genre in figure skating right now.
Whether they choose the evergreen tunes of Schindler's List, the daring rhythms of Tron: Legacy or the unbelievably underused melodies of Titanic, skaters love soundtracks. In fact, they can't stay away from them - seriously, you can count on one hand the number of contemporary skaters who haven't used a soundtrack yet. And that's a good thing because soundtracks, unlike opera or musicals, allow you to find tens of different ways to interpret the same music.
Take Ashley Wagner and Joshi Helgesson, for example.
The American chose the soundtrack of a film which you might think has been used plenty of times in figure skating, but which in fact hasn't. Yes, Moulin Rouge seems like one of those stories we've seen hundreds of times because its most famous song, El Tango de Roxanne, is almost super-glued to this sport. However, the soundtrack as a whole hasn't been used that often (the last memorable version I can remember was Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje's back in 2010/2011). And when it was used, it was always about the love story. Well, Ashley Wagner took a different approach.
Ashley is the poster girl for American figure skating, so of course she related to Satine, Moulin Rouge's own star. She decided to focus solely on her, but the routine doesn't feel like a tribute. It is rather a very accurate depiction of her life - from her success to her lonely dreams to the (spoiler alert!) inevitable tragic end that still makes us sob after all these years. But the direction Ashley took with this soundtrack isn't as surprising as that of Joshi Helgesson.
Victoria Helgesson's little sister might still be trying to come up with a trademark style, but I personally think she's found it: out-of-the-box, funky, modern, happy. Skating for her looks like a party; a party that was Disney-themed last season.
She chose James Newton Howard's soundtrack for Snow White and the Huntsman, but just when we thought she'd fit the part of Snow White quite well despite her blonde hair, she struck a rather threatening pose and things took an unexpected turn. Joshi wasn't trying to portray the heroine with hair as black as ebony, but the...ahem...real star of the 2012 film: the Evil Queen.
Her depiction of this enticing antagonist, from the cruelty to the charm, was spot-on, but what made her routine stand out was her choice of character. It's very rare for a skater to take on the villain of a film rather than the hero; so rare you might even call Joshi a pioneer, hopefully a trendsetter.
Both Ashley and Joshi's programme choices prove that soundtracks give skaters a lot more room to work with. Because films tend to tell more complex stories than musicals or ballets, spanning over a longer period of time or focusing on different characters at once, you can approach them from different angles. Doing a character analysis, like Ashley, or going with someone other than the star is therefore more doable. Hopefully these two ladies' footsteps will see plenty of followers because, as much as we love soundtracks, we'd love to see more out-of-the-box approaches to them.
That's not to say though that soundtracks are for everyone or that they should be used more often than other genres - every skater is unique and has their own style, so the music they use should be as varied as they are. I do believe though that if you are talking about the sport in general, soundtracks are the best musical fit at this moment in time.
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| From the costume to the interpretation, Ashley Wagner channeled her inner Satine Photograph: Atsushi Tomura / Getty Images Asia |
Secondly, they come with a story of their own, which fits right into the storytelling side of figure skating.
There are a lot of other reasons: they encompass different tempos without changing the theme, they bring the audience closer to the programme by showing them a story they're already familiar with, there are millions of them out there so you can have your pick and they can make it easier for choreographers to come up with the steps. The bottom line is: soundtracks are the most popular musical genre in figure skating right now.
Whether they choose the evergreen tunes of Schindler's List, the daring rhythms of Tron: Legacy or the unbelievably underused melodies of Titanic, skaters love soundtracks. In fact, they can't stay away from them - seriously, you can count on one hand the number of contemporary skaters who haven't used a soundtrack yet. And that's a good thing because soundtracks, unlike opera or musicals, allow you to find tens of different ways to interpret the same music.
Take Ashley Wagner and Joshi Helgesson, for example.
The American chose the soundtrack of a film which you might think has been used plenty of times in figure skating, but which in fact hasn't. Yes, Moulin Rouge seems like one of those stories we've seen hundreds of times because its most famous song, El Tango de Roxanne, is almost super-glued to this sport. However, the soundtrack as a whole hasn't been used that often (the last memorable version I can remember was Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje's back in 2010/2011). And when it was used, it was always about the love story. Well, Ashley Wagner took a different approach.
 |
| Joshi Helgesson gave into her dark side last season Photograph: Xiaolu Chu / Getty Images Asia |
Victoria Helgesson's little sister might still be trying to come up with a trademark style, but I personally think she's found it: out-of-the-box, funky, modern, happy. Skating for her looks like a party; a party that was Disney-themed last season.
She chose James Newton Howard's soundtrack for Snow White and the Huntsman, but just when we thought she'd fit the part of Snow White quite well despite her blonde hair, she struck a rather threatening pose and things took an unexpected turn. Joshi wasn't trying to portray the heroine with hair as black as ebony, but the...ahem...real star of the 2012 film: the Evil Queen.
Her depiction of this enticing antagonist, from the cruelty to the charm, was spot-on, but what made her routine stand out was her choice of character. It's very rare for a skater to take on the villain of a film rather than the hero; so rare you might even call Joshi a pioneer, hopefully a trendsetter.
Both Ashley and Joshi's programme choices prove that soundtracks give skaters a lot more room to work with. Because films tend to tell more complex stories than musicals or ballets, spanning over a longer period of time or focusing on different characters at once, you can approach them from different angles. Doing a character analysis, like Ashley, or going with someone other than the star is therefore more doable. Hopefully these two ladies' footsteps will see plenty of followers because, as much as we love soundtracks, we'd love to see more out-of-the-box approaches to them.
Trataré de volver a escribir ya que se borro. En anteriores comentarios ya hice referencia a la música de La Lista de Shlinder. Hoy podré otro ejemplo:Javier Fernández en 2012,¿alguien se imagina a Charles Chaplin sin bombin, bigote, bastón y zapatones? A pues Javier logró un Chaplin perfecto, ahora nos imaginariamos a Pluchenko en el mismo papel? No por supuesto, son los dos muy buenos a su estilo, aquà querÃa llegar,todo se reduce a dos palabras Estilo y Equilibrio, adecuado a cada uno por supuesto que las bandas sonoras son muy buena opción, pero el patinador debe elegir donde está su estilo. Otra vez si lo consideras oportuno hablaremos de las músicas que no queremos volver a escuchar en un programa.
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