I know many of you will expect the usual bashing from the neutral title I choose. However this is not quite my point but rather talk about Daniil Gleikhengauz choreography, with all its positive and negative qualities.
While Daniil might not be the reincarnation of Marius Petipa, I think he has done pretty well in giving most of TT students workable choreography, some of them better some of course worse.
Positive qualities:
- Daniil (and TT as a whole) knows the scoring system and how to work and maximize it to garner the most possible points; he (and TT) have also shown herself super adaptable to changes (such as when the backloading was limited, they simply switched strategy on the spot and the girls were immediately ready for the next season). I know many criticize him (and TT) for designing programs to score points but this puzzle me quite a bit: what should they do other than trying to give their students the best possible chance to garner points, according to the current skating system?
- also, for the most part, Daniil works with the girls all day and clearly knows their strenght and flaws: most programs (not all) he produced were very apt for the skaters and their personalities (Sasha two SP in her junior career; Anna SP and LP last year; Alena SP last year; just to mention some of them). I think being able to work with them on daily basis is a luxury that many other skater-choreographer team do not have and it can result in improving and polishing the program throughout the season.
Negative (or partly negative) qualities:
- Daniil is known for his use of leg kicks across the programs, they are a signature that makes his programs immediately recognizable even if you don't know that he made them. Sometimes they work pretty well for the programs (Maiia SP this year) sometimes they work less well (Kamila SP last year, IMO).
- Daniil is also known for some unispiring programs: I do agree that not all of his programs are as successful and I'm very disappointed when it happens with a skater that I personally root for (Kamila LP this yeas, for example, but there are many other examples). However, I do understand that he creates many programs every year and, as it happens to everybody, some of them results in hits, some of them results in misses and some are viable, not particularly inspiring works. I do not know a choreographer whose entire catalogue I fully liked, even Tom Dickson and Kenjii Miyamoto who I adore have had their share of bad programs.
- Danii recycles among programs (transitions, spins and jumps placements, part of step sequences): sometimes I wish for more variety as well but I do understand that this is not just a creative matter but also a decision to keep the program stable and workable for the skaters and not have them lose their consistency.
- Daniil, IMO, is a better SP choreographer than a LP choreographer (maybe because the program is shorter and there are less elements it is easier to create).
Favourite program among Daniil catalogue so far: Sasha's "Kill Bill" and "Big Spender" SP (yes, I know that many consider the music inappropriate for a young skater but if you don't focus on the source material, the program showed a playful and smiling Sasha; bonus for her "Unstoppable" EX; Anna"s "The Dreamcatcher" and "Perfume" (I also quite liked "The Firebird" LP, that I had the pleasure to see in person at its first outing); Alena's "Angel" SP; Kamila's "Storm" SP; Maiia"s SP this year;
Alina's "Don Quixote" (though Daniil's mom and Eteri also got big credit for this).
Many others I don't particularly like or I strongly dislike but I will only mention one: Kamila's Bolero this year! Please Daniil, just rework the program to give it the crescendo that was always intended for this piece of music, so the entire program will look less frantic and Kamila will be able to jump more comfortably in a slower first half (cue the structure of Carolina Kostner "Bolero).
What are your thoughts? What are your favourite and less favourite Daniil's programs?
While Daniil might not be the reincarnation of Marius Petipa, I think he has done pretty well in giving most of TT students workable choreography, some of them better some of course worse.
Positive qualities:
- Daniil (and TT as a whole) knows the scoring system and how to work and maximize it to garner the most possible points; he (and TT) have also shown herself super adaptable to changes (such as when the backloading was limited, they simply switched strategy on the spot and the girls were immediately ready for the next season). I know many criticize him (and TT) for designing programs to score points but this puzzle me quite a bit: what should they do other than trying to give their students the best possible chance to garner points, according to the current skating system?
- also, for the most part, Daniil works with the girls all day and clearly knows their strenght and flaws: most programs (not all) he produced were very apt for the skaters and their personalities (Sasha two SP in her junior career; Anna SP and LP last year; Alena SP last year; just to mention some of them). I think being able to work with them on daily basis is a luxury that many other skater-choreographer team do not have and it can result in improving and polishing the program throughout the season.
Negative (or partly negative) qualities:
- Daniil is known for his use of leg kicks across the programs, they are a signature that makes his programs immediately recognizable even if you don't know that he made them. Sometimes they work pretty well for the programs (Maiia SP this year) sometimes they work less well (Kamila SP last year, IMO).
- Daniil is also known for some unispiring programs: I do agree that not all of his programs are as successful and I'm very disappointed when it happens with a skater that I personally root for (Kamila LP this yeas, for example, but there are many other examples). However, I do understand that he creates many programs every year and, as it happens to everybody, some of them results in hits, some of them results in misses and some are viable, not particularly inspiring works. I do not know a choreographer whose entire catalogue I fully liked, even Tom Dickson and Kenjii Miyamoto who I adore have had their share of bad programs.
- Danii recycles among programs (transitions, spins and jumps placements, part of step sequences): sometimes I wish for more variety as well but I do understand that this is not just a creative matter but also a decision to keep the program stable and workable for the skaters and not have them lose their consistency.
- Daniil, IMO, is a better SP choreographer than a LP choreographer (maybe because the program is shorter and there are less elements it is easier to create).
Favourite program among Daniil catalogue so far: Sasha's "Kill Bill" and "Big Spender" SP (yes, I know that many consider the music inappropriate for a young skater but if you don't focus on the source material, the program showed a playful and smiling Sasha; bonus for her "Unstoppable" EX; Anna"s "The Dreamcatcher" and "Perfume" (I also quite liked "The Firebird" LP, that I had the pleasure to see in person at its first outing); Alena's "Angel" SP; Kamila's "Storm" SP; Maiia"s SP this year;
Alina's "Don Quixote" (though Daniil's mom and Eteri also got big credit for this).
Many others I don't particularly like or I strongly dislike but I will only mention one: Kamila's Bolero this year! Please Daniil, just rework the program to give it the crescendo that was always intended for this piece of music, so the entire program will look less frantic and Kamila will be able to jump more comfortably in a slower first half (cue the structure of Carolina Kostner "Bolero).
What are your thoughts? What are your favourite and less favourite Daniil's programs?