Yes, I agree. Generally, I feel harmonious when what I listen to is synchronized with and what I see. It gets exciting when unexpected and creative movement enhances the music I hear. I get ecstatic when technical elements and choreographic movements are weaved together to celebrate the music and create something bigger and more beautiful than the music originally was.Since I started watching Figure Skating I'm really drawn to a skater's musicality but reading posts here about it kinda make me question how I usually define this term, or how to pinpoint whether a skater has it or not. Do we use the same definition about musicality the way we do in dance. By that I don't mean Ice Dance but dancing in general; in terms of musical receptivity and musical creativity.
I think it helps skaters deepen understanding of the music and widen their ability to express. I also think it is possible to go with their own intuitive feeling. When young skater like Cha was asked what he did to develop his interpretation to Il Postino at the JGPF, he responded that he watched the movie many times. Yuna Kim actually gave the same responses to the question about her 007 SP. Flim OST is usually composed to serve the film. So, watching the movie to understand the context is effective to express the tone and mood of the music. When there is no visualization done, like classical music, you could find its abstractness empty/clueless or absolute freedom. That is where pure relationship between music and movements shapes. That is why I love Yuna's Gershwin, Mao's Chopin, Yuzu's Chopin, and Chan's Elegie(gala).Do we have to know the meaning and intention of the composer beforehand to know if a skater exhibits musicality or not?
i propose a scale from 0 to Anna Scherbakova
Not to be rude, but isn't she the one in the far right? She is a beat slower to the music to follow the choreographer. I dont think this video displays her best musicality. The girl in the middle (Alena I assume?) has better musicality among the three.
Not to be rude, but isn't she the one in the far right? She is a beat slower to the music to follow the choreographer. I dont think this video displays her best musicality. The girl in the middle (Alena I assume?) has better musicality among the three.
That’s my scale too, with shoutouts to Akiko Suzuki and Yuzuru Hanyu.I define musicality on a scale from 0 to Yuna Kim for ladies and from 0 to Daisuke Takahashi for men. To my grief, ISU doesn't seem to recognize my method.
ETA: thanks to the OP, I'm finding the various answers pretty interesting. In his recent interview with TSL Tom Dickson spoke about musicality and the ways to teach it to skaters.
Oh, great! I hope Anna keeps developing her musicality and grows as a beautiful skater! And proves it is not just aesthetically pleasing, but also a strong weapon to lead in the very competitive figure skating scene in Russia.she is in the middle
I just read the title of the youtube clip and assumed the names were listed in the order they appear on the screen. I better work on the face recognition as well as musicality @russianfan, could you tag the name of the dancers? thanks!I thought it was from left desktop to right Sasha, Anna and Alena...am I wrong?
Oh, great! I hope Anna keeps developing her musicality and grows as a beautiful skater! And proves it is not just aesthetically pleasing, but also a strong weapon to lead in the very competitive figure skating scene in Russia.
I just read the title of the youtube clip and assumed the names were listed in the order they appear on the screen. I better work on the face recognition as well as musicality @russianfan, could you tag the name of the dancers? thanks!
For me, the most musical skaters in earlier decades were
Torvill & Dean
Kurt Browning
Lu Chen, Oksana Baiul, Nicole Bobek
Including professional as well as competitive programs, I think each of the above showed ability to interpret a wide range of musical styles.
But in any given program, it's more about getting a lot of detail and nuance out of every measure of the music within this particular program.
Generally acknowledging the overall style (slow or quick? lyrical or staccato? etc.), and beginings and endings of whole phrases is just the beginning.
Then acknowledging the downbeats of each measure where emphasized by stroking on the beats or including arm and body and head movements on the beats, and also perhaps upbeats or lesser stresses.
Then acknowledging little details where the music is doing something specific in this measure that it's not doing in all the other measures. E.g., holding out or delaying or anticipating a note, or counting in threes instead of twos (triplets), dotted rhythms, etc. Is the skater doing something with some part of the body to show that she hears and is using those specific details?
Thank you guys for your responses I really can’t reply to everyone but I’m writing down the name of the skaters you all mentioned to watch. It’s nice that this thread remained civil.
gkelly mentioned about nuances though and I would like to know if skaters do stuff prior to understand the music they skate to other than learning the choreography. I know David Wilson said before that for Les Miserables, Yuna had watched the movie around 100 times to understand what the story is about.(Probably exaggerating there too lol)
Are there any other instances from skaters that have done the same thing or similar stuff to prepare themselves “musically” or at least to know how to interpret the song they skate to? I can think of maybe Yuzuru doing it too. (It’s also probably a Brian Orser influence since he’s the one who really underlined the importance of having a program where elements are seamlessly integrated to their choreography).
Well if you want to see information about how to create a program, Yuzuru´s Semei has being covered a lot:
Yuzuru participated in the editing of the music, even made an edit on his own http://nanoka12.tumblr.com/post/136624269761/32-versions-of-seimei
He reunited with the actor from Onmyōji (film) from where his movies came from,so he got tips part 1 and part 2
And here PJ Kwong talks with Shae Lynn about the program
Video on the process of the design of the program from choreography to costume
Is dancing to hip hop and such stuff something most skaters nowadays do?
To be honest, after watching all of the clips, I think only Virtue and Moir don't look terribly out of their depth when doing hip hop (Tessa posted a video like a season or two ago I think).
You can't just stop there. The SP of 2011/2012, In the Garden of Souls, must be mentioned, too. Cyber Swan, Eye and Mambo!
I think the way an audience freaks out for elements that are non-jumps is a good inclination, as well. And they do freak out for everything Takahashi! Aren't we all Pasquale Camerlengo and Utako Nagamitsu, hitting the boards? Yes. This was 6 years ago. And then you see a PCS score of 85.78! Travesty to think this is the same system still being used today. Daisuke, forever undermarked. But I don't care. I will rewatch these programs forever. *cough* Sorry for that.
Well if you want to see information about how to create a program, Yuzuru´s Semei has being covered a lot:
Yuzuru participated in the editing of the music, even made an edit on his own http://nanoka12.tumblr.com/post/136624269761/32-versions-of-seimei
He reunited with the actor from Onmyōji (film) from where his movies came from,so he got tips part 1 and part 2
And here PJ Kwong talks with Shae Lynn about the program
Video on the process of the design of the program from choreography to costume
Thank you guys for your responses I really cant reply to everyone but Im writing down the name of the skaters you all mentioned to watch. Its nice that this thread remained civil.
gkelly mentioned about nuances though and I would like to know if skaters do stuff prior to understand the music they skate to other than learning the choreography. I know David Wilson said before that for Les Miserables, Yuna had watched the movie around 100 times to understand what the story is about.(Probably exaggerating there too lol)
Are there any other instances from skaters that have done the same thing or similar stuff to prepare themselves musically or at least to know how to interpret the song they skate to? I can think of maybe Yuzuru doing it too. (Its also probably a Brian Orser influence since hes the one who really underlined the importance of having a program where elements are seamlessly integrated to their choreography).