Ballet Music | Golden Skate

Ballet Music

Bluediamonds09

Medalist
Joined
Sep 8, 2016
Let’s discuss some of the lesser known musical scores from obscure ballet productions. I’m sure there are hundreds upon thousands of musical selections that we’ve never seen on competitive ice before. With Swan Lake and The Nutcracker so popular, I was wondering what other music could be chosen. Any ideas?
 

Harriet

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Country
Australia
Swan Lake may have been done to death, but I'd still like to see a few more people skate von Rothbart rather than the black/white swan! I think Giselle and Coppelia have also been used rather a lot, but I'd love to see La Fille Mal Gardee (Ashton version), Sylvia (particularly the Sorcerer's Dance) and Namouna (especially the Valse de la Cigarette) come into the rotation.

There was recently a ballet made of A Winter's Tale that has some strong, eerie music that might work for ice dance, and if anyone wants to go cute in pairs there's always the Tales of Beatrix Potter or Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Or how about something less narrative like Les Sylphides? That might work for a free dance.
 

TerpsichoreFS

Marin Honda's skating skills
Final Flight
Joined
Jun 10, 2016
I'm sorry if I'm off topic because La Bayadère is a very famous ballet, but there are two music I wish people skated to :

Gamzatti's temple variation from the Act III of La Bayadère in the Makarova version! I'm at work so I can't link a youtube video but the music is short and very emotional and the original variation has awesome choreography.

I also posted one in Nathan's FF that I'd like to see him tackle the golden idol music, but anyone would do. it's probably better for an EX program though.

The music from the first act of the Spartacus ballet is great.

And the blue bird variation from Sleeping Beauty!

Balachine's jewels ballet also has nice music but it's more abstract, fit for a P/C style.
 

Lamente Ariane

Skating Skills -5, Fashion +3, Camp +4
Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 5, 2017

Spirals for Miles

Anna Shcherbakova is my World Champion
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Grand Pas Classique
Pharaoh's Daughter (there's some lovely variations in there)
Flower Festival
Paquita (don't think we've seen that one around before or much if so)
Satanella
The Talisman
Walpurgis Nacht
 

Giselle

Medalist
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Greats suggestions in this thread already!

I'll add :
- Onegin
- Raymonda
- Ondine
- Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
- Le jeune homme et la mort
- Marguerite and Armand
- Theme and Variations
- Etudes


There was recently a ballet made of A Winter's Tale that has some strong, eerie music that might work for ice dance, and if anyone wants to go cute in pairs there's always the Tales of Beatrix Potter or Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Or how about something less narrative like Les Sylphides? That might work for a free dance.

Paul & Islam have actually skated to Beatrix Potter in 2016 in their SD.
 

Ded Moroz

LADIES QUAD CLUB
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Country
United-Nations
Ondine (1843)- Cesare Pugni.

La Source (1866)-Leo Delibes (Act II, Act III scene 1).

Sylvia (1876)- Leo Delibes.

La Fille des Neiges (1879)- Ludwig Minkus.
 
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tothepointe

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 4, 2018
The Diane and Acteon PPD from Esmerelda.

Or something from Snow Maiden Tchaikovsky forgotten ballet. (Well forgotten in the West. It's very much alive and well in Russia)
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
Not ballet but opera...Carmen has become a warhorse, as have Tosca and Turandot. but wouldn't it be lovely if someone (or a couple) skated to Suor Angelica. Granted, this is a difficult piece, very sad and highly emotional (I cry every time I listen to it) but I'm sure a musical skater could pull it off, get the crouds absolutely silent during the performance while becoming totally crazy at the finish.
 

Bluediamonds09

Medalist
Joined
Sep 8, 2016
Wild Swans by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin

Oooh, that sounds nice. Do you have a link to the music?

I just don’t understand why the skaters and their coaches insist on using the exact same music cuts from the exact same tired old music as others. Why??? Could anyone explain it to me?
 

adaa

Spectator
Joined
May 12, 2018
Flames of Paris -- so much potential for costumes too.
Les Sylphides -- very lyrical
La Sylphide (which is different! and has more of a story)
Raymonda (Specifically the variations)

Honestly there's a lot of potential in Balanchine ballets (though also equally big copyright issues, if you tried to keep any of the choreography/stylizations):
Jewels
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
Apollo
Stars and Stripes
 

maggieanne

Rinkside
Joined
May 25, 2018
Country
United-States
Ooh as soon as I saw this thread I thought of Flames of Paris, though Adaa beat me to the puch.
It’s one of my favorite ballets and it has several moments with a lot of potential, and I can’t think of anyone that’s skated to it.
 

Nightcrawler

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
I second "Le Jeune Homme et la Mort". It's amazing to me how it's not a warhorse.
This ballet has everything; the perfection that is J.S. Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, an adult concept, an avant-garde choreogreaphy by Roland Petit, iconic costumes and ice dance's favourite theme (i.e. love and death). I had even suggested it when Tesse asked her fans on Instagram what they should choose for their Olympic skate, but of course they chose Moulin Rouge.

My only hope/dream is that P&C skate to it one day (quite possibly in Beijing).
 

Lamente Ariane

Skating Skills -5, Fashion +3, Camp +4
Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Just thought of a really fun "out there" choice-- a couple weeks ago I saw a Jerome Robbins ballet (Glass Pieces) with a portion set to music from Philip Glass's opera Akhnaten. Having trouble locating the music right now, but think really powerful drum beats and brass.
 

Bluediamonds09

Medalist
Joined
Sep 8, 2016
Are there any ballet pieces that are similar to, say, Turandot or Swan Lake or Scheherazade? I thought that that skaters and their teams could go, “Well, I like Swan Lake, but instead of using that old music that’s been done to death, I’ll choose something similar to Swan Lake. I can still portray the beautiful bird, but to different music, so that I’m being creative.”
 
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