Smiling in a serious performance?

[Mathman]

On the other hand, perhaps awe is more appropriate than merriment. O t J feels more grand and exultant then merry and bright. and Beethoven was by the time of the Ninth profoundly deaf with roaring tinnitus.

Here's a comment under the video from rubyslipperz1974, written 4 years ago:

The music is as graceful and beautiful, as Evgeni, himself. He looks like a man who fully living in the moment, with the joy he feels for his craft and the enjoyment of being able express it the way he wants to.​

Just substitute the name "Mariah" for the name "Evgeni," and change the pronouns.

So true, especially the bolded part. No matter what the music, a skater could just skate for the joy of skating. "Wind in my hair, wings on my feet!"

I also appreciate programs, especially by young skaters, that say: "I can do this! I can do this!. I can do THIS, and I CAN DO THAT!!! :yes:

 

[el henry]

So true, especially the bolded part. No matter what the music, a skater could just skate for the joy of skating. "Wind in my hair, wings on my feet!"

I also appreciate programs, especially by young skaters, that say: "I can do this! I can do this!. I can do THIS, and I CAN DO THAT!!! :yes:

I don't think this is at all what you mean by "I can do that", (probably needless to say, but a big smile after landing a jump means less to me than someone showing pure joy of putting blade to ice ),

but here are my adopted babies Utana & Shingo skating to, in part, "I can do that" from a Chorus Line:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6JmbzXMrM

I love young skaters with joy, passion and commitment, and this junior ice dance couple has it:yes:

 

[Mathman]

... gormless ...

Word nerd alert.

Without "heed" or gorm (gaum). Myself, i am descended (so I have been told) from Ethelred the Unready. (Without "rede" or council).

 

[Mathman]

I don't think this is at all what you mean by "I can do that", (probably needless to say, but a big smile after landing a jump means less to me than someone showing pure joy of putting blade to ice ).

I like them both. Let the dancers do THAT which they do, and let the jumpers do THAT which they do. In both cases, they put on extra socks, run seven blocks, just to show us what they got.

Here are my adopted babies Utana & Shingo skating to, in part, "I can do that" from a Chorus Line:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6JmbzXMrM

I love young skaters with joy, passion and commitment, and this junior ice dance couple has it. :yes:

 

[skylark]

I'm insulting her performance. I'm sure she's a lovely person in RL, but nobody should care about that when she is performing a bitter lament about love and loss.

Nobody should? Well, anyway, skipping over that, "Hallelujah" may be a bitter lament to you, but several other meanings have been offered. Here are two that resonate with me.

So yes I do believe there are multiple interpretations of Hallelujah and "joyous" is certainly one of them. My personal interpretation of "cold and broken hallelujah" is finding the light within the darkness, hope in hard times.

As for not being able to imagine why someone might smile, well, others can and it's not beholden upon them to agree with your interpretation.

If a person has ever felt a religious experience or briefly touched a state bordering upon enlightenment, it's a different kind of joy.

.... the lyrics allow for widely differing interpretations.

The lyrics do allow differing interpretations, but also, lyrics aren't the only element of a song. There's melody, cadence, emotion that builds, and instrumental chording which can enhance or contrast with the lyrics. To name a few.
This thread does show how lyrics in a program can complicate some audience members' response to figure skating programs (and not in a good way), while enhancing other people's experience. Bringing it back to Mariah,

O t J feels more grand and exultant then merry and bright.

Personally, I wouldn't call Mariah's expression "merry." Experience can teach that even the hardest challenges, over time can bring a deeper kind of joy that's no less radiant. One could even relate it to her journey as a top-notch figure skater, although granted, that's a more literal view.

 

[Giltedge]

Word nerd alert.

Without "heed" or gorm (gaum). Myself, i am descended (so I have been told) from Ethelred the Unready. (Without "rede" or council).

Yes, gormless was a well-used word in my family background; another, perhaps related, was gumption (Use your gumption!)

The "rede" or "ræd" (council, counsel, wisdom) in your antecedence is also there in the name Alfred, not as some may guess, from Al+fred, but from ælf+ræd, elf+rede: elf counsel, wisdom of the elves. Rede also comes into germanic words like rathaus, raadsaal, etc. (council house, city hall).

The ælf part also comes into the names Alwyn, Alvin: ælf+wyn, friend of the elves. The wyn part is also from proto-IE wen- (love, desire, achievement, hope) and comes into words like win, venerate, venerable, venus, winsome (good old Scottish word).

All four elements in fact are traced to proto-IE. The ethel (noble) from pIE at-al (highly nourished or high bred) via OE æðele and proto-German athala (noble family), appearing for example in the flower edelweiss (noble-white).

Fascinating stuff. Since there must be a figure skater somewhere with the name Alfred, this is, I hope, not off-topic

 

[Mathman]

The "rede" or "ræd" (council, counsel, wisdom) in your antecedence is also there in the name Alfred, not as some may guess, from Al+fred, but from ælf+ræd, elf+rede: elf counsel, wisdom of the elves. ...

Fascinating stuff. Since there must be a figure skater somewhere with the name Alfred, this is, I hope, not off-topic

I love this board!

OK, so I Googled "Alfred figure skater."

Alfred Megroz. 1920 Olympian in men's singles.

Alfred Berger (1924 Oympic champion in pairs).

Alfred Eisenbeisser. Competed for Romania (!) in football (1930 FIFA World Cup) and figure skating (1936 Olymics in pairs). (He was actually German, born in a region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that is now part of Ukraine.)

So I guess we are OK with hi-jacking this thread.

And then there is the U.S. child actor "Alfalfa." (Elfy McElf-face?)

 

[Blueberrygirl123]

She should not smile

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

If Mariah wants to smile and use the joyous interpretation of the music, then let her. If one isn't the choreographer who set the tone for her program, then what does it matter? As long as she's interpreting the way it was intended when the choreo was set, then all is well.

 

[noskates]

Where's that "beating a dead horse" emoticon!!!!

 

[Skater Boy]

Let's be clear I love to watch Mariah skate because in my opinion you can tell how much she loves it. However her range of interpretation has never branched out much from being something that has her being smiley and happy; I'd be interested to see what she could do with something like Shcherbakova's short program music something that doesn't appropriately allow her to have the safety net of smiley/happy skater presentation.

I sort of call it the Miss America pretty/feminine/graceful American top skate look. Ice princessy. I mean I remember Carmen skated by Mirai and while the jumps et al were ice her Miss America grin to me was not great interpretation and should be reflected in the pcs accordingly.

 

[Mathman]

I remember Carmen skated by Mirai and while the jumps et al were ice her Miss America grin to me was not great interpretation and should be reflected in the pcs accordingly.

I thought Mirai's "Carmen's Little Sister" program was great. She was 16; the world was her oyster. At the 2010 Olympics she couldn't crack the podium of Kim, Asada and Rochette, but her performance (skating last and earning 4th place) was the perfect palate-cleanser to those blockbusters.

Later on in her career she was criticized for skating with a perpetual look of concentration and concern on her face -- the opposite of her Carmen persona.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RkrU7TGwd8

 

[Jaana]

I think that if one is interpreting music seen as serious, one should not smile, because that will sort of take the skater out of the character. LOL, of course if a skater has managed to jump a difficult jump it may be difficult not to smile..., but that still shows you are not into the music totally.

 

[Moxiejan]

I think folks are confusing Mariah’s smiles of exultation (which match swells in the music; almost beatific) with more superficial “happy” smiles.

 

[Amei]

If Mariah wants to smile and use the joyous interpretation of the music, then let her. If one isn't the choreographer who set the tone for her program, then what does it matter? As long as she's interpreting the way it was intended when the choreo was set, then all is well.

Nothing's wrong with it, but I'd like to see what kind of performance she could give with music that doesn't allow her to have the crutch of her natural personality of bubbly and smiley.

 

[Bentley]

Gosh darn, now people are condemning a Skater for smiling during their program. Yikes! Guess every one better skate with a dour look on their face. And to think that Mirai was heavily criticized for never ever cracking a smile.

 

[zanadude]

Gosh darn, now people are condemning a Skater for smiling during their program. Yikes! Guess every one better skate with a dour look on their face.

No. Skate with a smile during happy parts of the program. Skate with a serious look during serious parts of the program. It's not a difficult concept.

 

[Mishaminion]

No. Skate with a smile during happy parts of the program. Skate with a serious look during serious parts of the program. It's not a difficult concept.

Define serious?
If we use Hallelujah then that would be one bi-polar program

 

[zanadude]

Define serious?

Can't we just agree to let Websters define common words for us?

 

[TallyT]

Can't we just agree to let Websters define common words for us?

No way. :angry2: OED now and forever, if you please....