art programs

[gkelly]

Let's make a collection of figure skating programs that aspire to artistic coherence rather than being primarily competitive vehicles (although they may be used in competition, especially pro competitions) or mass entertainment.

Post your favorites!

My impression is that ice dancers and men, and nonce ensembles, will be the most prolific in this area, but I'm going to start with some ladies.

I wish we had vids without commentary.

Rory Flack: Summertime

Denise Biellmann: As Yet Untitled Expressive use of spins!

Jeri Campbell: Primitive (starts at 1:50)

Josee Chouinard: The Sweater

[aftershocks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8VYrbBj_MY&feature=fvsr Scott Williams (Truly Madly Deeply)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1D5dE7Rzvc Scott Williams (nirvana)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd1Dk-NxfaM JWeir (heartbroken)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ9yzlAiHFc JWeir (iconic swan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAgZkY6vAyY PWylie (schindler's list)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Wqp...eature=related Anissina/Peizarat (R&J)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsvq-...eature=related A/P (carmina burana)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazOhkRuySI MKwan (fields of gold)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKmUW8wPB0s MKwan (salome)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEtWP...eature=related MK (dante's prayer) all versions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKk-jQey0Ws PWylie (untouchables)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ipkw...eature=related S/S (2007 Europeans)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56_Zs10qQhQ Davis/White (2010 sd)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZUL1...eature=related JAbbott (DayInLife)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_NRkwuqkI JAbbott (2009 Nats sp)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a7sSuPpmcc Robin Cousins (satan takes a holiday)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aia1jBTvK30 Dai (SC sp 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeclQvUDFO4 S/S (SA fp 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELys8...37C45A71B2E860 S/P (tristan & isolde)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjHpnsI9Xh8 Gary Beacom (I'm your man)

Paul Wylie -- JFK; On the Waterfront; etc.

Matt Savoie -- practically everything

Torvill/Dean -- most everything, especially Bolero

Toller Cranston -- everything

Gordeeva/ Grinkov -- everything

John Curry -- 1976 Olympic lp

Brian Boitano -- Olympic 1988 sp

Stephanie Rosenthal -- U.S. Nats sp and lp

Janet Lynn -- everything

[briancoogaert]

One of my fave, ever :
John Curry 1976 Olympics Ex - Scheherazade

And this one is also pretty spectacular :
Robin COusins 1991 WOrld Pro - Rachmaninoff

As well as :
Gordeeva and Grinkov 1994 Olympics Ex - Reverie

There are many others, but those are my favorite.

[skatesindreams]

Pure art, and skating at its' best:

The Ice 2011:

Jeff Buttle - "Nmrod" - Enigma Variations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG48Lh_O9is

and

Jeffrey Buttle 2008 SOI Eclogue for Piano and Strings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMgoBjmzl0U

[aliceanne]

I agree with all of the above posts. I also enjoyed Lambiel's recent show number "Let the Good Times Roll".

I recently bought a tape on eBay "The Planets" from 1994. It featured the Duchesnays and Brian Orser, but also included modern dancers, water ballet, ensemble skaters, synchro skaters. It was a good combination of high level skating and dance with special effects.

While everyone was very good, the ensemble skaters especially had unique moves. For example they did death spirals at each end of a pinwheel.

[gkelly]

There's a lot of ensemble show skating that is not available on video, perhaps at all -- certainly never televised -- or at least not currently on youtube.

Also relatively obscure programs that were only televised once may not be available. Maybe I'll make a list of programs that were memorable to me but that I can't provide links to.

Meanwhile, another lady, this time in eligible competition:
Katarina Witt: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

[aftershocks]

Here are links to Stephanie R's 2006 U.S. Nats performances -- who cares about the marks or the jumps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnkku5aJzZM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMwXYdkSK4g

I also enjoy many of Lambiel's performances, especially exhibitions. Too bad he suffered from problems on the 3-axel and quads occasionally in the latter part of his amateur career. If his technical content had been better, he might have been in the medals at 2010 Olympics, but we often forget that he did win silver at 2006 Olympics.

Thanks skatesindreams for those Jeff Buttle links! I hadn't seen those programs before.

Another shout out to Dai and Savchenko/Szolkowy/Steuer for their programs this season -- keeping the art in the sport. (I also loved Dai's rockin' Swan sp, several seasons ago).

I've also enjoyed a number of S/P's artistic/ creative pro performances.

Thanks everyone for your links.

ETA: I love seeing programs that are about so much more than just the jumps. You are into the whole program, and seeing a well-executed triple-toe or 2-axel just enhances the art.

[skatesindreams]

Thanks skatesindreams for those Jeff Buttle links! I hadn't seen those programs before.

You are welcome!
"Ecologue" was prepared and intended as his competitive LP for 2009, if he had decided to do so.

Another beautiful performance of Enigma Variations - two different views:

Golden Skate Awards Torino 10/2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhrTgroiWgk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mk45t4pJIc

[Vash01]

I have a few artistic favorites that are not always mentioned, but I am at work, so I can't look for the YT links. Just a few of them come to my mind right now:

Jill Trenary (I was no fan of hers, but I loved this pro routine): The boots are made for walking

Caryn Kadavy- Many of her pro routines

Oksana Baiul (I loved her skating those days): Enigma

Berezhnaya-Sikharulidze: 'Let me fall' and 'If I could'

Mao's recent exhibition to Chopin- I have posted a link on another thread; I will have to look for it

Annenko-Sretenski: Many of their pro routines (I have a separate thread for this, so I won't repeat).

Viktor Petrenko's doll routine, for its creativity

Bechke & Petrov: You don't bring me flowers

Totmianina-Marinin: This may surprise many, but as pros they skated quite a few artistic programs that I enjoyed

Yagudin- The feeling begins (I think the program had a different title)

Grishchuk-Platov: You'll see

I better stop now. I will look for them on YT later.

[gkelly]

OK, this is probably my favorite Caryn Kadavy program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV_4wGEyLW8

[skatesindreams]

Another example:

Art on Ice Show 2011 Shanghai - Stephane Lambiel & Lang Lang - two views
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDBcTA52KPE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoGJCi-dhNM

Lang Lang played with more sensitivity than usual, IMO, because he actually accompanied Stephane, live.
He played for several other skaters, also.

[falling_dance]

Michelle Kwan: The Red Violin and The Miraculous Mandarin

Irina Slutskaya: Cry of the Forest and Schindler's List

Vanessa Giunchi: Schindler's List and Bolero (I never get tired of watching or linking to these. )

Mao Asada: any of her Chopin programs

the first four Rachmaninoff programs mentioned in this post

Curry's Scheherazade and Tilt-A-Whirl (with Peggy Fleming)

[Aussie Willy]

I agree with all of the above posts. I also enjoyed Lambiel's recent show number "Let the Good Times Roll".

I recently bought a tape on eBay "The Planets" from 1994. It featured the Duchesnays and Brian Orser, but also included modern dancers, water ballet, ensemble skaters, synchro skaters. It was a good combination of high level skating and dance with special effects.

While everyone was very good, the ensemble skaters especially had unique moves. For example they did death spirals at each end of a pinwheel.

I thought the Planets was really good. Whilst the Duschenays were not the best technical skaters, I felt this was a great vehicle for them. And it was very well put together.

Shame we don't get things like this any more. Toller Cranston also did some weird things back in the 70s & 80s that blended art with skating too. Not to everyone's taste and looking back they are really dated but still tried to do something different.

[aliceanne]

I thought the Planets was really good. Whilst the Duschenays were not the best technical skaters, I felt this was a great vehicle for them. And it was very well put together.

Shame we don't get things like this any more. Toller Cranston also did some weird things back in the 70s & 80s that blended art with skating too. Not to everyone's taste and looking back they are really dated but still tried to do something different.

I think a those types of shows aired on PBS and cable and were funded through arts grants. Sonia Rodriguez was featured in the Planets (isn't she with the Canadian Ballet?) and John Curry was also heavily involved with ballet. I don't know how Toller's shows were funded. Katarina Witt and Brian Boitano funded some of their own shows, but I think they both had mass audience appeal, at least in the U.S., the 1988 Olympics were a big deal for figure skating, almost on a scale with Tonya/Nancy.

[skatesindreams]

Toller talked about the challenges he faced in funding/producing his TV specials in his memoirs.

[jobelle]

Pure art, and skating at its' best:

The Ice 2011:

Jeff Buttle - "Nmrod" - Enigma Variations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG48Lh_O9is

Wow! Thanks for posting this one. I had not seen it before.

I've always wondered how Nimrod would work as a skating program but I think that few skaters could do it justice. Buttle's program was a fabulous interpretation!

[aliceanne]

David Liu recently did a show in China called Wiwa. Did anyone see that?

[l'etoile]

from Ladies

Katarina Witt - Where Have All the Flowers Gone (maybe the jumps weren't there as before but her commitment to the moment was glorious.)
Michelle Kwan
- Fields of Gold (what can I say...)
- Lyra Angelica(There's no one who can have a smile like that on the ice!)
Yuna Kim
- Lark Ascending (I prefer this program to Tango de Roxanne because of its overall quality that is truly ethereal. Two falls wouldn't even bother you.)
- Scheherezade(Yuna was not on the ice, the incarnation of Queen Scheherezade was.)

from Men
Alexei Yagudin - Memorial in his farewell (I don't compare this piece with G&P's. He made this his own artistic masterpiece.)
Stephan Lambiel - William Tell Overture (Every time I have my all-night-skating day, I just want to watch this program again and again, something magical.)

from Ice dance
Voir - Symphony No.5 by Gustav Mahler (This program had kind of genuineness that made people connect with it, feel with it.)
Marlie - their OD from olympic season (They did this program true justice, I can't think of any other skaters who can do better than this. AFAIK this is the first time that Hindu folk song was ever used in FS, and they raised the bar upto the stratosphere.)
Torvill & Dean - 1994 Olympic EX (well, it's their Bolero. What more explanation one can need?)
Grishuk & Platov - You'll see (it surprisingly brings out their gentle, soft side and with music, it amazingly completes them on ice.)
Krylova & Ovisannkov - Malaguena (Anjelika's charisma was totally on and I pick this Malaguena as the best on the ice ever!)

last but not least, from pairs..
Everything that G&G has done.

[skatesindreams]

David Liu recently did a show in China called Wiwa. Did anyone see that?

Just found it!
Many of our favorite "artistic" skaters are featured

WIWA, THE ICE SHOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ61kx-CXKI

World Ice Arena Hangzhou, May 1 to 5, 2010. Directed by Darren Olivero and Choreographed by David Liu, starring David Liu, Nathan Chen, Richard Dwyer, Chrisha Gossard, Stannick Jeannette, Rory Flack, Jennifer Wester and Danil Barantsev, Indy Wong, Laurent Tobel, Joel Dear, Florentine Houdiniere, Ryoko Kudo, David Pakenham, Stuart Widdall, Craig Wilson

[aftershocks]

Thanks for the Robin Cousins Rach link, briancoogaert! Robin was a skater with tremendous range and great command of the ice. Both Paul Wylie and Jeremy Abbott have said they were influenced by Robin. Paul even worked with both Robin Cousins and John Curry, as a young skater. (And, prior to training with Evy and Mary Scotvold, Paul was coached by Carlo Fassi -- Cousins' and Curry's coach).

Also, I too MK's Red Violin, Miraculous Mandarin, Lyrica Angelica, as well as the exhibition, Hands, and her World Pros programs: Ariane, and East of Eden - classics!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=777YeHmR1C8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BowYHwD9Ano

Thanks for the Caryn Kadavy link ... she was one of my favorites.

I agree Vash01, re Jill's Boots Are Made for Walking, choreographed by her husband at that time, the inimitable Christopher Dean.

Many thanks for the Tilt-A-Whirl link! Fantastic! I never saw that before.

ETA: Jill, by Christopher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Sl0OlcjY8