Starr Andrews announced her FS theme:
https://www.instagram.com/p/By8_WMwpKxh/
From the
Salome opera by Richard Strauss?
$10 it’s gonna be Kwan’s Dance of the 7 veils
When Michelle Kwan used this music, it had never previously been used. Since then, MK's
Salome has led to numerous costume imitations, and perhaps one or two uses of the same or similar music from either the opera or a film version. However, I'm not certain anyone actually used Michelle's same music. Perhaps someone was inspired to skate to a similar music theme, but did not want to risk using MK's exact music. I recall Radionova skating to MK's
Rachmaninoff awhile back. At this juncture, enough time has definitely passed for
Salome to be brought back, in one form or another.
I am intrigued to see what Starr and her choreographer will do with this choice. She will definitely need to project more and really get into the interpretive aspects of the music much more than she managed with the African-themed music for her last season's fp. I think that program had potential which Starr never fully realized.
There was a lot of criticism in some quarters when Michelle, Lori and Frank selected this music. And the criticism stemmed from the violence contained in the underlying story. But after all, it is a Biblical story, possibly embellished via centuries of myth. As a young skater, Michelle used the music and story to portray emotion. Obviously, it was not a literal re-enactment, so some of the criticisms IMO were more related to jealousy of MK's talent. And in any case, even in the Biblical story, Salome herself did not perpetrate the violent act.
Thanks for providing the clip from the 1953 Rita Hayworth movie Tinami. Even I was unaware of this movie. It's certainly not the role Rita Hayworth is most famous for re her dance abilities and sexiness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome_(1953_film) Plot of film which takes huge dramatic license
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome Biblical story
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome_(opera) The opera
During his famous 1996 Worlds commentary, Dick Button states that MK skates to Miklos Rozsa's flim score version of
Salome, but I don't see any indication that Rozsa scored the 1953
Salome film. Further checking reveals that Rozsa scored the movie,
King of Kings, in which there was a section entitled, 'Salome Dances.' That must be the movie music version Dick referenced in his commentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0joQEzwn07M Kwan 1996 Worlds fp
ETA: MK also used music from the Strauss opera at the end of her program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszkQkiIY7M Miklos Rozsa's
Salome Dances (from
King of Kings soundtrack)
That said, in her Instagram announcement, Starr did not identify the exact music version she is using. Therefore, whether her choice is the Richard Strauss' opera or the more well known in figure skating Miklos Rozsa version (skated by MK) or yet a different version, remains to be seen.
ETA: Since MK incorporated both Rozsa and Strauss in her music selection, MK's version is possibly the same incorporated edit Starr has chosen.
The second version posted by
@Tinami Amori is interesting (
not from the 1953 film)
Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Dance Of The Seven Veils · Ash Dargan Pharoah's Dreamtime ℗ 2005 Indigenous Australia Released on: 2006-03-14 ...
www.youtube.com
because that song is not FS-quality rhythm wise, it also full of profanities, and many "n-words".
www.instagram.com
www.instagram.com
ETA: Thanks @AYS, I had a feeling I was supposed to post program info here that I'd already added to the spreadsheet earlier today... it was Ponsart's SP!
Michelle was coming into her own as an artist in 1996. That was the season she blossomed and seemed unrecognizable. But it was a well-planned strategy to remake Michelle's entire look and to give her more mature music to skate to. The reason for this strategy was because the judges refused to reward Michelle in any capacity in 1995, when she definitely out-skated all of the ladies placed in front of her. After her blazing performance in 1995 with girlish ponytail rocking, Michelle only placed fifth (up three spots from her 8th place 1994 Worlds result).
. For some reason though even outside the superficial changes the Kwan team did, Kwan just exuded a mature energy at that age with those cosmetic changes. Even Tara made sure to put her hair in a bun and wear dresses that looked ready for competition, but she still seemed more her age while Kwan always seemed older. It must be the skating style and Kwan just having that sort of mature energy. Even now, we see American ladies of all ages having make-up, putting their hair in a bun, making sure they look older, but don't seem to look as "old" or "mature" as Kwan did at 15-17. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to be young and to give off a youthful energy (as it worked well on Tara and made her skating seem very natural and almost improvisational), but just observing that Kwan seemed older, so her skating to Salome didn't seem weird to me. Plus, I also watched it many years after she had already done that and I was used to seeing an older Kwan already, so maybe that adds to it. I also think Yuna Kim has a similar quality that Kwan had regarding exuding a more older/mature look while skating than she actually was.
Hopefully, he will also work on learning how to hold out his moves more and develop greater finesse, as he flies across the ice thrilling audiences with his daredevil feats. 
