Hi everyone

I don't want to come across as moany right at the start of the series, because there's lots of things I'm really excited about this year. However, I can't help feeling the music couples are dancing to is already feeling quite monotonous. We have a couple of slow pop balads intermingled amongst lots of high energy pop/dance tracks. And it's the same every year.

How about some classical or jazz music, or even opera? When you watch ice dancing or figure skating on telly, there's much more of a mixture of music. It helps keeps things fresh and interesting and helps distinguish the performances.

Do you think DOI would benefit from this?

Hi Sid!

Haven't run into you on these boards for quite a while now.

I don't watch ice dancing/figure skating on TV, so don't know about the variety of music they use. All I can say is that I've already forgotten most of the music from this evening so you may have a point!

What I did notice, though, is that a couple of the tunes from tonight were also used early on in Strictly this year. I'm thinking of the pro routine to "Born this Way" and "Moves like Jagger".

Red xx

I think that the music they choose has a 'mass-market appeal' to it and that is intentional to make the music identifiable to as many viewers as possible.

Didn't someone do "Walk this way" only last year? Rob maybe?

But couldn't agree more Sid.

YES!

Hiya Red

It's been too long! Vincent keeps getting voted out early on Strictly, so there's not been as much to appreciate together

You and Smokey are right, they did re-use a couple of tracks. But also, I feel a lot of the choreography looks quite recylced (and using samey music all the time is partly to blame for this).


Good point DD. But I think something a bit more original could help a routine stand out. Plus, I think there are some iconic classical pieces that most people would recognise....

Of all the couples tonight, I felt Chemmy got the worst music. There seemed to be no change of pace at all. It was just one constant thumping beat.


Ta!

That Moves Like Jagger song is so annoying! It's stuck in my head now And not even the whole song but just the "you got the moves like Jagger, you got the moves like Jagger" bit. They shouldn't use really irritating songs like that one.

I agree, the "feel" of the dance is dependent on the music, plus, if Jayne and Chris are largely responsible for the choreography (as I believe is the case), then maybe they are spreading themselves too thinly. Perhaps the other pro skaters should have a chance to show what they can do and inject some variety?

This is easier with Strictly because each dance has its own character, e.g. tango, salsa, waltz would all be completely different even before you look at the music. (Although there have been some pretty weird music choices there, too!)

Excellent thread Sid and you won't be surprised to hear that I give your classical/opera suggestion a resounding YES even if you did cop out of Popstar to Operstar.

In the 2010 Winter Olympics the Gold medallists Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir skated to Symphony No.5 by Gustav Mahler.
http://youtu.be/m_Pc_a-WBSs

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto have skated to Ave Maria and Amen.
http://youtu.be/rjB_uMsUK5w

The Russian pair Klimova and Pomarenko frequently danced to classical music.See this from Air from Suite No.3 J.S. Bach,
http://youtu.be/dnvBMefCngc
Khachaturyan Masquerade Waltz
http://youtu.be/zRvgMhM9SQw
I also think there is a place for more modern classical composers - Enrico Morricone, Samuel Barber.

As for opera - Carmen is certainly a favourite with ice dancers. Interestingly Katerina Witt won gold in 1988 with her performance to music from Carmen.
http://youtu.be/aRpFJNcxnE0

And why not folk music as epitomised by so many Russian and Eastern European couples? Think of Bestemianova & Bukin They used both classical and folk.

I know some couples in international competition (including T&D) have used musical theatre for inspiration - so why is it so neglected on DOI?

I do think variety in music is called for.


xxx

How about this!
http://youtu.be/eixBm3WMUsU
Last edited by Ignazio : 12-01-2012 at 01:19

Klimova & Ponomarenko, Bestemianova & Bukin - aah, those names bring back so many wonderful memories for me! In the 70's/80's/90's I used to watch so much ice skating. Scott Hamilton, remember him? The Duchenays? And of course no one could beat Torvill & Dean. I remember enjoying Barber & Slater's routines too. And Katarina is definitely my all-time favourite solo female skater. Robin Cousins, John Curry, Brian Boitano, I miss them all! Watching them skate, I mean.

Oh and yes, a bit of variety in the musical choices wouldn't go amiss, I agree.

Well you've got to go with what the masses are familiar with as they would not connect with anything else,would they?

Then again go back in time a few months and look at Chelsee Healy and ask yourself if you could believe this person would embrace and love the whole experience of learning and performing ballroom dance,her favourite routine revisited for the final being to a Benny Goodman number.

Remember Cheryl Baker saying prior to PopStar to Operastar that she had thought "opera was for toffs" then watch her throw her soul into performing the famous aria from Madame Butterfly.





Ooo bondage on ice.
Bags I the whip

All that routine needed was the Charlotte Rhodes trapped in the ice with James Gilmour watching the skaters from the bows.

which as knowledgeable sharp eyed readers will spot is a confusion of Peter Gilmour and James Onedin....well it is bl@&dy late to be up:sleep:

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Ignazio, extra smoochies for you!

Virtue & Moir were breathtaking weren't they? And whilst only 9 years old at the time, I remember being so happy when Katarina defended her Olympic gold medal.

A routine that made quite an impression on me was Maria Butyrskaya's short program during the 2000 season, and that was largely down to the music. Maria skated to Scene d'Amour by Sarah Brightman. It's a beautiful piece that produced such flowing and lyrical skating. I'd never heard the track before, but that didn't stop me being swept away by the performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88t8HYJbhHY (sorry about the quality!)

x x x

Agree with this.

On the first show on Sunday, half of the routines didn't look as though they were choreographed to the music that was played. This probably because most of the celebs aren't at the stage where they have the speed to match the tempo of pop/dance music.

Seems like I'm in the minority here but I love them using recent music as I actually know the songs! Anything earlier than 2000 I'm not too sure on

That was mesmerising - everything was just so right. The music, the routine and of course the breathtaking elegance of Maria.

In the recent series of SCD Artem married classical music (Swan Lake) with dance (the American Smooth) perfectly - and I know that would work in DOI.

xxx

Felicity pop has its place - we just ask for more variety.

Virtue and Moir used Mahler (Adagietto, 5th Symphony) and the Ducheynays used Beethoven (7th Symphony), so some classical music has been used in skating...but I guess the problem is the music phrases tend to be longer than those in popular music, which would only suit longer programs, 4 mins or so, such as Bolero.

But as per my previous post, Artem choreographed a beautiful routine to Swan Lake for SCD which lasted no more than 1m30secs and Maria's programme lasted only 2.5 minutes so it can me done.

Any bit from Bruckner's 7th Symphony would be good to skate to.

There is also a particularly beautiful flute solo near the start of the fifth movement of Mahler's 10th Symphony, which actually only lasts about 1min 30secs and could be used for skating.

I think it's fine as it is.

I don't understand music copyright at all but I would imagine that classical music,or music from the twenties to 50s at some point becomes open season too - so they would not be so limited by rights in what they can use. if they did what you suggest???

I have to be honest, I'm a little bit ignorant when it comes to naming specific pieces of classical music (Ignazio is your man for that!) but I do know that it accompanies figure skating and ice dancing beautifully whenever I watch

With regards to music from the 1920s-1950s, how about some Charleston music, or maybe some Rock and Roll, like Grishuk & Platov performed in Lillehammer to deny Torvill & Dean gold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27cZ4wx8470

Also really enjoyed their Rhumba (below), which raises another possibility - using a greater variety of dance styles as well. I think someone performed a Tango on DOI at some point (might have been Daniella Westbrook), which was interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-fGF4QvT8o

Grishuk and Platov were twice Olympic champions.

I'm with you and would rather have fairly recent music. Possibly album tracks as well as singles would be good.

It all depends on what you find irritating though, doesn't it? I love 'Moves Like Jagger', that song is perfect to skate to!