Why do Tarasova and Morozov have the best musical choice in the two programs? Analysis of the performances of the dancers and the greenhouses with the composer

Our expert for more than half a century edit the music for figure skating. He worked with Olympic champions, among his clients of different years are the duos Pakhomova-Gorshkov, Linichuk-Karponosov, Bestemyanova-Bukin, Navka-Kostomarov, Davis-White and Virtue-Moir. The composer created music for Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov during their training with Marina Zueva, and edited programs for Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov last season.

Music for pair skating short programs. “Old generation people might describe it in one word: ‘naphthalene’.

Here I will note both a very good choice of music and a completely unsuccessful one. A pleasant surprise was the choice of Daria Pavlyuchenko and Denis Khodykin for the program. Finally, Russian pop music has arrived in pair skating! I understand that it was difficult to put the program under such a composition and distribute elements in it. But everything went brilliantly, including the praise to the coaching staff.

The music of Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov was also extremely enjoyable. A brand new musical rendition of “Ave Maria” was performed on ice for the first time, to my knowledge. There was a complete fusion of the music with the skating style, and the elements fit together very organically.

I have also seen other attempts to introduce something new into the figure skating repertoire. In Shostakovich’s “Waltz” for Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, the further improvement of this composition, I think, played a negative role and weighed down the overall impression of the program. Also, this waltz is part of a jazz suite and was not written as a traditional dance at the ball we saw. But everything would be fine until an absolutely illogical musical montage sounds at the end of the show, completely spoiling the impression.

Axiom: If you take well-known music that has been played many times in competitions of all levels, then the staging and performance of such a program must be better and more interesting than any previous athlete. Unfortunately, those who chose compositions for Anastasia Mukhortova and Dmitry Evgeniev, Natalya Khabibullina and Ilya Knyazhuk, Yulia Artemyeva and Alexei Bryukhanov forgot about it. It turned out that weak copies do not leave a decent impression. The combination of phrases and musical elements was either rough or didn’t work at all. And even somehow it is quite inconvenient to mention “Carmen” by Yasmina Kadyrova and Valery Kolesov. The phonogram was clumsily made, people of the older generation could describe it in one word – “naphthalene”.

Music for free pair skating programs. “The choice of songs varied, but their approach proved to be quite utilitarian”

Interestingly, two couples simultaneously presented programs on the songs of Elvis Presley. Such coincidences are not uncommon in major competitions. The ideas are in the air… The choice of songs varies, but the approach is rather utilitarian: slow-fast, slow-fast. I didn’t see any other meaning. Although Mishina and Gallyamov are much stronger. Perhaps thanks to the costume of the partner.

Khabibulina and Knyazhuk managed to stay in the same musical composition, which I liked, but transferring this music requires serious work. And so, sometimes the thought arises that the music is beautiful and “does not interfere”.

I don’t understand why Pavlyuchenko and Khodykin’s program is called the Black Swan. There is almost all “white” music. Do not forget that in addition to the film there is also a ballet on this subject.

The Beatles melody, played in a new arrangement, sounded great with Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin. Even some elements matched well, but I would like to see more “closeness” in the movements.

Tarasova and Morozov had the best interpretation of the music. “Lighthouse” is a popular song that has been used many times in movies and video games since its release. She perfectly suited the aerial lyrical style of Evgenia and Vladimir. It turned out to be more beneficial, without any kind of pressure in the music.

As for the other two pairs – Artemyev and Bryukhanov, Kadyrov and Kolesov, their skating should be introduced with individual traits that lie on the surface of their music. They will clearly strengthen the programs of these skaters.

Music for rhythmic dances. “Try to turn off the sound during the rhythm dances and guess from the movements that it’s Latina. It will be very difficult”

For the first time in many years, the music rules for Rhythm Dance have been seriously changed. Now you don’t need to insert a melody of a certain rhythm and tempo, you can use at least two different Latin American rhythms. In other words, they finally moved away from the imposition of the music and the movements of the obligatory dances. This cut a lot of different issues. But, on the other hand, permissiveness at the beginning does not achieve the desired results. The inertia of the old-fashioned work makes its own adjustments, which I heard in the compositions that sounded at the test pads.

If more freedom appeared in the music of the rhythmic dances, this did not happen in the technical requirements. The saturation of the mandatory elements is very high and their style often does not correspond to Latin American music. In the new season, this was obvious to almost everyone. Try turning the sound off during rhythm dances and guess from the moves that it’s Latina. It will be very difficult, even if it seems that we can break with the Latin American theme.

As a result, everything corresponds to the rules of all new programs, but not a single duet turned out to be a complete musical composition. The fact is that over the past 10-15 years, serious sonic changes have taken place in Latin American music: everything has become even sharper and more prominent, but in thematic and melodic terms – nothing radically new. When old and new records come together, all this difference is audible. Unfortunately, no one paid attention to this, and the gap worked against the integrity of the dance. Is musical integrity required? No. But it is a very strong element: something that is generally remembered.

With several parts, each music must necessarily be correctly balanced in time. Otherwise, the general shape breaks. For example, Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Valery Angelopol have the last part too short. Elizaveta Khudaiberdiyeva and Yegor Bazin have a three-part composition, where the first could be real Latin, and not stylization. The same music, as they say, is not measured … I do not at all understand the logic of combining the compositions of Sofya Tyutyunina and Andrey Bagin – neither in meaning nor in sound. Perhaps the most organic dance was staged for beginners on trial skates – Ekaterina Mironova and Evgeny Ustenko.

What’s more surprising: not a single super popular composition in rhythm programs. With the dancers’ love for known music, it was so unexpected. And in general, of course, it was interesting to watch young people and new duos in the absence of leaders.

Music for free dances. “There is a pitfall in film compositions: there is not enough material to assemble a strong musical form”

It was much more interesting to watch free dance programs, as in the choice of music, everyone “scattering” in different directions. And the classics, and cinema, and pop music. First of all, I want to draw the coaches’ attention to the fact that four couples have more than one ten-second section of music without a beat. Any judge will be obligated to deduct points for such a violation.

When choosing the classics, it is always easier to maintain the musical form, as was the case in the dance of Tyutyunin and Bagin under Rachmaninoff. We made an unexpected but wonderful transition from piano concerto to Vocalise. I loved him very much, but the return to the concert, alas, did not work out at all.

Another “Scheherazade” in the dance of Elizaveta Shanaeva and Pavel Drozd developed. The only problem is that they haven’t finished the last note of the slow part. And the dance itself didn’t make a strong impression – memories of the best performances are still strong.

Mironova and Ustenko had interesting music. But there is a serious pitfall in cinematic compositions: there is not enough material to assemble a solid musical form. Without it, the integrity of the dance is not created. In the end, something was missing here for the overall impression. And in the music of Kaganovskaya and Angelopol (also cinema) the development turned out to be quite logical.

Khudaiberdiyeva and Bazin announced that there was no story in their program. But I saw in the music such an attempt, rather unconscious. Any thematic repetition in a composition is a strong formatting element. In this case, the first part was repeated at the end in a different rhythm. But the middle – in itself good music – ruined the whole dance.

In addition, the dance of Irina Khavrovina and Dario Chirizano “collapsed”. Each part is beautiful in itself, and the interaction of the parts did not happen.

As we have only seen the premieres, there is time to finalize the music and thus strengthen the programs. I would like to believe that the correct changes will be made to the components and the results will be even better.