Okay- I'm skating in a show in April (that alone is scary) and the theme is "Magic". So I have free reign to choose anything that relates to this theme. I originally wanted to skate to Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride, but cutting it to 1:00 has given me fits because of how lyrics fit together.

I've done a complete 180, I believe. I'm thinking now of using the "Dance of the Swans" (also called "little swans") from swan lake. It's one of my favorite classical variations- but I'm a bit nervous a beginner's skating can't hold up to something that many people have in their head as a beautiful ballet. The music isn't too slow so I think I can skate to it- but I'm not entirely sure it's "skateable" - is there something to look for in music that makes it easy to choreograph for skating?

I had hoped to find the grasshopper variation from Cinderella, but can't find it from a site that will let me edit the music.

So- in your opinion, is the 4 swans variation okay to use? Do you have any better suggestions? (Or, 1 minute cuts of music that fit the "magic" theme I can use? hahaha)

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I'd go for Dukas L'apprenti Sorcier myself, lovely and rhythmical so easy to skate to.

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Thanks- I'll check that out. I think I know which song you are refering to, and I think it didn't make the original consideration list because of a Disney movie. I cut a beautiful tape of the little swans variation, but I am getting nervous my coach will tell me no.

So I'm planning on going in with backups. This one might fit the bill, if I can get over skating to Disney music. Since I'm the only adult performing, I wanted to stay away from "child" songs. You know? Still it is a beautiful piece.

Why is it so hard to find magical songs that aren't disney? There are a few old pop songs, but they aren't ones I like enough that I could hear them over and over (and over....). Classical music usually doesn't bug me.

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-Jessi
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Consider music from the animation Aladin - the kids may know it and there is some good stuff that can be cut. I also think that Saint Saen's music from the carnival of the animals is great for kids
Lyle

What about some pop songs: "Do You Believe in Magic?" and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"?

ETA: Sorry, didn't see your later post negating pop song suggestions. Nevermind...

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Nah- not all pop songs are bad. I haven't tried to cut "every little thing she does is magic" yet and I don't think that one would completely drive me mad- it's a cute song... it's just hard to find one that doesn't get grating- you know? "Do you believe in magic" is an excellent suggestion- but I think it fits into the can't listen to it so many times category.

A coworker turned me onto "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" so I'm going to see if I can find a copy of it somewhere and try to cut it.

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-Jessi
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If you aren't against old pop songs, I'd recommend "Magic" by Olivia Newton John. (Track 14 on the link.)

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I haven't skated a program, however here are two suggestions:

Shrek - It has fairly simple melodies of varying tempo, quite jolly music and you could even dress up as Princess Fiona!!

Pan's Labyrinth - spellbinding music that will hold your attention, haunting and sad. Fairly slow tempo. Gothic feel.

Both albums are on itunes; good luck for the show.

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Skate Free

I'm using Harry Potter this year, but it's cut to 2:10. There's so many tracks in the four different movies, though, that you might find one section that's the right length. Good luck!

I found a great one from Goblet of Fire- either triwizard theme or magic theme, can't remember. It's actually 1:03 so I don't have to cut it, which is good, because if you download from walmart, you can't and I don't want to buy the CD. Only problem is its really fast, and I'm not. Maybe it will help speed me up?

I've tried cutting "everything she does is magic" and "magic moments" but I just cannot get a good cut on anything with lyrics.

So it's between fast harry potter and questionable swan lake...

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-Jessi
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One skater at nationals skated to a nice blend of music from Beauty and the Beast. Yeah, it's Disney, but there's much more than just the sappy title song. The music that begins the movie is quite lovely and enchanting and sort of dreamlike. See if you can find the soundtrack.

I have most of the disney soundtracks from the early 90s- but I run into the same problem of not being able to get a good cut of music, with vocals, in only 1:00. I agree the prologue is lovely, but I'm not sure if there is a way to get rid of the guy talking over it. And there's that not wanting to do disney thing... but if everything else gets rejected, I might look at it.

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-Jessi
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What about "Magic to Do" from Pippin? Or "black magic Woman" by Santana (that's what I'd use) or "Superstitious" by Stevie Wonder?

Part of our annual show a while back had a "magic" theme. Here's some songs that were used:

"Do You Believe In Magic?"
"It's a Kind of Magic"
"Abracadabra" (This is a great song, very fast and strong.)
"Just an Illusion"

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Thanks all for the suggestions.

At this point, i've determined I cannot cut music with lyrics- I just am not able to use the software well enough. So I'm just going to present him with the two that I have- and if both get rejected then, I'll let him choose among the 4 songs I have with lyrics and then pay to have them cut. I really did not want to have to have someone else cut my program- seeing as how I don't like any of these songs enough for them to be "my program"- it's just for this one show. Oh well, it's only money I guess.

1:00 is such an awful length. Pretty much any of the songs I was working with if I had 1:30 I could have gotten an okay cut out of them.

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-Jessi
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Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I think someone posted recently in another thread that if you have a piece of music that's not working at the length you want it, you can cut it longer and edit it to be shorter (by having it play slightly faster throughout). I would guess that wouldn't work to squeeze 1:30 into 1:00 (because that would be quite noticeable), but if you think you prefer a cut that is just a few seconds longer, you could squeeze it into one minute.

Good luck--I hope one of your two preferred options is accepted. (If it is, and you like the music and choreo, you could always recut the music later and reuse some of the choreo for a longer version of the same program.)

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How about the "Something Wicked This way comes" song from one of the Harry Potter Soundtracks (ripped off shamlessly from MacBeth!)-- easy to cut down and very "magic"