Sasha's Programs - 02/03 Season

[adrianchew]

From Skating magazine article...

SP - Malaguena
LP - Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2

She skated some elements recently to Rachmaninoff at the recent ISI Benefit on Ice show in Marlboro, MA.

[schnood]

Not overly original choices, but I'm really looking forward to her LP....should be an awesome choice of music for her.

[loveskating]

OOOOOO I LOVE those choices. I cannot wait to she what she does with Malaguena especially.

[ILoveAllSkaters]

Me neither, loveskating. I would love to see Sasha skate to it.

[HazyRigby]

Does everyone in the world have to skate to Malaguena at least once? Apparently.

That said, I think Sasha's going to be World Champion this year. ;)

[Louis]

Originally posted by HazyRigby
That said, I think Sasha's going to be World Champion this year. ;)

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 is silver medal music-- Midori Ito ('92 Olympics), Mishkutenok/Dmitriev ('94 Olympics), Lu Chen ('96 Worlds), Meno/Sand ('97 Nationals), Alexander Abt ('02 Europeans). Even better-- during this past season alone, Sarah Hughes and Sale/Pelletier ditched the music mid-season only to win gold at the Olympics! The superstitious side of me wishes Sasha had chosen something different.

[md2be]

Louis
Wow.....now I am impressed...how do you remember that?
I know music by who skated to it, but I certainly dont remember the year and medal they won and in which competition!

Amazing!

[Marco]

Interesting observations Louis! Not to mention also that S&P's Orchid lost to B&S's Chaplin in the 1st FS in GPF!

[Ellyn]

Well, a silver medal at Worlds would still be a pretty big accomplishment for Cohen at this point -- I would expect she would be fairly happy to achieve that.

[kar5162]

Originally posted by Ellyn
Well, a silver medal at Worlds would still be a pretty big accomplishment for Cohen at this point -- I would expect she would be fairly happy to achieve that.

I agree it would be a big accomplishment - silver at Worlds is an amazing achievement. I'm not sure she would be satisfied though - Sasha seems...maybe driven is the correct word choice or determined. She seems to really want to be #1.

Kim

[Dragonlady]

The cynical side of me says "What she planning for next year - Swan Lake or Don Quixote?", but I have to admit that I never tire of hearing these pieces or seeing the various interpretations. I know everybody had a field day making cracks about Takeshi Honda, Irina Slutskaya and Sarah Hughes all using DQ last season, but I love that music and I enjoyed all three of their programs.

There's a reason why music is so "overused" and that's because it's wonderful music to skate to, and people never run out of new ideas for these pieces. The risk is that your programs will be compared to the great programs of the past and be found lacking, but if Mdm. Tarasova is helping with the choreography, I doubt that will happen.

[jpeach]

With Sasha's 'tude, she's gonna kick a$$ with Malaguena. Hope she can see Rachmaninoff throught from start to finish, tho. She's got some work to do with placement of jumps, usage of entire ice surface, and...concentration, baby!

[quarkiki2]

While I was hoping to see something a little more challenging as her choices, I think she will do well with these pieces.

There's a great version of Malaguena played by marching bands -- really gets you going, it would be neat to see someone skate to marching band music -- the use of percussion is so important -- I think it would make fabulous music for footwork. In fact, we may see less of her spirals and more emphasis on footwork with this program. That would be a treat!

[AxelAnnie22]

I must say, my initial reaction is one of disappointment. With all the music in the world, she has to choose these same old, same old pieces. Then, I remembered what she did with same old, same old CARMEN. Wasn't same, and wasn't old. I can't wait!

Actuallly, truth be told, although I wanted her to chose something more unusual, I am sure that watching Sasha skate to somebody reading the phone book, would be spectacular! Not that I am biased!!

[Show 42]

Well, it's time someone turned "Rach"s #2 into a "Gold" medal performance.....way to go Sasha.......

[duane]

chen lu's 96 World's "rach piano concerto #2" is one of the alltime greats, but if there is one skater who can rival or perhaps top lulu's interpretation, it is sasha.

i cannot WAIT to see it. :D

[Yazmeen]

Sasha skating to Rach thrills me. Sasha using Malaguena prompts a response of "Oh no, NOT MALAGUENA AGAIN!!!" That is no reflection on Sasha--I'm just so piggin' SICK of that music!!!

Overall, though, Sasha will do both pieces justice. Sasha vs. Sarah should be interesting this year. Add Michelle in, if she competes, and it gets VERRRRY interesting!!! If Angela and AP are at peak, WHOOOOAAA Nelly--what a Nationals it could be!!!

[NorthernLite]

Originally posted by Yazmeen
Sasha vs. Sarah should be interesting this year. Add Michelle in, if she competes ... If Angela and AP are at peak, WHOOOOAAA Nelly--what a Nationals it could be!!!

People are always forgetting about Jenny. Reminds me how they used to forget about Sarah. :wink: :lol:

[kara]

Thanks for the news! I'm a little surprised by these choices, esp. the LP, but I'm sure Tarasova's choreography will help make them into "wow" programs.

I'm glad that the US ladies' selections so far are very different...Sasha with Rach#2, AP with Madame Butterfly, and Jenny with ABBA should be an interesting mix. Any word on AP's and Jenny's SP's? And it looks like Angela and Sarah are going to keep us in suspense!

[NiceIce]

I am disappointed, even surprised, that a skater like Sasha, with her vibrant and independent personality would choose music that is not original, nor fresh. It is unfortunate that she would choose music that will be so similar to her Carmen that we wont get to see the depth of her artistry, and Malaguena has been used so often, from Juvenile to Seniors, that I cant believe anyone in a rink would WANT to hear it again!
The Rach piece is heavy and melodramatic, and I would like to see Sasha
take the road less traveled, and create some new memories for us on the ice, instead of redoing whats been done and done and done before.
I love her skating, but think she made 2 mistakes with overdone, predictable music.

[Jim D]

I'm also a bit surprised by Sasha's choices. While I'm certain that she will have interesting and exciting programs using Lecuona's Malagueña and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2, they are both rather overused. …Hopefully, in the future, she will a bit more adventurous in her selections.

Jim :halo:

[gracefulswan]

i'm more than surpised by these "original" selections...dumbfounded in fact. i was expecting so much more from sasha i guess. she has a knack of choosing overused music lately.:?

[SJ82]

I believe that Sasha will do an awesome job with these pieces of music, just as she did with Carmen.

[loveskating]

It occurred to me while reading this thread that I was very critical of the music Kulik chose in 1998...overused Gershwin (right down to the lower levels...you can almost always assume that Gershwin will be at any competition, LOL).

Well, I was wrong. IMHO Rhapsody was a masterpiece. I'm hopeful this will be the case with Sasha...I think her personality and skating qualities combined with this music will be wonderful.

As Dick Button said, "Sasha Cohen floats like a buttertfly and stings like a bee" and this music might enable the full power of all that to come out even more fully.

[Hannahclear]

They are somewhat surprising choice, good music, but undoubtedly overused. Perhaps there is a strategy here though, this is the first year following an Olympic games, does she really want to strive and find the "perfect" music now, or stick with slightly easier music, in order to build her consistency, bring new moves and artistry to these programs, which I know she will, and build up for a couple of years of intl medals, and then be ready with the big guns for 2006? I think there may be a plan here.

[duane]

have many skaters performed to "rach piano concerto #2", so that it would be considered "overused"?

anyway, i find nothing wrong with music being "overused", for it allows us to compare interpretations, and more things to argue about--i mean, discuss. and, as loveskating points out, one can skate to overused music, and make it their own special masterpiece. i definitely see sasha doing just that. :)

[Screenie]

Sasha definitely needs to work on creating a program that highlights what a great presenter she is. Last year's programs were both poorly choreographed and didn't showcase her talents.... and I'm disappointed at the boring choice of music for this year.

(If she were going to pick overused music, though, wouldn't Firebird be a great choice? :))

[AxelAnnie22]

Originally posted by Hannahclear
They are somewhat surprising choice, good music, but undoubtedly overused. Perhaps there is a strategy here though, this is the first year following an Olympic games, does she really want to strive and find the "perfect" music now, or stick with slightly easier music, in order to build her consistency, bring new moves and artistry to these programs, which I know she will, and build up for a couple of years of intl medals, and then be ready with the big guns for 2006? I think there may be a plan here.

I think you ALWAYS want to use the "perfect" music, and you ALWAYS want to make a splash. I am sure there is a plan. I do wonder about the music, though. However, I loved her CARMEN, and that is same old same old music, and a dazzling interpretation. I suspect with Tarasova, these will not be "ordinary" programs. :D

As to the complexity of the music, I think Sasha is at her best with complex scores. Her musicality is so dead on accurate, what may be difficult for others is not for her. :P

I can't wait to see it. Can we get her to put video cips on her site a la Irina?

[Scott]

What mattes is whether the skater likes and can interpet the music. If she can deliver the music will be terrific despite being overused. However, it sure would be nice to see some other music being used. There is so much to choose from and we seem to see quite a bit of repetition. I am sure that Sasha will use her personality and flair to keep us all from yawning!

[serpentine]

i totally agree with Scott. We will have to wait and see what Sasha's interpretation of the music will be like. Even if the music has been skated to by umpteen other skaters (i have seen MANY renditions of both pieces, some good and some not so enjoyable), the fact of the matter is that the music is new to Sasha and she will make whatever she will of it. Hopefully it is a fresh look and presentation to both pieces. only time will tell. GPF season is just around the corner, so our wait will be fairly short.

[Serenity]

I love Sasha's skating, but I wish that she would pick more original music for competition. I also hope that she comes up with a better exhibition piece. I couldn't stand "Hernando's Hideaway"-- boring, boring, way too old fogie for a teenager to skate to.