Music ideas (sorry - again)

[cazzie]

I'm once again looking for suggestions for music! This forum has been amazing in the past with music suggestions - and apologies for bothering you yet again with requests for ideas.

She needs a 2 minute program now (apparantly).
On this occasion her idea is to try something classical (? from a ballet) but is determined she wants some really fast bits and some slower floaty bits. I don't think she has discussed this yet with her coach - although I've been asked for a brief meeting on Thursday to discuss new music etc.

Her strengths (skating wise) are speed, good footwork, quite graceful and dance-y and she wants to play to this. She reckons a big variation in music is good because she can show how she can adapt to different styles and timing.

Previous programs have included belly-dancing music, a charleston and more recently, Victory (Bond) - so this time she is really going for something quite different. She is a very thin, leggy 11 year old - reminds me a bit of a young horse as she really is all arms and legs.


Some of what she has suggested includes taking two seperate dances from Nutcracker suite and having them spliced together - or something from Swan lake or other famous ballets.

I'm not sure even where to start looking. Keep finding really famous pieces like Romeo and Juliet which are probably just too much associated with really good skaters for her to be doing. Also if anyone with greater knowledge about skating thinks ballet music a dreadful idea would welcome opinions like this as well.

PS Her axels continue to be a bit of a disaster at the moment - doubles coming along well but still struggling so much with over-rotation on axel. It means she can't really test up until she sorts the axel out - which is so frustrating for her. She says its a great pity she can't just skip to double axel stage! However recently did quite well in a competition with 2 very dodgy axels but with everything else looking great - so she is feeling more confident now...

[Mrs Redboots]

Splicing together two bits of music is a good idea - and can easily be done at home using Audacity, you don't have to pay a fortune to get it done. Your daughter is right - using two different tempi is good as it will show she is capable of both kinds of skating, and, in a 2-minute programme, a slower piece spliced in will give her a breather - perhaps she will do her spiral sequence there?

I am not very good at knowing what music is called - like so many Englishwomen, I know very little about music, I just like the noise it makes. But something from a concerto, which has different movements at different speeds, or even a symphony, might work?

[Tennisany1]

I have lots of sympathy for you. We just did an exhaustive search for new program music. I think I listened to well over 20 hours of "ballet" type music before we made our choice. There were two that we considered but didn't choose that you should listen to. The first is Offenbach Gaite Parisienne.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=offenbach+gaite+parisienne&aq=0
There are lots of short cuts so it would be fairly easy to put two together. There is also lots of variation in the pace. The second one is Etudes. Again, lots of short cuts and you could combine a slow one and a fast one. Here is a youtube link but I will warn you it could be difficult to find a CD.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=etudes+ballet&aq=1

There were a whole bunch of other great ones. I have to run but I will try to post again tomorrow with a list of the other stuff I listened to.

[Tennisany1]

Here are some more suggestions.They are not strictly ballet, but what I did was look at the youtube listing shown to the right of what is playing and listen to some of those, which in turn takes you to more stuff to listen to. It is shocking how much time one can spend at it. Hope these help.

Theme from Despereaux:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeeNLwmMkIo

Tchaikovsky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz7JREul22g

Gabriel Faure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2bYmnWvFKo

Princess Mononoke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5y1cybJjHE

[cazzie]

Thanks so much! She'll have a look (and listen) tonight and maybe she can branch off from these suggestions and sort it herself without me being glued to the computer constantly!

She has such definite idea's and - something I find quite surprising - she seems to have an amazing memory for music - so she will know if anybody from her rink has the same piece of music etc. She tells me she will "know" if this is the music for her.

[GoSveta]

I'm addicted to Culture, by Chris Spheeris (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94CXOc-kpns). Slutskaya used it in the 00-01 season for her SP.

[cazzie]

Wow - I've listened to all of these and purchased Gait Parisienne as I think the music is so suited to her style of skating. Coach likes it as well...

the young lady is all set for Swan Lake though! She's watched every single Swan Lake ice skating program on youtube. Has an idea of her start to her hypothetical program (cross between what Sasha Cohen did and some other Russian skater whose name I do not know). Even a dress idea!

Who knows.... Seems so different from everything she normally does which is perky, upbeat, fast and cheeky. (Even in solo dance). She said she wants to challenge herself and thinks she can do it and if she doesn't do well in competition she doesn't mind becuase she knows she has tried and has a picture in her head of how she wants to look.

Bowing out gracefully at this point and leaving it to her to negotiate with coach. She thinks she can do Swan Lake.

PS Her outside choice is a montage from Carnival of Animals with the swan music being part of it.

I'm proud she is confident enough to try this.

[cazzie]

We gave a bunch of tracks to the coach to try (including the fantastia from Bizet's Carmen, Gaite Parisienne, Swan Lake) and the initial feeling is that the music is a bit "old" for her. Back to the drawing board I guess! That kid is so awkward I've suggested they hand her something and order her to skate to it because she is going to drive me crazy!

Given her insistance on ballet/classical stuff I'll get her to listen to rest of Carnival of Animals; ask her to think about the Nutcracker suite, maybe something Grieg from the Pierre Gynt suites.

At least once she's a teen (if she still skates) she has loads and loads of idea's for then!

[Schmeck]

Too bad she's determined to have ballet/classical - there are some pretty, lyrical parts in the soundtracks from (newer) Parent Trap, Practical Magic, and the Lizzie Maguire movie. I've mentioned them to our local coaches, and they have loved the music, and have had their skaters aged 9-12 skate to some nice cuts. Very age appropriate and lovely music.

[twokidsskatemom]

My DD skated to Nutcracker by Bond, maybe she would like that. I have a 2 minute cut if you want it.
This is from last year.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcJsDJHYiLs

[Tennisany1]

My DD skated to Nutcracker by Bond, maybe she would like that. I have a 2 minute cut if you want it.
This is from last year.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcJsDJHYiLs

Bond is great. We considered Nutcracker by Bond but there was someone else skating to Bond so the coach said no to it.

Interesting that your coach (cazzie) thinks that the music is too old. Dd's ballet class used Gaite Parisienne for a group number and the kids were 7 to 9 years old. It was fantastic. I think Giselle might have some nice cuts and it certainly qualifies as ballet lol! There is also Emeralds and Rubies which have some interesting pieces but would require someone good at editing to make it work.

[luckeylasvegas]

Maybe David Arkenstone's Waltz of the Snowflakes.

[cazzie]

Agree I don't think Gaite Parisienne is that "old" so have asked for various tracks to be listened to by coach before the coach completely rejects it. There are some lovely waltzes and the "can can" is great. (Also although loads of kids do a pop version very few do the original). It certainly was my first choice!

I haven't listened to Giselle - will get my daughter to have a listen later today.

She loves Bond Nutcracker although somebody else doing something almost idential (Nut-rocker) so suspect that will be a "no". I have also suggested some sort of Nutcracker suite medley.

If she eventually will negotiate a bit I'll ask her to watch parent-trap and some of her other favourite movies - listening to the music.

I do think its funny - her skating style lends itself to modern/latin etc. (and before she did skating she did dance competitions and often did quite well in character/modern dance and less well at ballet) but she is being quite adament about something different and challenging herself. I do suspect she may have some ballet like costume in mind which could be part of the reason and she has probably watched too many elite skaters on youtube!

Thanks again for the music suggestions. Her lesson to "get a new program" is on Saturday. She's not competing in the near future but hopefully if her axel continues to be a bit more consistent (i.e. not a double axel) then she should be able to test up a few levels over the summer holidays.

[cazzie]

David Arkenstone's Waltz of the Snowflakes is quite nice - will get daughter to have a listen. Twokidsskatemum - just wanted to say great video's of your daughter and will get my daughter to have a look tomorrow! Thanks for posting the link.

[twokidsskatemom]

David Arkenstone's Waltz of the Snowflakes is quite nice - will get daughter to have a listen. Twokidsskatemum - just wanted to say great video's of your daughter and will get my daughter to have a look tomorrow! Thanks for posting the link.

Thanks for watching! Her new program this year has cuts of music from violin and bollywood music. I really think they need to LIKE their music!!They are the ones skating to it over ... and over ... and over......

[Tennisany1]

Thanks for watching! Her new program this year has cuts of music from violin and bollywood music. I really think they need to LIKE their music!!They are the ones skating to it over ... and over ... and over......

I agree! You can tell when a child enjoys their music. Great program by your daughter, she has a lovely lay back spin.

[twokidsskatemom]

I agree! You can tell when a child enjoys their music. Great program by your daughter, she has a lovely lay back spin.

Thanks! That was our first time at regionals, but we had a blast!Different than local stuff.She did well, even though everyone else had at least a double loop and a few had double flip . Not all about the jumps !