Kurt's Gotta Skate

[VGL]

Hi all, just a note for those going on Friday night...there's a sold out concert (Great Big Sea)at the Hamilton Convention Centre happening on Friday as well so downtown Hamilton is going to be busy and parking could be difficult.

[jcspkbfan]

Speaking of Kurt's show, here's a great review from FSU:

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1185

Of course, any further details from anyone on this board lucky enough to attend last night would also be appreciated! :)

[eusebius]

Well, here is another review although Twilight (at FSU) seems to have beat me to the punch :)

The show was choreographed by Lea Ann Miller and Jef Billings designed the costumes. Because this was a made-for-TV affair, the atmosphere was a bit different than the average SOI-style show. It was very clear when the hosts were on camera and when they were just warming up.

Featured skaters were Kurt, Lu Chen, Josée Chouinard, Steven Cousins, Scott Hamilton, Brian Orser, Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze, and Brasseur & Eisler. Sonia Rodriguez, Kurt's wife, and Aleksandar Antonijevic (misidentified in the program as "Anton"), both of the National Ballet of Canada, were also featured, along with several other non-skating acts (details below). The show is co-hosted by Roz Sumners, who doesn't actually participate in the skating.

Overall the show, skating-wise, was fairly conservative - everyone skated the kind of programs we've come to expect of them in shows. Most of the experimentation involved the non-skating acts and their interaction with the skaters.

Kurt called Hamilton "North America's best figure skating audience" - obviously we were all pleased by that remark ;)

So here's a rundown of what happened:

1. Opening ensemble - "Let's Dance" by Bowie (a different version than the 1980's radio single). The set for the show included a small stage at one end of the arena, set up to look like a rehearsal space with props and set decorations scattered everywhere. This number opened with Sonia dancing onstage while Kurt performed on the ice. Let me say right now that my number 1 criticism of this show was: Not enough Kurt!! I'm sure he was extremely busy directing the entire show and organizing all the logistics, which must be why he had no real solos of his own. Anyone who came expecting to see top-notch Kurt programs like "Nyah" or improv experiments like "Guitar" would have been disappointed. That said, everything he did do was of high quality.
The entire cast then took the ice; highlights here included synchronized lifts and death spirals by the two pair teams and synchronized backflips by Brian and Scott.

2. Lu Chen - "China Girl" by Bowie. Chen seems to be maintaining her flirty, girly persona in show performances - I wish we could see more of the deep musicality she showed in her eligible days. She executed Miller's funky choreography very well, though. Perhaps a bit of a politically incorrect music choice? :P

3. Steven Cousins - a technofunk number. Again, pretty standard for Steven. His jumps were a bit wonky tonight.

4. Anti-Gravity - Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride". These guys were a definite highlight of the show. Some of you may remember them from the Olympic closing ceremonies at SLC. They are a troupe of 4 very athletic dancers from NYC who use various innovative props to spend as much time in mid-air as possible. In the first number they were suspended from pulleys, executing moves that looked a bit like ring routines in gymnastics but with more variety and flexibility. There was some floor work as well. Toward the end, the dancers lifted both Kurt and Sonia as they remained suspended from the pulleys - fairly astonishing!

5. Josée - skating to a somewhat bizarre a capella number. She looked as charming and musical as always, but I didn't think this music did anything for her.

6. Brasseur & Eisler - dressed in 50s-style outfits (like cast members from "Grease"). A typical adagio number for them, including a detroiter, a headbanger, and some flippy lift entrances and exits. The audience was clearly into this number.

7. Brian Orser - "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley. This was far and away the highlight of the show for me. For "West Wing" fans, this is the song that was played during last season's finale as CJ found out about Agent Simon's death. The song is an outstanding choice for Brian, who obviously felt it deeply, and the highlights, including some really difficult steps into a 3Salchow, were perfectly timed to the music. There were also some gorgeous delayed singles. In some ways he seems to be getting better with time, and I hope that his retirement from CSOI doesn't mean that we won't be seeing many more programs like this from him.

8. Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze entered the ice covered in white satin sheets, as if they hadn't had time to cut out the eyes in their ghost costumes for Hallowe'en ;) Anton shed his sheet first to reveal an Elvis costume not unlike Ben Agosto's. The first piece of music was "Jailhouse Rock" and included a carry lift and death spiral with Elena still under the sheet. Then we got to see her costume - Marilyn Monroe in "The Seven Year Itch", basically, and the music changed to "I Wanna Be Loved By You". They skated with their usual speed and elegance, and they got into the program fairly well. The ending featured "I can't help falling in love with you", with bits of "I wanna be loved" cut in every once in a while -- the songs are in different keys, so this sounded pretty weird ;)

9. A "love triangle" number featuring Kurt on the ice and the two ballet dancers on the stage. The music was bluesy and seemed to slow down throughout the performance. Kurt repeatedly tried to break through an imaginary barrier to get to Sonia. Eventually she appeared on the ice, seated in a chair that was shot out towards Kurt, and they ended in a nice lift.

10. Anti Gravity again - this time wearing their "anti-gravity boots". These are hard to describe - kind of a hybrid of pogo sticks, leg braces, and stilts! They were used with amazing control, and we saw Russian splits and multiple backflips.

There was a 20-minute intermission at this point.

First after intermission was R&B singer Deborah Cox. Lu Chen skated to an upbeat number involving lots of posing and dancing in place, but a couple of solid jumps.

2. Another Cox song, "Absolutely Not", featured the four women skaters along with the four men of Anti-Gravity - this was well done. A highlight was the synchronized spreadeagles by Elena and Isabelle.

3. Edwin and the Pressure - "I Feel Like a Star". Kurt introduced the number by saying he would now realize his dream of becoming a rock-n-roll star. A fright wig (similar to Scott's in his "Hair" program) was lowered to the ice and Kurt got an instant metal makeover ;) It was tough for me to recognize the other 3 guys at first, but clearly Scott and Brian were among them; I am not sure if the fourth guy was Lloyd or Anton (probably the former). A hammy, comic number.

4. B&E again in another adagio number - this is a very well-known song, but I'm afraid I don't know the artist or title! This one was shorter and less daring than the first one.

5. Josée - a piece in Spanish that sounded like a melodramatic Broadway number. Her shimmery red dress was lovely, but I didn't think Josée really captured the smoky intensity of the music, though her footwork to the middle tango-like section was impressive.

At this point Scott appeared on the little stage with Alex and Sonia, and he pretended to be a ballet dancer, with hammy effect.

6. Steven Cousins - a mellow number by a male vocalist - OMD? Very smooth and well coordinated with the music.

7. Brian Orser - a swing number with the lyrics "there'll be no more sailing for me" - again very musical, much lighter in tone than his first number.

8. At this point Sonia and Alex, the ballet dancers, came out in full costume to dance the "White Swan Pas de Deux" from Swan Lake. While it was done beautifully, it was hard to see what this very traditional, classical number, with its intricate choreography, had to do with the rest of the show. If it was meant primarily to set up Scott's comic number, then it was definitely too heavy and long for that purpose.

9. Scott - "Don Quixote". Admittedly a very funny send-up of skaters trying to imitate premiers danseurs. Scott's sparkly blue tights had to be seen to be believed - the sparkles seemed to highlight, um, all the right places ;) There was some difficult jump content here (relatively speaking), most of which he repeated in the retakes.

10. B&S "The Kid". This is the same number they've been performing in exhibitions for ages, but it was impressive to see it live. Great speed and ice coverage, and they really perform the roles well.

11. The finale (I hope I haven't left anything out) featured lots of Anti-Gravity and groovy choreography/line dancing by the cast. Edwin and the Pressure provided the music, a song called "It's Good to Be Alive".

Then lots of retakes, including a 3S by Josée, the 3S out of footwork from Brian's Hallelujah program, a lift from B&S's Elvis-and-Marilyn program, Scott's 3S and sequence of 3 2As from Don Quixote, and a 3S from the second program by Steven Cousins (he never really nailed it).

All in all, a solid show that lived up to expectations, but no revelations other than Brian's "Hallelujah" and the Anti-Gravity troupe, whom I would expect to see in lots of skating shows in the future if audience reaction is any gauge.

Sorry to be so long-winded!
eusebius

[lBrokenAnkle]

Thanks for the reviw! I am looking forward to seeing Brian's new prpogram. Didn;t the movie "Shrek" also use the song Hallelujah or am I really losing my mind? (Quite possible)

laura

[scs]

I intended to post a review last night but was too tired when I got home. Eusebius' excellent review covers the show well, although for me, the highlights were different.
I have always appreciated Steven Cousin's showmanship but have never been much awed by him. However, his second number last night, to a Chris Isaak song (I....don't want to fall in love, with you......not sure of the title, but that's the chorus) was fabulous and the highlight for me. I am not one to use such a description often, but he really could have melted the ice!
Having never seen B & S live, I was thrilled with their performances and rank their Elvis/Marilyn number as the second highlight, for me, for the evening. Their power and his strength are amazing! I also thoroughly enjoyed "the kid".
The off ice entertainment was fine...I went for the skating, though, and could have lived without the other acts! The one disappointment for the evening...the lack of a sold out audience (the upper bowl was virtually empty from what I could see) and an untypical Canadian audience...there were few standing ovations and not a lot of cheering beyond normal, polite applause, with a few exceptions (Scott Hamilton, notably).
All in all, a good show...and a great way to start the season.

[Ice Queen]

Eusebius, thank you so much for your detailed review. Thank you for taking the time to post it for us. It sounds like you had a great time. :)

[Suzanne]

Thanks for the reviews! Can't wait to see it on TV -- anyone know when it'll be aired?

[gandalf]

My opinion of the show is a very big blah. Someone commented on the uncharacteristically quiet Cdn audience but I can totally understand it. The whole show seemed like "same old, same old" to me.
I agree that there wasn't enough Kurt and Brian's two pieces were definite highlights. I also enjoyed B&S and Scott but that's about it. B&E were boring - same tricks different music. Lu Chen skated reasonably well but I agree that the deep musicality she showed as an eligible has not been on display for a few years. I thought the "China Girl" number was a cute play on words, however. Didn't care for either of Josee's musical selections, particularly the first one. I enjoyed Steven Cousins but again, his skating seems to have become same schtick, different music.

Could have done without Anti-Gravity - they did nothing for me.

Loved Sonia and Alex but why they chose the White Swan pas de deux (aside from the fact that the National Ballet of Canada will be doing Swan Lake in February) is beyond me. Admittedly, they were severely hampered by the size of the stage, however there are a number of other pas de deux's that would have been more appropriate for an event like this.

I know I sound really negative but I was longing for a Yuka Sato or Lucinda Ruh and maybe a few eligibles to increase the breadth of skating. Someone like Jeff Buttle or Sandhu would have been perfect for an event like this.

ETA - it will be aired on NBC on Dec. 1 and the W channel on Nov. 29 or 30 (there seemed to be some disagreement about this but I think it's the 29th).

[VGL]

Just a note about the lack of a sell out for Kurt...there were 4 events in Hamilton that night, a sold out Great Big Sea concert at the Convention Centre, and two shows at Hamilton place.

When I left work at 4:30 on Friday, Jackson Square was already a zoo.

[Blade1]

Hey Everyone!

Well I just returned home from my holidays. Spent my holidays in Hamilton actually and well of course I made sure I attended Kurt Browning's Gotta Dance Show on Friday Night. I have to say I extreamly enjoyed the show. I think the hightlight for me was seeing Kurt Browning skate LIVE again ! I've been lucky enough to have attended some GREAT skating shows/competitions over the past few years, unfortuntely I haven't attended a SOI show since 1999 - soooooo its been a LONG TIME since I've seen Kurt skate LIVE and in the flesh. Everytime he step out on the ice I was smiling ear to ear :)

A number I rather quite enjoyed was the number done with the chair. What was neat about the whole number was that Kurt was trying to make contact with his wife Sonjia who was on stage with her partner do all their fancy ballet stuff. It was different to see Kurt skating and basically mimicking what HE (he being Sonja's partner - I forget his name) was doing like a shadow. Well at least that is what I got from the whole program. And once Sonjia DID join Kurt on the chair at the end of the program - IT RAINED ON THEM. Yuppers water was falling on them to apear like rain. Very cool effect !

I really have nothing to add since what was said about the show pretty much sums everything up. I do would just like to note that the second program Brian performed actually isn't all that "new" He actually skated that number during the Skate The Nation Tour this past year - he choreographed a "Salior" Number which featured Alexi Yagudin. I was just disapointed Brian wasn't wearing the SAILOR SUIT he wore when he did the number for STN. Ah well it was skated well done non the less, and a really nice number at that.

Overall I quite enjoyed the show. I do know that a few people around me weren't all that "happy" with the show. But I overall enjoyed the experience. And can't wait to see it on TV !

[smidge]

How much were the tickets for this event? I went last year in Vancouver, and it was rather poorly attended (the upper bowl was also fairly empty) and I thought the ticket price might have been the reason for not more people attending. Last year the tickets were $50, $75 and $125 or something like that. I remember thinking how pricey they were. It's not something you could take a family to affordably, and I know a lot of skating fans who even balked at the cost.

[Teenes]

Ticket prices were a lot cheaper this year - lower bowl seats were $61 CAD, upper bowl were $34.

My review (it's quite long, just to warn you):
http://www.kurtfiles.com/reviews/gottadance02_2.php

[Gail]

Thanks everybody for the reviews. Teenes, you always have such a great and detailed review that I can never wait to read it - loved it. Sounds like a great show. I will be anxiously waiting to see it on TV.

[Artemis]

Can hardly wait to see this on TV. I saw last year's live, so the TV version was a bit of a disappointment ... especially considering how many numbers they chacked. Will be interesting to see what makes the cut this year.

[Teenes]

Forgot to mention - the W network website (forget the URL at the moment) has Kurt's show listed for 11/29 from 9-11PM EST and 12/1 from 2-4PM EST (their original press release had iti 11/29 at 8PM). Kurt did say something about 11/29 or 11/30 depending where you were...I think people should just check their local listings =).

[Teenes]

While you're waiting to see it on TV, here are photos from the show:
http://www.kurtfiles.com/pics/tyan/gottadance02.php