SS兄妹在官网上公布了13-14赛季音乐,短舞来自Michael Buble的音乐 自由舞MIchael Jackson组曲
http://maiaandalex.com/2013-2014-program-announcement/
2013-2014 Program Announcement
Published on 07/2013
Hi Everyone!
While it is the summer and technically the “off-season”, this has been a very busy time for us. We are so excited about our plans for the upcoming season, and we wanted to continue to share our journey with you.
This will be our 10th year skating together as a team! It will also be the year that we work towards making our biggest dream come true – that of becoming members of the U.S. Team at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Given the importance of this year, we spent a lot of time thinking and planning. Together with our head coach, Marina Zoueva, we have come up with two programs that we believe will be the perfect vehicles for us during the Olympic season. We are committed to our training, and are excited and proud to present these programs throughout the season.
TURNNG THE PAGE
Right after the 2013 World Championships in March, we came away feeling extremely happy with the strength of our performances during that week of competition. While last season had its struggles, we feel our programs really developed throughout the season, and we accomplished our goal of continuing to improve and mature.
With Worlds hosted in nearby London, Ontario, we were back on the ice the morning after the Closing Banquet, working on the Finnstep. We had a renewed sense of energy, and were inspired by the prospect of building for the season ahead.
SHORT DANCE
Even before our first year as seniors (2010/2011), our planning and development has been aimed at preparing ourselves for 2014, and our music for this season was decided well before Worlds.
For the Short Dance, we were very happy when it was announced that this year’s pattern dance was the Finnstep with the accompanying dance rhythms of Foxtrot, Quickstep, and Swing. We knew immediately that we wanted to once again enlist the help of Corky Ballas.
CORKY BALLAS
Working with Corky has been an amazing experience for us. Not only is he a multiple U.S. and World Ballroom dance champion, he is an exceptional teacher and mentor. His students, including his son Mark Ballas, Julianne Hough and Derek Hough, are amongst the most exciting and accomplished dancers in the world of ballroom today. Through his vast knowledge and infectious energy, he has a way of bringing out the best in us.
We first worked with Corky two years ago. Since then, our relationship with him has developed and we’ve become a close-knit team. In addition, he and Marina respect each other and truly work well together. This year, two weeks after Worlds, we spent a week with Corky at his home in Houston. During this “boot camp,” we were able to spend full days together in the studio, at local rinks, and even in his living room shaping ideas for our Short Dance.
See our VLOG from Houston with Corky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj-hTcZHV68
In June, Corky visited us in Michigan to help us continue the development of our programs with Marina. Working with him so extensively early on in the season has been incredibly rewarding. The combination of Marina’s choreographic vision and Corky’s keen-eyed input, have given rise to a Short Dance that we believe is a very special program.
For our music, we will be skating to songs performed by Michael Bublé. The rhythms we have selected are the Foxtrot and Quickstep, and the lyrics from the songs have special meaning to the both of us. Our music selection fits the timing and nuances of the Finnstep sequence seamlessly, and we can’t wait to share this program with everyone!
FREE DANCE
When it comes to learning new movement and developing programs, authenticity and artistic integrity have always been very important to us. The search for “ideal” Olympic programs is a process that requires heartfelt deliberation. Our Free Dance, this year, is something that we began planning together with Marina a long time ago, and many of the ingredients that have come together have been a long-time in the making.
We felt strongly that we wanted to skate to music that made us happy, and that would inspire performances we would be proud of. While many skaters choose more traditional selections, or classical warhorses for their programs during an Olympic season, we also decided that we wanted to present something more unexpected. As a young sibling team, we must forge our own path. Our ultimate goal is to enhance our sport, as well as the perception of our sport, by presenting versatility and a unique style.
The Olympics is unquestionably the biggest stage in our sport. If you ask anyone – “What makes the Olympics so special?” – perhaps the most common response is that the Olympics present moments that bring the entire world together. While our skating community is relatively small, once every four years, skaters have the opportunity to perform and create a shared moment, with the world as their audience.
With the goal of presenting a program that anyone in the world watching could understand, appreciate, and enjoy, we have chosen to skate to music by Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is an icon who has influenced people across cultures and geographies. Though unique and complicated as a person, his legacy is the sustained and powerful worldwide popularity of his music. His distinctive style of movement has also had a revolutionary impact on the world of dance.
FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY
While there are seemingly “wide-eyed” overtones to the thoughts that inspired our choice, we are realists. We have aimed to be thoughtful in our approach to making our Michael Jackson ice dance program the successful reality that we hope it will be.
As we have emphasized in the past, collaboration and authenticity are cornerstones to our approach as athletes and performers in this sport. In addition to working with Corky Ballas this season, we are excited to be partnering with exceptionally talented artists across several different disciplines.
To help create our Free Dance, we have enlisted the help of the two experts with the foremost knowledge of Michael Jackson’s legacy in dance – Travis Payne and Stacy Walker.
TRAVIS PAYNE AND STACY WALKER
Travis Payne and Stacy Walker – Dancers, Choreographers, and Directors – are two of the most directly connected talents to Michael Jackson’s legacy in the dance world, having worked closely with Michael himself.
Notably, both served as Dance Masters charged with selecting and developing the corps of dancers who performed alongside Michael Jackson on his major tours – including his final tour, THIS IS IT.
To quote Travis, Michael Jackson was able to, “…create his own school of dance and his own language that is speaking to dancers all over the world.” That language, and the style that is inherently Michael, is so nuanced and specific, that we felt that in order to do our program concept justice, we would need to work with the best and most knowledgeable experts. Travis Payne and Stacy Walker are exactly that!
In addition to their extensive partnerships with Michael, Travis and Stacy have collaborated with a multitude of other artists and stars in the music and film industries. (See links below)
In April, in conjunction with our attendance at the media summit in Los Angeles hosted by NBC Sports and the US Olympic Committee, we spent several days working with Stacy for the first time. Her “M.J. boot camp” was an exhilarating experience that we will never forget. Although we have been spoiled by our working relationship with Corky, Stacy is equally amazing. She was so knowledgeable and ready to help. Most importantly, Stacy was very quick to grasp the competitive ice dance context of what we are trying to achieve.
In the coming weeks, we are looking forward to having both Stacy and Travis work with us, on and off the ice, to further polish our program.
As for our song selections, we did not want to rush into finalizing our choices. Since Michael Jackson’s music is so iconic, it was a process that Marina, Stacy, Travis, and Corky all engaged in with us.
Knowing that our objective was to create a competitive program, and not an exhibition, influenced our selection of specific songs and the overall compositional structure. Two of the songs that we believe will best present this dimension include “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” (which appropriately enough will begin the program) and “Thriller.”
We believe that these songs, in combination with our element placement, will highlight our skating, give us the chance to showcase different dance themes and styles, and best display our vision for the program.
1966 QUARTET
Rather than performing to a straight-up medley, we wanted to balance contrasting styles and emotions while adhering to the parameters unique to a competitive ice dance program. To address this aspect, we have chosen a middle section of the program that is an instrumental arrangement of, “Ben.”
While listening to various instrumental arrangements, we were struck by the beauty of a recording by the 1966 Quartet – an exciting ensemble of young musicians from Japan. We were captivated by the sophistication of their arrangements, and the emotional depth of their playing. Their musicality also resonated with our vision of what we wanted to express during the lyrical section of our program.
The inclusion of their rendition fulfills the requirements of the ISU’s ice dance rules regarding a change of tempo and the use of music with a clear rhythmic beat. This is something that can be difficult to accomplish with classical pieces. We believe that the juxtaposition of a chamber music arrangement amidst Michael Jackson recordings, demonstrates the universality of his music, and will showcase versatility in our dancing and lyricism in our skating.
With the help of our agent, Yuki Saegusa of IMG, executives at IMG Japan, and Columbia Records Japan, we were able to get in touch with the 1966 Quartet. When they learned of our interest in using their rendition, and the modifications we needed to make, they amazed us by graciously offering to re-record the piece especially for us!
It has been such a unique and exciting experience to collaborate with the 1966 Quartet, and help create the music that we will be skating to. Though we are based “on the other side of the world” from each other, we have been able to watch rehearsal footage, and discuss the feeling of the piece with the musical arranger.
Later this month, we will be traveling to participate in Mao Asada’s show, THE ICE. While we are in Japan, we are also looking forward to meeting the amazing musicians of the 1966 Quartet and extending our thanks to them in person.
MIKE MCKNIGHT
Music is so important, and for us, every detail matters. In order to create a world-class version of the music that we will skate to, we have been thrilled to receive help from Mike McKnight. As the musical director and programmer for record projects and tours for Michael Jackson, as well as many other major artists – including Bruce Springsteen, U2, Whitney Houston, and Madonna – Mike has been instrumental in optimizing the performance of music throughout the world. We are so appreciative to Stacy for introducing us to him. Through his role as sound designer for Michael Jackson’s THIS IS IT tour, he was able to provide us with the finishing touches and music engineering that really tie the whole program together.
LOOKING AHEAD
We are embracing the challenges ahead. Working in partnership with exceptional professionals, including the foremost experts carrying on the legacy that Michael Jackson contributed to the worlds of music and dance, has given us a feeling of confidence and ownership in what we are doing. Overall, we could not have envisioned a better combination of programs for us this season. We are working hard, and plan on giving this year everything we have.
Our Grand Prix season will kick off at Skate America in Detroit and will continue at the NHK Trophy in Tokyo, Japan. We are thrilled by our assignments and will cherish the opportunity to perform before audiences that we know will make us feel at home. We are also tremendously excited that this year’s 100th National Championships will be hosted in Boston. We have so many personal ties to the area, and Alex remains passionate in his support for all Boston sports.
We feel so fortunate to have this special time in our lives with the opportunity to do what we love, and to pursue a dream. Our hope is to enjoy every minute of it, and know that we have put our all into this year. For us, that is the key to success – being happy and doing what we love.
Our heartfelt thanks to so many of you who have supported us on our journey. We’ll have more to share in the months ahead, so stay tuned and follow us on:
Twitter:
@MaiaShibutani @AlexShibutani
Instagram:
@maiashibutani @alexshibutani
Vine:
Maia Shibutani Alex Shibutani
YouTube:
http://youtube.com/ShibSibs
Again, thank you for your support. We can’t wait to share our hard work, love, and passion.
Maia and Alex
If you are interested in learning more about some of the amazing artists and experts that we are collaborating with, please see below for helpful links:
TRAVIS PAYNE
http://travispayne.net
STACY WALKER
http://mcdonaldselznick.com/stacywalker/
CORKY BALLAS
http://corky.com
1966 QUARTET
http://columbia.jp/1966quartet/
MIKE MCKNIGHT
http://www.mikemcknight.com/ |
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