After a Quick Lunch, here's some Food for the Soul

Well, it's been an interesting weekend, kiddies. A three-day respite that was oh SO inconvenient for some people with whom I work. (Yup, that one again, it just doesn't end.)



The neurosis has now extended to the fact that I DON'T jump and run and stop on a dime to check email, IM's or anything "important" instantly. In fact, I am told to look at emails, IM's and anything "important" rather than this person stating to me directly right then and there just what it is that needs to be taken care of so desperately. Apparently, the world revolves only around this person. Snickers, chuckles, and under-the-breath snorts are what I get for being on my time schedule, not this person's.



Um, NEWSFLASH! Maria Callas is dead. So is Taffy, my slinky cat, who channeled Maria's alter-ego. THE DIVA 'TUDE WILL NOW STOP. They did it much better than you, and one of them did it better while covered in fur and on four legs. Snivel, bitch, moan, squirm, and squeal like a brat, I'm no longer listening to you. I have neither the patience nor the time.



In other news, Worlds ended on a high note. The U.S. had 2 men in the top ten, and 2 ladies in the top 5. This sets us up well for next year, a pre-Olympic year. Just some musical choices need to change.



My Top 5 List of Selections that need to be RETIRED NOW


1. "Swan Lake." Take the bird out and shoot it. Pluck its feathers. Chop its head off. You bring the wine, I'll make the stuffing, and we'll have Thanksgiving dinner early this year. PLEASE, MOTHER OF GOD!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!



(ahem)


2. "Malaguena." Yes, Sasha, you are Miss Firecracker. I dig you completely, but this music is getting stale. A skater of your caliber needs interesting choices. Is there no one out there who would compose something specifically for you? You're an exciting gal, demand special music, baby!


3. "Carmen." Yes, I love Bizet. But not over and over and over. Red and black can only go so far.


4. "Don Quixote." John Curry did this the best way possible. He owns it. It's like ice dancers trying to skate to Ravel's "Bolero." Torvill and Dean did it first. We will always think of them. It doesn't work. At all.


5. "Nessun Dorma." Brian Boitano brought this to life in 1991, and everyone else jumped on it like a Weight Watcher's member going off the wagon in front of a Krispy Kreme shop. Puccini is beautiful, but "Turandot", the opera from which this piece has been lifted, is getting flogged like a misbehaved colt. Leave it alone for a few years and then we can love it again.


And to this, I add ....Music that does NOT grow stale EVER




1. "The Planets" by Holst. And not used enough. Stunning, ripe for edits and strong choreography.



2. "Liebestraum" by Liszt. The translation is "Dream of Love." Need I explain? Perfect for pair teams.



3. "Fantasie Impromptu" by Chopin. Gorgeous, lush, meticulous, and stirring. Excellent for footwork, which we do not see enough skaters utilize.



4. "New World Symphony" by Dvorak. If this doesn't want to make you leap into the air with split jumps, I don't know what will.



5. "Symphony No. 5" by Mahler. Soft, caressing, gentle. Think of a lover cradling you to sleep. Except your lover is a ghost.



6. "The Four Temperaments" by Hindemith. I cannot keep my eyes open when the first notes soar out of my cd changer. It is too much and yet never enough. Sanguinic reaches inside my chest and caresses my heart, with all its cracks and bruises. Hindemith created challenging, moody, fathom-filled layers of memories, tears, and grief. A touch, a smirk, a sharp remark. A stinging comment, an argument remembered tossed in a sea of strings. Joy on the verge of heartbreak, slow-burning anger bubbling to a growl. I have yet to see a high-level skater touch this. Dark, but rife with promise.



7. "Piano Concerto No. 3" by Rachmaninoff. Quintessentially Russian. Truth, concept, gray days, snow. Excellence revisited. Everytime I listen to this, I am understood.



8. "Symphony No. 5" by Tchaikovsky. The Adagietto was brilliantly used by ice dancers Klimova and Ponomarenko back in 1992 to portray Tchaikovsky's love for a woman who died of cholera. It was an actual piece of his life, set by Tarasova. Gorgeous and moving. This one needs to come out of hiding.



9. "Pavane for a Dead Princess" by Ravel. Not necessarily the entire thing, but 2 minutes would be enough for a short program. I hit "repeat" on the cd changer over and over with this one. I can't quite say why.



10. "La Bayadere" by Minkus. Sarah Hughes, our Lawn Guyland Olympic Champion, used this in 2003, her last competitive season. The temple dancer, Nikiya, is wrongfully murdered. Solor, her lover, follows her into the Kingdom of the Shades, a land of forlorn female ghosts cloaked in white. Nikiya is usually draped in burgundy, gold, deep blue, crimson, or aubergine. The costume possibilities alone are enough to make me weep. "A variation on the Orphic myth transposed to India", as Gelsey Kirkland described it in her book. Delicious, seductive, mellifluous music.



And that, kiddies, is what I'd like to hear. If you're unfamiliar with these selections, get yer butt into a library and rent some of them. Your ears will thank me for it.



(and if anyone can find a full orchestral rendering of Tchaikovsky's Snow Queen ? Please send it my way. I only have this with short piano sections. I need it.)