Welcome to State of the SkateMUSIC… the next generation of my long-running blog State of the Skate! 

As I explained in my final post at the old blog site, with State of the SkateMUSIC I intend to focus almost exclusively on the stories behind cuts of music currently being used by elite figure skaters all over the world. 

I’m starting out with two “stories” per post; that number may fluctuate depending on the piece(s) of music being discussed. And I’m choosing the music as the season progresses and different programs get revealed and/or rise in popularity… but if you’d like me to feature something in particular, please leave a comment and I’ll gladly consider it!

Time to dig in. Thanks for reading!

“Gypsy Dance” from the ballet Don Quixote

Short Program for Alysa Liu (USA), 2021-22 season

When we think of women skating to music from the Minkus ballet Don Quixote, a certain Olympic Gold Medalist from Pyeongchang with a red platter tutu might come to mind…

The “Gypsy Dance,” however, is a standout performance in Act 2 of the ballet that involves zero red platter tutus. Here’s what it looks like on stage…

“Powerful, unbridled, and passionate” are the first words that leap to mind when I watch that. And… you may have noticed… at 3:45, it’s a pretty workable length for a figure skating short program. In fact, that’s where we’ve seen “Gypsy Dance” more than once or twice.

Most recently, the 2017-18 season brought two high-profile “Gypsies”: Wakaba Higuchi, who won World Silver for Japan in 2018…

And Jun-Hwan Cha of South Korea, seen here as he performed it for Pyeongchang’s Olympic team competition:

But Olympic-year performances of this piece of music can be found as far back as 1976, when Russian pairs legend Irina Rodnina skated it with Alexander Zaitsev (in typical powerhouse fashion) on their way to the gold medal in Innsbruck:

Alysa Liu, just 16 years old and finally making her debut on the Grand Prix circuit later this season (she won her first U.S. Senior title at 13) might seem a good match for this music by way of her incredible jumping prowess alone. But if you’ve seen her skate recently-- she could be seen at both Lombardia Trophy and Nebelhorn Trophy in recent weeks-- you’ve seen the flow, carriage, and charisma from Liu that supports a piece like “Gypsy Dance” so well. From Phillip Hersh’s recent article for NBC Sports:

“She is faster, more powerful, better at expressing movement and emotions that fit the choreography Scali created to two imposing pieces of classical music, the gypsy dance from Minkus’ ballet, “Don Quixote,” for the short program… Such music would have overwhelmed the artistically callow Liu who won U.S. titles in 2019 and 2020.”

But with scores of 74.31 and 70.86 at Lombardia Trophy and Nebelhorn Trophy, respectively, Liu is clearly setting a commanding tone with her short program. (She went on to win both events, by the way.) Here’s how she did it at Nebelhorn:

Alysa Liu is scheduled to compete at Skate Canada and NHK Trophy later this fall.

“The Long and Winding Road” (as performed by GOVARDO)

Free Dance for Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN), 2021-22 season

There’s a long and winding rabbit hole you go down right away if you want to learn about the best-known recording of The Beatles’ “Long and Winding Road.” It has to do with Phil Spector’s production contributions to the song, and the fact that The Beatles were in the midst of a very messy breakup at the time of the song’s release (it was their final #1 single, reaching that spot for two weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 in June of 1970).

In short-- here is what’s known as the “naked” version of the song in question…

And here’s the Specter-affected version that topped the charts:

And if you’re curious, here’s a HuffPost article from a few years back that gives a very condensed version of the story behind the recording(s):

But all that aside, what’s the song about? Written by Paul McCartney (but credited to Lennon-McCartney, as all their work within the Beatles was) in 1968, it’s been said to be inspired by the growing tension within the band. But in more general terms, McCartney told his biographer Barry Miles that it was "all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach ... the road that you never get to the end of."

As for Gilles/Poirier’s choice to use “Road” for what may be their final competitive free dance? To explain that more fully, it helps to know that they are not using any Beatles’ version of the song, but instead have turned to the British indie-folk duo known as GOVARDO for assistance.

If you’ve heard that band name associated with G/P in the past, it’s with good reason: GOVARDO also created the version of “Vincent (Starry Starry Night)” that they used, to great success, in the 2018-19 season.

As with “Vincent,” G/P worked with GOVARDO to create a version of “Road” that met specific Free Dance needs for length, dynamics, and tempo variations. This Golden Skate article by Tatjana Flade explains their choices:

“It’s all made for us, made for the story we want to tell,” noted Poirier. “I think the program is really about the road that brought us to this Olympic moment and our story. I think it is a very personal program for the two of us.”

While many have skated to Beatles medleys through the years, this is the only program I know of that uses “Long and Winding Road” exclusively.

Gilles/Poirier won the Autumn Classic in September; they will compete at Skate Canada and Internationaux de France in the coming weeks.