Charlie Chaplin Medleys and “Malaguena”
Ekaterina Kurakova
Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii
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!
Charlie Chaplin Medleys
Free Skate for Ekaterina Bobrova (POL), Women’s Singles, and Audrey Lu/Misha Mistrofanov (USA), Pairs
(If you know of other senior skaters using Chaplin music this season, please share that info in the comments!)
He captivated the silent film industry as both a filmmaker and comic genius who starred in said films, but even when “talkies” overtook Hollywood in the 1930s, Charlie Chaplin continued to find success without a word of dialogue in his films. One such film, 1931’s City Lights, has served as the inspiration for many a skating program. (More on that in a minute.)
He eventually joined the fold of talking pictures, with five more films to his credit between 1940 and 1967.
There’s a rather specific demeanor that overtakes most skaters when they use the music of Charlie Chaplin films. When it’s a man-- and more often than not, it is-- they take on the mannerisms of a character Chaplin played in most of his silent films called The Tramp. If you’ve seen just five seconds of a Chaplin film in your life, you’ve likely seen The Tramp; his cane, oversized bowler hat and shoes, and stub of a mustache give him away before his walk, his fun-loving antics, and his impish facial expressions even get warmed up.
Here’s Chaplin (as The Tramp) in The Kid, a silent film of his from 100 years ago:
Is it ironic that a man known mostly for silent films has been brought to life, time and time again, by way of music-dependent skating programs? Not when you consider the fact that Chaplin also composed the score to all his films from City Lights onward…
…including a song that came to be known as “Smile,” first featured as an instrumental in 1936’s Modern Times. (The lyrics were added later by John Taylor and Geoffrey Parsons; Nat “King” Cole made a radio hit out of “Smile” in 1954.)
It was perhaps the release of the biopic Chaplin in 1992-- starring future Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. in the title role-- that brought Chaplin’s music to the ice. Olympic Bronze Medalist Petr Barna did a “Chaplin” exhibition program that year, but it was Todd Eldredge who I first saw skate Chaplin competitively, in the 1993-94 season:
The next “Chaplin” that grabbed my attention came six years later, in pair skating form, with Russia’s Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze taking on music from City Lights and Limelight in a very against-the-grain program (for them) that I found incredibly charming. This clip includes a fluff piece with the pair discussing the disappointing year that preceded this 2000/2001 program choice:
There have been a number of different “Chaplin” programs in the two decades since, with perhaps the most noteworthy being the one that earned Javier Fernandez his first World medal...
And the penultimate free dance in the career of Italy’s Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte, four years later:
Chaplin’s music is represented this season by Ekaterina Kurakova, who has won three national titles since she began competing for Poland in 2018. Kurakova didn’t advance to the finals at 2021 Worlds, but was able to secure a place for Poland at the Winter Olympics with a silver-medal finish at Nebelhorn Trophy in September. With the previously mentioned women (Berezhnaya, Cappellini) portraying the blind flower girl and other femme fatales when competing with Chaplin music, it’s safe to say that Kurakova’s performance is more about the essence of the legendary filmmaker’s work than it is about trying to create a female version of The Tramp. The medley she uses-- a combination of selections from Limelight and City Lights, along with “Smile” --- is, consequently, a more delicate orchestration than is found with most Chaplin programs.
“Malaguena” by Ernesto Lecuona
Free Skate for Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii (RUS), 2021-22 season
A malaguena, in the general sense, is a flamenco style of Spanish music named after the Spanish town of Malaga. Traditionally, it was slow, melodic, and simple in style. But when Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona incorporated a popular Malaguena theme into the sixth movement of his Suite Andalucía in 1933, it was more complex in rhythm and melody, with plenty of dramatic flourishes. And it’s this piece of music that is as well-known in jazz circles as it is among marching bands and drum corps.
Interestingly, the version Lecuona himself recorded was on the piano…
But to hear it on guitar is a very special treat, whether it’s Jose Feliciano…
Or Roy Clark (Seen here performing an abridged version on TV’s “The Odd Couple”
It’s even been turned into a number of vocal recordings, including this one in 1960 by pop star Connie Francis:
But figure skating fans are more accustomed to the fully orchestrated instrumental, as Kristi Yamaguchi’s OGM-winning free skate utilized in 1992:
Sasha Cohen, also of the USA, made great use of the music on her way to Worlds silver in 2004:
But arguably, Spain’s Javier Fernandez took “Malaguena” to another level when he brought full-on, flamenco-inspired choreography to a guitar-heavy version supplemented with vocals by Placido Domingo: 2017 SP (Worlds):
In the 2023-24 season, reigning U.S. Men’s Champion and World Bronze Medalist Ilia Malinin brings “Malaguena” to his short program— a sparer version than the one chosen by Fernandez, recorded by American guitarist Benise. It’s largely seen as a conscious choice to bring more artistry to his still-evolving style.
