I’ve been reading a book on George Bizet’s “Carmen” and it’s been interesting so far. Spain is currently considered to be part of Europe so we forget that it was once considered to be part of the “exotic Orient” and that Bizet’s opera(s) was/were a product of the prevalent Orientalist attitudes of his time. All of that interesting scholarly analysis aside, I wonder if Bizet ever knew that his opera would end up as the most overused piece of figure skating music of all time. Almost everyone who skates has skated to “Carmen” at some point in their career. It’s classical but everyone knows it, so it’s a way to get the crowd while showing that you can skate to a classical piece.
In any case, of all the Carmens out there, it seems to be general consensus that Katarina Witt skated the definitive “Carmen” in her short (thanks Ay-sa) long program – complete with her dying on the ice – for the 1988 season, where she won Olympic gold against her main competitor, Debi Thomas, who also skated to Carmen in the battle of the Carmens.
Here is Debi Thomas’ Carmen if anyone was wondering:
I also just wanted to post this because it’s so rare. Sasha Cohen skating a long program to Carmen… but she doesn’t fall! There were 2-footed jumps, unsteady landings and a hand down but *gasp* no falling!?
Another interesting tidbit – Carmen on Ice starring Katarina Witt (Carmen), Brian Boitano (Don Jose), Brian Orser (Escamillo):
(Prelude + Parle-Moi de Ma Mere)
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX
Part X
All in all though, this woman is THE definitive Carmen.
And that, is today’s moment in history.
Enjoy~!
~The Rinkside Cafe
The Rinkside Cafe 