[Ice Jewel9] Shae-Lynn Bourne
“Working with Hanyu-senshu is always exciting”
Choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne has been working with Hanyu Yuzuru-senshu since 2014. She is the one who contributes to the making of various glorious victories, Olympics Pyeongchang, then World Championship, and Grand Prix Finals. It is not an overstatement to say she’s the number one choreographer at the moment. This season, this very popular choreographer has been requested by many skaters.
About choreographing for Hanyu-senshu’s Origin
Q: This season, Hanyu-senshu has chosen the music of the legendary program of Evengi Plushenko: “Tribute to Nijinsky” (Edvin Marton’s Art on Ice and Magic Stradivarius). When you were informed about this choice, what was your impression?
S:When Hanyu-senshu let me know about his music choice, my first impression was “Everyone will see that this is the music Evengi Plushenko skated to in the past”. Moreover, he (Plushenko) is now an important figure in the skating world. As we are using this piece of music, I didn’t want to create a program that would only make people associate with his past performances. I wanted to interject a unique “soul”, and that even with this music, the interpretation perceived would be brand new.
Q: For Hanyu-senshu, what kind of “original program” did he envisage?
S: The interesting thing about this music piece is that it does not have any lyrics, and that people could create the interpretation they hope for. For example, if it’s “Phantom of the Opera”, everyone might know the story? However, this music conveys intense passion, but at the same time, there is freedom to interpret our own story. That’s interesting, and since it’s instrumental, we could creatively express it the way we want. These are the 1stthings I discussed with Hanyu-senshu.
For him, he really likes this piece, and he treasures it. When skaters like a piece of music, and want to skate to it from the bottom of their heart, I could not say no, for I myself understand when they believe, want to pour their heart and soul into the program. However, as a choreographer, I need to refer to the athlete’s ideas of the program, or the image that Hanyu-senshu is comfortable with. After all, I want him to be able to skate while absorbing and expressing the story from the start to finish.
Because of this, I spent time listening to the music first, and think about how I would feel, how I would visualize the program. When I listen, there seemed like something is growing, and being nurtured, and I discussed with him my idea. For instance, there’s this image of a tree, and its roots started to develop, and it grows bigger gradually. To simplify things, I explained it based on “The myth of Japan’s creation”. When I listened to the music, I had this thought drawn up in my mind, and at that moment when I saw him skate, I had this image. When I communicated these thoughts across, he seemed impressed, and told me “That’s right~”.
That was how my choreography’s idea was born. My idea is that the origin of each movement in Hanyu-senshu’s choreography has spiritual meaning, just like the (mythical) creators using different materials to create this world. With this thought projected in my mind, the making process of this program was fascinating.
Q: Do you incorporate unprecedented movements and posture in the new program?
S: He (Yuzu)aims to insert new choreography and being able to challenge new things seems to make him happy. As a choreographer, an athlete who is open to choreography, and highly motivated is a great excitement to work with. That’s why this time, there’re plenty of (new) movements and positions selected and inserted in the program.
His body is very flexible, so he could do many things, and he’s now a highly experienced athlete. At the same time, his life experience increases too, and even only with this, his expressiveness would reach greater maturity. That isn’t just the wisdom that increases with age, but also growth in depth of emotion. We aim to challenge new interpretation. For me working together with him is nothing but excitement.
My job is “creating”
Q: Regarding your position as a choreographer, what do you think about the new rules? Is there anything beneficial?
S: Yes and No. Might be both. For example, speaking of the mens’ program’s changes, 1 jump is abolished, and that cut is about 10s. The whole program is 30s shorter. About this, I could say it’s a little bit more difficult under the new rules.
However, I try not to place too much emphasis on limitations. Regardless of rule, I try to think creatively and positively. Since my job is “creating”, I should be able to think in a positive way. Getting a story across, planning the link between technical elements and story, then considering how to plan choreography that doesn’t allow predictability. No matter how the rules are, I would prefer to preserve the mindset and the method that I have been pursuing, because rules will continue to change after all.