FS proselytism

lappo · Nov 3, 2017

Today a small miracle happened. My boyfriend doesn't care AT ALL about FS and he usually doesn't show a lot of appreciation when I try to make him watch programs (to understand the kind of person, last week he commented that V/M programs "were boring" :slink:

...he is a good guy overall, though!). Today I had him watch S/H short program and he declared that it was by far the best program I ever forced him to watch and that he actually enjoyed it a lot! Now, of course, I'm lighting candles for S/H olympic gold (I was already a huge fan of them since their junior years) and in the meantime I wonder: have you ever tried to get somebody interested in figure skating and which programs did you use? Did you succeed or not?

Jennifer Lyon · Nov 3, 2017

Back in the 1990s (pre-whack), I got my best friend interested in figure skating by showing her some videotapes. She had a major crush on Mikhail Baryshnikov at the time, so I figured she'd like some of the Russian male skaters. And she did. Alexei Urmanov was her favorite.

The best figure skating proselytizer is my 19-year-old niece. She has gotten all her friends at college hooked on skating and they have Olympic watch parties where they gather together in some common room at their dormitory and watch the Icenetwork.

4everchan · Nov 3, 2017

i have converted many fans with Patrick's Chopin and Journey

CanadianSkaterGuy · Nov 3, 2017

Not so much with competitive programs, but I've converted naysayers with some of the brilliance that is Kurt Browning. :biggrin:

I took my bf to see Stars on Ice (he's NOT a skating fan, woe is me, lol), but he was totally impressed with Patrick Chan and said he reminded him of speedskaters because of how deep some of his edges were that it looked like he should have tipped over.

I also posted video from Hanyu's Seimei from NHK (when he essentially broke figure skating, lol) on my Facebook, and had quite a few comments from those who don't watch skating about how impressive it was.

GrandmaCC · Nov 3, 2017

Have tried many times and not succeeded

most I can get is for my Mother to sit through part of a program because “that girl looks like you!”

.
No one seems to appreciate the sport that I know of, a lot write it off because it looks way too hard (which is weird because they’ll enjoy ballet or something else hard yet mesmerising - only thing I can think of is one being thought of as “art” whereas the other “sport”), others don’t like that the scoring system is “complicated”.

Interspectator · Nov 3, 2017

Jason Brown's Riverdance has figure skating brilliance and also accessibility that FS newbies can easily get into and appreciate.

gsk8 · Nov 3, 2017

2003 Worlds - Shen/Zhao

Husband came along for 2003 Worlds. Brought a cross-word puzzle. Was enamored with Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo LP (Turandot)! It really was a very special moment for both skaters as she had injured herself.
https://youtu.be/PYuRHZMNCeE

iluvtodd · Nov 4, 2017

I've shown my friends (who watch figure skating only during the Olympics) many of Todd Eldredge's Olympic eligible performances, especially 1996 Worlds, 1998 Goodwill Games, & 2001 Worlds (serious competitive ones & his fun ones - Who Let the Dogs Out?/ Always Look on the Bright Side of Life). Several of them have been quite impressed, and are more willing to watch fs more often now.

Currently, I show these friends Youtube videos of Jason Brown ("Riverdance," etc.) and Sean Rabbitt, and the response has been VERY favorable. One of my friends is a huge "Hamilton"/Lin Manuel Miranda fan, so I've been sharing Jason's sp perfromances of "The Room Where It Happened" with her. She also loves his "Riverdance" fs (she has shared it on her Facebook timeline very recently).

gkelly · Nov 4, 2017

I didn't show them, but a few family members spontaneously asked me about James & Cipres's Sound of Silence last year.

Princessroja · Nov 4, 2017

gkelly said:
I didn't show them, but a few family members spontaneously asked me about James & Cipres's Sound of Silence last year.

Yeah, their Sound of Silence program made the rounds on my fb feed, and so did their program this year. People really, really like them.

epicdreamer · Nov 4, 2017

Surprisingly it's my dad who is not an FS fan at all that's linked me to videos on fb that he happened to come across, mainly Jason's riverdance and Plushenko's sex bomb of all things

But I've gotten my younger brother into watching some competitions with me even if he only knows Nathan and Yuzu

Spirals for Miles · Nov 4, 2017

I've tried to get my mom into FS with some of my favorites. I used Zhenya's WTT from last year, the FS and Yulia's Olympic team FS... Wasn't as successful as I hoped for but pretty good!

lappo · Nov 4, 2017

Princessroja said:
Yeah, their Sound of Silence program made the rounds on my fb feed, and so did their program this year. People really, really like them.

Before the yesterday miracle, J/C last year program was the one that my boyfriend enjoyed more...so I agree that this is a very useful program. Also, he once spontaneously rewatched an exhibition program of Cappellini/Lanotte (the one they did in Boston)...this was exceptional because ice dancing is his least favourite!

matcha · Nov 4, 2017

My mum loves Yuzu. Whenever she sees him jump she's like "wooooowww!!"

My sister doesn't really care about ice dance (besides an uncontrollable desire to root for the Shibutanis) but she saw the Carmen lift in V/Ms Moulin Rouge and was like "wtffff rewind" we watched that about five times lol. And their twizzles ("excellently choreographed"). She's firmly planted in the V/M camp after seeing P/C today (she loves Moonlight Sonata and doesn't think their program was "that good").

It's always interesting to see how people outside of the world/fandom react.

Tulipstar · Nov 4, 2017

Evgenia's WTT and Hanyu's World's got my mom interested. She's not a fan on the level that we are, but she does ask how they're doing and is interested in the programs I sent to her.

Jason Brown's Riverdance also helps people get interested.

What works best though, is to give them programs about things they like. So I sent Wakaba's Skyfall to an Adele fan, Polina's SP to Game of Thrones fans, Boyang's Spiderman to Comic Book fans etc. Has a lot of success!

ejnsofi · Nov 4, 2017

TBH I'd start with programs to music which is quite popular. Moulin Rouge, Bond, Game of Thrones and Boyang's Spiderman look like nice choices. Also I think Gala's programs might be more interesting for people who are not into FS at the moment as they are really fun. Maybe try with Mao's FS in Sochi as it has really WOW factor. One of my friends became semi-fan after he saw Rippon's Beatles FS from Boston but he is hardcore fan of The Beatles.

johnsmith72 · Nov 4, 2017

I showed my family Yuna Kim's Dance Macabre and Ashley Wagner's Moulin Rouge from Boston, and they completely changed their mind on skating! I usually find that more extraverted, dramatic programs tend to win more converts.

invisiblespiral · Nov 4, 2017

I regularly send my friend from camp figure skating videos (she likes Brown, Hanyu, V/M, Osmond, and Medvedeva so far)

I also tried to send someone who's a YOI fan videos, but they just got really annoyed. :slink:

mrrice · Nov 4, 2017

You just never know what your friends are going to connect with. My former dance students love Ashley Wagner and Jason Brown mainly because they watch Nationals and nothing else. My old friends were force fed Maria Butyrskaya and Plushy and we used to have friendly debates on Maria vs Michelle, and Plushy vs Yags....

Max Arron has always been a favorite of mine and I like him because he's a skater that my non- skating male friends really relate to. They nearly blew a gasket over his Tron program and always think he should win. To this day, if I mention skating, they ask me..... "Did the Tron Dude Win?" I live in California and yes, my 50 year old friends still say, "Dude"

I can't believe I left Patrick off my list.........If anyone tries to tell me that Patrick's "Take 5" SP isn't the greatest SP of all time.....Our friendship is over!

Patrick's Take 5..........I think this was his first world record score......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHOMvzABdO8

4everchan · Nov 4, 2017

mrrice said:
You just never know what your friends are going to connect with. My former dance students love Ashley Wagner and Jason Brown mainly because they watch Nationals and nothing else. My old friends were force fed Maria Butyrskaya and Plushy and we used to have friendly debates on Maria vs Michelle, and Plushy vs Yags....

Max Arron has always been a favorite of mine and I like him because he's a skater that my non- skating male friends really relate to. They nearly blew a gasket over his Tron program and always think he should win. To this day, if I mention skating, they ask me..... "Did the Tron Dude Win?" I live in California and yes, my 50 year old friends still say, "Dude"

your friends like powerful engines? :agree2:

FS proselytism

lappo

Jennifer Lyon

4everchan

CanadianSkaterGuy

GrandmaCC

Interspectator

gsk8

iluvtodd

gkelly

Princessroja

epicdreamer

Spirals for Miles

Anna Shcherbakova is my World Champion

lappo

matcha

Tulipstar

ejnsofi

johnsmith72

invisiblespiral

mrrice

4everchan

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