Best Gala programs | Golden Skate

Best Gala programs

VenusHalley

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2018
One of the great things about figure skating is Gala programs. Lets share our favorite ones!

I will start with some older ones


Debi Thomas, pretending she totally cannot like skate...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCNL5mDpigw

Surya Bonaly's galas were great... she could just let her sass and personality shine and do her backflips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-SBRpxe9Yc

Phillipe Candeloro and his over the top galas where he took his shirt off <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEHwq0o8mgU

Oksana Bauil at Olympics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSIVTUHdRXY
 

lappo

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 12, 2016
Some of my favourites that comes to mind:
Yagudin, Overcome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5pS_ROW-hU (honorable mention to "The Feeling begins")
Michelle Kwan, Fields of Gold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazOhkRuySI
Yuna Kim, Nessun Dorma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JnPkt4R4wQ (honorable mention to "Meditation de Thais")
Mao Asada, Jupiter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmddpKdwiY4 (honorable mention to "Scent of a woman")
Yuzuru Hanyu, Notte Stellata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gRoIy0YWQo
Savchenko/Massot, Up all night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxACfjVMLnc
Almost everything Cappellini/Lanotte especially the most recent ones!
Also, I love when skaters do funny exhibitions (SuperJavi, Plushy Sex Bomb, Kim Lucine Supermario, Virtue/Moir Ballet versus Hip-Hop...)
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Hopefully someone can find this program. Alissa Czisny's Man Of La Mancha from 2007 nationals
 

TallyT

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
Javi's Aerobics. Can't go past mentioning Javi's Aerobics. Probably the best comic exhibition ever (Javi has a rare gift for comedy, it's harder than it looks as any actor, writer or standup will tell you, and too many comic pieces topple over into cringe, but he always keeps it light and fun, even when a bit corny).

And his Prometo, no frills, just pure beauty.

Misha Ge's 50 Shades of Grey is the only good thing that ever came out of {shudder} that excuse for a book, but I admit I love what he makes of it :)

Shoma's See You Again, I like how it channeled and gave extra grace to his intensity.

Mikhail Kolyada's Baba Yaga, and not simply because I adore the music with all my heart, it's just so gloriously OTT and he is having such fun.

Stephan Lambiel's You're Beautiful and Bring Me to Life are amaaaaazing.

Yuzuru, of course. Notte Stellata may very well end up the most famous and loved exhibition piece of all time (though maybe tied with one of Yuna's, hard to predict just yet), even with the recent deletions the combined view count on youtube alone is massive... all of the performances are gorgeous (I blush at how often I've rewatched that single axel at the Olympics) but I also have such a soft spot for the Skate Canada rehearsal one, with everyone else leaving the ice to watch, the coloured light, the almost total silence, the time-has-stopped atmosphere you can feel even from the fancams...

And also Requiem of Heaven and Earth, especially - and achingly - the Boston 2016 performance, shot through with emotion and pain.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Hopefully someone can find this program. Alissa Czisny's Man Of La Mancha from 2007 nationals

;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWsvmkIn7rw (Not the Nationals version, but still that program)

She actually brought this program back and skated it at the USFS function at the park at Nationals this year.

Speaking of Alissa, my fave program of hers (choreographed by Jeremy Abbott) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TLLDiah-Io

And speaking of Jeremy: https://youtu.be/-XhqUKAkjkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N8Y5y15b8o
 

Amei

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Todd Eldredge - Il Mare Calmo Della Sera
Sasha Cohen - Romeo & Juliet
Mirai Nagasu - Shake it Out
Viktor Petrenko - Let's Twist Again
 

Roast Toast

Medalist
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Sui and Han's Run exhibition. Just really beautiful pairs skating.

The masterclass in figure skating that is Mao's Cello Suites ex. I would love to see more things like this in galas.

Dai's Björk ex. Dark, weird, a little unsettling. One of his best ever programs, imo.

Machida's self-choreographed Byakuyakou ex. I think this was its only performance without a fall. Lines for days. His — and Julia's — early retirement were the hardest to stomach for me in the last quad. What divine posture he had.

edit: jenm, great minds think alike ;)
 

sadya

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 10, 2006
Country
Netherlands
Great choices and thank you for some of the reminders everyone. :) Amongst some of my favourites are these:
John Curry 1974 Europeans Exhibition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr2zEtEo24E&t=183s

John Curry 1973 Worlds Exhibition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6OLTcpfb8g

Toller Cranston - Too Beautiful to Last Exhibition 1973
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KhKRjZ6x6o

Michelle Kwan 1999 Worlds Ex. "The Red Violin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P06NFFMn7Hs

Mao Asada - Ballade No 1. 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcZK_Bth0hA

[HD] Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov 1994 Lillehammer Olympic - Exhibition "Rêverie"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmvGHYdCxTM
(a lot of their later competitive programs were even like glorious gala performances)

Oksana Baiul (UKR) - Skates of Gold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GxYO8aiePQ
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
Todd Eldredge - Il Mare Calmo de la Sera (1998 COI), The Glory (2000 COI)
Dan Hollander's Mrs. Doubtfire
Plushy's Sex Bomb
Michelle Kwan's - Dante's Prayer, Pocahontas, Hands, Winter
Javi's Aerobics' Class
Brian Orser's Story of My Life
Cappelini & Lanotte's programs
Viktor Petrenko's Mambo #5
Kristi Yamaguchi's It's Oh, So Quiet, Doop, Doop
Midori Ito - her "Rain" exhibition from the 1992 Olympics
Mao's I Vow to Thee, My Country ("Jupiter" - from "The Planets")
Paul Wylie - Why, God, Why? Go the Distance, Apollo 13
Scott Hamilton - I Love Me
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
All of Plushy's - apart from Sex Bomb I have a special place in my heart for Pasadena aka the Fluro ensemble and hat one: https://youtu.be/Zv2M4bCh5m4

I agree. Probably this is the reason why I'm his fan or I'm his fan because of his programs and skating. :laugh: I'm curious the gala organizers don't allow the encore skates in these days? :rolleye: In this gala( and on every gala, too) Plush was more than 9 minutes on ice..He had two encores. Look at those 3As! He can entertain the audience! :laugh:

I like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57grdU9z-70 this one of the most impressive skatings ever! Same choreography totally different music if you recognized -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bx_OIOoscI

I like when a skaters' gala programs are very different from their competitive programs.

some of my favorite skaters, pairs's:

Capellini/Lanotte
Candeloro
Baiul's Swan lake at the gala in Nagano
Igor Bobrin!!! and for ex with Debbie thomas
Petrenko - you mentioned
Sarah Abitbol/ Stephane Bernardis
Stepanova/ Bukin - new gala number in that weird "sexy" costume of Alexandra
Medvedeva -many programs
Zagitova- in last year and the recent gala number
Fernandez-Aerobic

Probably I forgot many! ;)
 

fzztsimmons

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 14, 2018
Virtue & Moir's Everybody Dance Now from the 2010 Olympics is my absolute favourite. I know they're making fun of the ballerina and hockey stereotypes but I just think they're so accurate! I love seeing something so playful from them!
 

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
I like all Anna & Luca's gala programs but especially Charlie.
Then of course Valentina & Ondrej, especially their Barbie girl.
Zhenya Medvedeva's Beautiful mess.
I'd say I prefer funny gala programs or exhibitions that are different from the style of the skater's competitive programs... and the funny ones are easier remembered, like Janitor Julian, Superjavi, Matteo's Ghostbusters...

I'll also add Yuka Sato's performance Karma she did in Javi's Revolution on Ice with Eva Ruiz singing and playing piano live. It was a magical experience to see it live and it only confirms the fact that you don't need jumps to create magic.

I'm a huge fan of Javi. Recently everybody has fallen in love with Prometo, which is indeed special. But his gala program that I love the most (and is very underrated in my opinion) and nothing and noone will ever come close to it is DANNY BOY. He performed it only seven times, I'll be forever sad that he didn't do it at Europeans... (he did Danny Boy in 2016-2017 season and hadn't he been injured at 2017 EC gala, he'd have probably done this program...) I'm on the verge of tears everytime I watch it.
 

SNAKSuyun

did it spark joy?
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 23, 2018
Country
China
Stephane's Un Girno Per Noi is one of my favorite all time programs :luv17:
 

nguyhm

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
As already mentioned G&G's Reverie at the 1994 Olympics - breathtaking
Nathan Chen's Stole the show - it improved a lot at the end of the Stars on Ice run
Misha Ge (with Evgenia Medvedeva) at 2017 World Championship - love this "goofy" side of him (i miss his skating :()
Julian Yee at Skate America - so charming
There are so many more but that's all I can remember for now
 
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