Sport or art?

CoyoteChris said:

In days of yore, in our sport, I would have no issues selling my gala ticket as I am not a gala person but now I generally just give them away. At SkateAmerica Portland, 2010, the attendance was so poor that if you came to the last 2 events, ladies free and dance free on Sunday you could see the gala for free at 5 pm....and it was still poorly attended. ...good comp though...Sui and Han on the podium!

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Interesting. At KC Nationals I was told it was sold out.

CoyoteChris said:

In days of yore, in our sport, I would have no issues selling my gala ticket as I am not a gala person but now I generally just give them away. At SkateAmerica Portland, 2010, the attendance was so poor that if you came to the last 2 events, ladies free and dance free on Sunday you could see the gala for free at 5 pm....and it was still poorly attended. ...good comp though...Sui and Han on the podium!

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This year in Zagreb at Junior World Ch, the ticket for the gala was three times more expensive than the daily ticket for the competition. They were still very cheap, but I found it a bit weird. Interesting to know that it hasn‘t always been like that.

Autumn Leaves said:

This year in Zagreb at Junior World Ch, the ticket for the gala was three times more expensive than the daily ticket for the competition. They were still very cheap, but I found it a bit weird. Interesting to know that it hasn‘t always been like that.

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Back in those heddy days before the turn of the century, Galas were hot as were ice shows, stars on ice, Champs on ice...and if you can believe this, professional competitions.
Skating was much bigger than basketball. Sonjia Henie was skating in sold out ice shows when she was 14....here are some of the major Hollywood movies you could have watched. Then along came automatic transmissions and cell phones and with them, the decline of western civilization.

CoyoteChris said:

Here are some of the major Hollywood movies you could have watched. Then along came automatic transmissions and cell phones and with them, the decline of western civilization.

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The best was Sun Valley Serenade (with music by Glenn Miller and comic relief by Milton Berle. ) I think this is the only footage of Sonja Henie skiing. She was n expert skier as well as a skater. This movie gave a big boost to Sun Valley as an ice skating showplace, where today's pro skaters skaters proudly carry on the legacy.

I was partial to One in a Million, in which Henie plays an amateur competitor. There are ice show numbers, but you also get to see her practicing school figures. Admittedly, only back change loops IIRC, which are more entertaining to watch than most figures.

Mathman said:

The best was Sun Valley Serenade (with music by Glenn Miller and comic relief by Milton Berle. ) I think this is the only footage of Sonja Henie skiing. She was n expert skier as well as a skater. This movie gave a big boost to Sun Valley as an ice skating showplace, where today's pro skaters skaters proudly carry on the legacy.

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What amazes me is how big these movies were...Don Ameche, Tyrone Power, Ceaser Romaro...these names mean nothing to our younger forum folk but they were as big as Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt are today. Imagine Michelle Kwan and Brad Pitt staring in a series of skating movies now! Hummmm...wheels turning...remake of Game of thrones only about figure skaters....I will be right back....

NaVi said:

Far more a sport than an art. It's practically an ice choose-your-own-adventure obstacle course. The season feels like horse racing. And no fiddling with the PCS factors will change any of this.

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Replying to myself, but Averbukh's Ice Age kids show ticks all the right boxes for having really artistic figure skating competitions. Many(like 5-6 different programs) without foreknowledge and a 6.0 judging system where the judges talk. Exhibition lighting, no sideboards, props, and obvious preplanned(or prerecorded and they choose the best) camera angles.

Could something like this be done internationally and for adults? I personally doubt it...

I doubt the cameras in Ice Age, Kids are pre-recorded, but rather pre-programmed to follow the young skaters by ‘remembering’ their routines after several run throughs. This means the kids must not deviate from their pre-programmed patterns too much in their live performances.
If so, these kids are really professional in their skating and have excellent memory too. No collisions with the camera boom. I doubt there is a camera person skating along carrying a SteadyCam, but I could be wrong.
The rink is almost full size, my guess 50*25 meters.

For those of you that enjoyed BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing of the last few years, that show also has exceptional production values and there are several small features made how this “memory cam” and stage lighting works.

LOL, I really am addicted to Ice Age, Kids now. It looks superb on our large OLED TV with rich colours and great contrast. Sound could be better though, but perhaps that is more YT’s fault.

For me, Ice Age, Kids is sport turned into art and amusement of the highest level.

Again bumping up an old thread and replying to myself.

NaVi said:

The whole dank white hockey rink aesthetic is something that needs to be counteracted somewhat. Not every event can be setup like the Olympics, but something can be done to kind of "enchant" the scenery. The 2015 Grand Prix Final had the best non-Olympic aesthetic setup that I can remember. Russian nationals this year looked nice to me with with the blue background and with so many advertisements having a solid color background.

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While overall not quite as good as the 2015 Grand Prix Final(the blue clashes with the green seats), I absolutely love the way the advertisements was done at the Universiade. I wish all the big events were like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnHs5RW7H-M