Which men's skater's artistry do you prefer? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Which men's skater's artistry do you prefer?

skatesofgold

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Country
United-States
Matt Savoie has been able to draw me in through artistry more than any other male skater in the past 20 years. If I have to pick someone current, Jason Brown. Internationally, I would have to go with Alexei Yagudin.
 

GGFan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 9, 2013
Matt Savoie has been able to drawn me in through artistry more than any other male skater. If I have to pick someone current, Jason Brown.

Thanks for reminding me about Matt. :luv17: Off to YouTube to watch some of Tom Dickson's superb work with Matt.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Thanks for reminding me about Matt. :luv17: Off to YouTube to watch some of Tom Dickson's superb work with Matt.

I want Tom Dickson to choreograph a program for Jason. That’s been on my wish list for a long time.

I love what I’ve seem if Matt Savoie! I’m glad he got to go to the Olympics!
 
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noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
quite frankly, I think Shoma is far more smooth and elegant than Hanyu. Granted Hanyu has the athleticism over most of the men currently (although Nathan is right up there and this year definitely on top) but I've always been amazed at the high PCS he gets. Different strokes I guess.
 

Azikin

Medalist
Joined
Jan 12, 2018
Yuzuru is absolutely unique but I'm glad skaters like Jason Brown can still be successful in this crazy quads age..
 

Kittosuni

Medalist
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
1. Kevin Aymoz

2. Jason Brown

3. Dmitiri Aliev & Makar Ignatov (lately Im kinda loving the soft lyrical style of the men coming from Rukavicin group)

4. Daniel Grassl & Matteo Rizzo. The Italian duo are my new favs. Needs a lot of improvement but the potential to be great performers is there.
 

LadyB

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 7, 2016
Of all times would have to be Toller Cranston. Nobody comes close (as a personal opinion)

Now: Patrick Chan, Javi.
 

Weetos

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Well, I always enjoy watching Jason and Shoma and Takahashi, and Kevin Aymoz's free was great this year, but only one skater has ever moved me to tears, and that's Yuzu (Requiem).
Really in all his performances he has a charisma that pulls you in to his world. Main reason I got back into following figure skating to be honest.
 

Casual

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
What I find surprising is that overall, male figure skating is much more artistic than ladies. Men skaters manage to combine superior skating skills and technical content, with much more pleasant performance.

There are many men skaters who are outstanding artists, or at least very musical and graceful. But ladies? Nope. Among ladies, polished artists are in very short supply, (with some Japanese and Canadian notable exceptions).

So often unpolished ladies look like "cows on ice" (a Russian dancing term :laugh:). Just no comparison with many men skaters. Men don't just out-perform ladies, they leave some dancing teams in the dust, too. Strange, right?
 

RobinA

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Yuzuru is absolutely unique but I'm glad skaters like Jason Brown can still be successful in this crazy quads age..

He is very unique. He has the athleticism, but it's not big, hit you in the face athleticism. Somehow, I'm always surprised when he pulls off something really athletic, because he doesn't come out, I'm going to DO this, he just does it. He has this "I'm a bit frail" aura about him, with the dark circles under his eyes, the wispy bangs, the downward looking eyes. I'm always afraid he's going to go out there and break a bone on the ice, but he absolutely nails it. A strange package, but an interesting one.
 

Charlotte 71

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
What I find surprising is that overall, male figure skating is much more artistic than ladies. Men skaters manage to combine superior skating skills and technical content, with much more pleasant performance.

There are many men skaters who are outstanding artists, or at least very musical and graceful. But ladies? Nope. Among ladies, polished artists are in very short supply, (with some Japanese and Canadian notable exceptions).

So often unpolished ladies look like "cows on ice" (a Russian dancing term :laugh:). Just no comparison with many men skaters. Men don't just out-perform ladies, they leave some dancing teams in the dust, too. Strange, right?

My theory on that is that men have to go through more personal struggle and self-reflection as they come up in skating. Skating is more of a "normal sport" for girls than for boys. So it's something girls can do without having to take any kind of "stand" about their identity, etc. It just becomes part of their identity. But for boys, maybe it's more complicated. Through all kinds of direct and less direct messages boys get from peers in school, social norms, even family, they have to defend their skating, and in that process they have to figure out WHY they are skating and whether it is worth it. And that feeds into developing artistry and self-expression. Just how I tend to see it - curious if this resonates with male skaters past or present.
 

DanseMacabre

Final Flight
Joined
May 27, 2018
Country
Iceland
Limiting myself to current skaters:

Hanyu is unparalleled for me. Every part of his body is considered in each movement and I find it captivating to watch. His attentiveness to the music is divine.

I think Nathan has more in him than perhaps his technical content might allow (it's hard picking up the necessary speed for quad Lutzes and flips) but I see glimpses of it in his Land of All free skate and great big chunks of Caravan. He's really coming into his own and I think he'll only continue to evolve on the road to Beijing.

When given the right material, Jason can really shine as well. There's a quality to his language of movement that I don't think can be taught.

I think Aliev and Kolyada are artistic souls but their nervy skating completely takes me out of enjoying their performances for the most part. I'm too stressed out watching them to lose myself.

And of course, Daisuke. His short program this year was a delight.
 

RoundedBackCamel

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
My theory on that is that men have to go through more personal struggle and self-reflection as they come up in skating. Skating is more of a "normal sport" for girls than for boys. So it's something girls can do without having to take any kind of "stand" about their identity, etc. It just becomes part of their identity. But for boys, maybe it's more complicated. Through all kinds of direct and less direct messages boys get from peers in school, social norms, even family, they have to defend their skating, and in that process they have to figure out WHY they are skating and whether it is worth it. And that feeds into developing artistry and self-expression..

Interesting take. Although Russia puts a lot of emphasis on manliness, they have the Russian ballet tradition, so I’ve always felt they weren’t as biased against male skaters as in the US and Canada. At least we seemed to have evolved past the days of commentators making sure to point out that certain male skaters “started as a hockey players” as code to mean hetero and therefore more acceptable. Hopefully (and finally) no one cares anymore. Of course, in Japan, Korea, China, no one looks askance at a boy making the choice to be an ice skater.

You might have hit on why I’ve always preferred men’s skating to women’s skating. Their music tends to be much more varied in genre and I think they need to be more creative in movement since just being a jumping machine doesn’t make a “complete package” skater. (I won’t get into how the playing field had shifted once again to favor big jumps with less choreography, connections, and interpretation. I actually prefer the new scoring system, but because I’m pushing 60, I have fond memories of 6.0 system with separate technical and artistic scores.) Also, although costuming is important, it’s not as crucial to the character of the skater. It’s gonna pretty much be a variation on a unitard, lol. (Btw, glad to see some women choosing them!)

Oops! I guess I should answer this question. Kurt, Alexei, Stefan, Johnny, Jeremy, Daisuke, Joshua, Yuzuru as samurai, Shoma, and Mikail are all skaters I respond to artistically. It seems almost as subjective as why I like a piece of music, but for what it’s worth!
 

Ducky

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Interesting take. Although Russia puts a lot of emphasis on manliness, they have the Russian ballet tradition, so I’ve always felt they weren’t as biased against male skaters as in the US and Canada. At least we seemed to have evolved past the days of commentators making sure to point out that certain male skaters “started as a hockey players” as code to mean hetero and therefore more acceptable. Hopefully (and finally) no one cares anymore. Of course, in Japan, Korea, China, no one looks askance at a boy making the choice to be an ice skater.

You might have hit on why I’ve always preferred men’s skating to women’s skating. Their music tends to be much more varied in genre and I think they need to be more creative in movement since just being a jumping machine doesn’t make a “complete package” skater. (I won’t get into how the playing field had shifted once again to favor big jumps with less choreography, connections, and interpretation. I actually prefer the new scoring system, but because I’m pushing 60, I have fond memories of 6.0 system with separate technical and artistic scores.) Also, although costuming is important, it’s not as crucial to the character of the skater. It’s gonna pretty much be a variation on a unitard, lol. (Btw, glad to see some women choosing them!)

Oops! I guess I should answer this question. Kurt, Alexei, Stefan, Johnny, Jeremy, Daisuke, Joshua, Yuzuru as samurai, Shoma, and Mikail are all skaters I respond to artistically. It seems almost as subjective as why I like a piece of music, but for what it’s worth!

To build on this theory, the roles of female skaters are more circumscribed than male skaters, both as to how they present themselves and how an audience reacts to them (we do love to define women according to types). I also think that because there are more female skaters at all levels there's a lot of pressure to stick with a certain mode of expression that male skaters might not experience because there isn't a platonic ideal of a male figure skater (and thank god) but there is that super feminine, super delicate female figure skater people think of when they think of figure skating. And because that ideal is so embedded in the psyche it shapes how a female skater will comport herself or express herself on ice -- especially when the judges rewards one style over another. And because there's more competition at an earlier age for female skaters this defensive styling is adapted earlier, whereas male skaters can sort of figure out what works and what doesn't without the pressure to be just like... well, I can't even think of who would be the ur-skater here because they're so distinct which is exactly my point. You could say that every little girl skater dreams of being just like Nancy Kerrigan, or Michelle Kwan, or Alina Zagitova or Yuna Kim because they all share similar qualities and you wouldn't be wrong (you might be wrong, but all of this is generalization) because in the public imagination they're all kind of interchangeable, no? But saying someone wants to be just like Jason Brown in their skating over Nathan Chen, well, it's as if you're saying you prefer Fox News over MSNBC. Lines in the sand have been drawn. (Neither skater is either network, btw). Young male skaters have to figure out their artistry for themselves because there is no one role model they are supposed to aspire to.

And as has been noted elsewhere, male skaters tend to have a longer competitive career than female skaters. They have time to age like fine wine into something artistically interesting.
 

SNAKSuyun

did it spark joy?
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 23, 2018
Country
China
Interesting take. Although Russia puts a lot of emphasis on manliness, they have the Russian ballet tradition, so I’ve always felt they weren’t as biased against male skaters as in the US and Canada. At least we seemed to have evolved past the days of commentators making sure to point out that certain male skaters “started as a hockey players” as code to mean hetero and therefore more acceptable. Hopefully (and finally) no one cares anymore. Of course, in Japan, Korea, China, no one looks askance at a boy making the choice to be an ice skater.

You might have hit on why I’ve always preferred men’s skating to women’s skating. Their music tends to be much more varied in genre and I think they need to be more creative in movement since just being a jumping machine doesn’t make a “complete package” skater. (I won’t get into how the playing field had shifted once again to favor big jumps with less choreography, connections, and interpretation. I actually prefer the new scoring system, but because I’m pushing 60, I have fond memories of 6.0 system with separate technical and artistic scores.) Also, although costuming is important, it’s not as crucial to the character of the skater. It’s gonna pretty much be a variation on a unitard, lol. (Btw, glad to see some women choosing them!)

Oops! I guess I should answer this question. Kurt, Alexei, Stefan, Johnny, Jeremy, Daisuke, Joshua, Yuzuru as samurai, Shoma, and Mikail are all skaters I respond to artistically. It seems almost as subjective as why I like a piece of music, but for what it’s worth!

Not sure about Japan and Korea, but I grew up in Northeastern China (where the majority of China's skaters come from) and I feel like Chinese boys would be encouraged to do many other kinds of sports (ball sports, swimming, even speed skating) before figure skating, while girls would not face that same kind of pressure. I recall seeing a lot more girls than boys at the few Chinese rinks I visited as a child, and even now on Chinese forums you hear rumours of male pairs skaters having a lot more freedom to choose their partners than the female skaters because there are just so many more female skaters around.
 

Ice Dance

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Oh, of the guys competing right now, I like Nathan & Jason best. Vasiljevs has a real gift, though I still prefer his old Puttin' On the Ritz vehicle to anything Lambiel has given him. I enjoy Brezina--he's come such a long way as a performer since 2013. It's nice to see his jumps more solid this year so that his scores & the audience can appreciate the presentation skills he really started developing quite a number of years ago. I like Rizzo's SP. It gives me Jason vibes a bit. Yee's exhibition with the mop is fantastic entertainment. Cha has his moments, and this year's R&J is one of them (also his Chorus Line sp from several years ago). Shoma is a nice performer. I just can't get into his music choices. He knows how to hit the highlights of his music, though. And Hanyu is even less often in my wheelhouse. (Semei was great. I really credit Denis's program from the year before a bit for that one. And I've always loved Johnny's Otonal so I appreciate the tribute). Aymoz is making the most of his gifts this season, and Team Zimmerman is getting the job done with him & James & Cipres stylewise, IMO. Think I will stop there, though I often enjoy Keegan, Nam, really love everything about Tomoki's presentation except the lack of facial expression. I loved Jin's Spiderman program, and when he turns it on during the footwork in his short, it's a blast. Right, yes, I'll stop there; shall I? Gosh, I enjoy watching a lot of the men.
 

RoundedBackCamel

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Not sure about Japan and Korea, but I grew up in Northeastern China (where the majority of China's skaters come from) and I feel like Chinese boys would be encouraged to do many other kinds of sports (ball sports, swimming, even speed skating) before figure skating, while girls would not face that same kind of pressure. I recall seeing a lot more girls than boys at the few Chinese rinks I visited as a child, and even now on Chinese forums you hear rumours of male pairs skaters having a lot more freedom to choose their partners than the female skaters because there are just so many more female skaters around.

Yeah, I was going to ask someone much more knowledgeable about culture in China and gender stereotypes. Didn’t mean to generalize Japan, Korea, and China, but skating is so huge in Korea and Japan, and the skaters are rock/pop stars and Yuzu is just short of deity, it seems sometimes! (I suppose US has its own titans in football and basketball or whatever who people worship in a fanatical way—but we all know that figure skaters are the TRUE athletes!)

I am always typing on my phone and haven’t mastered copying and pasting multiple quotes, but what is amazing about these forums is the knowledge everyone brings from all cultures and I’m humbled by that in addition to everyone’s knowledge of the sport. (Ducky, surely you have an advanced degree in psychology/sociology/cultural anthropology!)
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Hah this is Nathans Olympics unless the fix is in for Boyang. He without injuries could be the best by then. Nathan willfind school harder as he goes no. I hope he takes a year off but I think he wants to graduate with his friends.
 
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