Great exhibition programs

[Mathman]

I love her signature move, especially as done by Mirai Nagasu and Shizuka Arakawa. But Ina is lovely too.

Shizuka Arakawa was actually the subject of a clinical study on flexibility. It was determined that the reason she could do such a spectacular Ina Bauer was because of an anomaly in her lumbar discs.

As for the movie clip, one of the "comments" gave a synopsis of the plot: Ina Bauer does her signature move while two weirdos (one of whom was her co-star, a German Olympic skier) leered at her through a window.

 

[NaVi]

This is kind of a shot in the dark, but I remember seeing on youtube an exhibition from the early 90s(I was doing a binge watch of old exhibitions) by a blonde woman who I think was doing something in a throwback style of skating from say 30s or 50s. Heck, it may have been a Sonja Henie tribute. I've been trying to find it again but have had no luck. Anyone know who that could be?

 

[Mathman]

^ I don't know who it might be, but here is the real Sonja Henie. Note that her first element is an opposite direction (clockwise) Lutz.

"The Absolute Best!" - Sonja Henie, 1945!

Ms. "H" paved the way for all the future skating stars of today.

www.youtube.com

 

[Anna K.]

I looked on you tube for this skater and found -- to my astonishment a couple ofdozen vids ofhis performances. But no Galas.

It appears that this video is not available on YouTube as a separate clip. Otherwise I'd posted it as the first reply to this thread. That Granny was asking for a Grandpa, you know

I tried to create a timestamp on ISU livestream but it could be of little help because I'm not sure if the stream is available at your location.

So, sadly, it appears that the only way you can see this exhibition is if Valtter gets invited to Gala in Montreal

 

[Anna K.]

^ I don't know who it might be, but here is the real Sonja Henie. Note that her first element is an opposite direction (clockwise) Lutz.

"The Absolute Best!" - Sonja Henie, 1945!

Ms. "H" paved the way for all the future skating stars of today.

www.youtube.com

Her spins
or the art of how to make a spin look exciting without making it look like a contortionist act. A long forgotten art btw. (I have nothing against the art of contortion - it's exciting in its own way - but still).

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Gilles/Poirier

CTNSC17 Gala Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier

www.youtube.com

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Cannot believe y'all left out this absolute gem!

Debi Thomas

 

[PaulE]

As for the movie clip, one of the "comments" gave a synopsis of the plot: Ina Bauer does her signature move while two weirdos (one of whom was her co-star, a German Olumpic skier) leered at her through a window.

Thanks for the info that her co-star was an Olympic skier. I looked it up and saw that it was the "Blitz from Kitz" Toni Sailer. Toni, who was born in Kitzbühel in Austria, won all three gold medals in skiing at the 1956 Olympics and 2 golds and a silver at the 1958 World Championships. He was probably one of the best downhill skiers ever.

When I was on a Fulbright Scholarship to Germany in 1961-62 I heard of him and probably saw him in a movie. I learned to ski over Christmas in Switzerland and then went skiing in the spring in Austria with one day spent skiing in Kitzbühel. Fond, fond memories.

 

[Anna K.]

Cannot believe y'all left out this absolute gem!

Debi Thomas

Genius.

I can only imagine the enormous satisfaction she felt finally doing everything that she (and every young skater) was being told not to do all these years.

In case anyone wonders how did she look like when performing according to the book, here is her short program (a fairly entertaining short program btw)

 

[Mathman]

Her [Sonja Henie's] spins
or the art of how to make a spin look exciting without making it look like a contortionist act. A long forgotten art btw. (I have nothing against the art of contortion - it's exciting in its own way - but still).

Also her footwork. She had mastered the art of making it seem like she was akating really, really fast (her father was a speed skater as well as being a world champion cyclist) by getting up on her toes and moving her feet in short, quick steps. The technique was emulated decades later (2002) by ;lexei Yagudin in his iconic Winter short program (and became a staple of "Morosov choreaography" for many skaters).

 

[ladyjane]

I never saw this before...I couldn't stop laughing.

Cannot believe y'all left out this absolute gem!

Debi Thomas

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Cannot leave out this wonderful trio. One of my all-time favorite SOI programs.

 

[Mathman]

^ :

More like this!

 

[CoyoteChris]

1998 MK East of Edan Gala. Playing on TSL right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYwAZb14Ags

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Cannot leave out this wonderful trio. One of my all-time favorite SOI programs.

And this is the Canadian version, with Patrick, Jeff, and Elvis.

 

[Mathman]

1998 MK East of Edan Gala. Playing on TSL right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYwAZb14Ags

Michelle's' finest performance. This was the "artistic program" at the 1998 World Pro (pro-am). For the "technical prgram" she gave her best performance of her LP, "Ariane," langing 7 triples -- an unheard of feat in those days for for a pro event.

Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for professional and pro-am competitions. The ISU went on a campaign to take over pro skating, and event organizers had no choice but to play along if they wanted the Olympic eligible stars. The next year Dick Button sold the World Pro ("Landover') competition and after a couple of years the new owners threw in the towel altogether. The series had been started (by Button) to showcase the then-recently retired Janet Lynn (Belousova and Protopopov won in pairs). Early winners in ladies were Dorothy Hamill, Debi Thomas, Denise Biellmann, Kristi Yamaguchi, Midori Ito and Yuka Sato. Notable men included Scott Hamilton, Robin Cousins. Brian Boitano and Kurt Browning.

In the spirit of this thread, here is a choreographic gem offered by the iconoclast bad boy of skating Gary Beacom, who won Landover in 1988 (this clip is from a differecnt pro competiton, however) -- he performed this routine some 300 times in shows ansd competitions). Beacom, a Canadian, not only explored off-beat concepts on ice but also vigorously objected to having to pay U.S. taxes on his earnings at American skating events, and in fact went to jail briefly over it.

GARY BEACOM-I'M YOUR MAN.mpg

www.youtube.com

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Anything from Paul Wylie, but especially "JFK" and "Carmina Burana."

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

And this is the Canadian version, with Patrick, Jeff, and Elvis.

Yes, I knew about both. I love Patrick, but no offense, preferred the line-up in the US version which was skated before the Canadian version that season.

 

[Mathman]

And this is the Canadian version, with Patrick, Jeff, and Elvis.

Who is the choreogropher. Sandra Bezik?

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Who is the choreogropher. Sandra Bezik?

Jeffrey Buttle with input from Abbott and Rippon, IIRC