The Eras of figure skating

I'm reading several posts about how there are different "eras" of figure skating. So my question is, what do you think they are?

Here's my guess. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than myself could add or subtract something.

Men and Women.
1. The outside suit era. Men wore suits and skated outside. Dick Button's day. The ladies may have an even older era with Sonja Henie.

2. The inside double era. There were still school figures, but men began to wear different outfits. From maybe the late 60's to the early 90's? (Possibly divided in two, pre and post short program.)

3. The jump era. With figures gone, the jumps were the main thing, especially quads for the guys. Still under 6.0. (1990-2000 ).

4. The CoP era. Lots more emphasis on footwork, edging, etc. than in the jumping era.


Ice Dance
1. The ballroom era, when all the dances were like ballroom dances. Ended with Bolero by Torvill and Dean (to 1984)

2. The dead and dying era. Everyone died on the ice or were pulled by their skate. Ended when rules changed in 1994.

3. The overdramatic but still alive era. Similar to era #2, but everyone survived. (1994)

4. The CoP era. Probably divided in two, with the elimination of the original dance. Everyone twizzles and lives to tell about it.

Pairs: I don't know.

Can anyone add anything?

T&D were anything but ballroom!

The ballroom era was the pre Olympic era. In the US, it was generally thought of as the Sladky/Schwomeyer (Later Sladky/Sladky era), although S&S were never world champions. However, prior to Pakhomova / Gorshkov, it was the era of the UK greats, and the height of creating CD's. Call it the First Ballroom Empire.

Pakhomova & Gorshkov were the first Olympic champions, and had been World Champions since 1970.
1970-1980 should be thought of as the first Russian Empire. It was an era where the man presenting the woman was the only way to succeed at ice dance.

1980 Worlds (won by Krisztina Regőczy/András Sallay of Hungary) marked the end of the Russian Empire, and the beginning of the T&D Betty Calloway period. Free dances suddenly had themes and stories rather than being a succession of different ballroom styles (this was somewhat prefigured by the programs of Moiseeva & Minenkov, but although they were World Champions once, their influence was felt more outside Russia than inside, I think)

Although Russian dominance as far as who was winning came back with Bestemianova & Bukin, after T&D retired, T&D's ideas were prominent (consider the Duchesnays, for example) until the 1994 Olympics, when T&D were beaten by Grishuk & Platov.

The ISU had, in 1994 for sure, but perhaps 1993 as well? ruled that it was time the T&D era to end, by enacting a rule that it was The Second Ballroom Empire time. It was also the Speed is King era, and it was ruled by Grishuk & Platov throughout their career.

By 1997 (G&P's The Feeling Begins FD), the Second Ballroom idea had lost favor with the viewing public, and hence with the ISU. Other themes began to emerge, but G&P were indisputably the king and queen of the era.

In 1998, the Speed was still King but Krylova/Ovsiannakov became world champions. Their style was High Histrionic, but due to health issues, their personal reign was brief. You could characterize the whole era of 1998 through 2002 as the High Histrionic though. Technically, it was an era of unequal teams, uber dramatick themes, and lots of lifts.

2002 has to be viewed as The Revolution-in fact, the beginning of the COP revolution, although the High Histrionic was still going on.

2004 is the first COP era=steps are everything.
2006 2nd COP era, steps are everything but lifts are way important too.

And then the ISU stepped in again in 2010 and declared that we are ==>Now<== in the Third Ballroom Empire with Happy Smiles (but the teams and everybody else are complaining a lot). Curiously, the key feature of the 3rd Ballroom is that the CD has moved up in status to the main item in the Short Dance.

As far as "eras" are concerned - in singles skating - I would offer:

-- Competitive era that included compulsory school figures.
-- Competitive era (post 1990) that excluded compulsory school figures.

In the "old" days, school figures were a major portion of the overall score. Young skaters spent countless years practicing the figures at pre-dawn "patch" sessions. When skaters competed at the Worlds or Olympics (and sometimes at Nationals) for the first time, they typically were awarded low figures scores, and then they had to work their way up the standings in the free skate, and the short program when that was added to the competition. You did not see 14-year-olds compete at the senior level, as it was absolutely unheard of for anyone that young to emerge with school figures good enough to earn them a berth on the World team. And you surely did not see young teenagers win the Worlds or Olympics during the school figures era. It just did not happen.

Once the school figures were abolished, the complexion of competition changed dramatically, IMHO. Without the constraints of figures, young "jumping beans" such as Tara Lapinski, Sarah Hughes, Michelle Kwan, and Oksana Baiul emerged as champions. These skaters were wonderfully talented, without a doubt, and they and the rest of the field had the freedom -- and the time -- to concentrate on the technical and artistic aspects, without the time-consuming effort in learning and perfecting school figures.

Just my two cents, of course.

Poodlepal said:

Pairs: I don't know.

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I think Pairs has two eras: Russian domination (from the Protopopovs up to Totmianina/Marinin) and post-Russian domination (currently). But I suppose Volosozhar/Trankov has something to say about that....

I would not break the men's and women's eras up in quite the same way.

I would break them down as:

1. pre-WWII era (where jumping in free skating was not a premium focus)
2. post-WWII era (where jumps and spins made made massive strides in height, revolutions, positions, and speed)
3. the Short Program era (moved the balance of power from figures toward free skating; quantity of jumps rather than quality becomes more important)
4. the post-Figures era (Jumpers rule the roost, virtually unchallenged; spinning and footwork decline in quality and importance)
5. the COP era (more balance is sought between all elements; multiple paths to victory)

Doris, I believe second Ballroom era began after the 1992 Olympics. U/Z's world title winning program was a major departure from their programs of the last few seasons as well as K/P and D/D. By Lillehammer, the trend was even further along.

Young jumping beans in ladies skating did not begin with the abolition of figures. They went back to the 70's when the SP allowed such skaters to rise up the ranks more quickly by reducing the value for figures. Barbie Smith and Linda Fratianne brought triple jumps into ladies skating as a permanent fixture rather than a curiosity. So did Denise Biellmann. Jumping really exploded however with Zayak triple toe-ing her way to titles in the early 80s. Witt was also a strong jumper as a teen (though less proficient as an adult). Ito and Chin were significant jumping beans in the early and mid 80s. Midori was doing triple-triples as a pre-teen. Both were landing triple axels in practice in the before 1984. Ito and Liz Manley were doing lutzes before they truly became common among women in the late 80s. Tonya Harding was a competitive jumper as a senior as early as 1986.

In 1993, Duchesnays were retired, and U&Z won worlds with their FD to Blues For Klook.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxseLaxl61s

2nd place was Grishuk and Platov, skating to St. James Infirmary, another blues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is04vxvp9xA

3rd Krylova & Fedorov with a dreadful Latin medley, starting with cha cha (you could call that ballroom)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSXT8HsDazQ

4th Rahkamo & Kokko (this is Euros, but the used the same FD at Worlds) skating to Finlandia by Sibelius
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk2LqLNPelc

While the ISU may have already been saying ballroom (and certainly they were by 1994) it's not at clear that that had reached the skater's ears, really, at least judging by these 4 FDs. Only Krylova/Federov were doing traditional ballroom.

jcoates said:

Young jumping beans in ladies skating did not begin with the abolition of figures. They went back to the 70's when the SP allowed such skaters to rise up the ranks more quickly by reducing the value for figures.

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I wouldn't call it part of a trend or era, but Carol Heiss at the beginning of her senior career would also fit the young jumper mold.