Two years ago Brandon Mroz struck me as balletic if my memory serves.
Mroz has tried on a variety of different styles. Maybe he looked balletic to you the season he was trying on Johnny Weir's style. Johnny is more "balletic" than Mroz, even though Johnny has never studied ballet. I'd also call Lambiel balletic, and Eman Sandhu, and Jeffrey Buttle. I'd also include Dai Takahashi (who has been mentored by a Japanese dancer), although I think Dai tends more toward a modern dance style. Jeremy Abbott is definitely balletic in his style. Patrick Chan seems to aspire to a balletic style as well, and will probably get there with improved artistic presentation and musical interpretation skills.
IMO, Javier Fernandez actually looked like a ballet dancer when he performed his fp at CoR -- even though Javi needs to continue working on his presentation, he was absolutely thrilling to watch. I'm so excited for Brian and Javier. I hope their partnership leads to absolute greatness!
I agree that Michelle is not a "ballerina" skater but she incorporates so many beautiful movements as well. In a thread before a lot of ballet fans said that she is not Bolshoi in style but more of the Mariinski in style.
I agree that Sasha is the most balletic of all. Oksana is a close second.
Shizuka Arakawa incorporate so many gorgeous balletic movements as well.
IN the new generation I love Adelina Sotnikova and the "Cohen-esque" Julia Lipnitskaia.
IMO there is no particular reason to want skaters to remimd us of ballerinas iraher than of nstead of other kinds of dancers and athletes. All dancers, ballet or otherwise, maintain good posture, move gracefully, have attractive lines, and strike pleasing positions.
Alissa does all these things, for instance, but I do not think of the ballet when she skates.
Sasha either.
I'm sorry but out of all things you could say about Kwan, "ballerina" is not certainly one of them. Do Kwan's fans really have to put her EVERYWHERE? I mean no offense, she has many great qualities but line, posture and extention isn't really up there with Cohen or Asada. I wouldn't be surprised if you put her among the best spinners or claim she has the best triple-triple. The greatest ballerina is Sasha of course. Perfectly straight back ALL THE TIME, extraordinary flexibility, pointed toes, perfect positions in spirals and spins (except for the biellman). Some of her positions are unmatched to this day even with Alissa, Caroline and Mirai on the scene.
Thought of two more. Peggy Fleming and Jennifer Kirk. The latter was actually ballet-trained, and her carriage and arm positions reflected this.
That's true, Michelle could be very elegant and using ballerina fingers one moment and then totally using stiff Brian Boitano "male skater" hands in the next. When she was so focused on her jumps, her details sometimes were a bit less defined. Her style, esp at her very best, was rather undefinable. She wasn't a dancing fairy like Asada, or a ballerina like Cohen/ Gordeeva. I have always sought to find the right word for her style. I found her more athletic than detailed in her later years, but powerful, fierce, majestic are words that come easier. Sometimes, as with Michelle, the sum was greater than the parts.