True Actresses/Actors on the Ice | Golden Skate

True Actresses/Actors on the Ice

chalk5

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Who are some skaters that take you to a whole new level of art? Who captures you by the moment as if you are skating with them? Who tells you a story while skating?
 

breathesgelatin

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 12, 2013
Philippe Candeloro definitely fell into this category for me. I love him when he was in his prime and I was a teenager. Looking back, I find him a little cheesy, maybe not to my current tastes, even, but I definitely think he's a storyteller.

Klimova/Ponamarenko definitely also embodied that for me. I remember watching some of their programs in my youth and just being really confused or even uncomfortable (they're so sensual sometimes!). But now, I love them. This program in particular was seared onto my 12-year-old brain for some reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEIUzczNc-4
 

Rossig

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 15, 2014
Klimova/Ponamarenko definitely also embodied that for me. I remember watching some of their programs in my youth and just being really confused or even uncomfortable (they're so sensual sometimes!). But now, I love them. This program in particular was seared onto my 12-year-old brain for some reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEIUzczNc-4

While I think K/P were beautiful skaters, probably I wouldn't call them true actors. They were very good at dramatic style, but for instance I can't imagine them being good comedians.
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
For me, Alexei Yagudin was the first one to capture me into his programs as he created incredible moments back at the 2002 Olympics. And I think he's gotten even better since as far as story telling on ice goes. I still very much enjoy watching him skate in present days.

And then Stephane Lambiel, who has also gotten even better since retiring and his exhibition numbers right now are a whole new level of art. He has the ability to act on every note of the music he's skating on. He created a class and style of his own, that can never be confused. I think he is now a very skilled choreographer and his absence in competitions was very much obvious after the 2010 Olympics.

And finally Daisuke Takahashi, who is able to create a moment for the audience no matter the programs or choreography he gets. He has the ability to turn absolutely any program into something special and is one of the very few skaters that can entertain without having to jump. He can skate to a very wide range of music (from classical, to hip hop, latino, rock n' roll and blues) and is very attentive to details. La Strada is a very good example of acting on ice.

There are probably more but when I think about story telling on ice, these 3 skaters pop up in my mind automatically. :biggrin:
 

foruiz

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 17, 2014
Another point for Daisuke who does a very good job of claiming a song and making heartfelt renditions of it.
 

lady_bee

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
I vote for Candeloro & Kurt. Though they are very different, I think they both are great entertainers.
Stephan, Daisuke and Jeffrey, I would call them dancers rather than actors.

I am now thinking about actress on the ice.
I don't know why, nobody has came in my mind, so far:think:. Maybe Witt...
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Takahashi is the one that immediately comes to mind with skating as an art form.

In terms of acting/conveying a story, I would probably choose Witt or Browning.

It's ice dance, but I've always thought Virtue/Moir were sensational at emoting the themes of their programs.

I'll also have to give a special mention to Kim's Bond SP... she totally seemed like she was a Bond girl, just the right amount of flirty/sex appeal/intrigue.
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
Record Breaker
Joined
May 19, 2011
^^Yu-Na's Bond was superb. Definitely nailed the sultry/sexy/femme fatale vibe perfectly.

I'd say Oksana Baiul definitely brought the drama in her performances. She'd go so deep into the music and the character it was almost disconcerting, especially during her pro days. She was definitely an actress and brought the drama to the ice.

I saw some of that in Adelina's Black Swan exhibition this year. Really dramatic, into character, gritty/un-pretty...I liked it. I know a lot of people didn't but I like that she stepped outside of the box and went that route. She committed to the character 100% and I respect that.
 

silverfoxes

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Viktor Petrenko, Rudy Galindo, Evgeni Plushenko (comedy, drama, robotic beatboxing, he does it all), Johnny Weir. Stephane, yes, I think so. Especially in some of his exhibitions like "My Body Is A Cage," "A Chorus Line," etc. Although I love Daisuke and the way he interprets music, I'm not sure if he really portrays different characters as such. Different emotions and moods, yes, but he's still always Dai to me.
 

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Sonja Henie, protoype for the ultimate skater-Hollywood actress
Gordeeva / Grinkov, promoted the cheesy couple on ice charisma
Zhenya Plushenko - Mr. Funny Man
Davis / White - promoted disney, whimsical on the ice
Yuna Kim, Mao Asada, Yuzu Hanyu regional superstars

in the new girls
I see Gracie becoming a name if she wins World titles, she has the hollywood connections to make it big
US is a big media, her beauty is what the common Americans find very attractive, also Marin Honda could eclipse what Mao has achieved star wise Marin is already a child actress in Japan
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
While I think K/P were beautiful skaters, probably I wouldn't call them true actors. They were very good at dramatic style, but for instance I can't imagine them being good comedians.

Here I'd have to disagree. What you're saying is that K/P don't have range, which is true of many actors. For example, Garbo didn't really have wide comedic range (her funny performance in Ninotchka was more because she functioned as the "straight man" to the other characters), but you couldn't beat her when it came to drama. A great actor doesn't have to be great in every style, though some certainly are. I'd say that K/P were marvelous actors in terms of conveying romantic, lyrical, or tragic emotions.

Even more impressive were their predecessors, Bestemianova and Bukhin, especially Bestemianova. She had a plain face with rather outsize features, which she used to great effect especially in some of the couple's professional programs. One where he portrayed Rasputin and she played the young Tsarevich was simply beyond description. The way she conveyed the boy's fear of Rasputin's power was haunting in the extreme and would have looked good on any movie screen.

I vote yes for many of the other people that various posters have mentioned so far, including V/M, Yagudin, Takahashi, and especially Kurt. Mao Asada is tremendously expressive both in face and in body movements. I once noticed that when I googled images of her, she seemed to have a different expression in almost every picture. I'd also add Michelle Kwan and Katia Gordeyeva.
 

kelli16

Spectator
Joined
Mar 8, 2013
My first reactions (though already mentioned): V/M, Buttle, Daisuke. I'll add Zhiganshina/ Gazsi - those two definitely put their all into their characters!
 

Amei

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Volosozhar and Trankov, Shen & Zhao, Lambiel, Cohen, and Hamilton were/ are good at capturing me in the moment.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Hmm, the way I see it, actor/actress is one style of skating--the style where you portray a character or story. It's a style I like a lot, for sure, but not a judgment of quality, imo. In light of this:

Virtue/Moir - Carmen and Funny Face definitely channelled some acting! The LP this year had the story part, though the characters they played were themselves.
Plushenko - Especially early on in his career, he did many programs when he's take on a character--Dark Eyes, MJ Medley, Tribute to Nijinsky, ect. Dialled up to 11 in his exhibition pieces, of course.
Yagudin - Big movie character! Dramatic! Not the best range, but he really gets into the serious characters he portrays.
Kurt Browning - Less so early on in his career. But Casablanca and pro programs like Singing in the Rain really prove he can act.
Anissina/Peizerat - They get deep into their characters for both OD (Flamenco) and FD (Romeo and Juliet, ect.)
Oksana Baiul - I agree with Kwanatic: She gets so deep into the character it's scary. Her pro performances are breathtaking.
Yulia Lipnitskaya - Maybe too early to call, but her LP and SP this season both show that her strengths lie in character and story. I hope she keeps building on those strengths in the future.

There are many skaters who I consider wonderful artists, but I don't really see them as actors/actresses per se. Michelle, for instance, can act when she chooses to (see: Salome), but she spent most of her career focused on pure emotion/musicality rather than character or story. Takahashi, same thing--as Gallavich said, he's a wonderful interpreter but it's always him. Yuna, much like Michelle, shows her acting chops in certain programs (Bond Girl! and to some degree, Arirang and Kiss of the Vampire as well) but she mainly sticks to just being herself.
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
I agree with Olympia about the facial and body expressiveness and dramatic flair of Mao Asada particularly in Bells of Moscow, Caprice and Roch 2. Her Sochi LP was the quintessential storytelling LP for me. I am also really impressed with the dramatic portrayals of Kristi Yamaguchi and Yuzuru Hanyu, particularly at 2012 Worlds, where he reminds me of the main male character in a wild, whacky, comedic and dramatic Japanese film called Love Exposure, which I really love. He doesn't pull off the comic part of the movie though, but then again he only has four minutes. I also think the Russian rivals Plushenko and Yagudin enact a lot of passion and bring characters alive on the ice.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Kurt Browning - without a doubt!!!! His comedic timing, he ability to transform a dramatic piece on the ice, his musicality, everything!!! No one better!

Some skaters are one dimensional in my opinion - Takahashi, for example can do dramatic but I don't see him doing comedy. Being expressive in your face is not enough! So some of the other skaters mentioned here don't fall under the "actor" category to me.
 
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