Which female figure skater do you believe is the most elegant and artistic?

[Vash01]

Why aren't Tara and Sarah artistic? Both of their Olympic performances were beautiful, elegant, and graceful. No one really believed in them, but now they have Olympic Gold medals! They are so talented I just had to have them on my list! :agree: Go Tara and Sarah!

Both Tara and Sarah won the OGM because of their triple jump combinations, not because they were elegant or graceful. OGM does not necessarily translate into elegant, graceful and artistic. 'Artistic' could be debated as it depends on the taste.

 

[BrokenAnkle]

Am I the only one who does not equate elegant with artistic? I agree that Elena and Kristi are exceedingly elegant but I find them not a whit artistic. I chose Michelle because I think she is both artistic and elegant. Yuka Sato is a skater who is very elegant and can very very artistic too.

I think if Sarah had continued to skate she would have become a very artistic skater, it almost was a bad thing that she won the gold, LOL.

I would not call Tara artistic but her legancy for me besides the jumps was the total abandon that she had at the Olympics.

To be honest, art is so subjective, I really think though it is fun to talk about and share opinions, it really is not something that should be part of judging. It sounds like I am criticising Elena and Kristi, but I am not; they are amazing skaters, but to me their strengths lie in their technique. Maybe you could say they raise their technique to an art form?

BA

 

[Kuchana]

Am I the only one who does not equate elegant with artistic? I agree that Elena and Kristi are exceedingly elegant but I find them not a whit artistic. I chose Michelle because I think she is both artistic and elegant. Yuka Sato is a skater who is very elegant and can very very artistic too.

To be honest, art is so subjective, I really think though it is fun to talk about and share opinions, it really is not something that should be part of judging. It sounds like I am criticising Elena and Kristi, but I am not; they are amazing skaters, but to me their strengths lie in their technique. Maybe you could say they raise their technique to an art form?

BA

I would have to agree with you there. I don't think that elegance equates with artistic either. Kristi was really elegant, especially the way she landed her jumps but I never really thought of her as artistic so much. Her Maleguena program was elegant of course but I don't know. It didn't seem to hold so much of the artistic to me. Nor her Blue Danube. However, I do think that her artistic side emerged more when she turned pro. Elena's definitely elegant as well, even more than Kristi was. I think she had some artistic trait but it wasn't so apparent as say Natalia M imo.
But as you say, it is subjective so some would argue the opposite.

 

[lavender]

I like Tara's skating but she's not anywhere near elegant. Sarah's not either. They were both jumping beans with decent artistry. Sarah might develope some elegance without the focus on the jumps. I think I would have place Yuka or Lu Chen on the list before Tara and Sarah.

 

[TRAxel]

Kristi Yamaguchi

 

[soogar]

Katherine Healey.

 

[sk8a_grl]

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I've voted for Oksana, but they're numerous others, Lu Chen, Fumie Suguri,
Maria Butyrskaya, Susanna Pokyo, Sasha Cohen ... :yes:

Anke

i believe you are all forgetting about cynthia phaneuf.....she is by far one of the most elegant skaters i have seen....even more so than some of those choices...

 

[Vash01]

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i believe you are all forgetting about cynthia phaneuf.....she is by far one of the most elegant skaters i have seen....even more so than some of those choices...

Sorry. I don't see Phaneuf as elegant at all.

 

[TRAxel]

I wouldn't say she is one of the most elegant, it's there and I can't wait to see it a year or 2 from now.

 

[hockeyfan228]

Katherine Healey.

Argh, how could I have forgotten the most elegant Healey!

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Argh, how could I have forgotten the most elegant Healey!

Soogar; Hockeyfan - Healey, definitely. I will be seeing her at the end of the month at Ice Theatre of New York. I see that group whenever they have shows (about 4 times a year). Katherine is now doing choreography as well. She still skates beautifully and includes a triple toe in her routine, as well as dazzling spins, perfect split jumps, and charlottes both forward and backwards. She's a great example for longevity.

BTW, This thread is more like 'my favorite skater' than thinking of the operative adjective, ELEGANT. My take on elegance is a skater who understates his/her performance but with much aplomb. The skater should not oversell his/her technical if elegance is the objective.

Joe

 

[sk8m8]

Hmmmm, elegant and artistic all at the same time, that narrows it down quite a bit

Have to put in Ruh, when she isn't dazzling you with those spins, that long limbed beautfiul flow over the ice.
Yuka Sato, because she is elegant, and though I thought her competitive years were too short to judge how elegant an "elligable elite" skater she was, every time I see her, I hear all the skater's comment on her textbook technique, oppositional skating, and emotional reach into the audience..."a skater's skater"
I always thought Lisa Marie Allen was just stunning on ice, with that great carriage and her blonde goddess good looks and some great skating skills to back it all up.
Karen Magnusen, for sure. As I said in another post, I missed her too brief career. I still remember the day she won worlds over the expected champion, Janet Lynn. She was lovely. Glide, extention, flow and edging...the girl had it all.
Angela just does it for me, I wish her well, however, she was a few years behind in the technical area so I guess she'll always be a dream of what could have been...

As for elegant alone, there are a lot. Katt Witt, Vicka, Tanneth Belbin, Kirk ( don't ask them to jump, just let them stroke around), many many, lovely ladies that just ooze style and grace.

In the creative category, Beillman, above all others who kept pushing the envelope at the pro competitions until they finally had to noticed. She's a great entertainer and wonderful skater who advanced her sport and kept up her competitive edge long after others gave up the ghost. And oddly (though I don't know why) I would have to include Bonalay of France. Hardly elegant, she still did things on ice that were both amazing and origional.

 

[shine]

Of the current crop:
Yukina Ota, Susanna Poykio, Joannie Rochette, and Sasha Cohen (I wouldn't call her elegant in the truest sense, but one cannot ignore her amazing lines)

Past eligible skaters:
Oksana Bauil (bar none), Lu Chen, Lucinda Ruh. But if one wants to look for elegant female skaters, the dance world is filled with them.

 

[Tereza]

Susanna Poykio w/o a doubt. I hope she kicks @$$ at Euros. I also am expecting a return visit to SA.

 

[doubleaxelcm]

Sasha Cohen

 

[Cmskater]

I voted for other-Jennifer Robinson.

 

[ceg15]

Michelle Kwan, out of the people we had to choose from. I love how she is artistic but also has this great determined athletic side to her.

 

[KatyaFan]

katia gordeeva

 

[Peggy]

Hands down, Sasha Cohen. Michelle was pretty special when she was young and I still love Kristi. I think Kristi was the most elegant until Sasha came on the scene. Sasha has moved the bar up on elegance and artistry, IMO.

 

[Courtneysk8s]

Yuka Sato and Caryn Kadavy in singles, Renee Roca in dance and Elena Berezhnaya in pairs.