- Joined
- Jan 19, 2021
Thank you for this! I knew I had seen one beautiful one this year but I could remember from which team. Theirs should be the acknowledged standard.
What is your least aesthetic move in figure skating?
- Thread starter Mathman
- Start date
Was it the one which the dirty minds of the web dubbed "the peeing dog position"?
Back in the days when Spiral was an element that brought points (few points but still), there was a surge of weird spiral positions invented in hope for originality-rewarding GOE and PCS. Indeed, it was a period in the history of figure skating that I wish I could forget
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
I think the "dog and hydrant" was the fan spiral.
Here's Emily. Not a bad position at all (the black pants help) Shizuka Arakawa could do this... and then let go!.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
YES!!!!Was it the one which the dirty minds of the web dubbed "the peeing dog position"?
Back in the days when Spiral was an element that brought points (few points but still), there was a surge of weird spiral positions invented in hope for originality-rewarding GOE and PCS. Indeed, it was a period in the history of figure skating that I wish I could forget
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2013
I had a college friend with a prosthetic leg (both actually). If he'd been in our local dive bar too long, sometimes he'd take one of them off and wave it around. It had a flexed foot, just like the I spins you describe, and I always chuckle with fondness when I see them.
Amusing while tipsy? Yes. Aesthetic? No.
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2007
Ugly just like the besti squat - do your business in private skaters…
Sorry Alaine. I loved your skating except for this move
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Oh, that was amazingly cool! I think we have to evaluate the whole spin sequence to make a judgement.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
I love it.....
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
The clothes make the man,
Hilarious for me, especially when combined with this music.
Benoit would know how to use this move though.
See what he did with An's most atrocious spin position.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2022
Cats do the position even better when they hoick one leg straight up behind an ear and then bend over to wash their fluffy nether regions. Extra points for multi-tasking when they do it in the centre of the living room carpet when their humans have guests.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2015
Link please?
AYou need to rewatch her whole Lara and My Torment free skate in 4CC. Here is the link to the official ISU video but I don't know if it is available in North America.Link please?
She does some weird stuff during her Flying Camel but the program as a whole is such a teenagy mix of clumsy and gracile that it looks organic and, in fact, lovely.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2015
It is available in Canada... probably not in USA
I watched this... yes, there are angular arm movement like he always does, and she does have the weird position which I don't remember but I think it was kostornaia who made it popular ??? or was it sotnikova... ??? anyways i see what you mean.
The very big difference for me though was that Alaine, though there are weird features in each one of the spins, she COULD spin very well and they looked elegant, even the illusion... that's not the case for An here... as you say, clumsy.
So I guess we are back to " is something unorthodox cool when it's beautifully done... or just plain ugly no matter what...
For instance, this spin from Sandhu... it contains a few things people dislike... but wow. look at the positions, the extension, the toes.
No, we are not. We are back to "people have different tastes no matter what".
To me, something is unorthodox and cool when there is the whole package provided: unorthodox and cool music, unorthodox and cool choreography, and both fitted to the skater's skill level. Which was perfectly achieved in An's program - stunningly beautiful to me.
In my book, there can be unorthodox and cool performances at every skill level. I.e. Zhasmin Shlaga's short program. It looked very cool when she could not really glide but, when she kept it for the second season, with her improved skating skills it looked way more "normal" and did not create the same impression. It only proved that she's growing and needs choreography for her next level.
But a move when a skater makes it look like she's checking if everything is fine down under at the moment when music is reaching the peak of pathos - sorry, such move makes me laugh uncontrollably That's what a stark contrast does regardless of how good the athlete spins. Hence to me, this is not unorthodox or cool - this is out of place and not suited to the overall aesthetics of the program.
Since people have different tastes/biases no matter what, I think this discussion is exhausted.
Last edited:
Indeed.
I've been telling people all my life that gymnasts/dancers/skaters don't have a crotch. They have a split
But you need to represent it as a split, a line, not as a matter of pantie flashing or showing off your xl - and the clothing certainly plays a role here.
To illustrate which, I'll provide links to two dance videos that display the same cancan move with and without a skirt creating and entirely different effect. No disrespect to any version as these are two different aesthetics of two different genres. But guess which of these is the "naughty" one? (I mean - Warning! - Naughty!! - one)
Cancan without a skirt:
- YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com
Cancan with a skirt:
- YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2015
spin positions are rarely created just for one program... skaters learn their spins and usually repeat the same spins or more or less with very little variation program after program.... the difference is usually about where in the program the spin will be...
For instance, Alaine created two unique spins, the first time she used the low variation camel, it was i think in a better suited choreographically moment than in the one I showed here... I cannot remember which program it was... but it did fit the music better... not so much in the example I have provided.... Another example : Jun's beautiful layback is used every program Deniss's crazy sit spin is used in every program. Roman's donut is used in every program... etc Skaters work on spins and learn them with level 4 in their minds and will make very few changes to them... I think that's the problem here The rules will let them use some features and they have to make sure that they use the right features within the right spin to max up 3 spins at level 4... so one spin will get a flying entry, one spin will get a difficult exit etc... in the end, spins are NOT created for a program.... but only PLACED within the program... so the CHOREO is using whatever the skater already has in their arsenal.
I am looking forward to see thee CHOREO spin that was talked about, if that element is indeed added...
So my point of view differs from yours in the sense that I am looking at just the element, not the element within the program because the element itself is usually found in every program of said skater... but I agree with you that if we were to consider the whole thing, some elements do look cool in some programs but look less good in other programs... so we are just talking about two different ways of seeing the elements
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
I think you linked the same video twice. Great fun, and how can you go wrong with Offenbach.
The little classical music shop that I once frequented had a sign which they put up in the window when the proprietor stepped out for a meal. "Closed for lunch. Bach at two. Offenbach sooner."
I once read that the true folk origins of the cancan was when laundry ladies would advertise their services by lifting up their shirts to show the sparkling starched whiteness of the freshly laundered petticoats beneath.
Last edited:
Similar threads
