Changing The Image Of Men's Figure Skating | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Changing The Image Of Men's Figure Skating

Hsuhs

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
you are not a serious athlete - or in the worst case scenario - even gay! (Not that I think that or that it matters, just an example of a very colourful and sparkly men's costume)
Did you really have to? :mad:
But seriously, Daisuke seemed to wear what his Russian coaches/ choreographers wanted him to.
The video refers to this creation (by TAT, I guess? Remember what she did to Evan?!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leFAgGvCRxs
The Romeo and Juliet thingy was a product of Morozov's genius.
I'm not sure Daisuke himself would have chosen the same outfits, he probably just obeyed.

Those K/S doll and clown costumes are theatrical, IMO. Yuko does look like a teenage girl sometimes, but ah, as long as they land their jumps...
 

jennylovskt

Medalist
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
I propose a Schism to request Men to skate in uniform and the Ladies to wear the glitz.

I think that won't bring back the men's figure skating. Rather, it'll kill it even faster.

Think who are the majority in the audiences? No matter what you do, the majority men in the general population won't like men's figure skating. People who like figure skating are the people who have found the beauty, excitement, attractiveness, and strength in this sport. Take any of these away will undermine the sport and drive away even the current audiences.
 

Dodhiyel

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
The thing that Elvis said in the interview article linked in this thread, that seemed most important to me, was this:

"There's no risk....There has to be risk in order for sport to happen. Without the risk, you've got nothing.'".

I think that he was trying to tell us something that may too easily be forgotten. When I watch a male sports competition, I do want it to be more than a Holiday on Ice exhibition. I want to feel thrilled. I have noticed at even the non-competitive shows which I have attended, when the audience gasps, and how enthusiastically they applaud various things, and I have seen that they do not respond equally to everything. When I saw Lucinda Ruh skate in a U.S. Stars on Ice show years ago, she did a fine job of showing her mastery of spins, but she did little if any jumping. The audience's response was tepid, at best. That stayed in my memory.

It was apparent that, even with a female skater, and in a non-competitive show, the audience wanted some thrills. The uncertainty, the *risk*, of landing jumps, provides those thrills. I believe that with a male skater, the majority of the audience most definitely expect thrills, and especially in an athletic competition. "Amaze us!" seems to be the dominant emotion; they come to be amazed, to be thrilled. The mass TV audience that can provide hefty financial support of the sport, does not consist merely of former skaters or those currently studying skating with their coaches; it consists of average people. Mathman once pointed out succinctly and eloquently that you cannot *make* people like a scoring system by scolding them. In the words of the old proverb, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.".

In business, the main thing is to "know your demographic", i.e., to know enough about your consumer or audience, to be able to give them what they want, so that they will keep coming back for more. No businessman ever got rich by arguing with his customers about why they *should* like what he has for sale. He has to please *them*, not himself, if he is going to make money.

Elvis points out that "It has nothing to do with your sexual preference. It's all about what men's skating is -- power and strength. Whether he's gay or straight, it doesn't matter." This is not about costume or orientation; it is about the power inherent in the male body. It is about why we are particularly impressed when a female can do the triple axel, because we *are* aware of the sheer anatomical differences that affect landing the most difficult jumps. Because of this, even the most fluid and lyrical of male skaters does have to be able to show power and strength, when in competition. This is why a solid, strong triple axel is the "without which, nothing" in men's competitive skating.
 

NatachaHatawa

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Still no one has given an answer to my question. What exactly is the purpose of ornate costumes? It's not traditional. No one back in St. Peterburg wore ornate costumes at the first World Championship. Everything was plain until Sonia Henie and her movies brought on the glitz.

I think there are several reasons. The first aim of a costume is to highlight the performance, to coppliment it, although ornate costumes don't always do this. The second I believe is that skaters like nice costumes (even though theu're not always nice!). The third I think, is to help people paint a visual image of the performance. It helps skaters to be remembered amongst others by all those people who watch skating but cant' tell the difference between two different skaters.


Of course not, or Stephane Lambiel would never have won his World titles and Olympic silver medal :)



I love Stephane, but that zebra costume was just...

I don't agree. I think anybody else would have looked ridiculous, but Stéphane managed to pull it off. I think it really fit with the music, the choreography etc.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I think there are several reasons. The first aim of a costume is to highlight the performance, to coppliment it, although ornate costumes don't always do this. The second I believe is that skaters like nice costumes (even though theu're not always nice!). The third I think, is to help people paint a visual image of the performance. It helps skaters to be remembered amongst others by all those people who watch skating but cant' tell the difference between two different skaters.
It's a thought but nothing official in the Rules as far as I know. I am sure the judges know exactly who is who. But the ladies in the audience may say 'i thought the boy in fuscia should have won'

I don't agree. I think anybody else would have looked ridiculous, but Stéphane managed to pull it off. I think it really fit with the music, the choreography etc.
Exactly. Stephane had been the best those nights. He could win wearing a Speedo. :agree:
 

ballerynna

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Still no one has given an answer to my question. What exactly is the purpose of ornate costumes? It's not traditional. No one back in St. Peterburg wore ornate costumes at the first World Championship. Everything was plain until Sonia Henie and her movies brought on the glitz.

Like someone earlier said, it could be to highlight the performance aspect of the routine. It could also help compliment the music. For some skaters it's a matter of expressing their individuality with regards to how they felt about their music. No one stopped Becks when he shaved his head for a season.

And... I always thought Takahashi's costumes were more of a Japanese aesthetic. Every time I see his costumes I just think visual-kei
 

Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Did you really have to? :mad:
But seriously, Daisuke seemed to wear what his Russian coaches/ choreographers wanted him to.
The video refers to this creation (by TAT, I guess? Remember what she did to Evan?!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leFAgGvCRxs
The Romeo and Juliet thingy was a product of Morozov's genius.
I'm not sure Daisuke himself would have chosen the same outfits, he probably just obeyed.
Geez, I love most of Dai's costumes! They are amazing. But the sparkly thing - you have seen the costume in "Eye", post-morosov? Granted, it was black, but at the same time velvet and nearly the entire top is sparkling.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
I don't agree. I think anybody else would have looked ridiculous, but Stéphane managed to pull it off. I think it really fit with the music, the choreography etc.

I'm glad you think so, but I distinctly remember my non-skating fan friends bursting into laughter when they first saw Lambiel wearing that costume at the Olympics. I limited myself to wondering what the zebra stripes had to do with The Four Seasons...
 

bekalc

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
I'm glad you think so, but I distinctly remember my non-skating fan friends bursting into laughter when they first saw Lambiel wearing that costume at the Olympics. I limited myself to wondering what the zebra stripes had to do with The Four Seasons...

Wasn't it something like a magical zebra running through the fields. :lol:

:rofl: And who can forget what Tarasova did with Evan.:chorus:
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
There have been 'macho' ballets like Western Symphony, West Side Story, On the Town, and that hasn't resulted in men 25-35 attending the ballet in great numbers.

IMO, the push to "masculinize" figure skating is just veiled homophobia.
 

snowflake

I enjoy what I like
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
There is only one answer: The two segment parts of Figure Skating should be divided in 1. Tech only and no music or costumes.

Wow...naked men doing jumps, steps and spins:clap:

Not sure I understand who they're trying to target here.

Take me, for instance. I'll never watch men's skating because it's just not my thing. No matter what TPTB try to do to make it appeal to folks like me, it won't happen. No matter how "macho" or "butch" they make it, I still won't watch.

That's what I don't get with this whole campaign: Does Skate Canada want to change their athletes, all the North-American ones or all the ones in the figure skating world?

I wonder too. Do they want male figure skaters(canadians) to be more aggressive? Do they want hockey fans to become FS fans? (because it is as athletic as hockey) Or do they want Canadian men in general to watch FS?

I think they need to separate SHOW skating from COMPETITIVE skating.

I want it all; competion, variation in personality, costumes, music and styles AND show. That's what makes figure skating the best sport of all for me.

Back to the topic, the point is that figure skating should improve its position as a sport. It's not about being a macho - it's about being an athlete. And the difficulty in passing this message lies in the fact that a lot of artistry is involved in this field and it cannot be separated.

Yes, because this sport is so unique and complex. And very hard for the participants I believe. They have to do difficult athletic things looking easyly done and bringing a good performance at the same time. I love it and give all my cheers to the guys who take part in this demanding sport.

Which costumes you like is a question of taste, culture and the current fashion trend. I often like male figure skaters in spite of (what I think) their ugly costumes. But I stll think the costumes can add something to the sport, like reflecting the music or a caracter. (Should not influence the scoring though). And btw I couldn't care less if my male favorites are very virile, gay, straight, transvestites or living in celebacy.
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Wow...naked men doing jumps, steps and spins
i m not sure about that.. centripetal force can cause some unpleasant views..:unsure:


am i the only one who liked very much stephan's zebra costume?:eek: I thought it was colourful and strange in a good way!On the contrary his sp costume of the same season was bad.
 
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antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Still no one has given an answer to my question. What exactly is the purpose of ornate costumes? It's not traditional. No one back in St. Peterburg wore ornate costumes at the first World Championship. Everything was plain until Sonia Henie and her movies brought on the glitz.

I'm not sure about the history of costumes but i expect that up until the point that the competitions were brought inside, the main consideration of the skaters was how best to not freeze when competing. Obviously figures was more of a problem because of the non-cardio aspect of it.

I suspect that the costumes help the skaters from the presentation aspect. At the end of the day the sport has a performance side to it and everythign else that involved performance has costumes. The skaters usually wear costumes that have something to do with the music or with the theme of the program they are presenting. The costumes sometime work and sometimes they really don't. But then I suppose the skaters sometimes really hit their program right, and other times they really don't.

Ant
 

viv

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
I'm glad you think so, but I distinctly remember my non-skating fan friends bursting into laughter when they first saw Lambiel wearing that costume at the Olympics. I limited myself to wondering what the zebra stripes had to do with The Four Seasons...

:laugh: I agree. And I remember Stephane once doing a part of this routine as an encore in a exhibition, in a black turtleneck and jeans, and it was so much more convincing, just beautiful.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for sequins and glitter, but Stephanes Zebra costume was just :eek: to me.
 

viv

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
...I suspect that the costumes help the skaters from the presentation aspect. At the end of the day the sport has a performance side to it and everythign else that involved performance has costumes. The skaters usually wear costumes that have something to do with the music or with the theme of the program they are presenting. The costumes sometime work and sometimes they really don't. But then I suppose the skaters sometimes really hit their program right, and other times they really don't. Ant

:rock:
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Like someone earlier said, it could be to highlight the performance aspect of the routine. It could also help compliment the music. For some skaters it's a matter of expressing their individuality with regards to how they felt about their music. No one stopped Becks when he shaved his head for a season.
I would agree for those hapless competitors who need something to hide their inept skating, and sparkling costumes may just take the edge off. Too bad they can't sell a skating program on technique.
 
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