- Joined
- May 7, 2008
It's choreography, of course it will look somewhat calculated. While he's not as emotionally involved as other skaters and goes for histrionics on his face, I think he creates artistry with his body and movements, which is much harder as well as much more important to qualifying the artistic aspect of the sport. I don't think skating should be dramatics on ice, and for example appreciated skaters/ice dancers who create lines and visual artistry rather than contrived faces. I think intellectually involved is the perfect way to describe Chan's artistry... he's focused on presenting the technical aspects of skating in the most aesthetically pleasing way. To him, artistry is in the skating and the skater's body, and not in the face... which makes sense, since most people can't see a skater's face in the detail that the judges can.
I'm not looking for anyone to be like Actressing all over the ice but I think putting on a performance face is a reasonable request. With Chan in particular, his sad/disappointed facial expressions after he falls or makes mistakes for the rest of the program becomes a big distraction for me. I know it's not an acting competition but a little doesn't hurt.