Figure Skating and Ballet

[mskater93]

Yoga is definitely a love-hate activity for me. I am not very flexible so some of the poses are challenging, but it has definitely helped improve my running, so that's why I love it!

I agree with you, there, Mrs. P - total love-hate - but it IS good for skating. It's another thing that develops core strength, flexibility, and breathing

 

[sidwich]

I remember Katherine Healy's ballet teachers disapproved of her involvement with figure skating because they thought it would mess up her ballet technique. So the mapping from ballet skills to skating isn't perfect.

Yes, Healy's ballet teachers could always tell when she had been skating more because of the changes in the musculature in her legs. Skating develops the leg muscles differently than ballet, and Healy's teachers did not approve. They felt it interfered with what they were trying to accomplish with her ballet training. (Gelsey Kirkland actually wrote a children's book about the problems of horseback riding while in serious ballet training because of the different muscle development, and the idea is similar).

 

[spikydurian]

I remember his talking about that, too. He had already turned pro by that time, I'm pretty sure. The dance vocabulary he learned showed up especially in a piece like Nyah. I suspect the training also helped prolong his career; even now in his forties, he retains a lot of his earlier skills.

I echo other posters in thanking the GS people who are knowledgeable in this area for taking the time to explain all this. It's great to have such enlightening information! Little details such as the discrepancy between how spins/pirouettes are done in skating vs. ballet, with no spotting in skating--such fascinating information, and really helpful to know while watching a program.

:thumbsup: Indeed.. esp. gkelly (okay I make sure I get it right/spellcheck this time ) whose fs expertise and patience in trying to expand the knowledge of this sport, has helped me (and probably others) to better understand fs. Once again,

Olympia, I LOVE Kurt's Nyah. Just couldn't take my eyes off his feet.

 

[Bdan]

Ballet is great way to lengthen and lean out your body. Also it deals a great amount with musicality and elegance. The strength and flexibility that can be achieved through balletic study can greatly enhance a skater's performance. Look at early Caroline zhang. Gorgeous lines, musicality, and interpretation can hide a lot of technical issues

 

[Bdan]

Maybe we should have a thread about Zumba and how it helped Rachel flatt. Lol

 

[thevaliantx]

I'm a bit bothered by the "good looks" comments. Wow. If "good looks" are a pre-requisite to successful figure skating I better get out NOW while I still have money in the bank. No offense intended toward the person who mentioned good looks as being a factor toward doing well on the ice, but too many folks nowadays are hung up on appearances. Why can't a figure skater (or a ballet dancer, or really anything for that matter) be judged on what they have earned, and not on what was given to them? I'm really puzzled.

 

[Mathman]

E.g., spotting during pirouettes/spins.

Kevin van der Perren used to spot his rotational jumps. I remember Dick Button saying Kevin would never get a quad because of that flaw. He is a big quadster now so, so I suppose he was able to overcome that habit.

Alissa Czisny doesn't spot, but she used to have a habit on her jumps of leading with her head. That is, her head would be farther around than the rest of her. I believe that this was one of the first things that her new coaching team worked on.

 

[gkelly]

The only parts of good looks that should figure into skating judging are the parts that the skater "earns" by hard work -- posture, extension, etc.

Of course some people are blessed with more favorable body types for looking good in these ways. But what you do with what you've got counts for more than what you've naturally got.

Officially, anyway. Unofficially, being good-looking is an advantage in most areas of life, so skating is no exception.

 

[mskater93]

Alissa Czisny doesn't spot, but she used to have a habit on her jumps of leading with her head. That is, her head would be farther around than the rest of her.

Actually, a skater SHOULD lead with his/her head to an extent in jumps. I just posted still pictures from last weekend's competition on my FB page and a couple are air position of my mutli-rev jumps and my head is leading (and they were successful). Many comments from my FB friends regarding the correctness of my air position...

Alissa's problem has been more related to her free leg position and off-axis jumping

 

[icemusings]

Does anyone have any more resources where you can find information about teaching ballet to figure skaters and what translates well to the ice and what should be avoided? Almost everything out there goes back to Thomas's book and it's on the expensive side.

 

[genki]

I definitely agree that ballet is a great foundation for or complement to skating because of the focus on core and centering. That also makes Pilates a great addition to the skater's training regimen.

I vaguely remember Kurt Browning talking about training ballet much later in his career and how it was a positive addition. Does anyone recall that? Perhaps it was after he turned pro or when he met his wife. Not sure.

yes, I remember. I saw some documentary about it showing how he trained his body based on ballet. I guess Lambiel also incorporated ballet too.
I am a ballroom dancer and i know you how important ballet training is for our posture, centering and arm movement. My coach always recommends to take basic ballet lesson and so many of my fellow dancers made a significant progress in over all presentation after taking ballet lessons.

I know that Dai started to take lessons these days and I can see the effect , especially on the beautiful upper body carriage shown on his short program this year.