Doris, thanks so much for the link to that Cecilia Colledge video! I knew about her of course, but I had never seen anything but still photos of her. What a gorgeous spread eagle. I'm sure she would have won the Olympics but for the war-years suspensions in '40 and '44.
And thanks to the person who mentioned Toller Cranston. Interestingly, though Cranston and John Curry weren't exactly buddies, together they changed men's skating during about the same era. (I think they were even born the same year, which means they both made it to their Olympic glory rather late for men, at the age of 26.) This is because both were mature artists, not just well-trained athletic machines. During the Olympics, Button said that Curry was the dancer of the ice, while Cranston was the artist of the ice. That's a pretty good distinction. Both skated with feeling, command, and meticulous technique.
John Curry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z79TMsYRnEc
Toller Cranston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJr7g0C9S0
Cranston was undone by school figures. He was either seventh or ninth after figures in the '76 Olympics, clawed himself up to fifth after the short program, and ended up in bronze position after this long. Curry developed a ballet-based classical style, while Cranston added all sorts of individual positions--he was famous for the broken-leg sit-spin, for example. I've often thought of them as the Apollo and Dionysus of skating: one celestial, cerebral, and classical, the other emotional and Bohemian. What a pair for the ages!
And it says something about the breadth and depth of Canada's skating tradition that the same country's pantheon of male skaters could include both Toller Cranston and Elvis Stojko, not to mention the Gene Kelly dynamism of Kurt Browning. What a grand history Canada can boast!
And thanks to the person who mentioned Toller Cranston. Interestingly, though Cranston and John Curry weren't exactly buddies, together they changed men's skating during about the same era. (I think they were even born the same year, which means they both made it to their Olympic glory rather late for men, at the age of 26.) This is because both were mature artists, not just well-trained athletic machines. During the Olympics, Button said that Curry was the dancer of the ice, while Cranston was the artist of the ice. That's a pretty good distinction. Both skated with feeling, command, and meticulous technique.
John Curry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z79TMsYRnEc
Toller Cranston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJr7g0C9S0
Cranston was undone by school figures. He was either seventh or ninth after figures in the '76 Olympics, clawed himself up to fifth after the short program, and ended up in bronze position after this long. Curry developed a ballet-based classical style, while Cranston added all sorts of individual positions--he was famous for the broken-leg sit-spin, for example. I've often thought of them as the Apollo and Dionysus of skating: one celestial, cerebral, and classical, the other emotional and Bohemian. What a pair for the ages!
And it says something about the breadth and depth of Canada's skating tradition that the same country's pantheon of male skaters could include both Toller Cranston and Elvis Stojko, not to mention the Gene Kelly dynamism of Kurt Browning. What a grand history Canada can boast!