“The language of figure skating portrays intrinsic qualities of refined flowing movement, technique and style that transform a simple skating element into a joyous expression of technical sureness and artistic freedom.”  In other words, what they were saying is that the elements by themselves are not the language of figure skating.

     In this 2010 Olympics, the figure skating was, for the most part, beautiful to watch with the high level of technical moves finally combined with a sense of artistry and musicality. Skating programs, both short and long, are performed to music and it has bothered me, in the past, that so many of today’s skaters and many of  their coaches often seem to have had no musical training or exposure to the wealth of music that exists. On free-style sessions, most of the music played by skaters is pop music, with loud rhythm beats and not much else. In competitions, because coaches know that judges respond positively to classical music, certain selections are overused and you hear them repeated over and over again. There is so much beautiful music out there for skating programs that no one ever tries.

    The United States Figure Skating Association now requires coaches to periodically update their skills, pass proficiency tests, attend instructional seminars and receive a current rating. So far, I have never seen classes offered in the selection of music. I think that courses should be offered to coaches in “rudiments of music.” Advanced students could also benefit from this kind of training. I see that skaters with a musical background are the ones that can translate this skill to skating and thrill the audience.

    The music chosen for a skating program, if it does its job, is supposed to tell a story or produce an emotion, and just like a story is written in sentences. Music has phrases, which are like sentences and each of these needs to be addressed to make a musical story.  It is obvious to me which skaters have been trained in music when I watch them skate. Many of us have seen competitors who have skated an entire program while the music played away never exhibiting a connection  to the music, except perhaps a try with flailing arms. Young students who have had musical training, such as you often find in countries such as Japan and Russia, have a head start when they begin training for competition.

     The marks given by the panel of international judges at this Olympics seem to reflect my idea that there is a shift  toward recognizing the artistic value equally with the technical elements. In the case of Plushenko versus Lysacek, in the men’s long program, Evan Lysacek kept up the technical points and the artistry all through the program, never letting up and thinking he had it made. On the other hand, Evgeni  Pleshenko skated his quad and most of the technical in the first half, and did not pay enough attention to the second half, where Lysycek made extra points, overall, to win the gold. The judges gave Pluschenko the points he deserved for the “quad” but it was not enough to win.

    The pairs were won by the Chinese team of Shen and Zhao, who were definitely the best. They have always been amazing  technical skaters, with soaring throws and lifts high above the ice. Over the past few years, they have worked hard on the artistic end of their program.This time they got it right and won gold for the first time.

    Of all the 2010 Olympic figure skating, the changes in ice dancing thrilled me the most. I had become so tired of trick after trick, in fussy, funky costumes, that for me it took all the beauty out of ice dancing. The flow and beautiful technique, such as we saw when the Canadians Bourne and Kratz trained here, had almost disappeared. This year when the Canadian team of Tess Virtue and Scott Moir stepped onto the ice and skated to their starting pose, I knew that something great was coming. Her dress was perfect, as was his tuxedo look. From the time the music started until the final pose, I hardly took a breath. They flowed effortlessly over the ice to beautiful music, while including all the necessary elements with extraordinary grace. Even though they were first to skate I felt it would be the gold for Canada.

    The U.S. dance team of Charlie White and Meryl Davis, who won the silver, were also at the top of their game, They too skated flawlessly, to music which drove the elements they skated.Their costumes were classy and simple but effective. I have been following them for a number of years, as they have competed here each summer in the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships where I had the privilege of running the awards ceremonies when they got their medals in levels from  juvenile through senior.

     One of the things about today’s ice skaters that bothers some of our older champions such as Dick Button and also some of our longtime professional coaches here in Lake Placid is the unnecessary flinging of arms all over the place. Many of todays skaters (and even coaches) seem to think it is artistic. Instead, it is distracting and takes away from the beauty of the skating. Lake Placid professional Jack Devitt says that it really disturbs him and he was so pleased to watch the quiet and lovely positioned arms on the top ice dancers and on singles skaters such as YuNa Kim.

    Our Olympian ice dancing  coach Lorna Aldridge, said that the knees on the Canadians made it seem as if they were skating on eggshells. Stan and Sally Urban also agreed with Lorna and said that the soft knees created great edges skated into, not on top of the ice, with little or no noise. All agreed with me that they hope this year the improvements, that were rewarded with the proper marks, will continue and that, indeed, it may be the shift we have been waiting for.