John Curry 1987 Interview

[Triple Butz]

First of all, thanks to floskate for uploading this!!!

So many things come to mind after watching this interview.

I was most fascinated and impressed with Curry's dedication to skating as an art form first and foremost. I think he and Dick Button have probably had a larger impact on the sport than any other men in history. The way he describes being unable to listen to music without seeing movement is so obvious in his style and choreographic ability. I do feel that it probably went unnoticed to a degree, and I think abilities such as his are very often overlooked today.

I could not help but notice many similarities between Curry and Johnny Weir in terms of the way they viewed their skating and also in their personal battles/disagreements with the skating federations, judges, coaches, and especially the media.

I think the elimination of figures was a great day for figure skating, and John's description of the corruption matches what I have always thought to be true.

Lastly, I wonder what John would have thought of CoP. On the one hand, I do believe it has lessened the corruption to a certain degree but at what price? It has surely stifled the artistic possibilities. What would an all-time great like John think of our sport if he were able to see it today?

[briancoogaert]

I think the elimination of figures was a great day for figure skating, and John's description of the corruption matches what I have always thought to be true.

John Curry is my favorite skater ever, and I share his point of view about figure skating. But honestly, he wouldn't have been able to skate like this without figures. It's such a joy to watch his performances that I don't care about corruption from this time.

[MR-FAN]

Question: since I never read the article in question, all I know are the headlines that we see in the few interviews with John that discussed this issue... did the article say he was gay/John told the journalist he was gay (off the records as John mentioned, which wasn't honored by the moron journalist) or that He didn't want people to think he skated like a gay person?

[skatesindreams]

John's ability to do figures was a crucial advantage during much of his career.
Jumps weren't usually his forte'.

One of his most famous programs is an "exploration" of figures:

"After All":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXJqsoFwUic

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

[Triple Butz]

John's ability to do figures was a crucial advantage during much of his career.
Jumps weren't usually his forte'.

That wasn't his point. He wasn't complaining about his own personal results, and admitted that he didn't really care what the judges thought. His point was that the judges payed little attention to the actual tracings, and basically looked at the score cards from the previous year and tried to replicate them as to help a skater maintain their reputation and to not score out of line with the other judges. He also spoke openly about the "deal making" between federations.

[skatesindreams]

Triple Butz, I didn't make my post because of what John said.
It was simply an observation; and my opinion.

[Iceman]

His entrances to his jumps were cop, before there was cop.