Extraordinarily creative skaters

[Vash01]

I thought of this when I read the thread about Gary Beacom, who was so creative that he seemed to defy the laws of physics in his skating. There are are other skaters that may not have been That creative, but even while competing as eligible skaters their creativity set them apart. Ice dance already has a lot of creativity built into it. For other disciplines it is hard to satisfy the traditional requirements and yet be extraordinarily creative. Win or lose, they were never boring.

I never watched Beacom as an eligible skater, so I don't know if he became creative only as a pro. May be someone can help me out here. BTW many eligible skaters turned very creative once they turned pro.

Other skaters whose creativity (I am not referring to just doing harder jumps or getting into difficult positions while spinning)-

Men:

Toller Cranston
Philip Candeloro
Gary Beacom (already mentioned)
Ryan Bradley

Pairs:

Mishketenok-Dmitriev, with their unique choreography, which was unusual those days in pairs skating

Berezhnaya-Sikharulidze, with their Chaplin LP and other unusual moves like spiral into throw 2R, and spiral-spread eagles

Chinese pairs with their high flying split triple twists and throws

Kazakova-Dmitriev (similar creativity to M&D, using her flexibility)

Savchenko-Szolkowy: their style is very different from the traditional one

Ladies:

Olga Markova

Michelle Kwan in her young years was very creative (COE spiral, spin in two directions, 2 falling leaves in a row, etc.), including the music she chose (there is a separate thread about her & Lori's choreo)

Sasha Cohen created many different looks due to her extraordinary flexibility

I am forgetting the name of the young lady that had two very creative programs at the 2006 US nationals. Need help here.

[falling_dance]

I am forgetting the name of the young lady that had two very creative programs at the 2006 US nationals. Need help here.

Stephanie Rosenthal.

[Vash01]

Thank you, falling dance. I can't believe I forgot her name!

[overedge]

Gary Beacom was very creative as an amateur skater, particularly since he basically coached himself. At times I thought he might have needed an outside eye to look at his programs and tell him when they were too over-the-top, but he always had a very distinctive style and presence.

I agree with most of your list but I wouldn't include the Chinese pairs (except maybe for Shen/Zhao, who toward their end of their amateur career were doing some really beautiful and original work). IMHO they just did the elements higher or farther than other pairs, which I wouldn't call creative in the sense of inventing something new and different.

[RunnersHigh]

Stephanie Rosenthal.

Holy crap! Hip Hop in Figure skating! Very enjoyable!

[Cheylana]

What about Shawn Sawyer and Ilia Klimkin?

[RunnersHigh]

What about Debi Thomas? I mean 1986 Words Ex.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mm3Fud7Jmo

[gkelly]

Chinese pairs with their high flying split triple twists and throws

I'm not sure what's creative about that. It's just taking traditional pairs moves and making them bigger than usual.

That said Shen and Zhao did have a distinctive new style when they first made a mark on the world scene. And other than the Protopopovs decades earlier, who else has done forward outside death spirals? I give them creativity points for that move.

It's often hard to know how much creativity comes from the skater and how much from the choreographer, especially with younger skaters.

Some of my favorites from the 1990s:
Dmitri Dmitrenko

To a lesser degree, Igor Pashkevich, if only for that spiral into spin sequence in the middle of the second program.

I give Alice Sue Claeys creativity credit for playing with different edge changes in spins long before doing so earned an extra level from the technical panel.

Krisztina Czako

Vanessa Gusmeroli

Laetitia Hubert

[Vash01]

What about Shawn Sawyer and Ilia Klimkin?

I agree. They were both very creative even as eligible skaters.

[Kasey]

Klimkin and Schultheiss

[Ozzisk8tr]

Stanick Jeanette (sp?)

[blue_idealist]

SHAWN SAWYER FOR SURE

Also Jozef Savodcik as a pro, and of course Kurt Browning.

I can't think of any other ladies or pair teams not mentioned.. well Brasseur and Eisler, kinda

[falling_dance]

Vanessa Giunchi was a pretty reliable bringer of the voids during her brief time on the scene:

Schindler's List, 2001 Euros LP

Bolero, 2002 Winter Olympics LP - Not the most original choice of music, but still a fresh and interesting program.

Indian dance music, 2003 Euros SP

[julieann]

Stephanie Rosenthal.

She was certainly a breath of fresh air!

[HeatherC]

Stephanie Rosenthal.

That was one of the best SPs I saw in St. Louis and I was one of many people who stood for her at the end of that program. She was a breath of fresh air and her LP was very good and innovative too. I got extremely excited to find out that ESPN had actually shown both of Stephanie's programs during their broadcast. What a great moment for her!

Here's Stephanie's LP from 2006

[overedge]

Vanessa Giunchi was a pretty reliable bringer of the voids during her brief time on the scene:

Schindler's List, 2001 Euros LP

Bolero, 2002 Winter Olympics LP - Not the most original choice of music, but still a fresh and interesting program.

Indian dance music, 2003 Euros SP

Wow, I had never heard of her until you posted this, but these are all amazing programs. Thanks!

[skateboy]

Laurent Tobel 1999 Worlds LP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzpT8vn4ZzQ

[Aussie Willy]

I agree with Sawyer, Klimkin, Schultheiss, Jeannette and Tobel being mentioned here. They were all pretty amazing and so interesting.

Kristina Czako's Addams Family FS was really creative too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi0FazjCHRQ

I will add Leonova for her Witches of Eastwick FS this year. That really went out there on a limb for something different.

[blue_idealist]

Speaking of Laurent Tobel...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSOok...eature=related

[skatesindreams]

That was one of the best SPs I saw in St. Louis and I was one of many people who stood for her at the end of that program. She was a breath of fresh air and her LP was very good and innovative too. I got extremely excited to find out that ESPN had actually shown both of Stephanie's programs during their broadcast. What a great moment for her!

Here's Stephanie's LP from 2006

It was such a thrill to be in the arena for her programs; one of the highlights of the event.