Extraordinarily creative skaters

[taf2002]

Some of the people on your list had creative choreographers, & they were talented enough to be able to carry out their vision. For example, were Mishketenok-Dmitriev creative in their own right or was that all Moskovina's doing? And since the successful Chinese pairs tended to all have the same tricks, I don't feel they were the creative force...it was most probably their coach.

But I definitely feel that people like Gary Beacom & Tollar Cranston were innovative.

[Aceon6]

Can't leave out Susannah Rahkamo and Petri Kokko from Finland, Worlds medalists in 94 and 95. At the time, the had the most creative choreo and always delivered with great expression. Great fun to watch.

[skatesindreams]

They trained with Torvill and Dean for several years - I'm sure that helped!

[Jammers]

What about Debi Thomas? I mean 1986 Words Ex.

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

Has any ladies champion before or since done something this over the top? When she lands on top of the boards OMG. This was epic.

[Garden Kitty]

I'd add Sandhu to the names already mentioned.

[maureenfarone]

When I read the title of this thread the name that screamed at me was Toller Cranston

I also loved Stephanie's programs in St. Louis. She didn't have the hardest jumps, but both programs were quite unusual.

[dinakt]

Is Stephane Lambiel the elephant in the room nobody is talking about? He is definitely very creative in his own right, regardless of Salome's imput.
Browning, as well.

[briancoogaert]

Is Stephan Lambiel the elephant in the room nobody is talking about? He is definitely very creative in his own right, regardless of Salome's imput.
Browning, as well.

Stephane Lambiel is the first name that came to my mind.

[escaflowne9282]

Some of the people on your list had creative choreographers, & they were talented enough to be able to carry out their vision. For example, were Mishketenok-Dmitriev creative in their own right or was that all Moskovina's doing?

Well, in the case of M&D ,Artur and Moskvina had a very strong coach-student relationship and Artur's input was actually very important. I remember hearing that the leap at the end of their 1994 LP was a move he had come up with.

[Skate Talker]

Vladimir Kotin was someone who could be relied on for something a bit different. Also when he retired from eligible competition I recall he toured with Katarina Witt and Brian Boitano. I specifically remember a number he did with Gary Beacom called "Running on Ice". I don't remember if it was from Skating I or Skating II.

Even Fadeev was pretty creative his last year as an eligible skater (89) and as a pro competitior I recall some interesting stuff the couple of times I got to see him on TV.

[champs]

Kristoffer Berntsson, Javier Fernandez (competitive programs), and Yannick Ponsero.

[blue_idealist]

Alban Preaubert is also a bit creative with his programs, although not as much as some of the others listed.. I barely remember but I think Eric Millot of France kind of was too.

[Jasmar]

Gary's always my #1, but I'd add Lucinda Ruh to the list here, too. I remember wishing I could just watch her for hours - she was spellbinding!

[Kelleys6th]

Lets not forget the Protopopov's!
They created pairs skating into what it is today.

Moonlight Sonota 1985 Pro's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qky5kw67nX4

1964 Olympics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G42i0gufEs

Seemingly "simple" and (dare I say it) boring to today's "fit everything into the program for the most pooints" programs.
Beautiful!

[mysticchic]

Davis and White's Bollywood was pretty creative.

[uandmfan]

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.

I believe that Brasseur and Eisler performed this move many times in their amateur days. I seem to have a vague recollection of another Canadian pairs team also performing it in the early 90s, but I could have that wrong.

[Susan M]

I think in some cases you are calling a skater creative when the credit really should go to the choreographer.

I honestly don't think any of the pairs listed in the first post were especially creative or innovative. The flexibility moves we saw in Moskvina's pairs were basically hers, not theirs. The Chinese pairs have brought nothing creative to the world of pairs. Doing an established move bigger or better is about technique and skill, not creativity.

I do think the guys mentioned so far should get much of the credit for their innovation and distinct styles. Robin Cousins and Ilia Kulik also became pretty creative in their pro careers, though their eligible programs were pretty classic.

[Beefcake]

^ What she said.

If we're talking "style" and "ability to pull off brillancy in choreo"* than all the above are worthy.

But, "Extraordinarily creative skaters" is a much smaller club, and, with notable interlopers like Markova and the P's, is mostly a boy's club ... to which I'd nominate Dan Hollander for pledgeship.

*Vash's post goes beyond her title ... broadening it to include these folks.

[Vash01]

Is Stephane Lambiel the elephant in the room nobody is talking about? He is definitely very creative in his own right, regardless of Salome's imput.
Browning, as well.

Browning was very creative as a pro, as were many skaters. As an eligible skater I did not feel he was that innovative, except may be in his Casablanca LP in 1993.

[Sayana_mnk]

Ivan Dinev of Bulgaria is someone no one has mentioned. I've always thought he had some fairly creative programs.