Voidiest FDs (and/or Other Programs) of All Time

[Aerobicidal]

Watching the 1991 Worlds free dances, I was amazed by several incredibly voidy programs I've never seen before. I feel like this is a perfect time to exchange videos of interesting/creative/bizarre/batshit programs--whether it's music, choreography, costumes, and/or all of the above.

Programs that are 10+ years old are most interesting to me, because my knowledge of pre-2009 skating is pretty minimal.

Punsalan & Swallow - 1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships - Free Dance

Music: The Race by Yello, Moments In Love by Art of Noise

www.youtube.com

1991 Worlds Petr Janoschak FD Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

Courtesy of fsvids.net Athletes: Jacqueline Petr & Mark Janoschak Federation: Canada Event: 1991 Worlds, Figure Skating, Free Dance Music: from Pee-Wee's Big...

www.youtube.com

Zoé Blanc & Pierre-Lou Bouquet - Master's 2008 - FD

Zoé Blanc & Pierre-Lou Bouquet French Master's 2008, Orleans Free dance Master's 2008 d'Orléans Danse libre

www.youtube.com

Khokhlova & Novitski FD euro 2008

Khokhlova & Novitski FD euro 2008 French TV!

www.youtube.com

 

[mjb52]

Bestemianova and Bukin as pros did a program that I remember as the most voidy and over the top thing I've ever seen but I don't remember when or any of the details other than that maybe they had gold metallic costumes and I'm not even sure about that. Although honestly you could probably pick any of their pro programs and it would be pretty voidy.

 

[briancoogaert]

Rahkamo&Kokko were so voidy !

1991 Skate America FD : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwcnuC20m6U
1992 Olympics FD : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8n5Bd95L-E

 

[Sonata]

Bestemianova and Bukin as pros did a program that I remember as the most voidy and over the top thing I've ever seen but I don't remember when or any of the details other than that maybe they had gold metallic costumes and I'm not even sure about that. Although honestly you could probably pick any of their pro programs and it would be pretty voidy.

I don’t remember them being voidy. What I remember as a child is being scared. The generous blue eye shadow, exaggerated facial expressions and overly theatrical programs for some reason made me think of vampires. I’m surprised I ever grew to love ice dance.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I don’t remember them being voidy. What I remember as a child is being scared. The generous blue eye shadow, exaggerated facial expressions and overly theatrical programs for some reason made me think of vampires. I’m surprised I ever grew to love ice dance.

Haha. That reminds me of a bit from Will & Grace where Jack and Grace discover their shared passion for skating, Michelle Kwan, and especially Surya Bonaly.


GRACE: Oh, my god! The best! Surya Bonaly!

WILL: Who?

JACK and GRACE: Surya Bonaly!

JACK: She's French.

GRACE: She's powerful.

JACK: She's black.

GRACE: She wears blue eye shadow and does illegal backflips.

JACK: She scares me. I crave her...

 

[Sonata]

Haha. That reminds me of a bit from Will & Grace where Jack and Grace discover their shared passion for skating, Michelle Kwan, and especially Surya Bonaly.


GRACE: Oh, my god! The best! Surya Bonaly!

WILL: Who?

JACK and GRACE: Surya Bonaly!

JACK: She's French.

GRACE: She's powerful.

JACK: She's black.

GRACE: She wears blue eye shadow and does illegal backflips.

JACK: She scares me. I crave her...

Haha the only scary thing about Surya Bonaly was her lack of skating skills. I was okay with her eyeshadow and backflips.

 

[aliceanne]

Strawberry Ice in its entirety:

TOLLER CRANSTON'S STRAWBERRY ICE

The incredible Toller at his best and doing his own thing. No one could have imagined that this could have been put on television with the creative genius of...

m.youtube.com

From the bullies ripping off his costume, to Toller chasing Sarah Kawahara with a butterfly net, to Osborne Colson as a mincing 18th century lord and everything in between.

 

[Simone411]

I don't know about their programs being bizarre, but I found Punsalan & Swallow creative and interesting, and they're one of my most favorite Ice Dancing couples of all time.

P/S 1998 Olympics - Compulsory - Golden Waltz

P/S 1998 Olympics - Compulsory 2

P/S 1998 Olympics - Free Dance.
Music - Oblivion by Gidon Kremer, and I fell in love with this program.

P/S 1998 Olympics - Original Dance

P/S 1998 Worlds Championships - Free Dance
Music - Oblivion by Gidon Kremer.

 

[skatesindreams]

P/S 1998 Worlds Championships - Free Dance
Music - Oblivion by Gidon Kremer.

Dick Button was an "uber"!

 

[Doggygirl]

Strawberry Ice in its entirety:

TOLLER CRANSTON'S STRAWBERRY ICE

The incredible Toller at his best and doing his own thing. No one could have imagined that this could have been put on television with the creative genius of...

m.youtube.com

From the bullies ripping off his costume, to Toller chasing Sarah Kawahara with a butterfly net, to Osborne Colson as a mincing 18th century lord and everything in between.

I can't believe I've never seen this! ALL the voids!

 

[skatesindreams]

ALL the voids!

Indeed!

 

[DORISPULASKI]

I can't believe I've never seen this! ALL the voids!

Indeed, almost anything by Toller Cranston, especially in shows.

A playlist is in the OP of this thread.

Toller Cranston

Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston was born in Hamilton, Ontario, April 20, 1949, and died in San Miguel, Mexico on January 24, 2015. Cranston was a Canadian figure skater and painter. He was the six time Canadian figure skating men's champion (1971–1976), the 1974 World bronze medalist, and the...

www.goldenskate.com

BTW, Toller was the choreographer and costume designer for Petr and Janoschak, whose Peewee Herman's Big Adventure FD is in this thread's OP.

 

[bladesofgorey]

Dubreuil & Lauzon
Gala Performance Oberstdorf 2004, Germany
(my program music this year, I found this after the fact and feel dirty practicing mine now)

 

[casken]

Zoé Blanc & Pierre-Lou Bouquet - Master's 2008 - FD

Zoé Blanc & Pierre-Lou Bouquet French Master's 2008, Orleans Free dance Master's 2008 d'Orléans Danse libre

www.youtube.com

This is the first program I thought of when I saw the thread title or just the term "voids" in general. It's just a shame the Nationals performance isn't on youtube becuase it was excellent.

See also; Zoe Blanc & Pierre-Loup Bouquet FD French Masters 2005

This was a junior FD from 2005, but forget the crazy costumes, it has more difficult, original, and experimental choreography than any of the senior FDs that would have finished on the podium if there were to be a worlds this year.

Of course Pierre was kind of a train-wreck and falls twice on the dance spin. Typical French ice dancer fashion I guess.

 

[casken]

Bestemianova and Bukin as pros did a program that I remember as the most voidy and over the top thing I've ever seen but I don't remember when or any of the details other than that maybe they had gold metallic costumes and I'm not even sure about that. Although honestly you could probably pick any of their pro programs and it would be pretty voidy.

The Rasputin program?

This is VOIDS defined.

 

[mjb52]

The Rasputin program?

This is VOIDS defined.

YES I was thinking it was Rasputin but wasn't sure I was remembering right! This is decades ago now. Their pro stuff was controversial and I didn't always like it per se (I was also pretty young so it was probably a bit intense even for intense young me) but it was definitely like nothing anyone else was doing at the time!

ETA: ok I just watched it and ice definitely grown into it, maybe it just suits the times.

Other mega voidy programs: M&D's Yma Sumac exhibition and to a lesser extent K&D's broken doll program. The latter has probably inspired a few programs since so it may not seem as original now.

 

[aliceanne]

I’ve posted this before, but Rudy Galindo’s Rocky Horror medley is the most in-your-face program I have ever seen. Ironically it was performed on Elvis Stojko’s tour only (Elvis was often accused of being homophobic.

Rudy Galindo - 2002 Elvis SK8 Tour

The music is from the "Rocky Horror Show:" Sweet Transvestite" and "Time Warp." Canadian audiences attending Elvis Stojko's "Tour like no other" loved Rudy's...

m.youtube.com

 

[aliceanne]

Here is an Art Deco noir program from Belita

Belita in "Suspense" 1946 Part 1

Belita Jepson-Turner was a British ballerina, ice skater and actress. At the age of 12 she was selected to skate for Britain in the 1936 Olympic Games in Ber...

m.youtube.com

I seem to remember that the Marilyn Monroe number satirized in Blades of Glory was an actual Grishuk/Platov number - can anyone find it?

 

[alchemy void]

I’ve posted this before, but Rudy Galindo’s Rocky Horror medley is the most in-your-face program I have ever seen. Ironically it was performed on Elvis Stojko’s tour only (Elvis was often accused of being homophobic.

Rudy Galindo - 2002 Elvis SK8 Tour

The music is from the "Rocky Horror Show:" Sweet Transvestite" and "Time Warp." Canadian audiences attending Elvis Stojko's "Tour like no other" loved Rudy's...

m.youtube.com

I LOVE THIS. Haven't seen this before. Thank you!

 

[skatesindreams]

More exotic Toller:

1982 Tybalt - "Romeo and Juliet on Ice"

Toller Cranston --" Romeo and Juliet on Ice" - 1982

Toller Cranston portrayed Tybalt in the award-winning on-ice adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet". I've always thought of Toller's portrayal of Tybalt's death as...

www.youtube.com

1988 World Cup

Toller Cranston 1988 World Cup Pro

Toller Cranston 1988 World Cup Pro - artistic program

www.youtube.com

 

[Bellanca]

Watching the 1991 Worlds free dances, I was amazed by several incredibly voidy programs I've never seen before. I feel like this is a perfect time to exchange videos of interesting/creative/bizarre/batshit programs--whether it's music, choreography, costumes, and/or all of the above.

Programs that are 10+ years old are most interesting to me, because my knowledge of pre-2009 skating is pretty minimal.

Strawberry Ice in its entirety:

TOLLER CRANSTON'S STRAWBERRY ICE

The incredible Toller at his best and doing his own thing. No one could have imagined that this could have been put on television with the creative genius of...

m.youtube.com

From the bullies ripping off his costume, to Toller chasing Sarah Kawahara with a butterfly net, to Osborne Colson as a mincing 18th century lord and everything in between.

The incredible Toller had interesting/creative/bizarre/batshit programs and interesting/creative/bizarre/batshit comments. He was all of the above. Translation? Toller was fabulous!

 

[gkelly]

Gerencser/Camerlengo 1998 free dance:

[HD] Gerencser & Camerlengo - 1998 Nagano Olympics - FD

Diane Gerencser, Pasquale Camerlengo / Диана Гереншер, Паскуале Камерленго / ディアン・ゲレンツァー, パスカーレ・カメレンゴ 1998 Nagano Olympics / 1998 олимпиада в нагано / 1998 長...

www.youtube.com

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

I've never been able to find a video of this but the French team of Sauri & Stifunin's 2001 FD might qualify. In any case, the narrative that my significant other and I made up about the Free dance's backstory during 2001 world's was definitely voidy.

 

[Plusdinfo]

Gerencser/Camerlengo 1998 free dance:

[HD] Gerencser & Camerlengo - 1998 Nagano Olympics - FD

Diane Gerencser, Pasquale Camerlengo / Диана Гереншер, Паскуале Камерленго / ディアン・ゲレンツァー, パスカーレ・カメレンゴ 1998 Nagano Olympics / 1998 олимпиада в нагано / 1998 長...

www.youtube.com

I love that program! Thanks for introducing it to me. What is the name of the music? Fantastic choreography, and there is not ONE bit of extraneous posing or catching their breath.

 

[gkelly]

I love that program! Thanks for introducing it to me. What is the name of the music? Fantastic choreography, and there is not ONE bit of extraneous posing or catching their breath.

There are a lot of crossovers, though, especially toward the end.

And there is some posing, which does allow for breath/balance catching while still furthering the choreography.

As it so happens, I have a copy of the media guide from 1998 Worlds. In their ISU bio, Gerencser/Camerlengo's free dance music is listed as Tsunami by Robert Hoehner - Robert Hoehner Percussion Ensemble and Thunder Down Under by Brent Lewis - Orch.: Tribac Drumming & Didgeridoo.

 

[Plusdinfo]

Thanks, gkelly!

 

[aliceanne]

Remember Polish skater Gregorz Filipowski?

Here he is at 13 skating at the 1980 Worlds (senior).

The music is Eleanor Rigby/My Old Kentucky Home/Mexican Hat Dance/?/Mexican Hat Dance.

Grzegorz Filipowski 1980 World Figure Skating Championships LP

It was the late and much missed skating journalist Sandra Stevenson who first brought me to the attention of this historic feat in her 1983 BBC book of Skati...

m.youtube.com

 

[briancoogaert]

Gerencser/Camerlengo 1998 free dance:

[HD] Gerencser & Camerlengo - 1998 Nagano Olympics - FD

Diane Gerencser, Pasquale Camerlengo / Диана Гереншер, Паскуале Камерленго / ディアン・ゲレンツァー, パスカーレ・カメレンゴ 1998 Nagano Olympics / 1998 олимпиада в нагано / 1998 長...

www.youtube.com

Wow. I didn't remember that program, at all !
Thank you, it's very interesting !

 

[aliceanne]

Chris and Jayne’s Paso Doble where he is the matador and she is the cape. He flings her to the ice at the end.

A MEEPOTS moment where Jayne lies sprawled on the ice while Diva Chris triumphantly basks in the applause.

Torvill & Dean "Paso Doble" 1984.

Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are British ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984...

m.youtube.com

 

[gkelly]

Remember Polish skater Gregorz Filipowski?

Here he is at 13 skating at the 1980 Worlds (senior).

The music is Eleanor Rigby/My Old Kentucky Home/Mexican Hat Dance/?/Mexican Hat Dance.

Grzegorz Filipowski 1980 World Figure Skating Championships LP

It was the late and much missed skating journalist Sandra Stevenson who first brought me to the attention of this historic feat in her 1983 BBC book of Skati...

m.youtube.com

Thanks, aliceanne.

Voids aside, so that would be the first triple-triple performed at Worlds (I believe he had already done it at Junior Worlds).
And also a couple of 1 1/2 jumps, which were on their way out of fashion.