Ski ballet

Last updated November 02, 2024

Ski ballet is a form of ballet performed on skis. It is very similar to figure skating, combining spins, jumps, and flips in a two-minute routine choreographed to music. It was part of the professional freestyle skiing tours of the 1970s and 1980s and then an official FIS and Olympic discipline until the year 2000. Ski ballet became known as Acroski in the 1990s in an effort to legitimize its place among the competitive ski community, especially to the FIS. It is no longer a part of competitive freestyle skiing.

Overview

Ski ballet involved a choreographed routine of flips, rolls, leg crossings, jumps, and spins performed on a smooth slope. After the mid-1970s, the routine was performed to music for 90 seconds. For a short period of time (in the 1980s), there were also pair ballet competitions, a variation of ballet where two people performed tricks that not only included spins, jumps, and leg crossing, but also lifts and synchronic movements. A panel of judges scored the performance similarly to figure skating.

Notable athletes

Suzy Chaffee

Following her ski-racing career, Suzy Chaffee modelled in New York with Ford Models and then became the pre-eminent freestyle ballet skier of the early 1970s. She is perhaps best known by the nickname Suzy Chapstick, from the 1970s, when she was a spokesperson for ChapStick lip balm.

Genia Fuller

At the 1974 Freestyle Championship, Genia Fuller was the first person to win all four disciplines at one event (aerials, moguls, ballet, and combined). With a background in figure skating, she finished second in her first national junior freestyle contest at age 16.^[1] Unlike other competitors, she performed ski ballet without ski poles.^[2]

Lane Spina

Lane Spina won medals both times the discipline was held as an Olympic demonstration event; during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada and the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

Rune Kristiansen

Rune Kristiansen won a gold medal in ballet at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 1995, and had a total of 38 World Cup victories throughout his career. He competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in ski ballet, which was a demonstration event. He was Norwegian champion in ballet in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993.^[3]

George Fuehrmeier

George Fuehrmeier competed in ski ballet during 1985. He gained popularity after a video of his routine was circulated on the Internet during the 2018 Winter Olympics.^[4]

Richard Schabl

Richard Schabl was the FIS World Champion of 1986.^[5] During his career as a freestyle skier, he invented the one handed pole flip and created many maneuvers that have revolutionized Freestyle Skiing.^[6]

Olympic demonstration sport and decline in popularity

Ski ballet's increasing popularity led it being chosen as a demonstration sport for the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics.^[7] The popularity of the sport, however, significantly declined after 1992 due to the fact that it was not upgraded to Olympic sport status as well as due to the increasing popularity of snowboarding and other snow sports among young skiers.^[7] By 2000, the sport for all intents and purposes disappeared from international competition when the International Ski Federation ceased all formal competitions.^[7]^[8]

Related Research Articles

Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).

Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Playing areas and fields consist of either snow or ice.

Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and boxes on their skis. Known as "hot-dogging" in the early 1970s, it is also commonly referred to as freeskiing, jibbing, as well as many other names, around the world.

The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Albertville '92, were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and around Albertville, France. Albertville won the bid to host the Winter Olympics in 1986, beating Sofia, Falun, Lillehammer, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Anchorage, and Berchtesgaden. The 1992 Winter Olympics were the last winter games held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. The Games were the fifth Olympic Games held in France and the country's third Winter Olympics, after the 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix and the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble. This games was the first of two consecutive Olympic games to be held in Western Europe, preceding the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Freestyle skiing was an official sport discipline for the first time at the 1992 Winter Olympics, with medals awarded in the moguls event. The venue was Tignes about 85 km from host city Albertville.

Freeskiing, or new school skiing, is a specific type of alpine skiing, which involves tricks, jumps, and terrain park features, such as rails, boxes, jibs, or other obstacles. This form of skiing resulted from the growth of snowboarding combined with the progression of freestyle skiing. "Newschoolers", or those who specifically ski in this style, as opposed to traditional freestylers, freeriders, big mountain skiers, and racers, are often found in terrain parks, which are designed specifically for tricks.

Ski cross is a skiing competition which incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle skiing with courses which include big-air jumps and high-banked turns. In spite of the fact that it is a timed racing event, it is often considered a type of freestyle skiing. What sets ski cross apart from other alpine skiing disciplines is that it involves more than one skier racing down the course. Any intentional contact with other competitors like grabbing or any other forms of contact meant to give the competitor an advantage leads to disqualification.

Freestyle skiing has been contested at the Winter Olympic Games since the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France.

Slopestyle is a winter sport in which athletes ski or snowboard down a course including a variety of obstacles including rails, jumps and other terrain park features. Points are scored for amplitude, originality and quality of tricks. The discipline has its roots in action sports like skateboarding and BMX and has very successfully crossed over into the snow sports worlds of skiing and snowboarding. Skiers use Twin-tip skis for their symmetry since they often go large portions of the course backward and for their balanced weight so as to not destabilize spins. Slopestyle tricks fall mainly into four categories: spins, grinds, grabs and flips, and most tricks done in competition are a combination of these.

Mogul skiing is a freestyle skiing competition consisting of one timed run of free skiing on a steep, heavily moguled course, stressing technical turns, aerial maneuvers and speed. Internationally, the sport is contested at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, and at the Winter Olympic Games.

The FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships is the world championship organized by the FIS for freestyle skiing. It was first organized in 1986 and is now held every odd year. Currently, the disciplines included in the World Championships are Aerials, Moguls, Dual Moguls, Ski cross, Half-pipe, Slopestyle and Big air. Formerly, Acroski and a combined event were held.

Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena is a freestyle skiing stadium located in the hillside area of Kanthaugen in Lillehammer, Norway. Opened in 1992, it was built for the 1994 Winter Olympics. The venue consists of three hills—one each for aerials, moguls and ski ballet. The moguls hill has a capacity for 12,000 spectators while the other two have a 15,000-person capacity. The arena is designated as Norway's national venue for freestyle skiing. It hosted the FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup in 1993 and 1995, and is scheduled to host freestyle skiing and snowboarding at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics. The arena is owned by Lillehammer Olympiapark and is located adjacent to the ski jumping hill Lysgårdsbakken.

Aerial skiing or aerials is a freestyle skiing discipline where athletes ski down a slope to launch themselves off a kicker and perform multiple twists and flips before landing on an inclined landing hill. Aerialists are scored on their jumps based on air, form and landing with their score multiplied by the degree of difficulty of the jump they performed.

Patrick Deneen is an American freestyle skier, specializing in moguls. Deneen was the gold medalist at the 2009 International Ski Federation (FIS) Freestyle World Ski Championships. In December 2009, Deneen won the US Olympic trials, held at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, securing a spot on the US Olympic Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In FIS World Cup events, he has reached the podium at 4 events in 25 starts, and was the 2008 Freestyle Rookie of the Year.

Half-pipe skiing is the sport of riding snow skis on a half-pipe. Competitors perform a series of tricks while going down the pipe. The current world record for highest jump in a half-pipe is held by Joffrey Pollet-Villard, with 26 feet 3 inches. The sport is considered to be dangerous compared to other sports, and helmets are required to be worn during competitions. Half-pipe skiing has been part of the Winter X Games since 2002, and made its Olympic debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. David Wise of the United States of America became the first Olympic champion in this discipline with a total of 92.00 points.

Spain competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018.

Trace Worthington is an American former freestyle skier. He competed in two events at the 1994 Winter Olympics. After retiring from the sport, Worthington became a sports commentator, working for both NBC Sports and CBS Sports.

Australia competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.

References

↑ "Genia Fuller-Crews". U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
↑ "Alive". online.publicationprinters.com. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
↑ Schanke, Tom A. (2007). Norsk idrettsleksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aller Forlag. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-82-8156-044-4.
↑ Peters, Justin (2014-02-11). "In Praise of Ski Ballet, the Sport That Combined Snow and Puffy Sleeves". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339 . Retrieved 2018-02-21.
↑ "Richard Schabl". International Ski and Snowboard Federation . Retrieved 2023-05-22.
↑ Jarvis, Heather (2016-10-21). "Part-time Breckenridge resident and World Cup winner produces 'Smoke in the Tunnel', a film about the Kaprun disaster". Summit Daily. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
1 2 3 Fuhrer, Margaret (2022-02-11). "When Ski Ballet Pushed at the Porous Boundary Between Art and Sport". The New York Times . Retrieved 2023-05-22.
↑ "Freestyle Skiing History". The National Post. Canadian Broadcasting Company. 2009-12-04. Archived from the original on 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

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[1] "Genia Fuller-Crews". U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2022-02-11.

[2] "Alive". online.publicationprinters.com. Retrieved 2022-02-11.

[schanke-3] Schanke, Tom A. (2007). Norsk idrettsleksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aller Forlag. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-82-8156-044-4.

[4] Peters, Justin (2014-02-11). "In Praise of Ski Ballet, the Sport That Combined Snow and Puffy Sleeves". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339 . Retrieved 2018-02-21.

[5] "Richard Schabl". International Ski and Snowboard Federation . Retrieved 2023-05-22.

[6] Jarvis, Heather (2016-10-21). "Part-time Breckenridge resident and World Cup winner produces 'Smoke in the Tunnel', a film about the Kaprun disaster". Summit Daily. Retrieved 2023-05-22.

[NYT-7] 1 2 3 Fuhrer, Margaret (2022-02-11). "When Ski Ballet Pushed at the Porous Boundary Between Art and Sport". The New York Times . Retrieved 2023-05-22.

[8] "Freestyle Skiing History". The National Post. Canadian Broadcasting Company. 2009-12-04. Archived from the original on 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

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