The Artistic Revolution

Toller Cranston rehearsing with dancers for Magic Planet, which aired on CTV, 1983. © Keith Beaty/Toronto Star via Getty Images

A new artistic style blossomed in Canada during this period, revolutionizing the sport. Coaches and choreographers brought artistry to the forefront as Canadian skater Toller Cranston brought musical interpretation to a groundbreaking new level. He was known as “Nijinsky on Ice.”

Theatre on Ice classes became part of training. Figure skating became more lyrical and imaginative.

For spectators, new technology also changed the sport. Audiences could now watch colour television coverage of skating competitions, increasing figure skating’s popularity as a spectator sport. Free skating programs were the highlight for the audience. In the 1970s, the International Skating Union lowered the value of figures and added a short program.

Televised weekly skating shows and skating specials replaced large skating carnivals. Many champion skaters travelled the globe by taking part in live tours.

CANADIAN GOLD CHAMPIONS ON THE WORLD STAGE!

Karen Magnussen, World Champion 1973

Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini, Pairs, World Champions 1984

Knebli Boots Go International

Don Jackson’s Figure Skating Products

Anthony Ronza, shoe designer and creator of the popular Cougar brand of shoes, suggested in the early 1970s that Jackson import boots from Europe for reliable quality and supply. Jackson found a factory in Skutec, Czechoslovakia that could manufacture skate boots made-to-order. In time, Jackson’s company diversified to offer four models of boots for skaters of varying abilities (from beginner to elite). Depending on the model, blades by either CCM or John Wilson were mounted on the boots.

Other Boot and Blade Makers

CCM, Daoust, and Bauer were the largest skate makers in Canada at this time. Besides their higher-end models, they sold more affordable, mass-produced boot and blade sets for the general public. These were a popular option for the recreational skater, and were known worldwide.

The Rules Change

Media coverage of skating influenced its development. Figures lost their novelty. On television, figures did not have the same audience appeal as expressive free skating programs, so to appeal to the audience watching on television, the ISU introduced another free skating component and reduced the focus on figures.

Pairs and ice dancing followed the same trend.

A. Figures and Free Skating

Karen Magnussen in a skating pose at the Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972. © Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

In 1967 the ISU reduced the figure component from 60% to 50% of a skater’s final mark. In 1973, the number of required figures was reduced from six to three, and a short program was introduced. The program accounted for 20% of a skater’s mark, with figures reduced to 40% and the long program at 40%. 

Male skaters routinely performed triple jumps. Women started to experiment with triple jumps. Artistic choreography and more expressive musical interpretation linked the technical elements (jumps, spins and footwork) together.

B. Pair Skating

Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini performing a skating move at the World Championships, Ottawa, 1984. © Skate Canada

Pair skating elements became more challenging. Single jump throw lifts became double throw lifts. Skaters were expected to perform required technical elements in the new two and a half-minute short program. This made up one-third of the team’s score. They used the long program to show off more of their best moves, interpret the music, and to show their strength and endurance.

C. Ice Dancing

Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall in a dance pose. © Skate Canada

Before 1967 compulsory dances accounted for 60% of a couple’s mark, with 40% dedicated to the free dance. After 1967, the free dance was increased to 50% of the couple’s mark.

Ice dancers were restricted in terms of arm movements and lifts. Performances resembled ballroom dance on ice. By introducing the original dance, the category became more interpretive.

An “original set pattern dance,” which later became known as the “original dance,” replaced one of the compulsory dances. The original dance is a unique program created by each competing team. The style would be designated a year before the competition by the ISU; designations would be a type of dancing, for example tango, rumba, or waltz. Each team selected their own music and choreography, creating an interpretive dance became part of the couple’s a skater’s competitive routine.

Russian and British skaters dominated in this category. Not one Canadian ice dancing pair medalled internationally during this 20-year period until Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall broke the spell with a bronze medal in 1986 at the World Figure Skating Championships in Geneva.

Ice dancing became an official category in the Olympics in 1976.

Theatre on Ice

Dutch champion and Canadian coach Ellen Burka was always interested in choreography. To expand knowledge to the skaters, she created Theatre on Ice classes for her students at the Toronto Skating Club in 1973. These classes introduced skaters to different artistic practices. Skaters learned classical ballet, modern, and jazz dance technique. They incorporated dramatic elements from miming and acting into their routines. Burka instructed her students to “listen to the music, think what you feel, and try and interpret it on the ice.”

Burka pushed the boundaries of artistic and musical interpretation throughout her career. In the 1950s, she produced Georges Bizet’s Carmen on ice at the Lakeshore Arena. The lively performance included traditional Spanish dancers, dancing on a platform stage. In 1978, she was the first figure skating coach to receive the Order of Canada. She received the honour “for elevating skating to an art form and for imaginative choreography on the ice.”

Ellen Burka and her student Toller Cranston were innovators. They brought a new artistic style of skating to the ice.

Toller Cranston: A New Style is Born

Sandra Bezic, famous Canadian pair skater, commentator and choreographer, remarked that “Toller brought colour to men’s skating.”

Together, Cranston and his coach Ellen Burka created an artistic athleticism. Under Burka’s direction, Cranston experimented with new spins, footwork, and jumps and joined these together through avant-garde movements reminiscent of 1930s skating styles. His signature moves included bent-knee leg extensions, expressive arm movements, high kicks and running across the ice on his toe picks.

Cranston cut a dashing if untraditional figure out on the ice. He wore his hair long and loose, moved his arms above his shoulders in poetic motion, and wore unconventional costumes. When he interpreted music from the opera Pagliacci, he dropped to the ice in a dramatic pose at the end. The audience was spellbound. Cranston’s approach opened doors for figure skaters who wanted to express themselves.

Coaches and Choreographers

It was common for coaches also to be choreographers, but more and more coaches that produced top international skaters started to work with choreographers to create better programs. For example, Linda Brauckmann, coach and choreographer for Karen Magnussen, also sent Karen to Ellen Burka for additional training in interpretation.

Later in this period, the specialized work of a choreographer was needed. Coaches would hire choreographers to come in. Dancer and choreographer Brian Foley, the founder of Performing Dance Arts in Ontario, choreographed skating programs for many Canadian champions including Toller Cranston.

Sandra Bezic, having finished her amateur skating career, choreographed programs for many fellow elite athletes at the Olympic and World level. For example, she choreographed routines for Canadian world pair champions Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini who were coached by Louis Stong. Further to this specialization, Marijane Stong (also a skating coach and part of the creative team) selected the look, costume, and music.

Coaches and choreographers were working closely together to create routines like never before!

The Rise of Professional Ice Shows

Skating events were now broadcast live on television. The popularity of large carnivals waned. Local and regional skating clubs still produced smaller carnivals for their members.

Skaters toured the world in live shows. The Tour of World Figure Skating Champions, presented by Tom Collins, packed arenas across Europe and North America starting in 1969.

Stretch Fabrics

Stretch fabrics with four-way stretch made complex skating elements easier to perform. One-piece and two-piece outfits were worn by men. Toller Cranston was one of the first male skaters in Canada to wear two-piece stretch outfits, a Danskin top and a stretch pant. Renato La Selva, master tailor, designed and made costumes for Cranston. Cranston also had several costumes made by Malabar Ltd. in Toronto. For his CBC television specials, Frances Dafoe and Juul Haalmeyer designed his costumes.

For women, one-piece costumes were made with a stretchy fabric body, and a flowing chiffon skirt completed the look. These years saw big changes in how skaters dressed. Frances Dafoe, past champion, now designed costumes for female skaters; Margit Sandor, master seamstress, pattern-drafted and also constructed the costumes for top Canadian skaters including Petra Burka.

Costume became more important to the performance and it became more and more expensive to have custom-designed costumes for every performance. Skating mothers often sewed costumes for athletes they knew in addition to for their own children. Karen Magnussen benefited from this kind of generosity.

Karen Magnussen about to take a bow, 1972. © Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

The impact of this new material and increased focus on costumes was also positive for skaters’ appearance on colour television.

Personality

In this period, skaters, coaches, and choreographers made more deliberate, individualized music choices. Burka’s Theatre on Ice classes emphasized storytelling through musical interpretation. Personal expression and storytelling was a foundational part of the ballet and modern dance classes skaters took.

Traditional programs for free skating started with fast-slow-fast tempos.
It was unusual for skaters to use one continuous piece of music for a skating program. Judges discouraged skaters from using one piece of music. In 1966, Petra Burka was told by the judges that she could not skate to Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Burka went back to her previous program. Karen Magnussen broke new ground in the early 1970s when she skated to a complete recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Soon, judges became more lenient, and it became more common for skaters to perform to one piece of music by a single composer.

Cassettes

Skaters continued to use custom-pressed vinyl records and reel-to-reel magnetic tapes into the 1970s. 

New music technology was being developed. In 1966 Canadian skaters in Peterborough were the first to use a cassette tape for an ice-dancing event. Cassette tapes were more affordable than vinyl records, and cassette tapes could be made and played more easily. Unfortunately, it was difficult to achieve the right speed and timing. 

Announcer Wilf Langevin with Bill Dowding on the left. Music specialists. © Skate Canada

By the early 1970s, Wilf Langevin had solved this issue with fellow music technician Bill Dowding. Working with fellow Canadian audio technicians Jack Cohoe and Bill Taylor, the team created a device that attached to the cassette player, regulating the speed of the music. Synchronizing the sound and timing with this device was a way to solve the cassette tape challenge.

By the early 1980s, cassette tapes had completely replaced both vinyl records and reel-to-reel tapes in competitions.