See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBTaSS43wVo
In relation to your video, I encourage you to read my blog post on the history of figure & fancy skating, or my blog in general:
https://www.artofskating.org/introduction-and-history-of-figure-fancy-skating/
https://www.artofskating.org/blog/
A little history:
The Pannin creative figure you showed won the Special Figures (now Creative Figures) event at the 1908 Olympics, but that was the first and ONLY time this event was in the Olympics.
A “figure” is a named pattern of movement and derives from figure dancing. It acquired a secondary meaning as the imprint left behind on the ice when figure skating. This etymology is critical to understand when reading original source material. See my blog post for more details.
Figure skating was developed first in England (pre-1800), then America and then Europe. By 1890 there were three different skating “scenes” worldwide. They were all aware of each other but also all different, although the Viennese scene was most comprehensive. Figure skating at the time was almost always described as an “art” not a “sport.” In fact, the modern concept of sport did not develop until the 1890’s. But whatever people called it, all three scenes were diverse. In dance we talk about dance as a performing art (eg ballet), dance as a social activity (eg clubbing) and dance as a sport (eg Irish dancing). Dance “scenes” frequently mix multiple dimensions in one community, for example look at the “Breaking” scene today. Figure skating in the 1890’s was no different, and involved a mix of entertainment / performing art (Jackson Haines), visual art (special figures), competition (Axel Paulsen 1882, English Style Skating) and social dance (Viennese Rundtanzen, Hand-in-hand skating, English Style Skating).
The SPORT of figure skating was created in 1892 with the foundation of the ISU. This new sport drew from the diverse scenes that came before it, but simplified to make comparisions easier. It was based on the Viennese approach to free skating, and the English delegation submitted a simplified set of figures to be used for training. Now a means to an end, no longer an end in itself. English Style Skating was scrapped, and nothing from American style skating was included either (WFS has basically recreated the American scene of the 1890’s). In fact, many people disliked the “kicked” figures (beaks and crosscuts) that make up a fundamental part of the American vocabulary, because they didn’t feel it was graceful to watch.
No North Americans were involved in the founding of the ISU. USFSA was founded almost 30 years later, in 1921 after a concerted 20-year effort to get American interested in International Style and joining the new sport. After that, USFSA promoted its new sport AT THE EXPENSE OF the more diverse sport / art /social scene that preceeded it. American style skating was routinely mocked in the early years of Skating Magazine, and from the beginning USFSA exerted control over its amateur skaters, therefore making true skating art, or anything other than USFSA-approved skating, difficult or impossible.
Art is art, whereas artistry is doing something in an artistic manner. Art requires artistry, artistry does not make something art. For example, a basketball player can have artistry in the way they dunk the ball. As you point out, actual art is not possible under IJS rules, although skaters like Jason Brown can still skate with artistry. He has everything needed to make serious skating art outside of ISU competition rules.
I deeply believe that the best approach is to understand figure skating not just as a sport, but rather as a DIVERSE activity that can be used for performing arts, social connection and sports. USFSA (and probably ISU too) has spent 100 years supporting sport at the expense of the other two legs of that stool, and we have now reached the logical conclusion, a jumping contest, like pole vaulting. They also made decisions that caused social ice dance to die over the last 30 years. And modern USFSA material routinely tell young skaters that competition is their ONLY and HIGHEST goal: the main innovation over the last 30 years has been more and more competitions at every level, down to Basic Skills! None of this had to happen, in fact roller skating has so far taken a different path and maintained its diversity.
And although ballet and skating are quite similar — techincal / athletic activities requiring endless practice — the ballet academy experience is so completely different from the USFSA experience for children, really two different universes.
WFS offers one alternative. Note that Fancy Skating is most fundamentally an ART not a sport. Figures are easier to judge objectively, and make up most of the score at WFS Championship events. The Fancy Skating segment is a wildcard. I understand your suggestion to “unbundle” figure skating competitions. WFS did that initially (starting in 2015), but soon after decided to bundle the figure event and fancy skating event into one final medal. I don’t know why, you can ask them.
But I don’t think that WFS, or any single organization or governing body, is the solution. As a dancer (performing artist), the monolithic nature of figure skating and its governing bodies is quite foreign. In dance, nobody tells us how we can dance, and nobody blackballs us if we get a ballet job at age 16. Dance is DIVERSE, and it gets more diverse over time, and we all dance how we want to (or can find a job). Whereas skating has gotten more uniform / less diverse over time.
What we really need is not one cartel monopolizing everyone, but rather a more open and diverse set of skating communities that interact and support each other and each other’s goals. That would naturally lead to the more diverse competitions that you envision, but also to more diverse opportunities for skaters to participate at a high level in things other than competitions, and even more competition / other events hosted by more organizations with different angles on the activity.
For example, skating world records. BTW, The Maltese Cross record was achieved by Anne Bennett, 29 Maltese Cross figures on one foot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4pyxxI5rbY
Or you can watch it sped up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDCfG9tyFhs
Cheers,
— Elizabeth Fischer