The idea of cultural appropriation in figure skating seems at times like the elephant in the room.
The questions of how to tell stories and execute choreography on the ice – and how to do so creatively, authentically, and memorably – are fundamental ones in a sport which sees its athletes take to the ice to put out a performance. Yet to problematise the ways in which this has historically been done in skating often leads to polemic, as well as heated debate on the harmful effects of restricting who can and cannot skate to certain types of music, and what they can and cannot wear while doing so.
During the 2024 off-season, I decided to delve deeper into these debates, looking from the beginnings of exoticising ballet pieces and their roots in Orientalism, through to the current-day stakes of skating and representation. What became clear from my conversations with various athletes, choreographers, and experts in the field was that calling for less caricature, more research and more authenticity is the very opposite of a limiting factor on the boundaries of what figure skating can be: the importance of collaboration was stressed throughout our discussions, as was the productive potentiality of these conversations to create original, exciting programs within the sport.
I first got in touch with eminent dancer and choreographer Phil Chan, who is a leading voice in denouncing Orientalist depictions on the dance stage. He has published three books on the subject, of which the most recent, Banishing Orientalism: Dancing between Exotic and Familiar (2023), takes a retrospective approach to the phenomenon of Orientalism in ballet and traces it back to its proliferation in the 19th century. He importantly acknowledges that Orientalism has been historically used as a tool for artistic creation and innovation, and has permitted choreographers and dancers to enact movements that do not fit into the canon of ‘Western’ dance.
Yet, as delineated by Edward Said’s seminal work Orientalism (1978), such use of the so-called “Orient” posits the non-west as a passive, abstracted space for projected fantasies, and denies its peoples and places a voice and agency. In his career, Phil has worked to reimagine iconic – and Orientalist – ballets such as the Nutcracker and La Bayadère in creative ways to subvert its historically harmful portrayals of peoples of colour: ‘We can keep La Bayadère while losing the blackface and the Indian pastiche,’ he writes in Banishing Orientalism. In our conversation, Phil also spoke of the constant juggling act that is asked of choreographers of colour: “It’s often so hard being a non-Western choreographer, because if you work within your own form- so like if I do a ballet with fans and dragons – people are like ohh he’s an ethnic choreographer; and if I do something that is neoclassical people say, oh he’s just being derivative of Balanchine or Jerome Robbins.”
I’m saying “let’s do this in a global way”, as opposed to a strictly eurocentric way.
In 2017, Phil set up ‘Final Bow for Yellowface’ alongside Georgina Pazcoguin, with the aim of removing harmful representations of Asians on the ballet stage. He shared the variegated responses to this decision with me: ‘Some people were like, yeah such a no brainer, of course, and other people were like, I don’t understand this, I don’t know if it’s a good thing for ballet or not.’ The criticisms came from both sides: ‘Some conservatives will say that this work is politically correctness gone overboard; [that] it’s about cancel culture. I say actually my work is the opposite of cancel culture, because I’m not trying to get rid of The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Madame Butterfly. I’m saying “let’s do this in a global way”, as opposed to a strictly eurocentric way, which I think is the root of all of my work. Every aspect of the work is about shifting the form from eurocentric to global.’ And on the other side, Phil has been accused of not being subversive enough. ‘Some Asian advocates have actually felt like I’m … I’ve been called also the pawn of white supremacy: why am I sticking up for this white, eurocentric art form when Asian dance forms are suffering.’
The tides, however, have since shifted, and the initial doubt that had crept in has on the other hand seen Phil’s project be validated through the gratitude from Asian students, parents, teachers, and dancers. The ripple effect is significant: ‘I was most pleased when the Paris Opera and Ballet- which is our longest continuous performing arts organization in the Western Hemisphere- released their first diversity report a couple of years ago, and they cited my work by name as a contributing factor to their decision to not do not only yellowface but also blackface, on the opera and the ballet stage.’
The iconic Nutcracker ballet is a great illustration of these issues, and one of the primary examples given by Phil when speaking of the detrimental impact that yellowface representations have: the land of sweets gives way to divertissements, several of which are danced by caricatured, one-dimensional figures. It is a useful point of reference with our exploration of these problems in figure skating: the “Chinese” tea dance may not be frequently seen in skating, but we can turn our focus to the dance which precedes it in the ballet – the “Arabian” coffee dance, often accompanied by harem pants, exposed midriffs and sultry choreography – and this starts to sound a little more familiar, and perhaps uncomfortably so.
The Skate Canada EDIA Project
Through Phil, I came to look more closely at the Skate Canada EDIA operating committee, which is part of the federation’s 2022-2026 strategic plan entitled Skating for Everyone. I got in touch with Elladj Baldé, an ambassador of the working group who has been at the forefront of the anti-racism discourse in figure skating. In my conversation with Elladj, he shared that the central catalyst for the conversations around systemic racism had been the murder of George Floyd in 2020. ‘After that happened, a few of us skaters got together and just started sharing our experiences, and realized that a lot of us had had very similar experiences- whether we were from Canada, US, Australia, UK, South Africa.’ The aim, he said, was to ‘create a group that would, especially at the time, hold national support organizations accountable for, you know, the things that they were saying they wanted to do. And I know Skate Canada and US Figure Skating had put out statements that they support the black community and all this and that. But we felt like the actions weren’t there to back anything up. And so we created this organization called Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance, and Asher Hill made these 6 calls to actions and started to communicate with the national sport organizations.’
Following this, Skate Canada decided to set up the EDIA operating committee with the aim of change in numerous aspects of the sport. Elladj had been in contact with Tina Chen, scholar at the University of Manitoba and coach at Skate Winnipeg, and suggested that the federation bring her in as an expert and member. Being a scholar of anti-racism, anti-colonialism and gender diversity discourses, Tina has since been an integral part of what she described as the ‘ongoing learning’ which is at the forefront of Skate Canada’s vision: ‘the idea that it’s really only through that collective learning that we’re all going to come to a place where we can continue to advance the work and seeing it as a continuous set of projects. And so not just a list of things that need to be done. And I’m really excited for the skating community. This has meant that we think about whose voices are we listening to? What do we need to learn? How do we always have to think in new ways? And then what kind of learning do we need to take out to the skating community? So whether that’s embedding new learning into the coaching training, into officials training – all of that is happening in an embedded way as well as having a specialized focus. I think that’s really the only way that any of this actually transforms anything. Otherwise it just becomes a series of discrete projects.’
It was also significant that the working group came into existence right at the beginning of a new Olympic cycle, and at a time where there was therefore a fresh opportunity to rethink and rework the strategies and goals that the federation could work on over the next quadrennial. And since then, Skate Canada has pushed for various changes to happen, such as redefining a team to two skaters instead of the man/woman binary, opening up a space for greater gender inclusivity, and more broadly, asking the question of how to provide support and mentorship for systemically marginalized individuals and communities.
Within this project, ‘the question and issue of cultural appropriation or cultural appreciation has been very much a topic of discussion from early on,’ Tina shared, echoing Elladj’s words. ‘And not surprisingly, because the working group came out of the Black Lives Matter movement, really […] and so I think – particularly in Canada – but globally, a lot of people were thinking about how cultural appropriation works in that. So early on in the work of the EDIA working group, we probably spent three or four months at least [on the subject], and our group at the time was meeting weekly. We were reading a lot. We were watching a lot of skating. We were reflecting with each other in a way that we also felt that we could be honest with each other and learn together.’
Tina equally underscored that a key feature and asset of the conversation was that it consisted of a plethora of voices from various backgrounds, from former skaters such as Elladj, to scholars and coaches like herself, through to choreographers and officials: an array of people, then, who could talk about the ‘different ways that they understood the impact, and people with also a range of lived experiences and personal identities. And we’re all like let’s learn together.’
She went on to highlight the interesting dynamic of what she calls the way in which ‘everyone’s racisms are a little different’, depending on a wide array of factors such as the society in which they construct their belief systems. ‘I think [these different biases] actually show up in skating,’ she commented. ‘And you know, different comfort with what they all think is OK and also what people think is beyond the edge. I think it’s really interesting to think about how racial representations get taken up in different national contexts, and recognizing that even though shared representations are circulating, often at the same competition or internationally or in the dance realm, they don’t draw up the exact same logics or meanings.’
It is of course important to acknowledge that these caricatures of culture are not specific to Western performances; skaters of colour have, for example, put out programs which feed into these Orientalist models of choreography and representation. Yet equally crucial is to comprehend that, as Phil says, such ‘visions of the Orient definitely were imported from Europe. So these are […] trying to fit into a Eurocentric form of what these other Asian cultures look like.’ As such, the process of sensitisation to the ideas of Orientalism and appropriation does not possess a one-size-fits-all structure, and applies differently to different communities and regions.
Moving from a national to global scale and responding to criticism
Elladj also commented on the differences between opening up and continuing the conversation on a national and international level in his work. ‘I want to say Skate Canada is very open, but I know that on an international level, things move a lot slower because […] you don’t deal with just one country or one community or one organization wanting to move a certain way: you’re dealing with dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of federations,’ he stated. ‘And everybody sees the world differently. Everybody has different values. Everyone’s experiences are different. And so at that point, I understand the complexity of it, and I understand it takes time to get people on board in order to move in a direction that is different or foreign to what this sport has been used to for, you know, decades and decades and decades, if not centuries. So there is definitely a difference. I don’t have any experience with specific other national sport organizations – the only one I’m familiar with is Skate Canada – but I do understand that on an international level it will move more slow, but I also know that there are going to be a lot of federations that are going to push back.’
Faced with this potential ‘push back’ from different federations in response to the call for change, Elladj stressed that ‘that’s why it’s important for us as a community, whoever is speaking, to continue to speak, to continue to apply pressure. But I also understand that taking the approach of bashing and hitting and shaming is also not going to create any change any faster, because then it creates even more resistance from the people on the other hand. So it’s a very delicate approach, but I feel like a lot of people in the community are doing it well.’
I felt a lot of skaters and friends come to me and share how much they’ve been ignorant to certain situations. And I’ve seen them do the work.
Like Phil’s experience with the responses to Final Bow for Yellowface, the potential for backlash is one that has been a byproduct of the EDIA project and the wider conversations accompanying it since its conception. ‘At the very, very beginning […] a lot of people started to argue well, why should we focus on racism when there’s many other places in our society and in our sport where things need change,’ Elladj reflected. ‘But we felt like at the time, especially with what was going on with the world, that racism was the most important avenue to start creating shifts. And I think once people started to see that systemic racism is a real thing… Because I think up to a certain point, a lot of people said, yeah, well, you know, racism, if you don’t experience it like, directly – someone calling you something or someone saying something about your skin – then it’s not really there. And so I think a lot of people started to realize that it’s deeply embedded in our society and in the system; a lot of people started to understand that, OK, this is a place that needs change.’
Since these first moments, criticism has died down significantly: ‘I’ve felt the opposite: a lot of support from the community, and a lot of people understanding the importance of it, and wanting to be a part of it, especially non-skaters of color. I felt a lot of skaters and friends come to me and share how much they’ve been ignorant to certain situations. And I’ve seen them do the work. I’ve seen them turn inwards and start to look at their own relationship with racism and systemic racism. And I’ve actually seen a lot of people shift in really beautiful ways.’
‘One of the things that I think is really exciting is the number of people who in many ways have kind of gone, finally,’ Tina said. ‘They’re like, I’ve been waiting for someone to take a leadership role in this. I’ve been waiting for Skate Canada to make changes. I need to see these changes. And so I also think that there’s a lot of enthusiasm.’
For Phil’s project, a key milestone was establishing a pledge to be signed by dance companies internationally to stop placing harmful, caricatured representations on the ballet stage. With regards to figure skating, a similar yet differential approach is the most effective, Tina said: ‘For now, we’re not moving to a pledge in the skating world, but using slightly different approaches with the same goals in mind. The goals of fostering thoughtful engagement with their creative process.’ The crux is an ongoing, cross-discourse between skating and dance, for ‘so many of us choreograph, build, think through skating relative to the dance world. Change is happening there. Hopefully there will also be changes happening in the skating world and vice versa.’
And just like the ever-expanding impact of Phil’s projects, Skate Canada’s visions and changes have begun to reverberate outwards and push other associations to take a similar initiative. A key example is Skate Canada’s decision to rename the Mohawk and Choctaw skating steps to the C-step and S-step respectively: Skate Ukraine’s website now reads the same, and USFS has been working on making similar changes. ‘We are seeing many people reach out to ask what we’re doing, how it’s working,’ Tina said, ‘So I’m really happy to be engaged in those conversations, to try and see what the collective work can be beyond Skate Canada and national organizations. So that’s I think promising for the future of skating.’
Tackling a systemic issue, and the matter of judging
An essential facet of the problems which I was trying to delve into was the fact that it was inarguably and inherently a systemic problem, which stemmed from a long history of orientalising and appropriating representations on stage and on the ice. Change, therefore, needs to be enacted on the level of the skating system. Tina said of the Skate Canada EDIA approach that it emphasizes how ‘this work is important and needs to be folded into the training, rather than something that is separate’, highlighting that learning about cultural appropriation is now being incorporated into regional-level coach training in Canada.
The working group, through Skate Canada, has equally been running a community of practice, of which several sessions have invited officials to both speak and attend, and thus involve them in the discussions. ‘They can speak from their perspective about what […] it mean[s] to even be on the stand as well, and to be uncomfortable with what you see out there, but you’re still asked to judge,’ Tina explained. ‘And you know, sort of thinking through that, and also how would you give feedback? So if you’re in a monitoring situation, how might you ask about the creative process, not to judge immediately, but to say, Tell me more about how you came about to this program, about either the music choices, the style of movement, the costuming. And I think one of the big messages that we’re also trying to get out there is that we should all also be OK if somebody says to us, tell me about your creative process, that we shouldn’t be defensive in that, and that we should think about this in a range of ways that also can include thinking about how we position athletes.’
Elladj similarly highlighted the problematic nature of the foundations which the discipline of figure skating has been grounded upon for centuries. The onus, then, is not placed simply on the judges themselves, as ‘the system hasn’t created a way for judges to get educated enough in order to judge certain styles effectively’. He also foregrounded the limitations inherent in asking people to judge what they were not necessarily experts in: an issue that had surfaced in the 2022 Olympics Rhythm Dance, where the teams were given the theme of “street dance” for the season.
During the event, Elladj had posted a video on Instagram about his frustrations with what he had seen, saying of France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron’s performance that ‘You can clearly see that they studied it, that they educated themselves on it. They really did everything so that they could pay tribute to it in a way that is meaningful to them, and that’s going to show their appreciation of whacking.’ Yet both the theme and the way in which many other teams had approached it was problematic: ‘In an environment like figure skating where there isn’t a lot of education on what these dance styles look like or how they should be performed, it could easily lead to an appropriation or misinterpretation of a culture.’
Looking back two and a half years later on what his thoughts had been at that moment, Elladj explained to me that ‘within the sport of figure skating, we’ve used different styles of dance or music to express ourselves. But in a lot of ways it’s forced upon us, especially in ice dance […] there’s a theme, and everybody has to do it. Even though a lot of people might not be educated on it, might not actually know the style or even enjoy the style, but then they have to do it. And so I feel like that inability to have flexibility and being forced to do a certain style, I think hinders the sport in a lot of ways. To me, I truly believe that in order to authentically move through a program that has a certain style and for it to be respected and represented in the right way, there needs to be education and study done within that style and with that genre and I don’t think enough of it is being done in our sport of figure skating. I think we saw that a lot at the Olympics with the “street” style dance that they called it – which I think the term also is not maybe the right one.’
Why not, then, include the opinions of individuals who could voice a more informed opinion on what teams put forward in the rink? ‘I’ve been seeing it for a long time […] especially in ice dance – if there’s going to be a certain style that is being represented or being used in order to skate, there should be someone who has an expertise on that style in order for them to be able to be part of the judging panel,’ Elladj said. ‘And authentically say yes, no, you know, maybe not as much, and be able to differentiate the authenticity of a piece. But I also think that should be the case in singles and pairs, obviously there’s not a specific style that you have to perform, but someone who is well versed in movement, educated in how all the different types of using body and using movement in order to convey a story or a style authentically, someone who has an expertise in that should be on the panel. Because how else can you judge the artistic component, if there isn’t an education on what the artisticness of this piece is communicating to you?’
In Banishing Orientalism, Phil writes about the notion of generational change, and how deconstructing ballet’s ties to the Eurocentric standpoint from which it was born is inherently a long-term project. Elladj furthermore underscored that it takes not only time, but equally, and perhaps more importantly, a ‘willingness for it to change’ and a refusal for complacency to set in: ‘We can speak on these things […] but if within the system there isn’t an openness to want to move in that direction, then that resistance just creates that much more space between what it is and where it can be.’
Moving forward: changing the discourse
The notion of a creative process
A useful framework for thinking about how we can begin creating programs which are authentic, researched, and well-intentioned has been put forward by Skate Canada, in what it calls the “creative process”. Through the development of this idea of a creative process, the team has constructed a document comprising questions which can be used as guidance when crafting a program. The document breaks down the creative process into interlinked sections such as “Acknowledging implicit bias”, and “Context and meaning of the music”, and thus encourages individuals to take time to reflect on their reasoning for gravitating towards a certain style of music, choreography, or costume.
Tina shared that she asks similar questions to the skaters who she coaches or choreographs for, even if they are not competing internationally or on the podium pathway. ‘I talk to them and I say OK, if you want to pick this piece of music, what are the things we should think about, or I say, what does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? Is this a good choice for us?’ The creative process document thus becomes innately collaborative and discursive, involving the contribution of people ranging from coaches and officials to the parents of skaters.
‘If you keep going through these questions and answering questions with no, I don’t have the time or resources, then we encourage you to consider maybe now’s not the time for that piece of music and not to say to anyone, never. But maybe now’s not the time,’ Tina told me. ‘If you don’t have time or you don’t have the knowledge, just asking yourself questions like where are you looking for inspiration? can be a good first step.’ She went on to add that even acts as simple as Googling the lyrics or researching the possible controversies associated with the piece are often overlooked in the moment, but doing so would help skaters and their teams understand the context upon which they build their program, and be ready to explain their music choices if prompted to do so.
Making an appropriate program
Tara Prasad, a women’s singles skater representing India, outlined a case where a young skater had been given a ‘wildly inappropriate’ Indian song by their team, ‘not because they knew what it was and still gave it to them, but because they didn’t take the time to research the lyrics.’ She equally foregrounded the double standard which exists regarding approaches to western- and Indian-style programs, and expressed the desire to see the same effort and consideration invested in both. ‘There is no question of the capability of choreographers and the time they spent putting into those creations. So if that is possible, when someone does not research the meaning behind Indian music and puts the same stereotypical dance movements with no variety, it seems like our music isn’t worth the time and respect that they give those intricate contemporary western pieces.’ The heterogeneity of her country’s music should moreover be reflected on the ice, she said: ‘Indian music is so much more than Hindi. There are various languages in India with many different songs. For example, I used a Tamil song ‘Adheera’ in my exhibition last year, because Tamil is my mother tongue. India is very diverse and it’s important to celebrate that.’
In response to my question about how he would like to see a skater approach a program inspired by a culture which wasn’t their own, Phil said that ‘you could do something completely abstract to a piece of music, that has nothing to do with the culture. So, say I was inspired by Japanese taiko drums: as long as I’m not dressed as a sushi chef, maybe that’s OK. But if I wanted to be inspired by Kabuki […] maybe I hire a Japanese choreographer, I collaborate with someone from that culture to get it right, and I use it as an opportunity to educate people: oh this is a beautiful form, this is a way to show it in a different way on ice. And you actually work with someone from that culture who has skin in the game and understands the ramifications if you get it wrong, and will not use their own culture in a negative stereotyped way, because they ultimately have to pay the price when they leave the skating arena. So I think it’s an opportunity to collaborate with someone that’s different, and that’s when you get innovation, that’s when you get new things that push the boundary of what’s possible. So I would suggest people don’t shy away from that, but actually lean into that potential. I know there’s a lot of conversation in Canada about bringing First Nation choreographers into choreography as well, which is great! That’s who lives there, that’s who should be getting the opportunities, who should be telling stories. And to make room for them too is powerful and the work we need to do to build equity in the larger field.’
‘The food tastes better when you share it’: a question of collaboration
Through each of the conversations I had with these individuals, what was stressed was that, contrary to frequent criticisms of the notion of cultural appropriation, the objective was not to deter people from interacting with different cultures and styles of music and dance. The crux of it all was, as Phil succinctly put it, to move beyond ‘caricature’ towards ‘character’, and to shift the discourse in order for it to be defined in terms of respect and collaboration. ‘Culture is meant to be shared,’ he said. ‘I have my own experience where I was teaching a room full of students, interns, and someone mentioned African dance: being really not comfortable with people who are not black studying African dance, because it’s not their culture. And I said, well then how are they gonna learn, […] how are they gonna see with more humanity if you don’t let anybody in, if you don’t share culture? The food tastes better when you share it, right? I think as long as you’re using someone else’s culture as a guest, with the same care you would give your own representation of your own heritage – if you can give that same respect to someone else’s heritage that you work with your own – there are no limits with what we can tell story-wise.’
Similarly, Elladj stated that he wouldn’t ‘ever want people to stop sharing or expressing themselves in an art form that is authentic to something else, because I find it so beautiful to see someone who has a connection to that part, and then find a way to interpret it authentically, but also in their own way, in their own voices and their own styles of moving […] there’s beauty in that as well.’ He had been impressed with Swiss men’s singles skater Lukas Britschgi’s 23/24 Free Skate program which was inspired by African music and movement, commenting on the passion and connection which the the skater had shown for the place, and adding that the music, motions and costume had all reflected the time invested into the creation of the program.
Lukas himself explained the process behind creating his program, sharing that he had been to and spent time in countries such as South Africa and Namibia several times and had loved the experience; the idea of paying homage to his travels had already occurred to him several seasons ago, but he had felt that he wasn’t ready to do so. The basis of the program’s choreography had been constructed with Adam Solya, after which Lukas worked with a dance teacher educated in Afro dance, and reached out to someone with African heritage when developing his costume. ‘In the beginning I was a bit worried about the reaction from the people, because it is a program with many elements from a different culture,’ he said. But the audience feedback was positive, and people from the region had expressed their appreciation of his performance. ‘I really appreciate their support and I feel honored that I could skate and perform to such a program.’
The potential of choreography to showcase diverse identities
All of this reminds us of the power of figure skating as fundamentally a means for expression and self-expression on the ice, and for skaters to put out performances and stories which showcase who they are not only as athletes, but as people. Hannah Dabees, who is the first skater to represent Egypt in an international ISU competition, is skating to a cover of ‘Enta Omri’ this season: a famous piece by Umm Kulthum, a national and international icon and prominent Egyptian singer of the 20th century. She highlighted the thought that had gone behind the costume and choreography, and the importance of authentically expressing her culture. In both ballet and skating, an abstracted vision of Arabic culture and dance have long been prevalent – one needs only to think back to works like La Bayadère, or even the ballet position of the arabesque.
Dabees commented on observing other skaters performing to Middle Eastern pieces and carrying out stereotyped movements which did not accurately reflect the music or culture. She brings an important perspective to the ice, and underscored her desire to bring an authentic representation to the sport: ‘I studied a lot of film[s] of Arabic dance and the meanings of the song I chose. I shared some selected dance moves with Marina Zoueva and her choreography team and they worked with me through an iterative process between skating elements and incorporating authentic dance moves into my program.’
Yet this idea of using the ice as a platform to showcase one’s identity can equally become complex, especially in the Olympic years, which raise the stakes of what each skater’s program represents. Tina spoke of what she terms ‘self-Orientalism’ manifesting especially in such seasons. ‘Whether it’s Asian-American, Asian-Canadians: Asians in the diaspora, their desire to pick so-called Asian-style music in certain years. That kind of tension between what I think is a desire to really claim the space to show who they are and then also the way that sits in tension with representing yourself as others expect to see you. Because most go to pretty used pieces,’ she said. ‘They tend to go back to the same ones and often ones that aren’t actually Asian music’, she observed: works such as Memoirs of a Geisha or Madama Butterfly come to mind. Do we really need to fall back on these trite narratives by default, or could there be novel, subversive stories to tell on the ice?
The emphases on collaboration, communication and collective learning that arose from my conversations all highlighted that the shift from appropriation to appreciation, and from caricature to character, is not about finger-pointing, and even less about imposing restrictions on the choices available to skaters. Rather, it is a call to rework and redefine the ways in which music, costumes and choreography are all used in programs to make space for creative approaches to popular pieces, alongside the introduction of new music. And it is ultimately, above all, a reminder of the powerful capacity of figure skating to tell stories through movement, and the importance of doing so through approaches that authentically celebrate all the individuals involved, from the athlete to their choreographers, the composers of the music, and the culture and communities which have brought it to life.
More information on some of the people involved with Skate Canada’s ‘Skating for Everyone’ strategic plan:
Elladj Baldé is a former men’s singles skater. He is an EDIA ambassador, the co-founder of the Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance, and co-founder of the Skate Global Foundation. His projects are organised by three pillars of EDI, mental health, and climate crisis, and he has been working to break down the systemic barriers preventing skaters of colour from accessing skating. Some key projects he has done are collaborating with a construction company to refurbish an outdoor rink in an underserved community, donating skates to a community in Calgary to enable children to get into hockey or skating for free, and funding skaters of colour to help them continue to train in a notoriously expensive sport.
Tina Chen is a member of the EDIA operating committee and Vice-Provost (Equity) of the University of Manitoba, as well as a coach at Skate Winnipeg. She also works as a historian, publishing studies of Asian anti-colonial, anti-racist, and feminist histories.
Phil Chan is a dancer, choreographer, co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, and president of the Gold Standard Arts Foundation. He is the author of Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing between Intention and Impact (2020), Reimagining the Ballet des Porcelaines: A Tale of Magic, Desire, and Exotic Entanglement (2022), and more recently, Banishing Orientalism: Dancing between Exotic and Familiar (2023). His project 10,000 dreams foregrounds the work of Asian and Asian-American artists, and he creates reimagining of traditionally Orientalist ballets. He is currently doing a pipeline study looking at the places where Asian Americans have historically not received equal opportunities, and a pilot program based on data to address this. His long term goals are to not ‘be seen as an Orientalist problem solver, but just as an Asian director. I don’t want to be seen as an Asian choreographer, I want to be seen as a great American choreographer or just a choreographer, without these extra boxes. And I want to be on the program not because I need to fill some token slot: oh we need to have an Asian on the program, but because my work is good enough to be there’.
Subscribe to our Patreon to support our work and get access to the interviews!
One Reply to “Appropriate or Appropriation? The Question of Culture and Choreography in Figure Skating”
Hannah Dabees’ performance beautifully celebrates culture and identity, bringing authenticity and artistry to the ice!