Though at its core it is movement set to music, figure skating sometimes feels far removed from the world of dance. Particularly during the Olympics, the intensity of competition makes the discipline appear more closely aligned with sport than art, with high technical scores taking priority. An escalating fixation on quadruple jumps, which are now effectively a prerequisite for male skaters and increasingly common for women, only reinforces this perception.
Yet over the years, many skaters have used dance artistry to elevate and refine their programs. The 1976 Olympic gold medalist John Curry incorporated ballet and modern dance influences; ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean set a new standard with their sensual and grounded performance at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. Michelle Kwan became renowned for her deeply expressive programs, her emotional skate to Eva Cassidy’s “Fields of Gold” at the 2002 Olympics being a particular highlight. More recently, at the 2018 Olympics, Nathan Chen shed his reputation as a quad machine with an elegant short program to Charles Aznavour’s La Bohème, revealing a softer, more vulnerable side to his skating.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates in their “Paint It Black” routine, choreographed by Antonio Navarro. Photo by International Skating Union, courtesy Navarro.
That kind of artistic spirit has been on notable display at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. On- and off-ice couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ dramatic free dance to a version of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” which earned the pair a silver medal, was a standout program. Telling the story of a bull and a matador, it featured flamenco-inspired skirt-ography, rhythmic body percussion, and intense facial expressions. And Alysa Liu’s short programwhich helped the U.S. win gold in the team competition, mesmerized with whipping spins, extended reaches, and intricate gestural details that perfectly captured the heartbreak and longing of Icelandic singer Laufey’s track “Promise.”
It seems we’re in a particularly fruitful era of artistic innovation in skating. What’s driving the current wave—and how might it shape the future of the sport?
When Dance Enters the Rink
A change to figure skating’s points system in 2004—introduced in the wake of a series of scoring scandals—helped give greater weight to artistry. (During this year’s Olympics, controversy around the scoring system has reignited, particularly in ice dancingdue to its perceived room for bias.) In the years since, it has become increasingly common for skaters to work with choreographers from the dance world, developing programs that translate a wide range of styles onto the ice.
Ever since working with French skaters Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat on a flamenco-inspired routine for the 2002 Olympic GamesSpanish choreographer Antonio Najarro has been inundated with calls from couples and singles skaters eager for his input. “It’s very special when you see two completely opposite energies come together,” says Najarro, who collaborated with Chock and Bates on their “Paint It Black” program.
Najarro (right) working with skater Javier Fernandez. Photo by Jose Antonio Gallego, courtesy Najarro.
Integrating distinct art forms in this way can give skating a broader cultural reach. Even though Najarro’s home country isn’t a big ice-skating nation—it has only a few rinks and small teams—“in Spain, everyone is talking about Madison and Evan’s program,” he says.
According to Sam Chouinard, a Canadian choreographer and dance coach at the Ice Academy of Montreal, and the creative mind behind now-retired Canadian skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s Moulin Rouge!–inspired program at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, this kind of artistic cross-pollination also helps skaters step up their game. “These bold moves are what push the sport forward,” he says.
Chouinard notes that smaller clubs often take inspiration from what bigger, more established teams are doing. “I think after the Olympics this season, a lot of people are going to come back home wanting to try something new, and to take dance classes,” he says.
Dancing at the Edge of the Rulebook
Creative choreography can be challenging within the rigid structures of figure skating, namely because skaters must include enough specific elements to earn points. There are also rules governing, for example, how long pairs can be apart without touching. “It’s so limiting,” says Chouinard, whose approach is to choreograph as if there are no rules at first, then refine the program to fit the regulations. Despite the difficulty, he says constraints are necessary for judging, and can even be a fun challenge.
For Najarro, the key is to take risks while still abiding by the rules. He says that today, many top skaters are willing to sacrifice a few technical points for the sake of a powerful artistic choice. That’s how you create “a truly memorable program,” he says. “People will never forget it.”
Skating Towards Legacy
This greater openness to artistic risk-taking may stem from the fact that, these days, more skaters are competing at older ages. Chock, for example, is 33 and Bates 36. Seasoned professionals may have more tools and a greater range of experiences to draw from when exploring emotional and artistic depths.
“I work with a lot of emotion, expression, and theatricality,” says Najarro. “Without maturity, it’s impossible.” Chouinard adds that as skaters approach retirement, a feeling of “What haven’t I done yet that I would like to?” emerges, making them more interested in new or different perspectives and approaches.
Perhaps it’s also a matter of legacy. “If you want to be remembered in the history of ice skating, you have to take risks,” says Najarro. Beyond securing points, “skaters have to think about what they want to show, what they can do differently, and the meaning behind their programs. They have to make us dream. Yes, it’s a competition, but it’s a performance, too.”
Choreographer Sam Chouinard (top) with Bates and Chock. Photo courtesy Chouinard.
Authenticity Starts in the Studio
While it’s thrilling to see skaters reference different dance styles, it can be difficult to represent a rich dance tradition authentically. To make sure they don’t reduce their chosen reference genre to caricature, skaters often spend extensive time in the studio with choreographers, absorbing the essence of a style before figuring out how it can work on ice.
That was the case for French skaters Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, whose choice to incorporate voguing into their rhythm dance program helped them earn a gold medal in Milan. Chouinard, who helped set the routine to new music when they changed it mid-season, explains that the pair originally immersed themselves in the genre by working with Brazilian choreographer Bieel Revlonwho specializes in the “arms control” category of voguing.
Chock and Bates also spent a lot of their time with Najarro in a dance studio working on hand gestures, coordination, and palmas—traditional rhythmical clapping sequences in flamenco. Najarro has always insisted that the skaters he collaborates with understand flamenco from the inside out. “I wanted them to feel the energy of flamenco, not just to copy me,” Najarro says. “My obsession is not losing that feeling on the ice.” He explains that if skaters tried flamenco movements on ice first, the dance wouldn’t be fully embodied and they would inevitably fall back on their natural tendencies.
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