Winter Olympics: The inspiration behind figure skating routines

Figure skating offers a perfect blend of artistry and athleticism. Skaters are judged on their ability to perform and tell a story with their routine, as well as technical elements like lifts, jumps and spins.

It’s no surprise then that they’ve often reached for well-known songs and pop culture references to help get the audience and judges on side. From Beyoncé to Swan Lake, Eurovision entries to AC/DC, there’s something to intrigue everyone.

At the 2022 Olympics, British ice dancers Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson picked music from the rock band Kiss and The Lion King soundtrack for their two performances.

BBC Bitesize takes a look at some of the musical inspirations for some of figure skating's most famous performances.

Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya skates in front of the Olympic rings. She is wearing a bright red dress and is in a spinning position, arms close to her chest and her back bent backwards in an arch. — Image caption,
Yulia Lipnitskaya became the youngest Winter Olympic gold medallist in figure skating for 78 years in 2014

The iconic girl in the red coat

One of the defining moments of the 2014 Olympics has to be Yulia Lipnitskaya’s standout performance in the figure skating team event. At the age of just 15, Yulia stunned the world with her performance to John Williams’ score for the film Schindler’s List, which has been used by figure skaters both before and since.

This historical drama tells the story of Oskar Schindler’s attempt to save the lives of Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, and is shot predominantly in black and white. The one spot of colour in the film is a bright red coat worn by a young girl, which Yulia references in her choice of costume.

Her performance has racked up an amazing 19 million views on YouTube, and she subsequently appeared on the front cover of Time magazine. However, some people did question the appropriateness of using music from a film which focuses on the Holocaust to provide entertainment.

Russian figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva wears a Sailor Moon costume of a long blonde wig, in pigtails, a white top, blue skirt, white gloves and red detailing. — Image caption,
Evgenia Medvedeva dressed as the character Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon)

Bringing anime to life on ice

A two-time Olympic silver medallist and former world champion, Russian figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva has never hidden her love of anime. Evgenia holds a particular fondness for the fantasy anime series Sailor Moon, and has been pictured holding a plushy of Luna (a talking cat who advises other characters) while awaiting results at competition.

In 2017, she performed an exhibition skate to the show’s theme tune at the Tokyo World Trophy. Singing along to the words, Evgenia made use of props and even managed to include an on-ice transformation from schoolgirl to superhero. Now retired from competitive skating, she will play the role of Sailor Moon in an upcoming ice show.

Evgenia has also cosplayed as a character from Yuri on Ice, a Japanese sports anime which focuses on the world of figure skating. At the 2018 Olympics, the Japanese pair of Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara skated to a song from the show, to both fans’ and one of the co-creator’s delight.

Looking to the stage

At the 2022 Olympics, Russian figure skater Mark Kondratiuk skated to a medley of songs from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. But he certainly wasn't the first to turn to a musical for ideas.

Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir stole the show at the 2018 Olympics with their gold medal-winning skate to the soundtrack of the musical Moulin Rouge, mixing together El Tango de Roxanne, Come What May and The Show Must Go On. It caught the attention of director Baz Luhrmann, who offered his own congratulations, and it sent the album soaring up the charts.

But Virtue and Moir weren’t the only skaters to seek inspiration from Moulin Rouge that year. Skaters from the US, Australia and the Philippines also chose to use elements of this movie musical’s soundtrack.

Another skater who has taken inspiration from musical theatre is Jason Brown, from the US. Having previously wowed crowds in 2014 with a routine set to the music of Riverdance (an Irish dancing theatrical show), in the 2017-18 season he picked a song from the phenomenon that is Hamilton: An American Musical. Jason is a long time fan of the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who had previously tweeted his interest in seeing a figure skater perform to the musical’s score.

Older musicals have also had their moment in the figure skating spotlight. At the 2010 Olympics, US ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White chose to use a medley of songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, on their way to winning the silver medal.

The finale to the 2018 Olympics finished on a poignant note, with skaters from across the world doing a group performance to This Is Me from The Greatest Showman, an empowering anthem which encourages self-acceptance.

Scouring the charts

Following the 2014 Olympics, the rules of figure skating were tweaked to allow all disciplines to skate to songs with lyrics. Previously, only ice dancers had been able to do so.

Skaters fully embraced this change and the 2018 Olympics saw routines set to songs from Coldplay, AC/DC, Adele, The Beatles and many more. French skater Maé-Bérénice Méité performed to a medley of Beyoncé hits, and chose to wear a sparkly bodysuit instead of the usual skirt.