Ski ballet is a form of ballet performed on skis. It is very similar to figure skating, combining spins, jumps, and flips in a two-minute routine choreographed to music. It was part of the professional freestyle skiing tours of the 1970s and 1980s and then an official

FIS FIS or fis may refer to: Science and technology * '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene * Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics * F♯ (musical note) * Flight information service, an air traffic control service * Frame Information Structure, a ...

and Olympic discipline until the year 2000. Ski ballet became known as Acroski in the 1990s in an effort to legitimize its place among the competitive ski community, especially to the FIS. It is no longer a part of competitive

freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, Mogul Skiing, moguls, Ski Cross, cross, Half-pipe skiing, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics. It can consist of a ...

Overview

Ski ballet involved a choreographed routine of flips, rolls, leg crossings, jumps, and spins performed on a smooth slope. After the mid-1970s, the routine was performed to music for 90 seconds. For a short period of time (in the 1980s), there were also pair ballet competitions, a variation of ballet where two people performed tricks that not only included spins, jumps, and leg crossing, but also lifts and synchronic movements. A panel of judges scored the performance similarly to figure skating.

Notable athletes

Suzy Chaffee

Following her ski-racing career,

Suzy Chaffee Suzy may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Suzy'' (film), a 1936 film starring Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone and Cary Grant * "Suzy" (Fool's Garden song), a song by German pop band Fool's Garden * "Suzy", a song by French electro swing band Car ...

modelled in New York with Ford Models and then became the pre-eminent

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

ballet skier of the early 1970s. She is perhaps best known by the nickname, ''Suzy Chapstick'', from the 1970s, when she was a spokesperson for ChapStick lip balm.

Genia Fuller

At the 1974 Freestyle Championship, Genia Fuller was the first person ever to win all four disciplines at one event (aerials, moguls, ballet, and combined). With a background in figure skating, she finished second in her first national junior freestyle contest at age 16. Unlike other competitors, she performed ski ballet without ski poles.

Lane Spina

Lane Spina Lane Spina (born 3 January 1962) is an American freestyle skier who won two medals in demonstration events of the Olympic Games; at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada and the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. He also won the ...

won medals both times the discipline was held as an Olympic demonstration event; during the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

in Calgary, Canada and the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

in Albertville, France.

Rune Kristiansen

Rune Kristiansen Rune Kristiansen (born 30 July 1964) is a Norwegian freestyle skier. He represented the club Christiania Freestyleklubb. He won a gold medal in ballet at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 1995, and had a total of 54 world cup victories th ...

won a gold medal in ballet at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 1995, and had a total of 38 World Cup victories throughout his career. He competed at the

in ski ballet, which was a demonstration event. He was Norwegian champion in ballet in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993.

George Fuehrmeier

George Fuehrmeier competed in ski ballet during 1985. He gained popularity after a video of his routine was circulated on the Internet during the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Richard Schabl

Richard Schabl was the FIS World Champion of 1986, and was considered the ultimate world champ. During his successful career as a freestyle skier, he invented the one handed pole flip and created many maneuvers that have revolutionized Freestyle Skiing.

Olympic demonstration sport

Ski ballet was a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

. The sport has significantly declined in popularity in recent years due to the fact that it did not become an Olympic sport. The

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

ceased all formal competition of ski ballet after 2000.

References

{{Skiing 1960s in sports Freestyle skiing Types of skiing Former Winter Olympic sports