Still the MOST beautiful performance I've seen in over 40 years of watching skating. I so miss the ballet background in most of today's skaters. She has gorgeous hand/finger positions.
She was truly amazing. The gracefulness and feeling she puts into each performance is astounding for one so young. The most beautiful skating performance I have ever seen.
I remember this very well and how beautifully she skated. I was impressed by this program of all of them even though it was not in the competition. She was excellent in the SP and LP but this one, wow!
make NO mistake, this is one of the great skating performances in history. It was one said that Oksana doesn't even need to leave the ice; I agree. Scott Hamilton said, "Every so often a jewel is droppen into the lap of figure skating; Oksana is that jewel." Flawless!
After all these years I can see how superlative Oksana truly was & she raised the bar setting a new standard in how to approach classical skating. None since have been able to skate like her evidenced in every wooden attempt at Swan Lake that fails or falls short. Oksana defined the "ART" of skating & how important it is nobody remembers jumps. Its the artistry that make a program memorable. But technically Oksana was sound & very underrated. Watch Yu Na, Cohen,Seguri etc.fail at Swan Lake.
I admired the way she was careful to keep her arms expressive throughout her skating routines. In this routine, of course, she's imitating wings, so she has to keep them moving gracefully, but watch any of her performances and her arms move gracefully. Most skaters seem to forget that.
I saw this live and have never forgotten how exquisite she was. She was doing things that are commonplace now but no one was doing at the time. I wish she had been able to continue at this level, but without any kind of support system in place, she was bound to fall. I sincerely hope that she has been able to at least get her life together.
I still CAN NOT believe that this was a 16 year old skating of this elegance and beauty. She was 100% artistry, it was just too bad everything happened in the blink of an eye with her, I would have loved to have seen her compete in amateur skating after the 1994 Olympics. Almost as if the Gold was a curse in disguise... But what a gem in the history of the sport. One of the best programs IMO.
Overwhelmed in 1994 when i saw her for the first time performing her "swanlake" short program, i'm still astonished of the refinement of her style, which nobody moved that much ins uch a short. There is no comparable ice godess, and only "G&G" could get met to that same spiritual icy-level ever since. Mozart on ice.
Being a ballet dancer, it was a bit weird to watch this at first, knowing that the song came from a ballet in which that swan was actually dying. This was beautiful and a pleasure to watch :)
During the technical event judges undermarked Oksana on the artistic marks she deserved a 6.0.her lines, edges, carriage, speed, flow positions, choreography & balance had no rivals. Her spins spirals & footwork technically were the most complex. Judges wanted Nan to win. But there is a God & He used the accident to Baiul's advantage so that some of the judges would give her some RESPECT. She was the one doing the harder program which includes all elements--not just jumps done incorrectly.
She was my all-time favourit skater growing up and this was by far one of her most memorable routines. She was such a unique figure skater because of her ballet training and how she brought that to the ice. She really was a little ballerina and a very fragile girl. Her story is so sad and how she came to make herself known in the extremely competitive world of figure skating is very admirable.
She was perfect. But then she was still a teenager. The stars were aligned for her at that point. It pains me to know things went very south for her for a variety of reasons. Her body did not cooperate when she grew up. Her artistry was very special and will always be missed.
"The Swan", from "The Carnival of Animals" by Camille Saint-Saenz. It was not played until Saint-Saenz' death because he wanted to be remembered as a serious and not so emotional composer. Look for Ana Pavlova's famous number from the early 20th century. You will understand why people is complaning about Baiul's version. To me, it's fantastic.
FYI for everyone who thinks alcoholism burned oksana...in the summer of '94 she messed up her knee and had to have surgery. because of the financial strapping of UKR at the time, there was no money for her to remain amatuer so she turned pro and signed a multimillion $ contract to tour the USA. the doctor told her to stay off the ice for at least 2 months, she ignored him and was trainging again in 2 weeks. this and her growth spurt greatly hindered her jumping ability afterwards.
Nancy skated both the technical portion & the free skate with areas for deduction but none of the judges took these deductions because she had the sympathy vote working for her. During the technical portion Oksana was burned for a touchdown on her 3lutz combo despite that her 3 lutz was cleaner than the others who used the wrong edge which = bigger deduction. During the freeskate Oksana skated w/o deductions while Nancy didn't. Baiul edged by .10 pt. Her better all around skating was rewarded.
Oksana skated cleaner throughout both Olympic events. Technically she executed more complex, quality elements than Nan. This is the reason why some judges marked Oksana above Nan on the technical mark. Big athletic jumps got bonus pts. for execution. Its hard to jump big. Oksana was stronger on all round technical skills vs. Nan who offered a program of 5 jumps 2 in combo to win vs 5 big jumps which included the 3flip which Nan left out. Nan's other technical skills were weaker than Baiul's.
If you're actually a ballet dancer you should know this music is not from a ballet at all, but from a music suite. Any ballet-like performance or adaptation using this music has nothing to do with Saint-Saëns original work. He tried to picture the graceful movements of a swan, not "a swan dying". But anyway, I agree with you, this performance was just beautiful.
Very beautiful performance--actually better than she did it at the Olympics because she didn't pop the axel. Both this and her Olympic exhibition are skates for the ages.
What a beautiful artist! But does anyone have the original competition performance? This is the exhibition performance, in which some of her most delicate moves were slightly changed. I remember having tears in my eyes after watching that piece.
Wow, you're so good and very lucky to have the opportunity such as money to skate. You know what, I dreamt of being a ballerina or a figure skater before but that dream is impossible for my age doesn't fit anymore. As for now I am still a student at the age of 13. Wish I could learn skating or ballet if time and opportunity would let me.
I liked this performance better than her "gold medal winning" performance at the 94 Olympics. She does remind me of Sasha Cohen a little because of her dainty flexibility. Very pretty skating.
does anyone know where i can find the program where she has the knee brace on? to me that's the BEST swan performance (she seems to take her time more in that one)..
But if you're actually a ballet dancer you should know that this piece was famously choreographed for Anna Pavlova by Mikhail Fokine. Though you're right, not written for a ballet, per se.
In a way,Oksana Baiul was better than Nancy in terms of grace. But Nancy has some beauty of her own, but not an artistic beauty, because she was more technical than Oksana. Nancy was never known as an artistic skater anyway.
Tired of those who act like Kerrigan was a technical powerhouse. She did only 5 triples vs. Oksana' 5 which were more athletic. In 92 Kristi did 7 in combo. Technically Nan had weak spins, step sequence & weak spirals edges speed, positions, expression & choreography. Its all taken together. Nan skated with room for technical & artistic deductions Oksana didn't. Nan got judges sympathy Baiul & Harding= the only clean 3 lutz jumps in the event. Oksana outpointed her w/ better all around skills.
@mcbrion Sorry as much as i wasn't a Nancy Kerrigan fan the fact is Oksana was gifted in 1994. No combination jump and sloppy landings on her other jumps including a obvious two footed jump. Yes artistically Oksana was better but Nancy won hands down technically. Big surprise the swing judge was a german that formally represented east Germany. Jan Hoffman. During the cold war the eastern bloc would always vote for their skater and even after the cold war was over they screwed over an american.
Technique won't win the "artistic free skate portion" which demands 8 required artistic elements. This why Sato beat Bonaly @94 worlds. Oksana was better Nancy in all the areas that matters. Kerrigan's technique is Vastly overrated. Her elements had incorrect edges were a bit shaky. Technically Oksana was the better spinner & spiralist. You're entitled to your opinion. IMO Nan's beauty came from her regal packaging & she was often overscored because of it see 92 Olympics. I'm also a Kristi fan.
All Soviet satellite nation were annexed by military force. The republics had broken away. Oksana skated clean at worlds. Kerrigan never skated a clean performance in her entire career. Look her up on youtube. Everything is taken together. Nancy didn't win hands down technically. You are voicing the media explanation which was a sponsor of Nancy. In the free skate there were 3 judges who ranked Oksana above Nancy technically & artistically. Nancy hardly overwhelmed Oksana.
@mcbrion WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? You are so way off on dates and injuries! If you are going to make a judgement call on something like this, get it right!!!! 1986 is at least 6 years before either of those two met in competition. Oksana did not compete in the Worlds until 1993 were she took the title. Nancy competed at the Worlds where she placed as high as 2nd, never higher! AFA injury, Oksana had a cut on her upper shin that did nothing to impede her. She won everything she got!
Still the MOST beautiful performance I've seen in over 40 years of watching skating. I so miss the ballet background in most of today's skaters. She has gorgeous hand/finger positions.
i totally agree with you
She was truly amazing. The gracefulness and feeling she puts into each performance is astounding for one so young. The most beautiful skating performance I have ever seen.
The most beautiful performance on ice I've ever seen. Oskana skates as a dancer. I almost forgot she was ON skates and IS only 15!!! So beautiful.
None could move like Oksana. Unmatched grace & elegance.
Such artistry. After these many years, I still remember the impact this made, seeing it for the first time. Thank you Oksana, for this lovely memory.
Wow, that was superb. I have never seen such passion and grace on the ice.
I love her! She's amazing and captivating on ice and her ballerina style is what makes her unique and oh so elegant as a skater!
This is my all-time favourite Ladies skating piece. This was just spine-tingling and so beautiful, elegant and graceful.
Absolutely the best interpretation of the Dying Swan on ice. AMAZING!
she was absolutely flawless! Perhaps my favorite Oksana routine of all!
That was my favorite Oksana performance. Absolutely spellbinding.
Gives me goosebumps everytime! One of a kind.
Best skating performance of all time
This is the most beautiful piece ever in skate history imo
performance of a lifetime! i can't help but cry when i see this... breathtaking!
I will never forget this program. It's one of those skates that goes down in the history books!
I remember this very well and how beautifully she skated. I was impressed by this program of all of them even though it was not in the competition. She was excellent in the SP and LP but this one, wow!
Quite a stunningly beautiful performance! Your Mom would be very proud Oksana!!
This is the most beautiful ice skating I have ever seen even to date.
absolutely stunning
WOW! I don't think even my favorites Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan could make this program look like this! Only Oksana could do this.
My daughter's name is "Oxana" because of that performance. It is still magic !!
make NO mistake, this is one of the great skating performances in history. It was one said that Oksana doesn't even need to leave the ice; I agree. Scott Hamilton said, "Every so often a jewel is droppen into the lap of figure skating; Oksana is that jewel." Flawless!
After all these years I can see how superlative Oksana truly was & she raised the bar setting a new standard in how to approach classical skating. None since have been able to skate like her evidenced in every wooden attempt at Swan Lake that fails or falls short. Oksana defined the "ART" of skating & how important it is nobody remembers jumps. Its the artistry that make a program memorable. But technically Oksana was sound & very underrated. Watch Yu Na, Cohen,Seguri etc.fail at Swan Lake.
The guy screaming BRAVO! at the end brings tears to my eyes every single time!
No words worthy to express my feelings for this performance.
I admired the way she was careful to keep her arms expressive throughout her skating routines. In this routine, of course, she's imitating wings, so she has to keep them moving gracefully, but watch any of her performances and her arms move gracefully. Most skaters seem to forget that.
breathtaking performance
i remember watching this on tv as a little girl and just being mesmerized by how lovely she looked. thank you for posting.
オリンピックのエキシビションで一度見た限りのバイウルさんの演技がまた観れて最高です。
Simply unbeatable performance as swan.
OMG legendary performance!
Astounding. A beautiful graceful swan, Oksana. Unforgettable!! I get tingles every time I see this!
Breathless!❤
The BEST skate anywhere any time!
She is so great!!!
I saw this live and have never forgotten how exquisite she was. She was doing things that are commonplace now but no one was doing at the time. I wish she had been able to continue at this level, but without any kind of support system in place, she was bound to fall. I sincerely hope that she has been able to at least get her life together.
like something out of a dream .. she was made to be on the ice
So beautiful ❤
Thanks for putting this video on I still remember seeing her on tv it's one of those images embedded in my mind.
2022 and still the best performance ever. NJ.
She looks like a SAKURA－petal.Thank you so much.
I saw her perform this routine live, and I forgot to breathe - she was mesmerizing.
Magnificent.
i cried... what a classic girl, i looks like an angel.
Flawless.
I still CAN NOT believe that this was a 16 year old skating of this elegance and beauty.
She was 100% artistry, it was just too bad everything happened in the blink of an eye with her, I would have loved to have seen her compete in amateur skating after the 1994 Olympics. Almost as if the Gold was a curse in disguise...
But what a gem in the history of the sport. One of the best programs IMO.
beautiful and timeless
she's so cute skating her little heart out
Overwhelmed in 1994 when i saw her for the first time performing her "swanlake" short program, i'm still astonished of the refinement of her style, which nobody moved that much ins uch a short. There is no comparable ice godess, and only "G&G" could get met to that same spiritual icy-level ever since. Mozart on ice.
shes so fantastic
Being a ballet dancer, it was a bit weird to watch this at first, knowing that the song came from a ballet in which that swan was actually dying.
This was beautiful and a pleasure to watch :)
During the technical event judges undermarked Oksana on the artistic marks she deserved a 6.0.her lines, edges, carriage, speed, flow positions, choreography & balance had no rivals. Her spins spirals & footwork technically were the most complex. Judges wanted Nan to win. But there is a God & He used the accident to Baiul's advantage so that some of the judges would give her some RESPECT. She was the one doing the harder program which includes all elements--not just jumps done incorrectly.
She was the best at this time and even now artistically! I wish she would have stayed with it. She was so good!
She was my all-time favourit skater growing up and this was by far one of her most memorable routines. She was such a unique figure skater because of her ballet training and how she brought that to the ice. She really was a little ballerina and a very fragile girl. Her story is so sad and how she came to make herself known in the extremely competitive world of figure skating is very admirable.
She was perfect. But then she was still a teenager. The stars were aligned for her at that point. It pains me to know things went very south for her for a variety of reasons. Her body did not cooperate when she grew up.
Her artistry was very special and will always be missed.
still no one touches this
Not on ice.. only in ballet, legends Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya. See their Dying Swan. I think Oksana was watching them
She lost a single feather @2:44. How perfect. 😍
Exquisite!
I am a ballet lover and the Dying Swan performed by a legend Galina Ulanova was always my favorite, I think Oksana was watching Galina...
"The Swan", from "The Carnival of Animals" by Camille Saint-Saenz. It was not played until Saint-Saenz' death because he wanted to be remembered as a serious and not so emotional composer. Look for Ana Pavlova's famous number from the early 20th century. You will understand why people is complaning about Baiul's version. To me, it's fantastic.
WOW! You're sooooo lucky!
FYI for everyone who thinks alcoholism burned oksana...in the summer of '94 she messed up her knee and had to have surgery. because of the financial strapping of UKR at the time, there was no money for her to remain amatuer so she turned pro and signed a multimillion $ contract to tour the USA. the doctor told her to stay off the ice for at least 2 months, she ignored him and was trainging again in 2 weeks. this and her growth spurt greatly hindered her jumping ability afterwards.
Nancy skated both the technical portion & the free skate with areas for deduction but none of the judges took these deductions because she had the sympathy vote working for her. During the technical portion Oksana was burned for a touchdown on her 3lutz combo despite that her 3 lutz was cleaner than the others who used the wrong edge which = bigger deduction. During the freeskate Oksana skated w/o deductions while Nancy didn't. Baiul edged by .10 pt. Her better all around skating was rewarded.
Oksana skated cleaner throughout both Olympic events. Technically she executed more complex, quality elements than Nan. This is the reason why some judges marked Oksana above Nan on the technical mark. Big athletic jumps got bonus pts. for execution. Its hard to jump big. Oksana was stronger on all round technical skills vs. Nan who offered a program of 5 jumps 2 in combo to win vs 5 big jumps which included the 3flip which Nan left out. Nan's other technical skills were weaker than Baiul's.
If you're actually a ballet dancer you should know this music is not from a ballet at all, but from a music suite.
Any ballet-like performance or adaptation using this music has nothing to do with Saint-Saëns original work. He tried to picture the graceful movements of a swan, not "a swan dying".
But anyway, I agree with you, this performance was just beautiful.
Very beautiful performance--actually better than she did it at the Olympics because she didn't pop the axel. Both this and her Olympic exhibition are skates for the ages.
What a beautiful artist! But does anyone have the original competition performance? This is the exhibition performance, in which some of her most delicate moves were slightly changed. I remember having tears in my eyes after watching that piece.
Wow, you're so good and very lucky to have the opportunity such as money to skate. You know what, I dreamt of being a ballerina or a figure skater before but that dream is impossible for my age doesn't fit anymore. As for now I am still a student at the age of 13. Wish I could learn skating or ballet if time and opportunity would let me.
@eb641 And a lovely lady too. She is back to skating again and has been wonderful to my wannabe little girl. I have nothing but a raves for the lady.
💝⭐💝⭐
I liked this performance better than her "gold medal winning" performance at the 94 Olympics. She does remind me of Sasha Cohen a little because of her dainty flexibility. Very pretty skating.
This is the best I've seen. While I do like Johnny Weir as a skater, when he did The Swan, it was too emotionless.
Comparing Kerrigan's skate to Oksana is a waste of breath. Kerrigan is "so-so", Oksana is truly a ballerina on ice. What a lovely performance.
@cubomania3 GOD's beautiful child...just perfect.
Truly Swan
does anyone know where i can find the program where she has the knee brace on? to me that's the BEST swan performance (she seems to take her time more in that one)..
But if you're actually a ballet dancer you should know that this piece was famously choreographed for Anna Pavlova by Mikhail Fokine. Though you're right, not written for a ballet, per se.
In a way,Oksana Baiul was better than Nancy in terms of grace. But Nancy has some beauty of her own, but not an artistic beauty, because she was more technical than Oksana. Nancy was never known as an artistic skater anyway.
She seems so young...How old is she here?
What's the name of this song?
I meant 17 ;-P
Tired of those who act like Kerrigan was a technical powerhouse. She did only 5 triples vs. Oksana' 5 which were more athletic. In 92 Kristi did 7 in combo. Technically Nan had weak spins, step sequence & weak spirals edges speed, positions, expression & choreography. Its all taken together. Nan skated with room for technical & artistic deductions Oksana didn't. Nan got judges sympathy Baiul & Harding= the only clean 3 lutz jumps in the event. Oksana outpointed her w/ better all around skills.
Ya, people get this confused with "Swan Lake".
@mcbrion Sorry as much as i wasn't a Nancy Kerrigan fan the fact is Oksana was gifted in 1994. No combination jump and sloppy landings on her other jumps including a obvious two footed jump. Yes artistically Oksana was better but Nancy won hands down technically. Big surprise the swing judge was a german that formally represented east Germany. Jan Hoffman. During the cold war the eastern bloc would always vote for their skater and even after the cold war was over they screwed over an american.
Technique won't win the "artistic free skate portion" which demands 8 required artistic elements. This why Sato beat Bonaly @94 worlds. Oksana was better Nancy in all the areas that matters. Kerrigan's technique is Vastly overrated. Her elements had incorrect edges were a bit shaky. Technically Oksana was the better spinner & spiralist. You're entitled to your opinion. IMO Nan's beauty came from her regal packaging & she was often overscored because of it see 92 Olympics. I'm also a Kristi fan.
All Soviet satellite nation were annexed by military force. The republics had broken away. Oksana skated clean at worlds. Kerrigan never skated a clean performance in her entire career. Look her up on youtube. Everything is taken together. Nancy didn't win hands down technically. You are voicing the media explanation which was a sponsor of Nancy. In the free skate there were 3 judges who ranked Oksana above Nancy technically & artistically. Nancy hardly overwhelmed Oksana.
i think she was 16
LOL shes only 13! :-O
@mcbrion WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? You are so way off on dates and injuries! If you are going to make a judgement call on something like this, get it right!!!! 1986 is at least 6 years before either of those two met in competition. Oksana did not compete in the Worlds until 1993 were she took the title. Nancy competed at the Worlds where she placed as high as 2nd, never higher! AFA injury, Oksana had a cut on her upper shin that did nothing to impede her. She won everything she got!
i wont be surprise if she thinks she is not a swan....
sasha cohen is better