The sublime and the ridiculous in Vancouver.

I’ve always loved figure skating.  I remember watching the Battle of the Brians in 1988 (I was 10).  I’ve never been a fan of ice dancing until I saw Canadian skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir; I’m staying up past my bedtime to watch them go for gold tonight. 

One of the highlights of skating is the costumes.  Last night there was the gorgeous:

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir:


Tasteful and elegant, and fit the character of their Spanish flamenco perfectly.  The full red skirt looked fabulous on the ice too.  I kinda want a dress like that, but with a shorter skirt.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White:
 
Again, tasteful and elegant.

Then there was the the ridiculous...

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from last week:

They skated to “Send in the Clowns”.  Yeah, I get it, they’re clowns.

...and the purely horrific.

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin:



What else is to be said? Not only was their “aboriginal” dance culturally insensitive and offensive (even though a Canadian aboriginal elder reached out to them), their costumes were the ugliest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been watching figure skating for over 20 years. And these were the toned-down versions!

But then again, if the there weren't such ridiculous costumes, I would have nothing to mock.