Top 10 Tatsuki Machida self-choreographed programs
The audience applauds for at least 3 minutes with no interruptions. Today, he’s not the 6th Japanese guy and he’s not the almost World Champion. He introduces himself as Tatsuki Machida. And that is enough.
Tatsuki Machida always saw figure skating as a performing art. A quadruple jump could be a piece of art in itself. It was important for him to use his technical capacity to imagine and create. In order to give a good performance, he wanted to understand the culture, to study the music and even the composer’s life. He saw figure skating as belonging in the same category as ballet or dance.
His skating style has always been described as “larger than life”, “dramatic”, “grand”, and even “regal”. it wasn’t even a “style”; his own personality could be described like that. He was the one who would pay attention to his “airport fashion”, as well as buying new books to read on the road to his competitions. It used to be a pleasure for reporters and fans to follow him around and relish in his quotes.
He was never afraid to be himself, never afraid to express his opinions and own up to them. And it showed in his skating; watching him, you feel like you need to stop everything you’re doing and give him your undivided attention. He captivates you and takes you along on his journey. In his self-choreographed works, he has made a lot of experiments. He experimented with the length of the program, he experimented with art direction, and he experimented with playing characters and sharing pages of his personal life. He placed figure skating where he thought it belonged; at the intersection between art and sport.
In the following paragraphs, I will break down and analyze the essential elements of his work, all the while supplementing them with Tatsuki’s own thoughts. I invite you to revisit his programs and discover the rich details that lie in layers of uniqueness.
Tatsuki Machida, thank you for everything.