Born of the counterculture hotdogging scene of the 1960s and 70s, ski ballet is the epitome of when freestyle skiing was truly that - free - and the apotheosis of skiing as a form of interpretive art. A romance of alpine skiing, ballet, acrobatics, musicality, and figure skating, it combines the grace of dancing on snow, with awe-inspiring spins, flips, and ski control.
BALLET’S BACK
ANNIKA JOHANSSON
FABRICE BECKER
In 1992, Annika Johansson and Fabrice Becker were both competing in their first Winter Olympics at Albertville, France. This was the second and final Winter Olympics at which ski ballet would feature as a demonstration sport, as one of the three freestyle skiing events, which also included moguls and aerials. Annika took home 5th place, and Fabrice won the gold medal. Both exhibited breathtaking grace, skill, and artistry, with their respective runs, and they each went on to dominate the sport during the 1990s.
Yet, only two years later at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway, ski ballet was gone. The IOC was seemingly disinterested in attempting to codify the interpretive beauty of a form which blurred the lines between sport and art. And, after 2000, FIS, the oft maligned Fédération Internationale de Ski, skiing’s global governing body, which so many freeskiers still love to hate, halted all formal Acroski competitions (as it had become known from 1996 onwards).
FABRICE BECKER
ANNIKA JOHANSSON
Fast forward to 2023, and a plan was hatched in Verbier over an early-April dinner. What if it were possible to reclaim the glory of ski ballet, but to make it accessible for a new audience, by capturing its essence with modern photographic and videographic technology, in a way never witnessed before? Weeks of enquiries later, Annika and Fabrice answered the call to arms. And, on the first weekend of August 2023, a peculiar scene unfolded at 3,500m, high on the Saas-Fee glacier.
What you see in these campaign images and film, captured by world renowned photographer Matt Holyoak and videographer Scott Goedkoop, with additional images shot by Thibaut Lampe, Charlie Cazalet, and Nisse Schmidt, is the culmination of a dream to bridge the past with the present. This was not an attempt at recreation, but instead was born of a desire to prove that even 30 years later, a handful of individuals still possess the athletic skills and flexibility to express themselves on snow in a way that very few freestyle skiers today can.
MATT HOLYOAK
SCOTT GOEDKOOP
MATT HOLYOAK
For us at MGG, what started as an original way to reminisce about an era when the quality, design, and longevity of sweaters like our own was commonplace, and to be expected as standard, quickly evolved into so much more than we could ever have imagined. We have Annika and Fabrice to thank from the bottom of our hearts for the determination and mastery that they brought to a mesmerising and unexpectedly emotional two day spectacle.
