| Yuzuru Hanyu | |
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| Yuzuru Hanyu article series | |
Skating career | |
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Solo ice shows | |
Ensemble ice shows | |
Japanese figure skater and ice show producer Yuzuru Hanyu has presented more than 60 different skating programs in the course of his career, among them 26 competition programs which earned him back-to-back Olympic titles in 2014 and 2018, the first Super Slam in the men's singles discipline, and 19 world records among other achievements. Having experienced the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in his hometown of Sendai, also known as 3.11, Hanyu has dedicated various performances to the victims of the disaster. Notable are his three gala exhibitions at the Winter Olympics as well as his tributes presented at Nippon TV's annual charity show 24-hour TV "Love Saves the Earth" and the 3.11 commemoration event Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata. In ice shows, Hanyu has performed live with renowned artists like Japanese singers Toshi and Dean Fujioka, the J-pop band Chemistry, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
The background and making of Hanyu's programs was broadly covered by the media, especially the creation of his signature free skate Seimei and other Olympic programs. Experts in- and outside figure skating praised the high technical quality, mature choreographies and musical interpretation, elaborate costumes, as well as the programs' lyrical and intellectual depth. These features enabled Hanyu to weave his programs into comprehensive philosophical stories written by himself, creating a new genre of performing art and entertainment. His first two Ice Stories included 12 programs each, presented at his record-breaking solo ice shows Gift at Tokyo Dome in 2023 and the Repray Tour in 2023–24, produced and directed by Hanyu himself in collaboration with Japanese choreographer Mikiko.
In 2020, the music from 23 programs of Hanyu's competitive career was performed in a special concert titled Music with Wings at Tokyo International Forum, featuring an orchestra of one hundred musicians as well as violinist Ikuko Kawai and pianist Kotaro Fukuma among the guest artists. Selections of Hanyu's programs were also published as home videos titled Time of Awakening (2014) and Time of Evolution (2019), summarizing his competitive career until the 2017–18 figure skating season.