Ballet’s Back!

Swiss apparel brand MGG (www.mgg.ski), well known for its unique and unrivalled approach to radical transparency, has launched its new 23/24 campaign: Ballet’s Back, accompanied by a mesmerising film.

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.

In 1992, Annika Johansson and Fabrice Becker were both competing in their first Winter Olympics at Albertville, France (or, more specifically, on the slopes of Tignes). 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 disciplines, 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 ski ballet competition scene during the 90s and early 00s.

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). In so doing, they spelt the demise of this unique manifestation of alpine skiing.

Fast forward to 2023, and a plan was hatched at MGG HQ 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 the images and film shot for this new MGG campaign, captured by world renowned photographer Matt Holyoak and videographer Scott Goedkoop, 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.

For us at MGG, what started as an original way to reminisce about an era when the quality, design, and longevity of Merino 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 remarkable and unexpectedly emotional two day spectacle.

Images: Matt Holyoak, Thibaut Lampe