Grace Elements - Spread Eagle

The Spread Eagle is a gliding move in which the skater spreads his legs in an "upside-down V" shape, with toes pointing "out" (heels pointing at each other, but spread apart), then glides "sideways". The skater faces perpendicular to the direction of travel, but the 2 feet are in a single line relative to that travel (they make a single tracing on the ice). Hard to describe, but beautiful to watch. If you can't imagine what this looks like, think about almost any program you've seen Brian Boitano perform, and you'll probably get the picture.

The Spread Eagle can be done on an outside edge (skater leaning "backwards") or an inside edge (skater leaning "forwards").

In a well-executed Spread Eagle, the skater's body is in a straight line. Many skaters who have not quite mastered the Spread Eagle bend at the waist, which gives a "butt sticking out" appearance which is not very attractive.

	In this awesome sequence, Megan performs an Outside Spread Eagle, followed by an Inside Spread Eagle, followed by another Outside Spread Eagle, and finally ends with a short Ina Bauer.
Megan lasky / Miami University FSC (click image to see video)