Throughout his competitive figure skating career, Canadian skater Elladj Baldé was known for his style, presentation, and passion for the sport. Despite giving riveting performances, he often felt stifled by the constraints of competitive skating. In the 2021 documentary film “Open Ice: Visionaries,” he spoke about having to change aspects of himself to please judges and officials.
“For the longest time, I sacrificed my own relationship with myself to fit into that mold that the skating world told me I needed to be in to be successful,” said Baldé. “I would still try to do it in my own unique way, still try to stay true to myself, but I was often giving up parts of myself … I was so driven by this idea to be the best, and to be the best, I had to conform.”
Since retiring from competitive skating in 2018, Baldé has unleashed his true self. He has become an internet sensation, creating viral videos that combine outdoor locations with innovative, street-style performances on frozen lakes and outdoor rinks. These videos have earned him more than 2.5 million followers in various social media platforms.
“I love performing, I love skating, I love sharing my art and who I am on the ice,” Baldé said. “I wanted to use self-expression as a way of living life.”
His videos have led to collaborations with companies such as Canada Goose, Lululemon, and Ray-Ban. “I get to be creative and I get to work with my wife, Michelle Dawley, who’s a dancer/choreographer and directs my videos,” said Baldé. “We go up to the mountains, create, and shoot. It’s so fulfilling.”
Figure skating is not a diverse sport, and Black skaters are few. Baldé’s mother is from Russia and his father from Guinea. He was born in Moscow and the family immigrated to Canada when he was 2 years old. In 2020, Baldé created the Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance, giving skaters of color a platform to speak their truth and find community.
“The lack of representation — I didn’t realize how much it affected me until we started to have conversations after the murder of George Floyd; when, within the skating community, between us — Black skaters, we started to talk about our experiences,” said Baldé. “We formed this alliance to hold these national sporting organizations accountable for creating genuine change.”
Today, he has the Skate Global Foundation, which he runs with Dawley. It is built on three major pillars: equity, diversity and inclusion; mental health; and climate change. It works to foster conversations and create positive change. Its first project involved working with a construction company to upgrade an outdoor rink in an underserved community.
“To create more representation and more acceptance in the sport, we have to address lack of access,” Baldé said. “Accessibility is so important, especially at the grassroots. This is a huge step to introducing the sport to kids … to be able to just show up at an outdoor rink and try skating. We also donated about 50 pairs of skates for kids and people in the community, so people could try it without having to spend anything.”
After fundraising, the current project for the foundation is a grant program for skaters from Canada. Starting in 2025, the main initiative will be to try to alleviate some of the financial burdens that skaters of color experience in the sport.
“We want to support skaters [who] are already skating, who show potential to be the representation for the next generation of skaters of color,” said Baldé.
Baldé and Dawley have also formed The Art of Performance, a training camp focused on achieving results through uniqueness and artistry. While elements of technique are certainly presented at the camp, the focus is well-rounded.
“In the 1990s and early 2000s … when you looked at figure skaters, everybody had a different style, a different way of doing things,” said Baldé. “Nowadays, I feel we’ve lost that touch with self-expression. We need to plant that seed at a very young age that developing yourself as an artist has a lot of benefits. It’s not only for yourself as a human, but on a competitive stage as well. It allows you to separate yourself from the field. It allows you to find more fulfillment in your competitive journey.”
The camp also introduces mental health and sports psychology as campers develop a sense of confidence and self-esteem. Skaters who have had success in the sport are among the faculty. The first camp was presented in 2019, but the pandemic temporarily halted presenting more. One finally took place in the summer of 2024 in Calgary, and another is planned for 2025, also in Calgary. It is open to skaters from all over the world. Some scholarships are available.
“You can stay true to who you are and you can be celebrated for it,” said Baldé, who will finish 2024 by performing for audiences with the “Stars on Ice Holiday Tour.”