Ice dancing in details

Ice dancing is a discipline of figure skating and an Olympic sport, included in the program of the Games in 1976. Dancing looks similar to pair figure skating. However, many elements common for pair figure skating are prohibited in this sport, which is why it is not easy to say whether the performance was good or not. What other peculiarities does this discipline have?

General Information

Ice dancing is believed to be a very subjective discipline. In fact, it can hardly be considered a technical discipline. Feeling of a partner, artistry and roll pair affect the overall impression of the judges of the rolling, which is then reflected in both the premiums on the GOE, and in the second scale of scores – the components.

Presentation, composition, interpretation are evaluated by the judges, and the best duos in the world consistently receive the highest points in these criteria, up to a maximum (10). An important factor in evaluating the components of the programs is skating skills and variety of connecting elements.

Competitions

The ice dancing competition, starting with the 2010-11 season, consists of two programs: a short dance and a free dance.

The short (rhythm) dance is set for the entire season. A duet is required to perform one or two rounds of this dance and some of their own piece appropriate to the character of this dance. The top 24 pairs are eligible for the free dance. The free dance contains elements such as supports, rotations, arabesques, spirals, steps, etc., connected into a single whole.

Due to the fact that dancing on ice is quite difficult to evaluate technically, the ISU, in order to facilitate the task of the judges each season sets to the rhythm dance a specific musical theme, sets the central dance motif and a set of rhythms in which the same dance should be performed. Thus, skaters in a short dance need to demonstrate exactly the type of dance that has been set by the ISU.

The free dance combines choreography and complex techniques. However, here participants are free to choose the theme and music, thus allowing you to emphasize the individuality of each pair. The rhythm is also chosen at will. For adults, competitors have 4 minutes to perform, while juniors have 3 minutes.

Requirements

In ice dancing it is allowed to use music with vocal performance without specific names of compositions. In the rhythm dance the music is set by the organizing committee. In a free dance, the style can be anything, and the music must change the tempo at least once; both a gradual change and two different melodies are allowed.

As part of the performance, athletes must demonstrate certain elements. What are the mandatory elements of ice dancing in the rhythm dance?

• Steps, track. With their help, skaters move from one element of their program to another. They are divided into technical and choreographic.
• Dancers perform the element synchronically on one leg.
• Athletes move gracefully on the ice. The element includes the pattern dance itself and the pattern dance track in which each step must be performed in accordance with ISU requirements for a specific season. Tracking the quality of the pattern is difficult not only for the spectators, but also for the athletes themselves.
• Supports are dancing. A man holds a woman in a variety of dance positions. Supports can be performed on the spot, in an arc, in a straight line, as well as be combined with rotations.
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• The duo makes rotations in a clockwise and counterclockwise motion on the ice. This is one series of parallel spins on one foot in motion. In single figure skating they have no value, but in ice dancing it is one of the two most expensive elements.

The free dance includes all the components of the short program. However, new elements are added.

• Skaters ride continuously on one skate, the second leg is lifted. The movement must be done on the rib of the skate in a nice pose. It is more difficult for men to perform this element, while it is a must in women’s figure skating.
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• A duo moves on the ice and synchronously changes the direction of movement, goes into turns, while not being out of sync with the established musical rhythm.

All elements associated with acrobatics are prohibited in ice dancing. The duo will be disqualified if the man lifts the woman over his head, or if partners skate apart for a long time. It is not allowed to perform jumps and rotate the partner around the axis.

All elements have a level of complexity from the basic to the highest (the fourth). Depending on the level exhibited by the technician, the element receives a fixed basic value, and then nine judges give points for the quality of his performance (the so-called GOE) ranging from “-5” to “+5”, which then serve as a factor in calculating the final surcharge to the “base” or deducted from it. One worst and one best score is immediately excluded from the protocol, then the remaining seven numbers. GOE coefficients are converted into specific scores in accordance with the base value of the item according to the ISU table. Then they are summed up and divided by seven. The resulting number rounded to a hundredth is the final score on the GOE scale.

History

Unlike figure skating, ice dancing was a sport discipline that eliminated acrobatic techniques. At first, the emphasis of pair skating was on the elegance of the components of the dance program. In 1930, the sport of skating added new dance elements, increasing the spectacle of the program. Along with it, the skaters’ requirements for preparation before stepping onto the ice also increased. Since then both partners had to be in good physical shape, no more difference in the requirements for the sexes.

For the first time the European and World Championships among dancers were held in 1952. At that time, the podiums were occupied mostly by the pioneers of the sport, i.e. the British. As the discipline developed in other countries, the world soon learned the names of Soviet, Czechoslovak and other schools. Ice dancing reached the peak of its popularity.

In 1976, ice dancing made its debut as an Olympic sport. The referees of those times did not distinguish between figure skating referees and ballroom dancing referees. The brigades, giving marks for the quality of the elements performed by the dancers, included referees, who could analyze the correctness of the acrobatic techniques of figure skating the next day.

Therefore, the judging caused disputes and disagreements between the experts, and the athletes had to come up with different additions to their dance routines in order to stand out from the competition. The British duo of Christopher Dean and Jane Torvill replaced the classic rib gliding with complex choreographed movements in 1984 and figure skating dances took on a new look.

All in all, although ice dancing does not involve performing jumps or high supports, it is still considered to be a difficult sport that requires a lot of training.