Ice dancing

Ice dancing is a form of figure skating which draws from the world of ballroom dancing. It was first competed at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952 but did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976. As in pair skating, dancers compete as a couple consisting of a man and a woman. Ice dance differs from pair skating by severely limiting lifts, requiring spins to be performed as a team in a dance hold, and by disallowing throws and jumps. Typically, partners are not supposed to separate by more than two arm lengths; originally, partners were supposed to be in a dance hold the entire program. This restriction has been lifted somewhat in modern ice dancing.

Related Topics:
Figure skating - Ballroom dancing - World Figure Skating Championships - 1952 - Winter Olympic Games - 1976

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Another distinction between ice dance and other disciplines of skating is that dancers must always skate to music that has a definite beat or rhythm. Singles and pair skaters more often skate to the melody and phrasing of their music, rather than its beat, but this is severely penalized in ice dance.

Related Topics:
Music - Beat - Rhythm - Melody - Phrasing

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There are three components to an ice dancing competition: the compulsory dances, the original dance ("OD") and the free dance. Compulsory dances, with fixed patterns and steps, draw most strongly from the ballroom tradition. For the original dance, the International Skating Union designates a rhythm or set of rhythms each year that all dancers must perform to, but the competitors choose their own music and choreography. Dancers are free to choose their own rhythms and program themes for the free dance. Since 1998, dancers have been required to include certain elements in their free dances, including step sequences, lifts, dance spins, and multi-rotation turns called twizzles.

Related Topics:
International Skating Union - 1998

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