Ice Dance Corner

[Chicklet]

sooooo have John and Sinead got what it takes to be top three next time??????????????????????????????

[Lynn]

I've been following this. What amazed me was the fact that for most couples the music largely seems to be incidental for the majority of the routine (sorry, programme). Probably because of all the technical stuff they have to fit in but in the most they only seem to be dancing to the music for about 10-15% of the time. Though the couple that won did seem to be really paying attention to the music and actually dancing to it.

I though John and Sinead did really well (I liked her outfit) and hope they get even better for next time.

[Dorothy]

I missed this Saturday's episode, and heard there was an accident. Was it on-screen? What happened?

[Lynn]

I missed this Saturday's episode, and heard there was an accident. Was it on-screen? What happened?Presume you are talking about Dancing on ice? (I think we were referring to the winter Olympics, I know I was).

Oh, can't remember his name -the football goalie guy - dropped his partner in rehearsals doing that dangerous swinging round with head near the ice lift. It had seemed to be going well for them in practice during the week.

[dee]

Presume you are talking about Dancing on ice? (I think we were referring to the winter Olympics, I know I was).

Oh, can't remember his name -the football goalie guy - dropped his partner in rehearsals doing that dangerous swinging round with head near the ice lift. It had seemed to be going well for them in practice during the week.

David Seamen :D

Was rather horrid, she was dropped in rehursals just before the show went live he had swung her around and she wacked her chin on the ice, she just laid there :sick: she had an x ray while the show carried on and all they said is that she had stitches. Poor girl, the routine they were doing looked really good before all that happend.

[Lynn]

David Seamen :D Thanks! :flower:

[Jooles]

Just going back to the Winter Olympics for a moment. don't you think the skaters choose really boring music. I keep thinking that with all the great tracks around that we manage to dance to, why do these people insist on using such old fashioned music (with the notable exception of John and Sinead)

[Little Em]

Just going back to the Winter Olympics for a moment. don't you think the skaters choose really boring music. I keep thinking that with all the great tracks around that we manage to dance to, why do these people insist on using such old fashioned music (with the notable exception of John and Sinead)


yes i watched this and thought the same!!!:na:

i LOVE watching them though i want to do it!!

[Jooles]

yes

i LOVE watching them though i want to do it!!



....oh, I don't know about that.....it's very slippy out there you know!!!

[David Franklin]

Obscure piece of ice dance trivia (swing related!):

Up until the 97-98 season, the Original Dance (OD) music could not include vocals. In that year, the compulsory dance for the OD was the Jive, and many coaches said it was difficult to find good Jive music without vocals. Fearful of the majority of routines being danced to 'Sing Sing Sing'(!), the judges changed the rules to allow vocals. (I think originally as a one off for that season, but subsequently allowed more generally).

[Stuart]

Did anyone see that Italian couple the other day? If looks could kill after he dropped her, he'd be pushing up the daisies now!

[Chicklet]

Just going back to the Winter Olympics for a moment. Thank you!!!!

I have been really quite disappointed by the skating this year but I am putting it down to two things:
one, that everything on the small screen is suffering by comparison with the Sleeping Beauty on Ice that I saw a few months ago from about the 10th row of the theatre, truly the most spectacular theatre event I have ever been to.
two, it looks to me (completely untrained and ill-informed) that the dancers (not so much maybe the other disciplines although weren't there a LOT of falls in the mens'??) are either just NOT as good as they have been in previous years or else they are really trying to find their feet (ba bum) and decide what works best for them under the new scoring system???

Come on DF - help us out, you know more about it than most of us so you could quite easily make something up and we'll believe it :D

[David Franklin]

I have been really quite disappointed by the skating this year.
~snip~
it looks to me (completely untrained and ill-informed) that the dancers (not so much maybe the other disciplines although weren't there a LOT of falls in the mens'??) are either just NOT as good as they have been in previous years or else they are really trying to find their feet (ba bum) and decide what works best for them under the new scoring system???

Come on DF - help us out, you know more about it than most of us so you could quite easily make something up and we'll believe it :DI don't actually know much about it first hand, but from what I've seen on the skating forums, the big problem with the scoring system is that because the judges just "add up the score for each element", the emphasis is much more on what gets marks than what is actually aesthetically pleasing. And the scoring system means it often makes more sense to do a difficult move badly than it does to do an easier one well.

So in the pairs skating, some couples did the same lift 3 times because that was the best way to maximize their score, and lots of couples did extremely unattractive variations on the death spiral which actually scored higher than doing the normal death spiral.

I didn't actually see the men's final, but by all accounts, while Plushenko made sure he got every jump and technical movement, his programme was more like a set of practice moves than a complete artistic whole, with virtually no choreography, pauses to get his breath before the next jump, etc. And it won by a country mile.

With the ladies' singles, (and the men, I think), one big way of getting extra points is doing moves with unusual changes of edge and position. The problem is that no-one can really do these moves well with all the edge changes - in particular, we're seeing a lot of slow, awkward spinning sequences because the skaters end up losing so much speed. We also get people skating in very contorted positions when they really don't have the flexibility to make it look good.

I've not seen as much specific comment on the Ice Dance for me to quote here as if I know what I'm talking about(!), but from watching, I think it's more of the same - people trying to get in more turns, harder lifts, etc. Again, there are extra marks for doing things like edge changes and fancy footwork as you enter the lift - which means people are messing up the entry and falling. And I think a lot of the awkward looking basic skating is for similar reasons; people are trying to do show they can skate on their bad foot on the difficult edge while contorting their body and striking fancy poses - even when they can't!

But even under the old scoring system there were always falls in the Ice Dance: the Italian pair (Fusar/Margaglio) fell in the last olympics as well. (And it was his fault that time as well. No wonder she was, um, annoyed...!)

[Little Em]

Did anyone see that Italian couple the other day? If looks could kill after he dropped her, he'd be pushing up the daisies now!

yeah my and my dad were laughing about that!!!
she was really stabbing looks at him!:what:

poor guy....

[Northants Girly]

i LOVE watching them though i want to do it!!:yeah: There's a rink in Milton Keynes . . . . :rolleyes:

[Lynn]

And the scoring system means it often makes more sense to do a difficult move badly than it does to do an easier one well. I've only saw the recent Ice Dancing (last two rounds, missed the first round) but I picked up that sort of approach in what little I saw. Also that competitors were so focused on getting the 'high scoring' moves fitted in that the overall shape and feel of the dance really lost out. They didn't seem to be able to fit in the technical stuff and make it all look good and flowing. For most it all looked like hard work - not that 'effortless' feel that the really great should surely be able to achieve.

(DF, how many forums do you follow?! :what: )

[ElaineB]

I don't actually know much about it first hand, but from what I've seen on the skating forums, the big problem with the scoring system is that because the judges just "add up the score for each element", the emphasis is much more on what gets marks than what is actually aesthetically pleasing. And the scoring system means it often makes more sense to do a difficult move badly than it does to do an easier one well.



I didn't actually see the men's final, but by all accounts, while Plushenko made sure he got every jump and technical movement, his programme was more like a set of practice moves than a complete artistic whole, with virtually no choreography, pauses to get his breath before the next jump, etc. And it won by a country mile.

With the ladies' singles, (and the men, I think), one big way of getting extra points is doing moves with unusual changes of edge and position. The problem is that no-one can really do these moves well with all the edge changes - in particular, we're seeing a lot of slow, awkward spinning sequences because the skaters end up losing so much speed. We also get people skating in very contorted positions when they really don't have the flexibility to make it look good.

And I think a lot of the awkward looking basic skating is for similar reasons; people are trying to do show they can skate on their bad foot on the difficult edge while contorting their body and striking fancy poses - even when they can't!

But even under the old scoring system there were always falls in the Ice Dance: the Italian pair (Fusar/Margaglio) fell in the last olympics as well. (And it was his fault that time as well. No wonder she was, um, annoyed...!)

I have just finished watching the Ladies and agree re the contortions they are getting into. Some of them are just unpleasant!

Re Plushenko - it was the most amazingly lacklustre performance that I have ever seen. He may have won the Gold, but when he looks back on it, I wonder if he will wish that he had put some emotion in it to win the hearts of the audience.

Having said all that, I am full of admiration - I can't even stand up on ice without holding the side! :D


Elaine

[Trish]

:yeah: There's a rink in Milton Keynes . . . . :rolleyes:

And in Peterborough - I went years ago, but would love to go again. Mind you that was when I was about 15 and had no conception of what it might be like to fall over very hard and hurt yourself!

I agree about the skating not being as flowing/artistic - I didn't enjoy a lot of the music either. Hopefully when they've got the hang of the new system in a few years it will end up improving things though.

[Daisy Chain]

What amazed me was the fact that for most couples the music largely seems to be incidental for the majority of the routine (sorry, programme).


:yeah: I think they must have been doing Ceroc on Ice :whistle:

Bring back Torvill & Dean................oh, they have, Saturday nights ITV!

Daisy

(An Ice Dancing Little Flower))

[Little Em]

:yeah: There's a rink in Milton Keynes . . . . :rolleyes:


do you know what..... i might just go along!! and drag you with me!:D

i do like skating, though admit to not being able to do anything apart from skate round, an i can stop sort of, without ramming the sides!:tears:
:rofl:

[Northants Girly]

do you know what..... i might just go along!! and drag you with me!:D
Well I'd definitely be up for it - havn't been for years! :clap:

[Zebra Woman]

Hey girls if you have size 5.5 feet you're weclome to call to my house and borrow my skates. I live just one mile from the MK rink. If you haven't, then maybe I'll wear them myself and join you.:cheers:

If you do have to hire skates then be sure to ask for sharp ones and carefully check the blade with your finger. If it just feels like a 90 degree corner of metal that wouldn't cut you if you ran your finger quickly along it then it won't grip on the ice and you will feel like a crap skater when you're probably not.



Enjoy

ZW:flower:

[Northants Girly]

Is it possible to get blades sharpened? :confused:

[Chicklet]

yes, most, if not all, rinks will do this for £5-£10.

[Zebra Woman]

Is it possible to get blades sharpened? :confused:

I would ring ahead before you go and ask the manager if there will be someone qualified to sharpen skates on site. When you pay to get in tell them you will be after a refund (not free entry) if they are not sharp anough to skate on. In the past I have phoned ahead and the manager has promised me he will have pre-sharpened skates in the sizes I want. They do try to please, but the general public don't seem to notice or care too much so they kind of get away with it.

I normally wear my own skates so no problem for me, but if there isn't a sharpener on site then it can be a wasted journey, not to mention 45 minutes of skate testing :angry: . It happened when I met Senorita and her brother there over a year ago. I think we spoke to the manager and got a free-entry for next time (not actually what we wanted :mad: ).