Ice dancing.
Two words that conjure up wildly different images in people's minds. Some think of pairs skating, a different beast if ever there was one. Others think back to Torvill & Dean's breathtaking "Bolero" at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo. Others think little or nothing at all. They just roll their eyes.But as the 1999 State Farm U.S. Championships continue in Salt Lake City this week, many viewers will get their first good look at the sport's most intricate discipline -- performed by the nation's most promising athletes, many of whom are committed to returning to Utah in 2002.
Ice dancing is a premier sport around the world -- except, it seems, in the U.S. Russian dancers Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin, Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko and Yvgeny Platov and Oksana Grishuk have achieved rock-star status in their home countries after dominating Olympic competition in the last decade. Not so with U.S. dancers.
Not yet, says Igor Shpilband, a Detroit Skating Club coach who has trained national champs Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow and this year's favorites Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev.
"It's getting more popular and will get more popular when U.S. dancers get to the world level," Shpilband said. "It's happening already, when a U.S. team (Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler, who are no longer skating together) won the world junior championships for the second time.
"The future looks quite promising for U.S. ice dancing."
Shpilband's own team of Lang and Tchernyshev are poised to step into the nation's top position at nationals this year, and it's a competition he says they're looking forward to.
"We've never competed in Salt Lake City. It will be our first time there. I think it will be interesting. Every year after the Olympics you see a new generation in skating, new names. This year, we'll be seeing skaters we'll see for the next three, four or eight years. This year is a look for the future."
Lang and Tchernyshev hope to be included in the future of U.S. skating, Shpilband says, especially when 2002 rolls around.
"We definitely hope to be around in 2002. We have been competing at the world level and did pretty good. We placed 5th at the Grand Prix and at Skate America, which was not a bad standing to start with because we were competing against the top world skaters. It looks pretty good."
So, as you sit down to watch the ice dancers vie for the national title, here are some things you should know about ice dancing.
First, you should be aware that ice dancing is not the same as pairs skating.
"For everybody that understands and likes skating, the difference is obvious," says Shpilband. "Ice dancing is putting a whole routine together on the ice, instead of just putting together the elements. For the people who like creativity or to see something original, they'll like to watch ice dancing."
Viewers will notice that ice dancers do not perform the eye-popping lifts and throw jumps that have made pairs skaters famous, adds world-level judge Linda Leaver of Salt Lake City. That is not because ice dancers cannot jump or that dancers are second-rate skaters unable to pull off the high-flying elements associated with pairs skating. Rather, ice dancing is simply a different sport; dancers have different strengths and goals.
"Ice dancers really have to put a lot of thought into their programs," Leaver says. "In ice dancing, every step has to be choreographed, whereas in singles and pairs skating, they can sometimes have a little breather in between steps or elements."
Ice dancing emphasizes rhythms, precise dance steps, intricate edging and innovation. Though dancers must work within a defined parameter of requirements and rules, they are evaluated heavily on their ability to work imaginative and unique steps into those parameters. It is, as Shpilband says, the totality of the stuff that has made skating great: a unique blend of artistry, athleticism and precision.
To demonstrate their ability, the ice dance competition is divided up into three parts, compared to the two programs skated by pairs teams. The first, the compulsory competition, counts for 20 percent of the skaters' total score and requires all dancers to compete the same two selected dances with the same steps. This allows judges to compare the teams against one another, evaluating the teams' accuracy, style, unison, speed and expression.
This year, the two compulsory dances will be chosen from the following:
Ravensburger Waltz
Paso Doble
Tango Romantico
Blues
The second part, the original dance, counts for 30 percent of a team's score. In this portion of the competition, the skaters are given a prescribed rhythm (this year, the Waltz) and tempo but are free to create a totally original version of the dance.
The final portion, the free dance, counts for 50 percent of the final score. Here, the teams have four minutes to show their creativity in their choice of music, tempo and style of dance.
"In the free dance, skaters can skate to music they really feel strongly about," Leaver says. "Through the free dance, the audience will hopefully get a sense of their passion for dance."
The rules of the free dance allow each couple to perform a maximum of seven lifts (none of which may be overhead lifts) and to separate five times for a maximum of five seconds. They must not perform typical pairs skating positions, such as hand-to-hand positions. Other than that, however, dancers are free to explore the choreographic possibilities -- as long as the program is "danceable."
Another thing separating pairs from dance is the judging. Ice dancing judges have come under some fire in recent years.
"There was quite a bit of controversy at the Olympics and Worlds this last year," Leaver says. "There was concern that some of the results were predetermined. But before last year, ice dance didn't have as many specific rules for judges to use to make their decision."
The International Skating Union implemented a new set of rules to be used this season, which Leaver says has markedly improved the level of judging by giving judges specific elements to look for and critique.
Shpilband says he's not concerned about the judging his teams will encounter at nationals.
"It's very hard to judge. In this discipline, you're judging quality, and it requires more skill. It's very hard to find many judges who have so many skills to separate all these qualities. It's all subjective, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. What's bad is when it becomes political -- when the judge gives a score not what they want to give but because of other things.
I think it is not happening in the U.S., though. U.S. judges try to be fair. They're not politicking. I like to believe them. I do believe them, and I believe it will stay this way."