Ice Dancing to the Rhythm - compulsories

gk_891

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Seeing VGThuy's thread about Ice Dancing to the Rhythm inspired me to start a similar thread but specifically with the compulsory dances. So if you were asked to provide a textbook example (or even just personal favourite example) of a compulsory dance or short dance or rhythm dance, which ones would you choose?

I'll start off with my favourites:

Tango Romantica

Grishuk & Platov - 1996 Worlds

Klimova & Ponomarenko - 1990 Worlds (just one pattern of it is below)

Virtue & Moir - 2010 Olympics

Golden Waltz

Punsulan & Swallow - 1998 Olympics

Grishuk & Platov - 1998 Olympics
- that toe-pick error from Pasha is super-annoying (she also has a tendency to jump her three turns) because the speed, flow, timing, and ease in which they handle the handholds was just incredible

Virtue & Moir - 2010 Worlds
- hate the camerawork in that vid though and how it shows closeups of their feet

And of course there's the original by Klimova & Ponomarenko which I still would argue is probably the greatest OSP in the history of ice dance:

Yankee Polka

Delobel & Schoefelder - 2008 Europeans

Torvill & Dean - 1982 Europeans

And then of course, there was the original by Schwomeyer & Sladky which was stunningly good IMO:

Will post more of my choices and hope to see some of yours as well.
 

MsZem

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Seeing VGThuy's thread about Ice Dancing to the Rhythm inspired me to start a similar thread but specifically with the compulsory dances. So if you were asked to provide a textbook example (or even just personal favourite example) of a compulsory dance or short dance or rhythm dance, which ones would you choose?

I'll start off with my favourites:

Tango Romantica

...

Virtue & Moir - 2010 Olympics
I felt like Domnina/Shabalin were deservedly in first after the CD in Vancouver. His knee probably wouldn't have held up if it had been the Golden Waltz, but their Tango Romantica was really good.
 

gk_891

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Argentine Tango

Grishuk & Platov - 1998 Olympics
- nice to have a video of this without Tracy Wilson's commentary

Anissina & Peizerat - 2000 Europeans

Delobel & Schoenfelder - 2008 Worlds

Blues

Grishuk & Platov - 1994 Olympics

Anissina & Peizerat - 2002 Olympics

Grishuk & Platov - 1992 Olympics

Westminster Waltz

Torvill & Dean - 1984 Olympics

Bestemianova & Bukin - 1987 Worlds
- this might seem like an odd choice because it was not very waltzy at all but I thought they traced out the pattern amazingly well and they were one of the few couples that didn't lose any speed or flow after step 15 when the lady does her inside three turn
 

gk_891

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I felt like Domnina/Shabalin were deservedly in first after the CD in Vancouver. His knee probably wouldn't have held up if it had been the Golden Waltz, but their Tango Romantica was really good.
I like D&S's first pattern of their tango. I wasn't as impressed with their second pattern though. I could understand either V&M or D&S in first place for the Tango Romantica in Vancouver.
 

gk_891

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Paso Doble

Torvill & Dean - 1984 Olympics

Bestemianova & Bukin - 1988 Olympics

Grishuk & Platov - 1992 Olympics

Quickstep

Anissina & Peizerat - 2002 Olympics

Rhumba (this was a dance that few could skate correctly)

Torvill & Dean - 1984 Olympics
- their right back outside edge wasn't as good as their left forward inside edges IMO but those left forward inside edges were to die for

Bestemianova & Bukin - 1984 Olympics
- they were practically the only Soviet/Russian team who could seemingly skate the double choctaw well

Virtue & Moir - 2007 Worlds
 

VGThuy

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This Killian from Bestemianova/Bukin is so secure, confident, fast, and powerful that I can see why the judges felt B/B deserved to dominate from 1985-88 even though I much preferred Klimova/Ponomarenko during that period.

 

gk_891

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This Killian from Bestemianova/Bukin is so secure, confident, fast, and powerful that I can see why the judges felt B/B deserved to dominate from 1985-88 even though I much preferred Klimova/Ponomarenko during that period.


Yes, was going to use this one for the Killian. That crossed open choctaw was brilliant. OTOH, K&P's crossed open choctaw in the same dance looked very shallow to me. IIRC, I think the British judge had K&P in fourth for that CD and I can actually kind of understand why.

B&B also had a fantastic Viennese Waltz at the 1988 Olympics. As with their Westminster Waltz, it's not very graceful or waltzy but the pattern they made on the ice was gigantic and they carved out the mohawk-choctaw sequence better than anyone else at that competition.

Other good Viennese Waltzes I might include are:

Torvill & Dean - 1982 Worlds

Blumberg & Seibert - 1982 Worlds

Grishuk & Platov - 1992 Worlds
For the longest time, I had Usova & Zhulin in first for the Viennese Waltz at the 92 Worlds. But rewatching the dances recently has made me change my mind. While G&P's Viennese Waltz was probably the least waltzy of the top couples, I thought they traced out the pattern and carved out the mohawk-choctaw sequence better than either U&Z or K&P.
 
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gk_891

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Starlight Waltz

Klimova & Ponomarenko - 1990 Goodwill Games

Silver Samba

Grishuk & Platov - 1996 Worlds

Bourne & Kraatz - 1996 Worlds
Not a fan of this team but I thought they skated this CD very very well.

Ravensburger Waltz

Usova & Zhulin - 1991 Worlds

Navka & Kostomarov - 2006 Olympics
 

sap5

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Agree re: U&Z for the Ravensburger. That's the best Ravensburger Waltz CD I've ever seen.
 

VGThuy

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Agree re: U&Z for the Ravensburger. That's the best Ravensburger Waltz CD I've ever seen.
Just watching that now...I cannot believe we don't have pattern dances anymore in the senior level. Ice dance teams developing now are going to be missing something the teams who grew up training compulsories had.
 

deegee

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i know i post this all the time but this is truly the biggest heartbreak of my entire figure skating fandom and i'll never get over it.

such a gorgeous tango romantica until they slipped on each other's boots. isabelle's face during the bows gets me every time:

 

VGThuy

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i know i post this all the time but this is truly the biggest heartbreak of my entire figure skating fandom and i'll never get over it.

such a gorgeous tango romantica until they slipped on each other's boots. isabelle's face during the bows gets me every time:

The fact that Delobel/Schoenfelder consistently placed behind a team like Grushina/Goncharov was a major failure of IJS...of course mistakes like the above didn't help their cause...but still!
 

gk_891

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i know i post this all the time but this is truly the biggest heartbreak of my entire figure skating fandom and i'll never get over it.

such a gorgeous tango romantica until they slipped on each other's boots. isabelle's face during the bows gets me every time:


Yes, that was a wonderful tango romantica until that error. Sigh
 

On My Own

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i know i post this all the time but this is truly the biggest heartbreak of my entire figure skating fandom and i'll never get over it.

such a gorgeous tango romantica until they slipped on each other's boots. isabelle's face during the bows gets me every time:

I loved them! One of my favorite teams. They were very creative too, like in this program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el4aHqx8mmE


(yeah I know it's not about FDs)
 

gk_891

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And lastly, here are some compulsory dances that I'm not very familiar with at all as I've neither practiced them myself nor have I studied them in any real careful way.

Midnight Blues (below are G&G, B&A, and N&K from the 2005 Worlds - I think I like N&K the best of the three)

Austrian Waltz (Canadian teams from the 2003 Worlds)

European Waltz (not sure what this competition is but it's from 2007, shows a young Madison Chock with her old partner and the Shibutanis)

American Waltz (I don't think I've ever seen this particular dance at a competition)

Foxtrot (I've also never seen this one at a competition before)

Rocker Foxtrot

Cha Cha Congelado

Fourteen Step
 

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