CALLING ALL ICE-DANCE PARTNERS HERE....WHICH WOULD YOU LOVE TO LEARN TO DO? A LIFT OR A CARRY?

[FSWer]

Ok my Ice-Dancer Friends with Partners OR getting one!!! Today I want to ask you ALL...which would you love to learn to do? A Lift..OR...a Carry? Please include why. For me..I would LOOOOOOOOVE to learn to carry a Partner horizontal across my body!!...and...here's why...Just watching that kind of Carry seems sooo....graceful to me!!!! It is SURELY one element I would LOOOOOOOOVE to learn TO DO!!!! Anybody else?

 

[overedge]

Neither. I want to work on edges and timing and stroking and expression. And quite honestly, other than a few of the professional coaches in my city, I can't think of anyone I would trust to lift or carry me on the ice. Lifts and carries can be very dangerous and can go wrong very easily.

 

[Shyjosie]

Watching world-class couples do carries certainly looks great. I don't know if I should laugh or cry imagining myself getting engaged in such elements...never would I ever, I'd say. I do what I can, and try what I think I can still learn: working on edges, turns, spins, a step sequence maybe - and certainly I do all of this all on my own, as I don't want to make anyone fall just because I'm still insecure.

 

[Clarice]

I wish I could learn both. But in real life, I'm not going to attempt either one. I'm too old and too heavy to do these elements safely with most partners. I don't want anything in my program that is going to make the audience worry that somebody might get hurt. I've seen some scary lifts, and it's not fun to watch.

 

[Yazmeen]

I have to agree with everyone here; no lifts or carries for me, I'd be too concerned about being injured. My coach's coach at one point just picked me up in a simple lift in front of him and I held my breath the entire time as he turned me around. I was grateful he let me know how to position my arms and my body during the lift, and especially how to position my foot to step back on the ice before he set me down!

FSWer, an ice dancer needs many YEARS of training and work (including off-ice strength and other training) before they'd be allowed to lift or carry a partner in a routine. It's not something you'd be allowed to do just because you love the move. And most older adult ice dance couples that I've observed (people over 45 or so) never do lifts/carries - they simply skate together, whether its compulsory dances or a routine.

 

[Shyjosie]

...let me add that couples who do lifts or carries practice them off-ice for weeks on end before transferring them to the ice, thus tightly tutored by a coach who is experienced in teaching couples. It will only work out if the skaters practice every day, on and off ice.
...I would never be able to practice that much and intense.

 

[Yazmeen]

...let me add that couples who do lifts or carries practice them off-ice for weeks on end before transferring them to the ice, thus tightly tutored by a coach who is experienced in teaching couples. It will only work out if the skaters practice every day, on and off ice.
...I would never be able to practice that much and intense.

Very good point, @Shyjosie. FSWer, you have to understand that getting a maintaining a partnership requires many hours of work for both skaters, on and off the ice. You can't just become partners and skate occasionally. Many hours of practice are especially important if the goal is to master some of the more difficult on-ice moves such as lifts/carries and move up to the higher levels of ice dancing.

 

[Yazmeen]

Oops, double post.

 

[overedge]

Also, a lift is part of doing a carry - you have to be able to lift your partner up into position before you can carry them. And in a lot of lift positions you have to keep your partner in that position for a certain length of time for the lift to get points. So you can't really learn one without also learning the other.