The Dance Hall 13: When You Dance on the Ice and Your Feet Twizzle Twice, That's Amore

[Bigbird]

Natalie TASCHLEROVA / Filip TASCHLER at Czech Test Skate (didn't do full run–throughs, just tested the elements)

RD
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:5197638585483274

FD
https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:5198054588874851

Are there any videos of the other Czek sibling team?

 

[Karen-W]

Are there any videos of the other Czek sibling team?

They wound up not competing.

 

[skateblessing]

What do we know about the citizenship status of Harris/Chan and Tali/Lafornara? Reitan/Majorov sees to have that settled already.

Milla got her citizenship? Were did you hear about that?

 

[clairecloutier]

Maybe the top teams can do something more with 90s RDs ... I hope??

Because what we are seeing so far is not good.

 

[Tinycities]

Maybe the top teams can do something more with 90s RDs ... I hope??

Because what we are seeing so far is not good.

This is how I’m feeling too! Really noticed it with CPom yesterday, across the board all these music choices are swallowing these teams up whole. The only one I’ve really been into is Lopareva/Brossard.

 

[Dobre]

I liked the music that Gauthier & Thieren and Reed & Ambrulevicius used in Quebec. I liked Tkachenko & Kiliakov's RD at Lake Placid and I think Lim & Quan's will ultimately be fine too.

The programs from those two events are all the programs I've seen thus far. Sounds like I might have to treat myself with a few more after my workday, though I don't generally find that clips give me any kind of a real feel for a program.

 

[PRlady]

I was pretty bored with the RDs at Lake Placid. It had something to do with hating all that '90s club music. But then I loved last season's with all my 50s and 60s music, and even the '70s disco, and it made many others run screaming.....

 

[Spikefan]

I just find these decade themes so cheesy and pedestrian. Therefore, I want full on camp. I might still hate it but I can at least laugh.

 

[Karen-W]

I love CarPon and I was pretty underwhelmed by their music choices. Nothing I've seen of any of the RDs yet so far this season has me very excited or enthusiastic. I also didn't really care for LajLag's RD which they also debuted this week in the show in Italy. I understand the concept but they're one of at least 3 teams (of the very limited # of teams who've debuted their RDs already, so I expect that # to rise exponentially) who are going the '90s sports jam route and I'm thinking "really, that's the extent of your creativity?"

I just don't get why it is that Shawn Rettstatt & the IDTC are convinced this is the direction they should go in for the sport. The RD format as it currently exists really doesn't work with the decades theme every season.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

So many of the songs people are using have such a high tempo that is almost impossible to match on skates. Most people are not able to properly bring da club to the ice.

 

[Wyliefan]

It must be rough to be an ice dancer and have the ISU actively working against you. A decades theme once would have been fine. Three times in a row feels like it's draining all the life and creativity out of them.

 

[Spikefan]

If next year is the aughts, someone better do “Dance, Dance” by Fall Out Boy and do it as a parody on the past 5 years.

 

[Dobre]

If next year is the aughts, someone better do “Dance, Dance” by Fall Out Boy and do it as a parody on the past 5 years.

If I remember correctly, this year was supposed to be 90s through the present, and they decided there was too much risk of copyright infringement or something if they used the more current music so it was cut back to only the 90s. (Considering that they were hoping to use current music, I feel like the original plan for this season made sense. It just didn't pan out).

 

[Karen-W]

It must be rough to be an ice dancer and have the ISU actively working against you. A decades theme once would have been fine. Three times in a row feels like it's draining all the life and creativity out of them.

Actually, I don't have a problem with the decades theme as a concept to be explored over the course of one Olympic cycle. The problem is that the IDTC has chosen to limit themselves to a span of 50 consecutive years where there is a lot of similarity along the pop music continuum and by the time you get to the 3rd year, none of what we're seeing feels very fresh or new.

If they'd approached this with a plan to bounce around the decades of the 20th century, starting with perhaps the 1920s through the 1990s (or even 2000s depending on music rights challenges), it wouldn't feel as tired and underwhelming now.

For instance, say this Olympic cycle had they actually sat down and really studied the evolution of pop music in the last 100 years and broken it up into more sensible time frames that looked like this:

2022-23 - 1945-1963 - the early rock 'n roll era
2023-24 - 1964-1982 - British invasion through disco
2024-25 - 1920-1944 - Charleston & swing
2025-26 - 1983-1999 - punk, heavy metal, hip-hop & rap, grunge, bubblegum pop

I doubt we'd be complaining about the sameness of it all if we were coming off a decade theme that was decidedly different from the one that preceded and followed it.

 

[deegee]

This is how I’m feeling too! Really noticed it with CPom yesterday, across the board all these music choices are swallowing these teams up whole. The only one I’ve really been into is Lopareva/Brossard.

have lop/br performed their rd somewhere already or are you just saying you like the music choices they announced?

 

[Belsornia]

I listen to a lot of nineties music but so far I'm underwhelmed by all the music choices too. I know the bpm requirement for the pattern step is somewhat restrictive, but they can basically pick what they want for the rest of the programme and so far no-one is going for nineties music I listen to now or the stuff I liked as a tween/teen in the nineties.

I guess so far I'm looking forward to seeing the Daft Punk part of Lopareva/Brissaud's RD, Grimm/Rodin's Madonna (if they ever get to compete internationally) and whichever team is skating to Gala's Freed from Desire (Matthaei/Liebers?). And I quite like Aboian/Vesulkin's Vogue, but they need to lose the bit where she lies on her back and wiggles like a dying bug.

 

[Bigbird]

It must be rough to be an ice dancer and have the ISU actively working against you. A decades theme once would have been fine. Three times in a row feels like it's draining all the life and creativity out of them.

100 % this.....

 

[Bigbird]

I liked the choice, because it completely gets the assignment and knowing Scott, I know the interpretation is a little tongue-in-cheek wink wink. This is the first RD of the season that I genuinely like, so could we please stop ragging on them until we see it later in the season? It's spoiling the mood. We can't help it if the ISU Dance Committee is run by idiots; we just have to endure and hope for better.

 

[Tinycities]

have lop/br performed their rd somewhere already or are you just saying you like the music choices they announced?

I feel like I’m having a stroke as I swear I thought they had already performed it but maybe I’m mistaken and it was a different team doing daft punk.

 

[Dobre]

There is someone else using daft punk. (I forget who).

I have no memory of daft punk from the 90s at all. Only after somebody used it a few years ago in figure skating.

I do remember hearing almost everything else that I've seen in RDs thus far.

 

[almiranara]

I feel like I’m having a stroke as I swear I thought they had already performed it but maybe I’m mistaken and it was a different team doing daft punk.

Veillon/Brandys also have Daft Punk RD and they already performed it at Skate Canada's NextGen Camp

 

[shan]

So many of the songs people are using have such a high tempo that is almost impossible to match on skates. Most people are not able to properly bring da club to the ice.

I agree. I haven't read up on the requirements, but is there an expectation of social dancing or make everyone want to get up and dance?

 

[jmtfti]

It's a bit mixed. They do bang on about being inspired by dance styles, but also suggest a range of musical genres skaters can use: ISU Communication No. 2704

The theme and music selected for the Rhythm Dances for both Junior and Senior for the season 2025/26 is “The Music, Dance Styles and Feeling of the 1990s”. The Rhythm Dance for the 2025/2026 season takes inspiration from the high energy and entertaining dance styles from this decade. Any music is possible as long as it was released, either originally or as a cover version in the 1990s and fulfills the Rhythm/Theme mentioned above as well as the Required Characteristics mentioned below.

Music Examples (but not limited to): Pop/Street Latin, House/Techno, Hip-Hop, Grunge Rock Required characteristics: High energy and crowd pleasing, demonstrating the essence of the 1990s

What this season's RD is not: Dance styles including Classical, Contemporary, Traditional Folk and Competition Ballroom.

I am personally not a fan at all of the repetitive dance club music the majority of teams have opted for, so I wish more choreographers had considered how much latitude they had with this theme. There's quite a bit of familiar music that fits the BPM requirements outside of the Pulse Platinum compilation cuts.

 

[manhn]

All of the complaints about the speedy music, they’d then just do Hero, Time to Say Goodbye, I Will Always Love You, or My Heart Will Go On.

 

[Dobre]

I posted this in another thread recently:

Anti-snark:

I forget which thread the musicals were being discussed in, but we went to see & Juliet recently. Very cute with smart, witty humor. (I especially loved the bickering & one-upmanship between the Shakespeare & Anne Hathaway characters). Probably the most I've ever enjoyed a jukebox musical. We had a lot of fun at this one.

Big climactic moment toward the end. Immediately after the huge fight, and then he sings the first line of "I Want It That Way." Promptly the whole audience sighs because ah-of-course-she'll-forgive-him-if-he-sings-that-song

.

Guess I'll understand if a bunch of ice dance teams choose it

.

I'm sure we'll get more good RDs. For me, they need to be more than just a music medley. They need a cohesive concept. (And of course great execution). We'll get there.

It's the teams bringing in prize money that often have the ability to cut new music and perform it to the hilt. Though we always get a few great concepts from lesser known teams as well.

 

[Marta24]

I have high hopes for Lopareva/Brissaud's Daft Punk RD and Mrazkovi's AC/DC RD. Hopefully, their programmes won't disappoint me, too.

But otherwise, I'm also done with these decade themes. The main issue I have is that the teams don't have to show anymore a variety of skills in the RD. You need different kind of strengths and movements with a Waltz compared to for example a Paso Doble. This is all gone now. If a team is very, very lazy they could have done the same programme for the 80s, 70s and 90s theme without changing much of the choreo or the way they move to the music.

I also absolutely disagree with Rettstatt that the more classic ballroom themes are not entertaining. I have rewatched some old competitions and it's terrible to see what he has done to the RD format.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

I also absolutely disagree with Rettstatt that the more classic ballroom themes are not entertaining. I have rewatched some old competitions and it's terrible to see what he has done to the RD format.

Considering how popular various ballroom dance related shows have been, ballroom styles can be totally entertaining and "contemporary." The worst thing about the decades RDs is that the teams don't find out of the box music selections.

I'd die if someone did a grunge RD based on this.

 

[skateblessing]

FB/C posted their schedule for the season on IG and they included Euros and «hopefully» GPF…. That`s wild!!

 

[Rukia]

FB/C posted their schedule for the season on IG and they included Euros and «hopefully» GPF…. That`s wild!!

when i tell you the vibes are in fact so terrible

 

[lauravvv]

FB/C posted their schedule for the season on IG and they included Euros and «hopefully» GPF…. That`s wild!!

What's so wild about that ? Euros are practically a given for them, and GPF is also very likely. To pretend otherwise would be very strange and also hypocritical. I am pretty sure you wouldn't react in such a way if those were any other skaters of their level.

when i tell you the vibes are in fact so terrible

See above my response to @skateblessing. What exactly is so terrible about this?