Solo Ice Dance is now an official ISU discipline

[Lanie]

So cool! When I can get back on the ice I really want to get into this. I did some solo dance in college but it never went anywhere since nobody else was interested in trying any kind of dance at my rink.

I'm too short for dance traditionally and always gravitated towards pairs, but doing pairs as an adult skater sounds terrifying. Especially because a knee injury doing pairs lifts is why I can't skate right now

 

[VGThuy]

I know I already posted in this thread, but I really think this is the best idea the ISU has had in a very long time. Even if I don’t end up liking the programs or whatever, I’m just ecstatic at any prospect that will open this sport up to more participants.

 

[Frau Muller]

I wouldn’t want to see this in the Olympics. Keep the traditional four disciplines, please (M, W, Pairs, Dance). And get rid of the Team event. Back to tradition!

 

[hoptoad]

Well traditionally all the athletes competed naked.

 

[On My Own]

Well traditionally all the athletes competed naked.

PSOTY threads gonna blow up the year it gets added to the Olympic roster.

 

[On My Own]

I think
Mark Hanretty choreographed a FD to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Link????

 

[Tesla]

I wouldn’t want to see this in the Olympics. Keep the traditional four disciplines, please (M, W, Pairs, Dance). And get rid of the Team event. Back to tradition!

Traditions are overrated. I say make new ones. Things change. Deal with with it.

 

[coralline]

Link????

Here, last year’s FD of British roller dancer Oliver Martin. He had some technical issues back then, but he’s improved a lot this year.

At AWC 2022 (this competition is like a GP in FS)
https://youtu.be/c9SO762c1qA?si=qHjoCHCDRrU2fV86

At 2022 World Roller Games (Bilibili, link fixed)
https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV1c14y1f7YC

 

[Frau Muller]

Traditions are overrated. I say make new ones. Things change. Deal with with it.

I deal with it by turning off the TV or stream. Quality first, please.

 

[On My Own]

Quality first, please.

You're literally a Russian skating fan

 

[Tesla]

I deal with it by turning off the TV or stream. Quality first, please.

There you go. You started a new tradition of turning off the TV or stream.

 

[gkelly]

I wouldn’t want to see this in the Olympics. Keep the traditional four disciplines, please (M, W, Pairs, Dance). And get rid of the Team event. Back to tradition!

Does that go for partnered dance as well? Traditionally (i.e., when I first started skating), that was not part of the Olympics either.

 

[VGThuy]

When people usually hold on to traditions, they just mean traditions they’re used to, even if many of those traditions were actually new and novel and, thus, quite untraditional when they were implemented in the grand scheme of things. Because only they matter and nobody else.

 

[Alilou]

Traditions: peer pressure from dead people

 

[Tak]

I wouldn’t want to see this in the Olympics. Keep the traditional four disciplines, please (M, W, Pairs, Dance). And get rid of the Team event. Back to tradition!

To each his own, but I would love to see this become an Olympic event. And Im hoping it happens soon - not in 10 years time.

 

[misskarne]

I wonder if this would entice some skaters who are too injured to jump but retain their other skills to return...

 

[kwanfan1818]

Or skaters whose jumps were never their strong point, but are otherwise exquisite, like Satoko Miyahara. It could become a Japanese Nationals Alumni reunion. It could also be a viable option for skaters to not have to rush into a new partnership.

 

[Primorskaya]

This really has the potential of becoming my new favourite category, based especially on how women's skating develops. The domination of jumps to the exclusion of everything else, or rather, the way they've been over-rewarded by the scoring system, has had the most deleterious effect on complete skating, showcasing ALL of what is possible on ice. Which was traditional skating. I'm hoping they'll train figures

 

[Sk8swan]

It make me smile reading people excited about solo dance on the ice! Solo dance in roller skating is equal as the other four discipline, meaning they have their world champs and all and, well, in the roller world not everyone is too excited about that as they consider it a less 'difficult' discipline which can still give you a world gold medal.
For sure over the years several skaters produced quite some remarkable performances. I suggest you to watch performances by Daniel Morandin multi world champ both in solo and pair dance. Giuseppe Arena jumped in to choreo some of his programs. Look for the Black Swan, Casanova...
Here is his CHARLIE Chaplin

 

[Aussie Willy]

Solo ice dance also opens up the sport to female athletes who are a different body type than most ice dancers that compete with partners. It doesn't require the acrobatic lift elements that give smaller, skinny girls an advantage in finding partners; and it does require strength, speed, and skating skills.

This is so important. Synchro has skaters of all shapes and sizes competing. It is about making the sport more inclusive and opening up options.

That is why Theatre of Ice is very important. It provides an avenue for all skaters, even those who may not be technically strong, to be participants in the sport.

Again I loving this discussion and so glad to see people open to it. Thank you everyone.

 

[coralline]

It make me smile reading people excited about solo dance on the ice! Solo dance in roller skating is equal as the other four discipline, meaning they have their world champs and all and, well, in the roller world not everyone is too excited about that as they consider it a less 'difficult' discipline which can still give you a world gold medal.
For sure over the years several skaters produced quite some remarkable performances. I suggest you to watch performances by Daniel Morandin multi world champ both in solo and pair dance. Giuseppe Arena jumped in to choreo some of his programs. Look for the Black Swan, Casanova...
Here is his CHARLIE Chaplin

This is marvelous! Italy has so many talented roller skaters. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Aussie Willy]

A couple of more things I just thought of.

For men who have trouble with lifting (maybe back issues) and do ice dance, this provides them an option.

And for gender diverse skaters, it won't matter what they choose. It caters for them too.

 

[On My Own]

Maybe I missed it - is this going to be co-ed on the international level?

If so, what do the people here argue for/against that?

 

[Karen-W]

Maybe I missed it - is this going to be co-ed on the international level?

If so, what do the people here argue for/against that?

Maybe someone should read all 52 posts in this thread before asking a question that's already been answered in this thread...

 

[On My Own]

Maybe someone should read all 52 posts in this thread before asking a question that's already been answered in this thread...

Clearly, sorry.

But I am still curious if people are for or against it being co-ed.

 

[sadya]

Weren't their a few random solo dance on ice events somewhere in the 90s? I have this vague memory of a Eurosport commentator telling us about a Daniel Weiss routine, performed during a gala. The commentator said that Weiss won a solo dance event with that same routine. I can't remember the exact year nor the gala. Perhaps I'm remembering wrong. Have their often been non isu sanctioned solo ice dance events?

 

[gkelly]

Weren't their a few random solo dance on ice events somewhere in the 90s? I have this vague memory of a Eurosport commentator telling us about a Daniel Weiss routine, performed during a gala. The commentator said that Weiss won a solo dance event with that same routine. I can't remember the exact year nor the gala. Perhaps I'm remembering wrong. Have their often been non isu sanctioned solo ice dance events?

I know that Skate Canada had a separate artistic event in the early 90s that didn't allow jumps over 1 1/2 revolutions, that Daniel Weiss participated in at least once. But it wasn't solo dance in the same sense as what is being proposed now.

 

[Frau Muller]

This is so important. Synchro has skaters of all shapes and sizes competing. It is about making the sport more inclusive and opening up options.

That is why Theatre of Ice is very important. It provides an avenue for all skaters, even those who may not be technically strong, to be participants in the sport.

Again I loving this discussion and so glad to see people open to it. Thank you everyone.

After every National competition, we comment about traditional singles skaters who need to move on to Single Dance. Hardly a theme that I can applaud…let’s see who can be shifted out. Karen Chen, Maya Khromykh, Mato Yamashita? What a marketing game!

 

[kwanfan1818]

Years later, but I saw solo dance for the first time at a BC Summerskate. My favorite was a former Ice Dance competitor who had grown very tall, and she was . I never thought Solo Dance would ever be an ISU event.

 

[MacMadame]

Clearly, sorry.

But I am still curious if people are for or against it being co-ed.

Also answered very early on.

Solo Dance is very common in the US even though it's not something that gets you to Nationals. Usually, it's kids who are competing in other events and they add on Solo Dance vs. that being all they do. Not always though especially if they have passed the more advanced tests and are doing Free Dances and if they are aiming for Nationals.

For Adults, it's more likely that all they do is Dance and they enter Solo Dance events but also regular ones with their coach. The more advanced dancers who get to Adult Nationals and compete at the highest levels often have another adult as their partner but even some of them are skating with their coach.

All the Dance events I entered were both co-ed and without age groups mostly because there were never more than 2-3 people who wanted to do them. I have competed against Men and 8-year-olds. It's kind of weird, but okay.