New pattern dances

[nicklaszlo]

According to Ice Skating Australia there will be three new ISU pattern dances

Rhumba D'Amour
Maple leaf March
Tea-time foxtrot

It seems these are derived from performances of Torvill and Dean (1994), Gilles and Poirier (2016), and Kaliszek and Spodirev (2016). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19CYCcmA2Y0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llndKIZ-9oE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4196lrtWwrw


If anybody finds diagrams or other technical info, please post them.

[Bunny Hop]

So glad Rhumba D'Amour is finally getting off the ground. It would be a crying shame if a team as great as Torvill and Dean never got a compulsory (pattern) dance to their name. It's my second favourite competitive programme of theirs (their Paso Doble OSP being my all time favourite). I'll be interested to what the pattern entails - although I won't expect ever to be able to attempt it. 

[davincisop]

Ooooo! I can't wait to look at these.

[nicklaszlo]

It is slowly becoming official.  Lots of easy dances have been added in Communication 2179.  Details will appear in a later communication.

1. Fourteenstep
2. Foxtrot
3. Rocker Foxtrot
4. Tea Time Foxtrot
5. Swing Dance
6. Dutch Waltz
7. Willow Waltz
8. European Waltz
9. American Waltz
10. Westminster Waltz
11. Viennese Waltz
12. Austrian Waltz
13. Starlight Waltz
14. Ravensburger Waltz
15. Golden Waltz
16. Kilian
17. Maple Leaf March
18. Yankee Polka
19. Quickstep
20. Finnstep
21. Paso Doble
22. Rhumba
23. Rhumba D'Amour
24. Cha Cha Congelado
25. Silver Samba
26. Tango Fiesta
27. Tango Canasta
28. Tango
29. Argentine Tango
30. Tango Romantica
31. Rhythm Blues
32. Blues
33. Midnight Blues

I understand there are three different Dutch Waltzes (US, UK, Australia).  I will be interested to see which one is promulgated.

[fsk8r]

I understand there are three different Dutch Waltzes (US, UK, Australia).  I will be interested to see which one is promulgated.

Having originally learnt the Dutch Waltz in the US and then tested it in the UK, I don't think there's a difference between the two versions. In the UK there is an optional lilt on the long run at the end/restart of the dance. I'd learnt it without the lilt in the US and was able to test it without it, but it was suggested to add it if I was ever to compete the dance.

[Loops]

Ditto for France.  Same dance.  I think the official ISU dances ARE all the same.  But France has a couple extra dances they require at the pre- and prelim levels.

In terms of the start, here they do very elaborate starts, which I have trouble getting used to- skaters can do anything they want going into the dance, as long as the start the pattern on the correct beat.  I still prefer to stand there and just do the old-school pushes into the pattern, at least for testing.  I can see the pull to do that during competition.  Here, they also have us start at different places on the ice than I did in the US back in the day, but I have a feeling that is more about coach preference than any rules.

[Query]

Why would the ISU add intro-level dances?

Is it possible they are trying to displace the roll now occupied by national skating organizations, of running low level tests and competitions? Could that annoy National organizations like the USFSA and PSA, or was this done with their acquiescence? (I could especially imagine concern at the PSA, as well as the companies that market instructional ice dance videos - the ISU puts out excellent instructive videos.)

Will the low level tests still be run by the national organizations?

Since the voting members of the ISU are the national organizations, I guess we can assume this doesn't mean the end of those national organizations.

I also guess it will soon be less impressive to be able to say that you have tested "International level Ice Dances".

Could a similar shift in responsponsibility for low level standards eventually extend to low level freestyle and pairs skating?

[nicklaszlo]

Why would the ISU add intro-level dances?

• To increase uniformity, which is very helpful for people like me who move between countries
• So they can be competed in international competitions, like the Obertsdorf Adult competition
• So smaller or new member countries do not need to reinvent the wheel

Is it possible they are trying to displace the roll now occupied by national skating organizations, of running low level tests and competitions?

No, that's not an issue at all.  It's just a list of dances.  Eventually there may be diagrams, step charts, descriptions, and possibly key points.

I also guess it will soon be less impressive to be able to say that you have tested "International level Ice Dances".

In the US system, "International" is just the dances that are not in the US test structure.  It never indicated the difficulty or the fact that the dances were internationally recognized.  Examples: Silver Samba is "International" but is not that hard.  European an ISU dance (the first one, arguably) but it is not considered an "International" dance test.

[alejeather]

Was there an indication that these would be introductory level dances? I thought the OP just mentioned that they would be new compulsory dances, but I might have missed something!

[nicklaszlo]

Was there an indication that these would be introductory level dances? I thought the OP just mentioned that they would be new compulsory dances, but I might have missed something!

The three I heard about from ISA, Rhumba D'Amour, Maple leaf March, and Tea-time foxtrot are apparently quite hard and will presumably appear in the Senior Rhythm Dance.  But the additions in the ISU communication also include introductory dances like the Dutch Waltz.  Of course ISU did not publish the details yet.

https://www.isu.org/communications/17450-isu-communication-2179/file

Underlining in the communication means it's a change.

[nicklaszlo]

Tea-Time Foxtrot

https://www.isu.org/docman-documents-links/isu-files/documents-communications/isu-communications/18797-isu-communication-2210/file

They are charging 40 euros for the instructional video.  It's as if they do not want people to learn the dance.  Bizarre. 

Is this the first dance that is not designed to be restarted?  It starts with RFI and ends with RBI.

Anyway, the men's steps are my side project for the next few months.