Compulsory Dance -

[beep_beep]

Iam glad iam not the only one who enjoys the compusory dances

You are certainly not the only one (I want the old smilies back...)

A day later, I still have the TR music in my head...

I'd like to say that ice dance came a long way for me this olympic cycle. It went from "I couldn't give a rat's a** about it" in Torino, to my favourite event now.
What a difference four years made...

[Joesitz]

Joe, a Vals Cruzado from one of my favourite Tango Argentoni dancers, especially for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGeJ0vsnnKU

Thanks again Viv. That Vals Tango had a lot in it including a story.
You do know the story of the Argentine Tango. Not sure if it is true, but this is what was told to me:
It comes from the Pampas Region of Argentina which is not the most livable provincce but it produces all those cows making the world reknown beef. Since women did not like the area it was populated by mostly men. So on weekend nights the men did the Euro Tango together, but emphasized the dominance of the the couple in a test of strength. - (this can be seen in old newsreels) When the men travelled to BA, the ladies wanted to learn it that way.

It's a great dance in any form, imo.

[tralfamadorian]

I believe there is a difference between the Argentine Tango and the Tango Romantica. The rhythm of the dance is the same but the music may be more sensual for the Argentine Tango and the music for the Tango Romantica would be more senuous. There is a difference in the style of the two tangos. I like variety, so my preference is both but for different reasons. How all this plays with the judging, I have no idea.

Would you consider just dropping the adjectives of the two styles and simply say Tango?

Sorry, I meant the Tango Romantica CD specifically, that's what happens when you get up in the middle of the night to watch compulsory dances, lol. Though I guess my opinion about dance quality applies to all tangos.

But what I mean to say is that if anyone is curious and wants to compare today's CDs to old couples, tango romantica CD from G/P. K/P, T/D and many other good couples are all up on youtube, I think this kind of looking back also gives an idea of what the judges are looking for.

(And this is why I'll be crying when CDs are kicked from competition, I think it's cool that you can make comparisons across generations with the CD, but this is another issue entirely.)

[Dodhiyel]

I absolutely loved watching Dom/Shab in this. Maksim caught the feeling of tango so completely, it was a pleasure. This is a dance I could watch again and again.

[figuristka]

Sorry, I meant the Tango Romantica CD specifically, that's what happens when you get up in the middle of the night to watch compulsory dances, lol. Though I guess my opinion about dance quality applies to all tangos.

But what I mean to say is that if anyone is curious and wants to compare today's CDs to old couples, tango romantica CD from G/P. K/P, T/D and many other good couples are all up on youtube, I think this kind of looking back also gives an idea of what the judges are looking

(And this is why I'll be crying when CDs are kicked from competition, I think it's cool that you can make comparisons across generations with the CD, but this is another issue entirely.)

Will the compulsory dances be kicked out? I certainly would hate that to happen. As posted eariler it was well recieved during the Olympics, and the arena looks quite full.

I found it interesting today looking at old clips of past champion's compulsory dances. Perhaps some of us who like them so much did some of them in the past like myself. Though certainly i did not reach the senior international dances.

[Ryan O]

What is Jennifer Robinson doing, commentating ice dance, what does she know about dance, not much the way she yukcs on sounding out of her league?

Yeah, I'm not quite sure what the rationale is for some of the commentators on Canadian t.v. this week. Sale & Pelletier for pairs, okay, that made sense since they are pair skaters. Liz Manley and David Pelletier for men? A little odd since Manley would be a better choice for women's commentary (which I assume she'll be back for later in the week), and while Pelletier was a single skater for a while, it's not something he knows as much about as pairs.

So yeah, not sure what Jennifer Robinson was doing there for ice dance since I don't think she's ever been an ice dancer. Victor Kraatz was obviously an appropriate commentator though.

[colleen o'neill]

I adore Tango.. but you've tweaked my memory re: Vals Cruzado..Some years back, Dubreuil & Lauzon used it in their Latin combination OD. i thought it was a great choice, and don't know if anyone else has opted to use it.
Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXF60ZC2auE

[viv]

Thanks again Viv.

You are welcome!

You do know the story of the Argentine Tango. Not sure if it is true, but this is what was told to me:
It comes from the Pampas Region of Argentina which is not the most livable provincce but it produces all those cows making the world reknown beef. Since women did not like the area it was populated by mostly men. So on weekend nights the men did the Euro Tango together, but emphasized the dominance of the the couple in a test of strength. - (this can be seen in old newsreels) When the men travelled to BA, the ladies wanted to learn it that way.

Yes, and as far as I know in Argentina men very often learn the dance by learning the ladys part first. As the lead is very tricky in Tango Argentino (it is not done with the hands or arms - this being an absolute no-no, - but with the position and movement of the man's upper body), by learning the ladys part the men learn how a good lead and a bad lead feels, and so learn to lead in a way the lady can follow.

colleen -

thank you for the link - I always liked D&L, but I didn't remember that program!

[bluelutz]

Tracy and Sandra are on US TV because of their professional association with Scott Hamilton. Scott was the lead commentator for CBS from the mid 80s through the 90s. He brought Sandra (who was the head choreographer for Star on Ice, Scott's show) on board at CBS for 1990 Worlds. NBC bought the rights to Worlds from 91 through 95. She already was calling World Pros for them, so she was paired with Robin Cousins the first year, then worked on her own with a color commentator (Enberg, etc) the other years except 94 when she was pregnant. Then she went to Canadian TV for 98 Olympics.

Tracy did some Canadian TV (1990 World for example with Toller Cranston) while her pro career (also with Stars on Ice) was coming to an end (due to Rob McCall's illness and death). Then CBS picked her up for 1992 Olympics in part because Scott hated calling ice dance. She's been paired with him in TV roles ever since for "amateur" and pro events.

When NBC bought the rights to the winter games and hired Scott he brought Sandra and Tracy on board with him. Scott has a lot of behind the scenes influence regarding who gets opportunites. For example, Michael Weiss (a longtime Stars on Ice cast member) is doing behind the scences tech analysis with the NBC production crew.

Thanks jcoates!
So the "Stars on Ice" connection plays the big role here.
Very, very intrersting!
BTW I wonder what happened to Enberg. He was the NBC sports news announcer who did 91-94 worlds, wasn't he?
Did he retire, or does he still cover things like golf games?
I actually liked him more than Tom.

[soogar]

A problem that the German eurosport guys pointed out is that this dance is so old and doesn't really challenge the top couples, since it originated in the 70s and ice dance has advanced since then technically. That's why they are all at the same level so a more demanding and new CD could probably help making the judging fairer and separate the wheat from the chaff.

If this dance is so easy, how come only one couple performed it the way it should have been performed (DomShabs). There was just no comparison and it's amusing to see all the American teams who know how to twizzle so quickly have to concentrate so hard on performing the CD steps and pattern that they can't even do anything with their upper body to emote the dance. I was really floored by DomShabs- they never took their eyes off of each other and they were so easily covering the steps and pattern.

I wish there were more compulsory dances. It's painfully obvious that there are many ice dance teams who truly do not know how ice dance.

[Tonichelle]

Hamilton hates calling dance not because he doesn't like it but because he does not consider himself an 'expert' and so he doesn't feel as qualified. It's a completely different event to that of singles and pairs with very few elements that are the same so I understand it.

Dick Button has/had the same amount of pull - if not more - over at ABC.

[jcoates]

Thanks jcoates!
So the "Stars on Ice" connection plays the big role here.
Very, very intrersting!
BTW I wonder what happened to Enberg. He was the NBC sports news announcer who did 91-94 worlds, wasn't he?
Did he retire, or does he still cover things like golf games?
I actually liked him more than Tom.

You're welcome. Enberg left in 1999 because they lost their NFL contract. He was their lead football color commentator and he's stated how much he loves calling football more than any other sport. So he moved over to CBS and has been there ever since. He also works the Masters and PGA Championship and the US Open (tennis). He works for ESPN as well calling all the tennis majors for them.

IIRC once ABC bought the rights to worlds in 1996, NBC only had World Pros left and they used Hammond from that point, possibly Greg Gumbel as well.

Hamilton hates calling dance not because he doesn't like it but because he does not consider himself an 'expert' and so he doesn't feel as qualified. It's a completely different event to that of singles and pairs with very few elements that are the same so I understand it.

Dick Button has/had the same amount of pull - if not more - over at ABC.

That's true, I thought about including that point, but thought it would make me look even geekier than normal. For several years when Scott called dance, he preferred to have an expert partner with him (Judy Blumberg in 87 and 88 and Sandra in 1990).

On that topic, if you can find vids of Torvill and Dean from worlds in 82 or 83 from CBS's coverage, you'll see that John Curry was an excellent dance commentator. He was their lead guy from the late 70's to the early 80's. His commentary was calm, concise and very instructional without being overbearing. Made me love him even more.

Scott really has tried to model himself after Uncle Dick as far as being a skating promoter. Mr. Button created the golden age of pro skating competitions we enjoyed from the 70's through the 90's. Scott had a big hand in a lot of the post 94 skating comps and shows.

I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to roll out successful skaters from these games into SOI. Tanith and Ben have already been signed. And I'm sure he'll try to add Meryl and Charlie and Tessa and Scott at least for the spring tour.

[colleen o'neill]

viv..you're more than welcome, and thank you for sending me off on yet another YouTube Tango adventure. one vid leads to another..and another ..and another One of my favourite pastimes.