Has anyone competed in solo dance?

CdnSkateWatcher · Mar 13, 2012

AmuChan363 said:
Thanks for pointing that out! I'm watching it now ;D
Well... its always been something that I wanted to compete at (sectionals I mean) and I know that there are age restrictions, but there is no limit for partnered dance for everything except junior (then again i'll be competing against little kids if I do juvenile-novice and really intense competitors on the senior level) I'm not quite sure yet. Seeing as I'm not even in the competitive dance stream now (Senior Bronze atm....) it's unlikely, but still a dream

I'll see how things go and if I'm ever able to find a partner... theres always CollegiateSkate and AdultSkate, ahahh.

The competitive dance tests are done as of June 30; you will need to have either a Senior Dance test by then in order for that to be an option, or, your completed Gold Dance test going forward. There are definitely age restrictions. Pre-Juve, Juvie, Pre-Nov and are under 18 as of the July 1st of the skating year; Nov and Junior is under 19 for women, under 21 for men. Senior has no age restrictions.

However, StarSkate solo dance is a great idea, and so is StarSkate dance. You still get the major competition with the StarSkate Challenge, and then there is usually some provincial level comp too ... and you can certainly do Senior Bronze dance if you can find a guy, and frankly, finding a guy with a Sr Bronze dance test might be easier.

lcd · Mar 14, 2012

OH how I hope solo dance is encouraged and supported. Such an IDEAL way to keep the sport alive for anyone over ... 30?

mskater93 · Mar 15, 2012

Uh, that is a BAD sterotype lcd. There are a lot of us over 30 who do FS. I am bored by dance and only enjoy the challenge of MIF and FS. FWIW, I have a consistent Axel, a couple nearly-consistent doubles and working on more, taking my (US) Novice MIF and maybe another FS test this summer after US Adult Nationals. If you go look at results from Adult Nationals in the US, you'll see the largest groups in FS are in the 41-50 category.

AmuChan363 · Mar 26, 2012

CdnSkateWatcher said:
you can certainly do Senior Bronze dance if you can find a guy, and frankly, finding a guy with a Sr Bronze dance test might be easier.

I guess, well if you know any tell them to message me ;P I'm hoping that if I join a varsity skating team in university there will be at least one boy who is remotely interested in dance?

figuristka · Apr 30, 2012

Its a shame there is not more done for Adult figure skater's in Canada. The US seem to have more options for Adult figure skaters for tests aand competitions. I myself passed up to the senior bronze/junior silver in Ice dance, though this was about 10 yrs ago. I recently got interested in taking an adult ice dance session but i cannot seem to find any in my area. Solo dance sounds great to me if they had it in Canada too. I think some places like Ottawa are great for Adult skaters but smaller towns don't have much.

mskater93 · May 1, 2012

It's not as great as you think in the US. There is an adult track basic skills, but it skips some skills and basically if the skater wants to move on from there into the adult track for testing or standard track, it's not good for that. Yes, our Adult Nationals are heavily attended, but we almost all have private lessons on freestyle sessions and finding an "adult only session" is super-rare, so we are typically dodging kids. We all make do, though, because we love the sport. We may be on FS sessions at 5AM or 9PM to accommodate life.

blue dog · May 1, 2012

mskater93 said:
It's not as great as you think in the US. There is an adult track basic skills, but it skips some skills and basically if the skater wants to move on from there into the adult track for testing or standard track, it's not good for that. Yes, our Adult Nationals are heavily attended, but we almost all have private lessons on freestyle sessions and finding an "adult only session" is super-rare, so we are typically dodging kids. We all make do, though, because we love the sport. We may be on FS sessions at 5AM or 9PM to accommodate life.

Please direct me to the rink that has 9 PM! All the rinks in San Diego have hockey in the evenings, and I'm a night owl =(

mskater93 · May 1, 2012

There's one rink here in Chicago that has an adult FS at 10P on Sunday nights and another with a Friday night 11P FS (both of which are too far away for me, and I have worked to get off that kind of personal schedule, so they don't work anyway). In the summer, there are two rinks with an evening FS (7:15 on W at one rink and 6:15 on Th at another) but these last only 10-12 weeks. It's rare and hard to find, but it's out there in the Midwest.

Tangogirl · May 2, 2012

Canadian Adult Skaters!! We have been suggesting to Skate Canada for several years that they should include solo dance, given that most of the time we have approx 100 participants at Adult Nats, it would be a great way of increasing participation at Nats (and by association increasing revenue!!) so far they have not seen fit to include solo dance but it is worth it to write to Skate Canada with you suggestions, this was how we got our Nats in the first place.

I've done solo dance comps (back when I was doing dance) and they are a lot of fun. Realistacally speaking, most of the time you are practicing without a partner any how. It was good practice for getting ready for my US standard track gold tests too.

UsedtoDance · May 2, 2012

A solo dance event would be nice at adult nationals. With such low numbers at the Canadian adult nats this year they certainly could have used some more events. It might encourage some of the synchro skaters to do individual events as well. I wonder if Skate Canada would consider it.

And I always thought the states ws a hot bed of adult skating but I guess it is as difficult as here to get adults recognised. I am lucky to skate at a cub that provides us with exceptional adult group lessons and more ice than any adult could ever think of using but there aren't many clubs like my club. It is such great exercise, they should encourage more adults to keep going.

mskater93 · May 3, 2012

Canadian skaters, do you have an adult committee that reports into the Skate Canada structure? Much of what gets approved goes through this committee in the US and they TRY to listen to all points of view and requests for changes or they request changes that will benefit the majority of adult figure skaters. This was how solo dance got added to ANs - a petition made the rounds at adult competitions (and non-adult alike) and the large volume of interest had the committee's attention to invetigate that feasibility. If you don't have an adult committee, I'd highly recommend making enough noise to get one!

AmuChan363 · May 6, 2012

figuristka said:
Its a shame there is not more done for Adult figure skater's in Canada. The US seem to have more options for Adult figure skaters for tests aand competitions. I myself passed up to the senior bronze/junior silver in Ice dance, though this was about 10 yrs ago. I recently got interested in taking an adult ice dance session but i cannot seem to find any in my area. Solo dance sounds great to me if they had it in Canada too. I think some places like Ottawa are great for Adult skaters but smaller towns don't have much.

If you can find a coach, they can definitely put you on the right track for that. Your coach should be able to teach you and spot you for your dance, and that way you can learn... If you're interested in Competitions, there are some small competitions in Canada which do Adult solo dance - its hard to find , but i'm almost positive there are =]

AmuChan363 · May 6, 2012

And the answer the main question of this thread:

About 2 weeks I skated at my first solo dance competition. It was honestly so nerve-wracking for me because not only was that first competition that I had done in ages, but because it was my first dance one too. I was in the Junior Bronze Solo Dance Category - skating to the Fourteenstep. I messed up my opening steps, and it threw off my entire pattern. But because of that, I didn't place very well =[ I think I was so nervous because I'm used to doing dance tests, or dancing with a partner so when I was alone on the ice I'm like

Otherwise, I'm definitely going to compete in Solo Dance again ;D

figuristka · May 8, 2012

Thanks AmuChan, I'll look into it. I found an Adult skating session where it says you can get a private coach if you want. Before i think of getting a coach again i'll try to practice some basic dances even if they don't play dance music and just get the feel of the ice again. Iam not even sure what level i can get back to. Good luck in your next competition.

UsedtoDance · May 8, 2012

I am not sure if we have any sort of adult committee. I would guess no.

Figuristka...If you are in the Toronto area I know of a few adult sessions. PM me if you want some info. If you are in western section there are lots of adult programs too.

Tangogirl · May 9, 2012

mskater93 said:
Canadian skaters, do you have an adult committee that reports into the Skate Canada structure? Much of what gets approved goes through this committee in the US and they TRY to listen to all points of view and requests for changes or they request changes that will benefit the majority of adult figure skaters. This was how solo dance got added to ANs - a petition made the rounds at adult competitions (and non-adult alike) and the large volume of interest had the committee's attention to invetigate that feasibility. If you don't have an adult committee, I'd highly recommend making enough noise to get one!

Not yet, we aren't as numerous as in the US but it's on my list of things to do.

mskater93 · May 10, 2012

The Adult Committee was formed before there was knowledge of the interest level of adults in the US. This was a group of very dedicated adult skaters who pushed for what they felt was right. Maybe there'd be more interested persons if you created an adult committee and really pushed your points of view and advertised and...
The US Adult Committee has rolled with the times - word of mouth, a page on the USFS website in the programs section, and now FB. They mobilize the US adults through all of these methods and it's great. (disclaimer: no, I am not on the committee, but I do know a lot of people who are and they reach out to their "constituents" through word of mouth, email, FB, etc which really keeps people informed and engaged)

Has anyone competed in solo dance?

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