Am I too old to start Ice Dancing? | Golden Skate

Am I too old to start Ice Dancing?

safiyaelisa

Spectator
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Hello! My name is Elli. I am fifteen years old. I have never done figure skating or ice dancing before. I often go to the rink, though, and do freestyle. I was wondering if I am too old to start Ice Dancing. I do not want to make it to the Olympics, But I would love to be in local competitions. Am I too old for this?
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Are you in the US?

You can compete in solo dance at the preliminary level as soon as you can skate the preliminary dances reasonably well. You can move up to the next levels as you learn and past tests in more dances.

Depending how often you practice and how hard you work (and also your natural aptitude for these skills, and the quality of the coaching you receive), you might reach a relatively high level as a solo dancer in a number of years, maybe at levels that also include solo free dance.

If you're female, your chances of finding a partner to compete in partnered dance competitions are low. Don't set your heart on it. But the better you get at ice dancing by yourself and with a coach partnering you, the closer you get to that maybe being a possibility someday.
 

sandraskates

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
I just add to the prior response that there is no "too old" these days for non-national and Olympic competition.

US Figure Skating has greatly added to their Adult competitive programs and competitions. So if you start now at 15, you may be turn into quite the competitor in young adult when you're 18.

At the last local competition at my rink the Solo Ice Dance categories took up much of the competition. All levels, all ages. There was also a Pro-Am category (with Sergey Ponomorenko as one of the Pros!).
 

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~
On the Ice
Joined
May 27, 2018
Would just like to chime in that I know a guy who started ice dance at 18 and made it to US Nationals... don't limit yourself :biggrin: And the Adult Ice Dance community, while small, is always a great option when you are older. There are lots of dance intensives / workshops every year, too.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Are you in the US?

You can compete in solo dance at the preliminary level as soon as you can skate the preliminary dances reasonably well. You can move up to the next levels as you learn and past tests in more dances.

Depending how often you practice and how hard you work (and also your natural aptitude for these skills, and the quality of the coaching you receive), you might reach a relatively high level as a solo dancer in a number of years, maybe at levels that also include solo free dance.

If you're female, your chances of finding a partner to compete in partnered dance competitions are low. Don't set your heart on it. But the better you get at ice dancing by yourself and with a coach partnering you, the closer you get to that maybe being a possibility someday.
I'm going to second everything that was said here.

Would just like to chime in that I know a guy who started ice dance at 18 and made it to US Nationals... don't limit yourself :biggrin: And the Adult Ice Dance community, while small, is always a great option when you are older. There are lots of dance intensives / workshops every year, too.

I'm not one for telling people to limit themselves, but I just want to point out that yes reach for the stars, but it's very very rare that one would reach US Nationals picking up ice dance at such an advanced age.



I also want to just add on a little note here: Many people see ice dance and are amazed with it and say, ooh I want to do that and many think it's "the easiest discipline" because there are no jumps etc. I am here to tell anyone that thinks that: It's actually the complete opposite. It's quite complex and difficult and definitely not for everyone. I'm not trying to crush dreams, but being a realist.

Start with lessons in the basics, then see where you want to go from there. The adult skating community is fabulous and you can do so many competitions and so on there.
 

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~
On the Ice
Joined
May 27, 2018
I'm not one for telling people to limit themselves, but I just want to point out that yes reach for the stars, but it's very very rare that one would reach US Nationals picking up ice dance at such an advanced age.

And to be fair, he didn't place well and probably only made it to Nationals because he was a male and males are always in demand... I might have misinterpreted the OP, but I got the impression that they were a freestyle skater, and with a background in skating already, it might be possible to go further than someone who has never skated before. But you are right, I certainly don't want to give false hopes.
 
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