First, I wanted to thank everyone who has provided insightful responses on this thread. It has been awesome.
I believe she gave the explanation during the warm-up before the final group. (I cannot say how grateful I am to have Tanith providing real DANCE commentary here).
I think the confusion between 6/8 and 3/4 comes from the fact that 6/8 reduces to 3/4. Mathematically they are equal. Musically, it appears this is not so.
Does anyone know what portion of the music N&N received their tempo deduction on? They did not receive one during the U.S. Classic.
for those interested, if you haven't seen it before...
6/8 is a compound meter. compound meter means that each beat is a combination of 3 smaller units...
in this case: the smaller unit is the eighth note...and the bar is made out of TWO beats containing 3 of these eighth notes (dotted quarter note).
3/4 is a regular meter. It consists of THREE beats. each beat is a quarter note.
A waltz is traditionally a dance composed on a 3/4 meter... with a clear downbeat and two lighter beats... OUM-Pa-Pa. Often, there is a pick-up leading to the downbeat so a clear sense of hierarchy is established in the rhythm.
IF a piece in 6/8 would consist of regular eighth note beats all the way through... 1 + + 2 + + , it may confuse a listener in thinking that ONE bar is indeed TWO bars of a waltz... or something like two bars of 3/8 after another BUT the issue here is that
1) most pieces in 6/8 will feature other beat subdivisions
2) the hierarchy of the meter is no longer equal to a waltz... as those two 3/8 bars wouldn't have the same kind of clear Oum-Pa-Pa because in 6/8 the hierarchy of the beats is the following... ONE.... two..... or when divided.. ONE ++ two ++.... the second beat is indeed weaker... and the pick up into ONE isn't of the same nature at all as the one in Dance.... and there is very rarely a pick up into two... so to make it into a waltz pattern is very problematic.
I hope this musical explanation helps you understand why some choreographers may have issues.... I am NOT a figure skating expert, so perhaps the waltz patterns can fit into some sort of alternative meter other than the WALTZ proper rhythm that is in 3/4.
Teams who are going with classical music indeed do have an easier time since composers observed the Waltz's original features with a clear downbeat and sense of OUM-pa -pa....
however, when going for non-classical music, some composers or songwriters often play with multiple rhythmic patterns, some going from 3/4 to 6/8 so sometimes, one may have the impression of hearing a waltz pattern but it isn't regular or may shift... creating the issues mentioned with P/C... I couldn't hear a clear waltz at all when I listened to the music selection... however, I have not seen the program nor the final cuts... so who knows?
again, hopefully this is helping a few ... and if not
sorry
you can just skip this long explanation
PS: it is also important to mention that not all 3/4 meters are Waltzes
for instance, a Mazurka is in 3/4... it is slightly differently organized rhythmically... whether or not this could affect the dance patterns I don't know...
Too bad most judges and technical panels are no musicians also and can't or afraid to call for a deduction where it's clearly needed. Same goes for Hubbel/Donohue. :disapp:
