Is the Olympic season Rhythm Dance exciting? | Golden Skate

Is the Olympic season Rhythm Dance exciting?

A

Anna K.

May I see a flying camel, please?
Medalist
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Feb 22, 2014
Latvia
It's been a four year development of the ISU policy that intended to make Rhythm Dance more exciting - mainly by steering the music choices away from the ballroom dance niche and keeping them within the range of public disco bangers. So, has the policy succeeded? Is the Rhythm Dance of the 2025/26 season exciting?

How do you rate the actual Rhythm Dance programs that you have seen?
 
Well, to me, and that's perhaps because I know the music from this generation better than the music of previous decades chosen by the ISU, it's working out better than the previous couple years.

Is it exciting per se ? I don't know if I would go that far. I would still prefer to clearly see dance and not just a dance pattern somewhere in there. I think the teams are having fun (for the most part) with costumes and music so that makes me think their choreos also like this era better :)
 
I think that there is a certain element of irony in the ISU's efforts to attract a younger audience. Music that was popular in the 1980s and 90s-- i.e., with the parents of the current crop of ice dancers. Last time around it was the 1950s and 60s, which I'm sure, was exciting to the grandparents of current elite skaters. More so anyway than the big band ballroom music of those old fogies, their great-grandparents. ;)
 
90s are better than the 50s as far as I am concerned, but after only one competition, it is too early to say for me. Overall, I like the change introduced by the ISU because the rhythm dance is guaranteed to be upbeat. Decade choice is also good, because there is an additional criteria for someone who doesn't know the steps and stuff to look up. The only downside is that I didn't get a season of waltzes with the teams I actually care/know anything about.

Is it exciting? For me, it's the competition/unpredictability aspect makes fs stuff exciting, and singles/pairs are overall exciting while id is just not by its nature. But it is surely more watchable with more upbeat and less sophisticated music.
 
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The Rhythm dance is less exciting to me than the free dance but neither of them - TO ME - is as exciting as singles/pairs. But it's much better than how it used to be where they used just a few pieces of music. Sitting through Nationals one year I was ready to bite my arm off for a little excitement. My travel partner absolutely loves anything to do with ice dance so there you are - different strokes and all that. I honestly don't even watch it on television until the final group takes the ice.
 
I think that ironically these incredibly broad themes have resulted in very monotonous programs that feel fairly similar to each other—and worse, feel similar to the programs from the previous year and the year before. As an audience member I feel like the last three years have been the same theme in spirit if not in literal truth, because frankly almost everyone picks pop hits and does whatever dance moves they’re already comfortable with because there’s zero incentive under the current rules to learn a new style or be at all authentic or specific in your intentions.

Perhaps a waltz or a polka or a paso doble would not “excite” some people but it would challenge the skaters to be specific and authentic. It would make it easier and more understandable to compare teams, because the assignment would be clear. And I don’t think the assignment should be “trying to go viral on TikTok.”
 
noskates said:
The Rhythm dance is less exciting to me than the free dance but neither of them - TO ME - is as exciting as singles/pairs. But it's much better than how it used to be where they used just a few pieces of music. Sitting through Nationals one year I was ready to bite my arm off for a little excitement. My travel partner absolutely loves anything to do with ice dance so there you are - different strokes and all that. I honestly don't even watch it on television until the final group takes the ice.
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I'm in this boat with you. For me, the other disciplines are more interesting because the high-risk aspect of the sport is more evident. I'm not saying that dance isn't hard; it just doesn't LOOK as hard to the common man.

But, on the flip side, I generally get more emotionally engaged with ice dance. It's easier for me to go on the "journey" as they say. Overall, as far as my personal engagement goes, I enjoyed the Short Dances that incorporated the old compulsories. There was a more recognizable, sustained pattern, and it was fun to see how the dancers fit that into whatever theme they were working with, and I think it allowed for more variety.
 
As evidence for my statement that the Short Dances resulted in more variety, I submit 2012-2013 Season, in which the compulsory segment was Yankee Polka.

Davis and White's program was music form the ballet Giselle. Virtue and Moir's program was to The Waltz Goes On. Pechalat and Bourzat skated to a can-can. Those were all show-stopper programs.

"Music from the 80's" just does not yield that type of variety or artistic freedom.
 
For me, not exciting but then none of the senior disciplines are at the minute. Rhythm dance is one of those that I find entertaining (sometimes for the wrong reasons as people may have noticed on the competition threads :laugh:).

I agree that this business of going for retro themes clashes with the aim to attract a younger audience, I have spoken before about looking at what young folk are into now (like soundtracks from streaming hits and games, the latter would make a splendid theme). I'm having fun nitpicking the retro, but it's not exciting especially as so many use the same music - just how much Boney M did we have last year??? and I like Boney M - and then [1] ignore it when designing costumes and [2] ignore it or worse, ham it up in their dance moves. Yes, I'm having fun, but how many people are, well, me?
 
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I didn't like the compulsories very much (I got a little bored), so I was pleased they were ditched - although I understand that kids still have to do them to learn the patterns and get to skate together.

With regard to OD, SD and RD, I like it when I recognise the pattern bit and I also tend to like the themes. I didn't beforehand, being someone who has watched them seemingly forever, but I do miss the paso dobles (but that's mostly because I love Torill and Dean's version so much) and tango's. ID never bores me nowadays, and I like to see originality in lifts, steps and even sliding moves.

I also love hydro-blading (if you've ever seen Victor Kraatz doing that in - strangely enough - show programmes, you might agree with me) but those usually are used in FD's.

To be fair, I like pairs even better so maybe my opinion is an outlier on this ID score.
 
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Also, I want to say that aside from themes in RD, some other developments were introduced (or appeared) which I think are fun. The partner assisted jumps and more use of acrobatics in dance lifts are more eye-catching than steps when you can't tell steps/rhythms from one another the way professionals can. I also like it in theory that they reversed one sequence of steps between partner A and B, promising us duos that won't be strictly MF in the future seasons. So, it is imo good additions for me who would never understand why it was Y or N because of the mistake by partner A on step 13 on curve 3 or whatever.
 
No. It's as bland as watching white paint dry. They've stripped it of all the difficulty and intrigue. Why skate portions of patterns? That is how we separate the sheep from the goats. Now it's a little more than a beauty contest. Innovation and originality also count for nothing. But, they have options; return it to its former glory and incorporate same sex couples, both male and female. It's gotten stale.
 
TallyT said:
We just had the juniors at Ankara and no less than fiv e of them used one piece (U Can't touch this) and I think three or four Ice Ice Baby. Excitement is not helped by the deva ju, folks.
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Déjà vu :) but i don't disagree with the rest of your post ;) It took me a second to figure out which language you were using... to figure out it was my own LOL so yeah :) thought I would correct if for my own sake :)
 
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