The Technical Part of Ice Dance

This is not easy for a layman and I am one. I think I have some of it: Mistakes, errors are severely marked in this discipline, correct? Skating close is important. Skating in unison when apart is important, e.g. twizzles.

They are Senior skaters so there should be no problem with timing, rhythm, lifts and dance spins. Innovated moves should be considered important.

Please alert me before I go to Gothenberg. I'd like to be able to say more than just that I like a particular couple. I mean I'm crazy about Carron and Jost but they never get the scores the others do some of whom I don't like because I do not see any rapport.

Joe

http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-178381-195599-111175-0-file,00.pdf

Joe, The ice dance rules are on pages 127 and following of the above document.
Another good source is http://www.ice-dance.com/reference/

The easiest to understand competition, is, of course, the CD's, since all the teams are skating the same pattern. For the casual fan, here's some easy tips to watching.

1. Faster is better. If all teams are skating the same pattern, the faster couple will skate a bigger pattern.
2. Deep edges are very important (teams are leaning)
3. Flow is very important. And you should not hear excessive noise from the skaters' blades
4. Skating close together, with the feet close is important
5. 'Tidy feet' are important. Toes are to be turned out and pointed down. Leg lines match exactly. Two footed skating is a no no.
6. Both the man and the lady should have good posture (upright, with the head up, but not stiff).
7. If you're musical, timing is an important thing and easy to spot. Timing is strict, and is marked. The first step should be on beat 1 of the 9th measure.
8. Everything should look effortless-dance holds should be firm
9. Obvious stuff-positions should be held and not wobbly.
10. In a CD, or the OD, the character of the dance should be correct. You should be able to imagine that you would know the dance is a waltz or a tango just from the way it is performed, without the music. Each CD should have a unique flavor.

11. And yes, unison is important.

Before you go, take a look at the protocol sheets for couples you are interested in.

Carron and Jost got level 3 on both their circular steps and their midline steps (not touching) in the OD at Europeans. They lost 1.3 points vs. couples that can do all level 4's as a result. They also got a level 3 on the circular steps in the FD.

^ Thanks Doris for that reply. I will be using it when I watch Worlds. (I do not have problems with CDs. They are from my era.)

However, I do enjoy some Teams by their performance but I will check out the info you gave me and hopefully understand why a Team I enjoy the most can not get a medal.

Joe