Battles of the Legendary Ice Dancers of the 80s

[labgoat]

Many of you did not experience first hand like I did some of the closest ice dance battles of the 1980s.
Some really beautiful, clear videos of these events are now available. Who do you think won the events and who did you like best? These were a couple of the most musical and creative contests and the programs are not the most famous for these skaters but are among my favorites. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

1986 Europeans Free Dance (Toller Cranston is the commentator)
In skate order...
Klimova/Ponomarenko (Blue Danube)
Bestemianova/Bukin (Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini)

1989 Worlds Free Dance

In skate order...
Isabelle Duchesnay / Paul Duchesnay France
Maya Usova / Alexander Zhulin Soviet Union
Marina Klimova / Sergei Ponomarenko Soviet Union
Susie Wynne / Joseph Druar United States
Klára Engi / Attila Tóth Hungary

Alternate coverage with Toller Cranston commentary - my preference

1989 Worlds Original Dance (Charleston) - more favorites
video is fuzzy but the Cranston commentary is really worth hearing - he did not mince words
Susie Wynne / Joseph Druar USA
Klára Engi /Atilla Tóth HUN
Isabelle Duchesnay / Paul Duchesnay FRA | v2
Maya Usova / Alexander Zhulin URS
Marina Klimova / Sergei Ponomarenko URS

@elektra blue check out the costuming

 

[dorispulaski]

Don't miss Wynne & Druar's Charleston! I am as big a fan of it as Toller is!

Successfully doing fast, choppy steps on the beat is Hard!

Charleston is not easy to successfully portray on the ice.

 

[labgoat]

Don't miss Wynne & Druar's Charleston! I am as big a fan of it as Toller is!

Successfully doing fast, choppy steps on the beat is Hard!

Charleston is not easy to successfully portray on the ice.

I wish we had seen the Charleston done more than one year.

 

[4everchan]

ODs were so much better than RDs.

 

[labgoat]

ODs were so much better than RDs.

So much better. All the teams were so smart and really had very good skills. Love watching the CDs too - you can see that they had honed their craft.