Ice Dance vs. Singles vs. Pairs

[gsk8]

If you had to choose one discipline to watch forever, which would it be — and why?

Coming up, the women were my personal favorites, followed by the pairs. Just like food, my taste buds have changed over the years. My choice would be Ice Dance! I love the creativity and themes. While not a fan of the Rhythm Dance, I love watching all Free Dances.

I think this is most in part that over the past decade, there is so much tension when watching singles and pairs try to up their technical content. I'm on pins and needles and have a difficult time trying to enjoy the program. This doesn't apply to all the skaters and teams of course! Jason Brown is a perfect example. He knows his limits and focuses on artistry while maintaining excellent skating skills.

What say you?

 

[ladyjane]

My favourite discipline would be the pairs, but men and Ice Dance follow very close behind. Women not so much, although there are some woman skaters I enjoy watching (Loena is one, Kaori another). But pairs is my absolute favourite, especially the 3-twist lift and the side by side spins in the SP. Aaah! I love beautiful throws as well. Throw in a bit of choreography and I'm just hooked to the screen. Live, sitting in the corner where those twist-lifts most often are executed is also a big, big treat.

Having stated all that, I enjoy the men and the whole menning and cacti thing (I am sorry, I love it when there's a lot of difference in the standings after SP and FS, although I often do feel sorry for those skaters who have a bad day in the Free). I also love to see beautiful skating - so I definitely am a Jason Brown, Donovan Carrillo, Davide Lewton Brain and Deniss Vasiljevs fan - even if these are totally different skaters. In the 80s and 90s I loved the men for their quads, but that has gone away.

And ID, even if I will never 'get' the judging, is just so captivating. Gaby and Guillaume used to be my big, big favourites, but so were Jayne and Chris - even if ID was totally different at the time. That Paso Doble Original Dance in 1984 by the last as well as the whacking RD in 2022 by the first two are just iconic in my view. But I like a lot of Dances though, Marjorie and and Zachary's Thriller RD is also a favourite.

Sorry, only one discipline was required but I couldn't help myself!

 

[Fetinia]

1. Men 2. Pairs 3. Women 4. Ice Dance

 

[cyndyt]

For me it is Dance (although I could do without the RD), Pairs, Synchro, and Men. There are a few women that I enjoy but I generally will not watch a whole event of women.

 

[Mathman]

Watching a whole competition from beginning to end, Ice Dance for sure. In men and women I am usually interested in only a few of the top competitors, but I enjoy the efforts of pretty much all of the up-and-comers in dance.

Bravo to cundyt for mentioning synchro.

 

[TallyT]

Do we mean only watch one discipline from this point onwards? Or only one discipline past and present as well {casting an anxious eye over my hard drive of 3300+ downloaded videos, every one precious to me}

If the latter it would have to be the men (though I would hold like grim death to my somewhat eclectic collection of ID and women and even a few pairs even if I couldn't watch them), given that well over 3/4 of the above are men going well back in time and then right up to the present day, it's not really stretch. Right now my interest in most of the current seniors in all disciplines is somewhat down so it gets harder but still I'd pick the men, as there are some I like quite a lot, and looking and the current crop of juniors I predict as they age out they will be pretty damn splendid.

 

[Diana Delafield]

If you had to choose one discipline to watch forever, which would it be — and why?

Coming up, the women were my personal favorites, followed by the pairs. Just like food, my taste buds have changed over the years. My choice would be Ice Dance! I love the creativity and themes. While not a fan of the Rhythm Dance, I love watching all Free Dances.

I think this is most in part that over the past decade, there is so much tension when watching singles and pairs try to up their technical content. I'm on pins and needles and have a difficult time trying to enjoy the program. This doesn't apply to all the skaters and teams of course! Jason Brown is a perfect example. He knows his limits and focuses on artistry while maintaining excellent skating skills.

What say you?

Sort of obvious that I'm going to pick my own discipline, pairs. Second choice would be dance. I hardly ever watch any of the men, and almost never any of the women, maybe just one or two performances from Canadian singles skaters.

 

[elbkup]

Ice Dance.. the most beautiful and unique of the disciplines
I like its freedom of expression, balance of partners, choreographic creativity and costume variations ..
And innovation
like this dance I discovered from On Ice Perspectives: Massimo Scali & Ethan Burgess at the Skating Club of San Francisco, just stunning (tho more a show piece)

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Pairs next but I must admit I sometimes watch with one eye closed!

Then singles, men and women both; with the exception of single skaters who truly care about artistic expression, singles is mostly about jumping passes. I enjoy singles and admire finely executed jumps but, in some respects for me it slightly limits the discipline.

 

[noskates]

Pairs definitely. I love the excitement of the lifts and the spins. Gordeeva and Grinkov were my favorite and, unfortunately for other pairs teams, I generally use them to set the standard. Suffice to say there aren't many who can hold up to that level. Men next. I especially appreciate a man who can combine athleticism with wonderful performance. You can see by my avatar that I'm a huuuuuuge Kurt Browning fan. He was, and is, so entertaining and probably has the best footwork in the sport. I'm also a big fan of Jason Brown and I love the fact that he's proven you can be a very elite skater and earn high scores without a quad. I like to think that his performance skills have influenced men's skating and that the emphasis on jump jump jump has leveled out - still necessary but not enough by itself. I've always believed there should be a balance. Women next. Michelle Kwan was my favorite. I like a skater that can make me feel something when they skate no matter what the music is. I won't comment on the current batch. Dance last. There are very few teams that I've enjoyed and basically find Ice Dance incredibly boring. The exceptions would be White and Davis, Poirer and Gilles for their innovation and Cizeron and Papadakis for their "oneness!" Sometimes I find ice dance programs are either too repetitive, too gimicky or just plain meh!

 

[Ivana]

I fell in love with figure skating watching the pairs disciplines, Grishuk/Platov in ice dance and Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze in pairs. I would lie if I said that my taste did not change through the years and the order did not shuffle, but currently the order would be 1. Ice Dance 2. Pairs 3. Men 4. Women. There are very few couples that I don't enjoy in ice dance, and the good thing in ice dance is that even the weaker teams are still watchable (but please no more Ricky Martin for RD after the qualifying event), there is something interesting in nearly all performances. For pairs I really do enjoy quite a lot of teams these days and I can sit through the whole event. Men and Women are nearly tied for me, but there are more men that I enjoy watching, the women would have been no.2 for me just 5 years back are meh right now, I still root for Kaori, I still enjoy quite a few others, but I can't imagine sitting through whole SP at Europeans or Worlds as I could years back.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Ice Dance, Men, Pairs

 

[lariko]

It depends where the competition is the most exciting, things are happening, and there is someone I am really rooting for. At the moment:

International: Men, Dance, Women, Pairs
Russian: Pairs, Women, Men, Dance

 

[CherylDee]

Men, Pairs.... period!
Why? Because Men are the most innovative and exciting to watch even when it's a splat-fest. Men and Pairs, I personally feel are the primary disciplines that actively advances the sport forward with new and innovative jumps. lifts, and choreography. I mean all the disciplines make contributions to modernizing the sport, but Men and Pairs show the most visually recognized advances in the sport.

 

[NanaPat]

I enjoy pairs the most for a variety of reasons.

First, they have the largest variety of elements. Jumps, spins, and footwork, check. Add lifts, twists, throws, and death spirals and every program contains a lot of variety.

Second, as a result of the large variety of elements, it is difficult for a team to be excellent at all of them. That means even a casual observer can see real differences between the teams, with different teams having different strengths and weaknesses. And it is easy to see the difference between the top teams and ones with lower scores.

Third, there are less teams entered in pairs than in the other disciplines, so it is easier to enjoy ALL the skaters in a competition and "keep them straight". If a competition features 30+ skaters, they all tend to blur together after a while.

 

[4everchan]

Pairs and Men for me are ex aequo.

Then, Ice dance is close by.

Women used to be my favourite discipline when I was a kid. Now, it's by far the discipline I am least interested in. I enjoy the top skaters but that's about it. Maybe it has to do with the many entries... especially in juniors.

Yet, I watch all 4 with the same enthusiasm but if all 4 disciplines were shown at the same time, I'd pick pairs and men.

 

[moonvine]

Pairs. Men. I almost hate dance because of judging and low scoring my babies Yet I Watch It anyway. Women …for the most part very boring except for my Queen and a few faves like Amber.

 

[yuki@thelake]

Pairs love the derring-do, though I get pissed when the teams cannot jump.

Men, though probably only the top 25%.

Ice dance, am not technical enough to understand the elements and how one team gets a higher score than the other but I do love it when I am blown away by the creativity like the Spain team's Dune programs (I love the movies).

Women probably only the top 5%. JGPs especially, I'd only watch the last warm up group.

 

[Arriba627]

Pairs have always been my top favorite, with the men a very very close second. The great pairs of many years ago were what made me fall in love with skating. There's something so satisfying about a well-executed throw or twist. The jumps, well, that's a little bit different story. Pretty frustrating with the U.S. Pairs, but hope springs eternal! Next would be ice dance, then women. I appreciate the ice dance and how difficult it is, but the inaccessibility of the scoring makes it frustrating.

 

[iluvtodd]

The men, and NOT because of quads!

Seriously, I enjoy watching all of the disciplines, and seeing every competitor in a given competition.

 

[Weathergal]

I try to not be the person who when asked for one favorite thing, lists five, but I can't choose between my two favorite disciplines of Dance and Men. Pairs is close behind, trailed quite a bit by Women's.