Let’s dance 80’s! New Rhythm Dance article

[sisinka]

Hallo everyone! I didn't find any thread with ISU rhythm dance propositions + Chair of ISU Ice Dance Technical Committee Shawn Rettstatt's interview, so I created this one.

Let’s dance 80’s! Revealing new season rhythm dance theme – and so much more. Interview with Shawn Rettstatt from ISU

Let’s dance 80’s! Revealing new season rhythm dance theme – and so much more. Interview with Shawn Rettstatt from ISU - Всем лутц! - Блоги - Sports.ru

www.sports.ru

Article is longer and quite interesting...but some mentions and propositions (yet unofficial) going to new season's Rhythm dance:
- "And for next year what we’ve crafted is music of the 1980s. So the decade of the 80s – to really make it fun and dancy, and also keeping with the fans and the public."


- "Next year the pattern dance element for Junior in particular – Sequence 1 – will be the traditional steps (the woman doing the woman steps, the man doing the man steps). But with Sequence 2 we’re doing the opposite. So the man will execute the woman’s steps and the woman will execute the man steps. And with open holds they’ll be able to be creative with their holds."


- "...for seniors we’re creating a «Pattern Dance Choreographic Element». So you will still have a pattern dance – and I should say once again that so far it’s not official yet – but in the discussion we will put a pattern dance Choreographic element into the Rhythm dance, so it will still be a pattern dance that you will recognize – but it will not necessarily have levels. It will have a choreographic approach to it being judged as a Choreo element."



Your ideas?

 

[moonvine]

Oh gawd. So instead of having an element they might sort of have some guidelines as how to judge it, just another thing they can judge however? This is not what I ordered. May I send it back?

 

[Lamente Ariane]

I feel like I'm going insane. Is there a reason the technical committee thinks it makes any sense whatsoever to hold juniors to a higher standard than seniors? Why not make them both do pattern dances? Why even bother saying you're bringing pattern dance back to seniors when what you actually mean is "but they can do the Funky Chicken in between and it won't matter because there are no levels so it'll be judged on reputation and not on execution"?

 

[moonvine]

I feel like I'm going insane. Is there a reason the technical committee thinks it makes any sense whatsoever to hold juniors to a higher standard than seniors? Why not make them both do pattern dances? Why even bother saying you're bringing pattern dance back to seniors when what you actually mean is "but they can do the Funky Chicken in between and it won't matter because there are no levels so it'll be judged on reputation and not on execution"?

Yeah I can’t even. Like I said not what I ordered.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Eek... further confirmation of the rumours...

I'm neutral about the 80s theme - some nice music there, flexible requirement open to interpretation albeit maybe overly so, and not actually a dance style. But these pattern dance shenanigans are so contrived. I hope they last as long as the 'props in Original Dance' experiment.

So the man will execute the woman’s steps and the woman will execute the man steps.

They should pick the Viennese then since the pattern does that already I actually don't mind the switching of parts between skaters, but they lose the point of this if they get rid of the close holds, because those help to mechanically define lead/follow (or man/woman) steps. Nowadays too many teams already practically shadow dance at arm's length instead of properly partnering.

I feel like I'm going insane. Is there a reason the technical committee thinks it makes any sense whatsoever to hold juniors to a higher standard than seniors? Why not make them both do pattern dances? Why even bother saying you're bringing pattern dance back to seniors when what you actually mean is "but they can do the Funky Chicken in between and it won't matter because there are no levels so it'll be judged on reputation and not on execution"?

Yeah. Even though this season the Rhumba-like sequences fell short of the actual Rhumba pattern in evaluating fundamentals, at least they were vaguely connected to technical difficulty. But putting a pattern dance in without evaluating technical precision is basically paying lip service to people wanting the pattern dance to return, while ignoring the main role of a pattern dance (to compare how well different teams do the same steps, not their choreographic creativity).

By the way, does anyone know how long Shawn Rettstatt's term as chair is?

 

[Lamente Ariane]

I do hope that we'll actually get some diverse "80s" RDs if we are stuck with this. As in, 80s music and trends from more countries than just what was big in America and the UK, and even within America and the UK there was more than just Michael Jackson and the songs kids watching Stranger Things have rediscovered (Running Up That Hill and so on). I don't want another season like this one where half the programs feel the same because they're so generic to a vague idea of "Latin theme". Pick an artist, pick a genre, pick one or two songs that go together and go all in on the specifics.

edited to add the UK because obviously Kate Bush is not American

 

[4everchan]

me reading some of these new "ideas'

 

[yesterday]

 

[moonvine]

me reading some of these new "ideas'

I have an idea. Funky chicken rhythm pattern dance. Makes as much sense as anything they are actually doing.

Better idea: Bring back CD!

 

[labgoat]

They should pick the Viennese then since the pattern does that already I actually don't mind the switching of parts between skaters, but they lose the point of this if they get rid of the close holds, because those help to mechanically define lead/follow (or man/woman) steps. Nowadays too many teams already practically shadow dance at arm's length instead of properly partnering.

May we please have a waltz, we haven't had one in forever. I have seen this requested on many other skating sites also. Let's expand these dancers partner skills and give them the tools to make better programs. I also think calming waltz music would make a nice panacea after all the pandemic trauma.

 

[beachmouse]

The 80s also brought you breakdance. Which could actually have some interesting elements to incorporate but on the other hand, how many bad moonwalks are we talking?

I do think popular music of that time frame often had a lot of drama and dynamic range along with a proper chorus-verse-bridge structure that syncs with different parts of a program so tend to think lots of it would work very well.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I'm calling swing, a foxtrot or quickstep as the "pattern" for 80s.
A march would even fit something like ABC "Look of Love"

They may be non-specific and allow for "creativity" with naming several rhythms and letting the coaches, choreographers and skaters fit pattern to the music they wish to use. The 80's had a very wide-range of rhythms.

I am a traditionalist and a creative with change in ice dance so yes, I would love to see CD's come back to please the traditionalist, then have a creative RD, then FD as usual.

I'm pretty sure and will be surprised if it isn't-allowed to be open to interpretation as far as rhythm.


Just a few off the top of my head:

Wake me up before you go go by Wham is a jive.
Material Girl by Madonna is a cha-cha
Never Tear Us Apart by INXS is a Viennese Waltz
Smooth Operator by Sade is Rhumba/cha cha (depends)
White Wedding-Billy Idol is a jive
Mony Mony-Billy Idol is ECS (east coast swing)
Rock Me Amadeus-Falco is Samba
Call Me-Blondie is Swing

And so on...

 

[4everchan]

I am all for 1780s music... perhaps even 1880s....

 

[icewhite]

I'm calling swing, a foxtrot or quickstep as the "pattern" for 80s.
A march would even fit something like ABC "Look of Love"

They may be non-specific and allow for "creativity" with naming several rhythms and letting the coaches, choreographers and skaters fit pattern to the music they wish to use. The 80's had a very wide-range of rhythms.

I am a traditionalist and a creative with change in ice dance so yes, I would love to see CD's come back to please the traditionalist, then have a creative RD, then FD as usual.

I'm pretty sure and will be surprised if it isn't-allowed to be open to interpretation as far as rhythm.


Just a few off the top of my head:

Wake me up before you go go by Wham is a jive.
Material Girl by Madonna is a cha-cha
Never Tear Us Apart by INXS is a Viennese Waltz
Smooth Operator by Sade is Rhumba/cha cha (depends)
White Wedding-Billy Idol is a jive
Mony Mony-Billy Idol is ECS (east coast swing)
Rock Me Amadeus-Falco is Samba
Call Me-Blondie is Swing

And so on...

No, no, none of those songs except for Rock Me Amadeus...

My wishes instead:
Wham: Wham Rap and Everything she wants
Madonna: Burnin Up and Love Song
Billy Idol: Rebel Yell
Also: Cyndi Lauper!!
No clue about the rhythms and dances.

But I also need a bunch of those really cheap disco synth songs. Bring in my real guilty pleasures!

 

[theblade]

I'm calling swing, a foxtrot or quickstep as the "pattern" for 80s.
A march would even fit something like ABC "Look of Love"

They may be non-specific and allow for "creativity" with naming several rhythms and letting the coaches, choreographers and skaters fit pattern to the music they wish to use. The 80's had a very wide-range of rhythms.

I am a traditionalist and a creative with change in ice dance so yes, I would love to see CD's come back to please the traditionalist, then have a creative RD, then FD as usual.

I'm pretty sure and will be surprised if it isn't-allowed to be open to interpretation as far as rhythm.

So, we are waiting until after Worlds 'til the ISU confirms the pattern and/or rhythm?

Your post lists songs that show just how varied the '80s can be interpreted (pretty much any decade, for that matter).

It seems like many of us are spitballin' tunes, whereas once they announce the pattern/rhythm, that will clarify things, right?

My thought is that there are plenty of high-energy '80s tunes that can't just be edited alongside a Rocker Foxtrot all that easily.

 

[moonvine]

So, we are waiting until after Worlds 'til the ISU confirms the pattern and/or rhythm?

Your post lists songs that show just how varied the '80s can be interpreted (pretty much any decade, for that matter).

It seems like many of us are spitballin' tunes, whereas once they announce the pattern/rhythm, that will clarify things, right?

My thought is that there are plenty of high-energy '80s tunes that can't just be edited alongside a Rocker Foxtrot all that easily.

No pattern dance. A “pattern dance choreographic element.”

 

[Flying Feijoa]

May we please have a waltz, we haven't had one in forever. I have seen this requested on many other skating sites also. Let's expand these dancers partner skills and give them the tools to make better programs. I also think calming waltz music would make a nice panacea after all the pandemic trauma.

I would love to see a nice Golden Waltz but I don't think any team would willingly pick it if there were other options (and going from rumours I think there will be some sort of choice - which obviates the purpose of patterns but oh well )

I wish they'd designate the Maple Leaf March someday. We saw Kaliszek/Spodyriev's adapted dance Tea Time Foxtrot already a few seasons back in juniors. It would be nice if Piper and Paul's pattern could be seen on competitive ice before they retire.

 

[Weathergal]

But I also need a bunch of those really cheap disco synth songs. Bring in my real guilty pleasures!

Sounds like you need "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc. from 1980: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhzy7JaU2Zc

 

[4everchan]

But I also need a bunch of those really cheap disco synth songs. Bring in my real guilty pleasures!

Here

 

[4everchan]

and my ultimate fave



I can see FBS on this already