Size of Pair/Dance Teams

[lutzbutz1213]

When watching pairs and dance, what heights do you find to be most pleasing to the eye on the ice? And why? Also, what body types do you prefer to see and why? What body types/heights/height differences do you think judges look for in a team?

 

[iloveaxel]

When watching pairs and dance, what heights do you find to be most pleasing to the eye on the ice? And why? Also, what body types do you prefer to see and why? What body types/heights/height differences do you think judges look for in a team?

Shen&Zhao, TT&MM, B&S, G&G are all good examples.

Pet&T, S&S are bad examples.

 

[Spun Silver]

What is your problem with S&S? They're magnificent!!! They're going to be the next S/Z!

 

[iloveaxel]

What is your problem with S&S? They're magnificent!!! They're going to be the next S/Z!

LOL. I don't really have any problem with them, but I am not a big fan of them either. I don't see the big fuss, to be honest.

S(female)'s deep-knee-throw-landings drive me nuts. Their throws are huge, but there's no ride-out speed. Even C&O(the new American pair) have far superior throws than them. Their twists are also not appealing. Techncially, their lifts, combination spins, footwork are excellent and innovative. SBS spins are fast, but tend to get out of sync sometimes. SBS jumps are great if they land them. But she tends to double, single lots of sbs jumps.They have great edges, speed, and power. I don't like their inconsistency though.

Artistically, I don't see any chemistry between them. I can't imagine them doing a romantic theme. Their style is just not to my taste.

Anyway, they are good pair, but just not to my taste. Even if I'm not a big fan of TT&MM, I'll still choose them over S&S.

 

[Ptichka]

I find the perfect height difference to be between 15 and 25 centimeters (6 - 10 inches). Thus, Denkova & Staviski IMHO are too close in height (though I love that team dearly) - 11 cm. OTOH, Gordeeva & Grinkov were almost too far apart (24 cm).

 

[backspin]

Actually for dancers I like to see them a little closer in height; maybe 4-5 inches difference. For pairs I understand the advantage of having a teensy little girl & a big guy.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I understand the strategy behind the teensy little girl and the big (read extra tall) guy, but esthetically I do not like watching the tall guy crouching all over the teensy girl.

Joe

 

[Fredegunda]

I understand the strategy behind the teensy little girl and the big (read extra tall) guy, but esthetically I do not like watching the tall guy crouching all over the teensy girl.

Joe

Interesting. I think choreography and carriage make a big difference (I could be wrong, though). For example, Grinkov never seemed (to me) to be too big for Gordeeva. Totmianina & Marinin looked to me to be a very similar height on TV even though she is surely much smaller than him.

For some reason I personally find it weird to see Asian women skating with Caucasian men. My confusion on the subject is furthered by the fact that I'm Asian-American and have a Norwegian boyfriend. Anyway I'm thinking mostly of Rena & John, Wakamatsu & Fecteau, and Ina & Zimmerman. I haven't seen Kawaguchi & Smirnov and the one vid I watched of Yamaguchi & Galindo was too blurry for me to actually see much... On the other hand I think Savchenko & Szolkowy and Hinzmann & Parchem are/were very well matched.

 

[blue dog]

I don't like to see flea and gorilla pairs. Sometimes the height difference is so jarring, it's like watching a wrestler skate with a rag doll.

In dance, the closer they are in height, to me, the more beautiful the line. I loved the line of Krylova and Ovsiannikov and as I understand it, they were only within 3 inches apart.

 

[clairecloutier]

In pairs, I understand the technical advantage of pairing a tall man with a much smaller woman, and I find this type of pair aesthetically pleasing, too. I personally prefer a height difference of 8 to 12 inches in a pairs team. Gordeeva/Grinkov had about a 9-inch differential, and I thought they were beautiful together.

In dance, the differential doesn't need to be as large, but I think it looks best when the man is at least 3 to 4 inches taller. Sometimes it's nice to see a team with a taller man, such as Dubreuil/Lauzon or Lang/Tchernyshev, but teams that are more closely matched in height, such as Belbin/Agosto and Navka/Kostomarov, can also look very good. I agree however that Denkova/Staviyski are just too close in height. As much as I try to ignore this when watching them, I just always keep noticing it and being distracted by it.

 

[gio]

IMO it's more pleasant to watch a dance team with same height and pairs with max 10-15cm of difference. It's esthetically better.for me. That's one of the plenty of reasons I like Denkova/Staviyski. I don't understand what people find non esthetic in this. IMO Den/Sta are much more esthethical than Khokhlova/Novitski.

 

[backspin]

Personally though I am a big fan of D/S, I think it's not their closeness in *height* that is distracting, so much as that they practically look like twins. If one of them changed their hair color & cut/style, I think the overall look of the team would be better.

 

[Mathman]

^ Totally agree on the hair. I can't tell them apart, LOL.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Denkova looks like Nina Foch, for those that remember. Am I correct?

Joe

 

[Mathman]

Here's Nina.

http://www.thegoldenyears.org/nina_foch.jpg

 

[lutzbutz1213]

For the women would you prefer a body like that of Xu Shen who is thin and waify or Brooke Castille who is thin but curvy and muscular as well?
And would you rather watch a large guy who lifts and throws a small girl effortlessly or a team more similiar in height who perform with power and attack?
What do you think would be the ideal height for either a man or a woman in either pairs or dance?

http://www.buzpateni.com/2006/shen_zhao_04_isu_gprix_fp.jpg
http://www.skatetoday.com/articles0506/photos/CASTILE-OKOLSKI.jpg

 

[Mathman]

For some reason I personally find it weird to see Asian women skating with Caucasian men. My confusion on the subject is furthered by the fact that I'm Asian-American and have a Norwegian boyfriend. Anyway I'm thinking mostly of Rena & John, Wakamatsu & Fecteau, and Ina & Zimmerman. I haven't seen Kawaguchi & Smirnov and the one vid I watched of Yamaguchi & Galindo was too blurry for me to actually see much... On the other hand I think Savchenko & Szolkowy and Hinzmann & Parchem are/were very well matched.

What an interesting point of view. So you think it looks better for the man to be darker complexioned than the lady? (Not sure how that plays out for Mexican-American Rudy and Japanese-American Kristi.)

 

[julietvalcouer]

In pairs, I understand the advantage to a major height/weight differential, but it can't be TOO extreme. ITA with whoever said that G&G were always nice together without looking extreme giant-and-flea.

In dance--I prefer to see less of a height difference, and I would really prefer the woman to look like an adult female without having to pad her costume to do it. Maybe it's a holdover from ballroom, but especially with Latin, it's just rather sad to watch someone try to work assets they don't possess. Plus it's more appealing if the couple doesn't look androgynous.

 

[iloveaxel]

What is your problem with S&S? They're magnificent!!! They're going to be the next S/Z!

Spun Silver, so sorry!! I think I confused you !!

S&S in terms of mismatch in my previous post referred to the polish couple, not the German couple! The polish couple is as awkward as Pet&T.

I am sorry for the confusion. Physicially, the German pair is a perfect match. Too many S&S , LOL.

 

[Spun Silver]

Oh! We were talking about different S&S. Thanks for the clarification! I'm very excited about the German S/S and glad they find favor with your eagle eye.