Your Mount Rushmore of Ice Dance

[GGFan]

We're just days removed from V/M winning their second individual gold medal, so people are making statements about the greatest ever. Though I have the highest respect for V/M I think there's some heavy recency bias involved. I think trying to prove any one team is the greatest is a futile exercise.

Instead I thought it would be more interesting to hear opinions on a Mt. Rushmore. Rules being: 1) you can only include 4 teams (or less) and 2) you have to sit back and give historical teams a fair shot (YouTube allows for this quite easily).

I hope this is not against the rules, but we had a mini discussion about greats in the Canadian Nationals Free Dance thread and I read one of the most beautiful contributions ever (note that I love history and stories and I've added my own emphases):

I watch figure skating since 1966 and I remember very well all great ice dance teams and champions, starting with the first Olympic champions Ludmila Pohomova and Gorchkov. So, I think I have the right to give my opinion about the greatest ice dance teams. Once back in 1981 I even took a train for 3 days and 3 nights to go to Moscow for the only reason to watch in person Irina Moisseeva and Andrei Minenkov. They were and still are my personal all time favorites, even though judges didn't even give them an Olympic gold.

Although everybody has his/her own favorites, objectively I think that the ice dance World and Olympic champions had/have different influence on the development of this sport, they were on the top of the ice dancing world for a shorter or longer period, etc. That is why it makes sense to put them into different categories. There were Olympic champions who received a gold medal, but didn't influence significantly the future development of the sport. They won because they were the best at that competition/that season, or because of political reasons or other circumstances (for example Lininchuk/Karponossov, Navka/Kostomarov). There were Olympic champions who left a more significant and longer trace in the sport - Bestemyanova/Bukin, Klimova/Ponomarenko, Davis/White and a few more.

And there are the greatest champions ever - I would put in this group Pohomova/Gorchkov, Moisseeva/Minenkov, Torvil/Dean and Virtue/Moir. Pohomova/Gorchkov were the first Olympic champions, Moisseeva and Minenkov transformed ice dancing from its baby steps to a mature combination of a sport and a piece of art and influenced Torvill and Dean who then fully developed in this direction and became the greatest ice dancers of the past century. And in the 21 century we have Tessa and Scott who are on the top of this sport for a decade, who influenced young ice dancers all over the world, who proved that they are equally beautiful in interpreting music like Les Parapluies de Cherbourg and Moulin Rouge. This variety in the programs is one of the reasons we can think of them as one of the greatest. Being able to look different, to dance perfectly on any kind of music and not repeat yourself over and over again - this is also one of the ultimate signs of greatness. So, I don't disagree with Tracy Wilson's statement about Tessa and Scott.

Finally, my daughter is lucky enough to skate now at the same rink with Tessa and Scott and Gabby and Guillaume and every time I had the chance to watch them in practice (both teams) they made me cry. Watching in person, not on TV - it is unbelievably beautiful,it's magical, it's another universe. I am sure one day in the future Gaby and Guillaume will fit in the group of the greatest ever champions, too.

My list is similar to markovai's with a big exception: Moisseeva/Minenkov, Torvil/Dean, Virtue/Moir and Klimova/Ponomarenko. I add K/P because of how they handled that 8 year progression of the sport and reached their peak with that masterpiece at the 1992 Olympics.

My alternates (should someone not be willing or able to serve ): Usova/Zhulin (Four Seasons and Blues for Klook) Davis/White (Bollywood, Die Fledermaus, Giselle, NDP), Papadakis/Cizeron (they'll move up over the next quad but Build a Home and their glide already has them up here)

The more the merrier. Lurkers please come out of hiding and drop your knowledge. Dorispulaski I'm patiently waiting for your post :luv17:

 

[ManyCairns]

Great idea and I can't wait to see everyone's mountain sculptures!

 

[Mirunna]

If I am objective and try to put my own preferances aside, I would say, in no particular order:

Grishuk / Platov (unpopular choise, I know, but they do have two Olympic gold medals and dominated the sport during their era. Also, their Libertango OD and The feeling begins LP are IMO pretty iconic)
Torvil / Dean - probably no additional comments needed here. I respect and apreciate their contribution to the evolution of ice dance and Bolero remains even today a masterpiece.
Klimova / Ponomarenko - a fairytale career ending with one of my favorites program ever at 1992 Olympics (even though I was only 2 at that time I still fell in love with that skate wathcing it on youtube years later)
Virtue / Moir: no one can dispute their place among the best ever. The single ice dance couple who managed to stay on top for so many years in the COP era. Their longevivity under COP is absolutely amazing and I don't think we'll have another couple soon medaling at three consecutive Olympics (out of which 2 are gold medals).

 

[thankyoumommyiloveu]

Torvill and Dean - Bolero/Face the Music tour, etc.

Krylova and Ovsiannikov - balletic love stories

Savchenko and Massot - Olympic 2018 gem

Wilson and McCall - fun and vaudeville humor, 1988 games

Damn....Savchenko and Massot are not ice dancers!


Okay, then it's Klimova and Ponomarenko in their stead..............

 

[mrrice]

You can't have an Ice Dance Mount Rushmore without Scott and Tessa. I'd have to put Torvill and Dean on there as well. After that, I don't know. Maybe Davis and White because they made US History. The 4th team, I don't know.

 

[Tigerlily87]

Torvill and Dean - Bolero/Face the Music tour, etc.

Krylova and Ovsiannikov - balletic love stories

Savchenko and Massot - Olympic 2018 gem

Wilson and McCall - fun and vaudeville humor, 1988 games

Damn....Savchenko and Massot are not ice dancers!


Okay, then it's Klimova and Ponomarenko in their stead..............

I was just coming here to say Wilson/McCall for their innovation and really breaking the North American barrier

 

[Anyasnake]

I'm a bit too young to know every single Ice teams since 1980 ! I'm obviously going to be so biased, because I cannot do otherwise. There is so much I have to learn about the Golden Era of Russian Ice Dance post Torvill and Dean.

1-Torvill and Dean. Ice Dance being pushed at the front scene. Still revolutionning the sport today, 34 years after Bolero, which remains iconic. The fact that they are still so relevant today is a testament to what they make on the ice. My favourite piece of them is not Bolero, it's this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mlMb8HsPFc

2-Virtue/Moir. They have the most competitive success of every team I think. Their Body of Work is just unprecedented in today's system, only Aliona can fight them. Their competitiveness and drive are legendary and a model for the sport today. My favourite piece of them is the one I watched the day I discovered them, Umbrellas of Cherbourg Worlds 2008 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRjqNbM9RHM

3-Grishuk/Platov. There are far from being my favourite because I did not feel a special connection to the audience especially their programs, but their superior skating spoke for itself. First team with 2 OGMs and if I'm right, Undefeated for a whole quad ? Hard to beat that.

I dont' necessarily have a 4th team, because I don't know all track records of every single champions. Here are my alternates :

Anissina/Peizerat : innovative, powerful, the Spanish OD ? WOW ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7e_wt2aaQw

Davis/White : you could give them anything, their power and precision is crazy. Their presence too, the fact that ice dance took an athletic road was the best thing that could ever happen to them and they rose to the top. Besides that, here is their legendary program, Bollywood OD : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUzchzkitdQ

Papadakis/Cizeron : already my favourite team ever, but they are babies, and we discovered them less than 4 years ago But they already set themselves really high in such a short amount of time. Their glide, way of moving is out of this world and very new in the discipline. My favourite program (all disciplines) of all time : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rGHeK1V2rU

 

[Mathman]

GGFan: This is off topic, but are you a Gracie Gold fan or a Gordeeva and Grinkov fan?

 

[GGFan]

GGFan: This is off topic, but are you a Gracie Gold fan or a Gordeeva and Grinkov fan?

I enjoy Gracie but Michelle is my ladies queen by far

The name is all Gordeeva and Grinkov!

 

[GGFan]

Papadakis/Cizeron : already my favourite team ever, but they are babies, and we discovered them less than 4 years ago But they already set themselves really high in such a short amount of time. Their glide, way of moving is out of this world and very new in the discipline. My favourite program (all disciplines) of all time : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rGHeK1V2rU

I love that I'm in the U.S. so I watched the program on NBC originally but when I think about it I think about the BESP call of it. So when I clicked on your link I was happy that's the one you chose. Like all of us, they were silenced and moved. :luv17: