Ice dance - the top 5 greatest teams of all time

I realize those who have followed ice dance for years can list who and why and we tend to recall the recent ice dancers.

I have to say that I think many will pick Torvill and Dean for number one. Based on recall or here say reputation longevity etc.

For me they are my number one because of the choreography, the innovation and the perfection in their routines. They had to have made some mistakes in competition but I think they were the epitome of what ice dance was and still is.

As for recent years I think second all time for me will be Virtue and Moir. For me ther Fd in Vancouver is very etched in my mind as was the Bolero or Torvill and Dean. Grishuk and Platov were very memorable in Nagano but I hated where Russians took ice dance in that era. I totally recall the incredible Canadian team of Bourne and Kraatz. Their Riverdance in Nagano deserved gold.it was awful seeing how ice dance was in the wait your turn eighties and nineties. I think it has changed and I'm a fan because ice dance still is more purely true ice skating without all the needed jumps and ugly pretzel spins done so slowly.

So my taste says the Brits then the Canadians deserve a place in top 5 with T and D indisputable as the most incredible I have seen yet. Their sport is harder. Nowadays. I can't take away the faster tricks lifts and spins of Meryl and Charlie but I preferred their 2010 Fd to their gold winning Fd. There were many Russian and European couples that were interesting to watch but the 80s and nineties were full of big hair, dying on ice and ugly choreography. Grishuk and Platov are not in my top five. I never got what was so great about her compared to many other ice dancers and even her compatriots. I loved watching Usova.

So if you can only pick 5 who are they and why. If you'd like you can link. I'm not good at iPad so no links but I'll bet the above are etched in the memories of those who have been watching Olympics at least 25 years. I really have a glut to mention but I'd rather see what others think of as the greatest of all time. I think Ice dance is the one discipline where we can compare over time and eras because it is as much art as sport and while tech demands are higher with every Olympiad, beauty is still king. Or do I have that wrong???? Thanks for your opinions.

This may fall into the category of being too Russian (she does, after all, yank his heart out at the end), but I would like to put in a vote for Krylova and Ovsyannikov.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cphQkdw4fmw

I have to say they may deserve a spot and I preferred them to G and P. I recall the dress and her unusual beauty. And her incredible facial expressions. The choreography was memorable. I recall they did one season with stars on ice and their number was memorable but very cheesy. Anjelica's face lives up to her name. Her beauty is what etched this piece in my mind. What did they place at Nagano I wonder?

With the Russian dominance we have many truly beautiful ice dancer from Russia and Europe. I know if Olympia were here she'd mention a dance team from Finland . I liked them for ingenuity and originality. I'll have to look up their spelling. I really miss Olympia in these discussions.

I can't help but wonder who Doris would choose as her top five! She really knows her ice dancers!

skateluvr said:

I have to say they may deserve a spot and I preferred them to G and P. I recall the dress and her unusual beauty. And her incredible facial expressions. The choreography was memorable. I recall they did one season with stars on ice and their number was memorable but very cheesy. Anjelica's face lives up to her name. Her beauty is what etched this piece in my mind. What did they place at Nagano I wonder?

With the Russian dominance we have many truly beautiful ice dancer from Russia and Europe. I know if Olympia were here she'd mention a dance team from Finland . I liked them for ingenuity and originality. I'll have to look up their spelling. I really miss Olympia in these discussions.

I can't help but wonder who Doris would choose as her top five! She really knows her ice dancers!

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K/O were 2nd in Nagano..

I agree with you about T&D as #1. I don't feel like giving long-winded explanations but here are the other four, in no particular order:

- Grishuk/Platov
- Klimova/Ponomarenko
- Virtue/Moir
- Davis/White

I loved B&K too but I don't think they have the medal record to be put in the top five ever. I did think that they should have won bronze at both the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, especially '02 over FP/M. There could even be a case made for them getting silver there over L/A, actually.

skateluvr said:

With the Russian dominance we have many truly beautiful ice dancer from Russia and Europe. I know if Olympia were here she'd mention a dance team from Finland . I liked them for ingenuity and originality. I'll have to look up their spelling. I really miss Olympia in these discussions.

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Do you mean Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko? They were a unique team--always liked this exhibition program. (Sorry not the greatest video quality.)

I have seen all these top ice dancers compete live. In chronological order
1.Torvill & Dean - creative
2. Klimova & Ponomarenko - classic
3. Grishuk & Platov – speed
4. Anissina & Peizerat –theatrical
5. (Tie ) Virtue & Moir –elegant/ Davis & White - athletic

my top 5...

I won't put T/D because simply, I didn't get to see them at their peak in 84 (was too young at the time of Bolero) and didn't connect so much with them when they came back in 94.... but of course, I recognize that perhaps they are even above any classification and just stand up there in ice dance firmament

in RANDOM ORDER

the Duchesnay (for their connection to the music/audience and innovative programs)...

Usova Zhulin. (she was so intense and he was just stunning to watch -their chopin prelude EX looked like a degas painting on ice... )

Rahkamo and Kokko.. I will never forget their Sibelius Valse Triste... such elegance, interesting musicality

Bourne and Kraatz... i loved that they brought some dancing to ice dance some crazy gliding elements (hydroblading) and that despite having to wait their turn forever, they stuck to skating until they got what they deserved a long time before... their riverdance is just another of those favourites. I couldn't believe they never won a medal at the olympics... thanks to we know what.

and now, from the new era Virtue and Moir... MAHLER but almost everything they skated to.

I think that I should clarify that I DO LOVE current ice dancing WAY MORE than what it was before. The code of points makes it better to watch and understand... and it's further removed from ballet or theatre on ice... and closer to a sport. However, aside from Virtue and Moir, all my prefered teams are from the previous era I liked some of the teams like Dubreuil -Lauzon (and others!!!) since the Code of Points but aside from V/M, there's no "legendary team" for me yet... we will see how things are in ten years, if I am willing to dump some of these "older" teams to make a new top five....

For me, two teams are head and shoulders above everyone else: Torville/Dean and Virtue/Moir. No one else comes close.

and amen to that

peg said:

For me, two teams are head and shoulders above everyone else: Torville/Dean and Virtue/Moir. No one else comes close.

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The two I immediately will always name are Torvill and Dean and Davis and White. Both were precise and consistent. Before D/W, I didn't believe I would enjoy ice dancing after knowing couples could not move up in the standings after the compulsory dances that used to exist. 1994 was the worst example that I witnessed. Just saying.

I agree with KKonas, and in random order.

1.Torvill & Dean - creative and true ballroom dancers on ice
2. Klimova & Ponomarenko - great technique, classic and huge chemistry
3. Grishuk & Platov – edges and speed. Great competitors and the best tango I've seen so far.
4. Anissina & Peizerat – theatrical
5. Virtue & Moir – Great edges, elegant, ethereal, chemistry, hot, sexy, passionate, versatile

These are the ones I've seen. I love Moiseeva&Minenkov skating a lot, from what I've seen on some few videos.

skateluvr said:

Grishuk and Platov are not in my top five. I never got what was so great about her compared to many other ice dancers and even her compatriots.

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Edges, speed, fierce competitor.

Torvill and Dean - they just were perfection and were what made me start watching skating. Anybody who doesn't know them go and look them up. Their dancing still stands the test of time. Innovatiion, choreography, musicality
Virtue and Moir - made me realise I did still love ice dance; elegance, truly dancing, dancing as a couple, musicality

As the previous posters have said they are head and shoulders the best, but following them
Klimova Ponameronko,
Rahkamo and Kokko,
Duchesnays

I never did understand the Grichuk Platov era even though they won the most gold medals
I find Bourne and Kratz really memorable and look at some of their programs again and again, but I am not sure that enjoyment of a program and best ice dancers are the same thing

Meryl & Charlie, for me are the best.

Torvill and Dean is the greatest ice dance team and nobody else is even close. They had everything – beauty, superb technique, creativity, incredible chemistry, perfect unison, musicality. They could dance any style one could imagine – I don’t think there has been more versatile team than T&D.
And even now in their 50s, where obviously their skating skills can’t match young pairs, competing today, they still have managed to create magic on ice, and capture people’s imagination, having this incredible connection with music and with each other.

I really thought Usova and Zhulin were so wonderful, but for the marital issues that affected their skating and even choice of programs (with their classical romantic pieces they would have won probably in 1994 OGM) they really struck me as wonderful. I would add Klimova and Pomanrenko, Virtue and Moir, Krylova and Oksiankov and Torvll and Dean in no particular order. I would add for pure innovation Bourne and Kraatz and the Duchesnay's, Honorable Mentions Davis and WHite, Bestmianova and Bukin (such drama), Dubreil and Lauzon, Navka and Kostomov??

1- Klimova/Ponomarenko
2- Torvill/Dean
3- Grishuk/Platov
4- Virtue/Moir
5- Krylova/Ovsiannikov

In no particular order:

1. Virtue & Moir
2. Davis & White
3. Torvill & Dean
4. Anissina & Peizerat
5. Krylova & Ovsiannikov

Bourne & Kraatz and Dubreil & Lauzon get honourable mentions though for pushing for harder difficulty instead of making it all about the dramatic histrionics.

CanadianSkaterGuy said:

Bourne & Kraatz and Dubreil & Lauzon get honourable mentions though for pushing for harder difficulty instead of making it all about the dramatic histrionics.

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You can say anything about B&K, but certainly not "pushin for harder difficulty". Their main weakness was the technique and very simple programs, which I enjoyed by the way but that's a different story.

I really can't do a typical top 5 ranking since ice dance has done a complete evolution from Torvill & Dean to present, so I'd have to go by quad cycles and I end up w/ a top 6 or 7

Early-Mid 80's: Torvill & Dean, honorable mention: Blumberg & Seibert
Mid/late 80's-early 90's: Klimova & Ponomarenko (every one knows they were much better than Bestemianova & Bukin, but were forced to wait their turn), honorable mention: The Duchenays
Mid-Late 90's: Grishuk & Platov, honorable mention: Bourne & Kraatz
Late 90's-early 00's: Anissina & Peizerat, honorable mention: Bourne & Kraatz
Mid 00's: Navka & Kostomarov, honorable mention: Belbin & Agosto
Late 00's-2014: Tie - Davis & White and Virtue & Moir

1. G/P, loved their speed, drama and programs ( and I was not originally cheering for them in 94 but they won me over). I have been bored with ice dancing since they retired.
2. A/P, similar to G/P for me in terms of drama and making you pay attention to them whether you like them or not but not quite as well matched as G/P.
3. U/Z, I always thought Usova had a stunning balletic quality that I enjoyed.
4. V/M, my favorite recent team.
5. C/L, my favorite current team.