I have recently started watching Novice Ice Dance for the first time, largely due to one of the skaters I adopted a few years ago switching from Junior Men to Advanced Novice Ice Dance.
And now that I have started watching Ice Dance at the Novice levels, I am confused by the Pattern Dances.
Up until now, I had just assumed that "Pattern Dance" was just a new-fangled name for the old Compulsory Dance that we used to have (alongside the Original Dance and Free Dance as part of the 3-segment system used until the 2009-10 season). And that it was just given a different name because at Novice level there were 2 of them (the Novices don't have the Original Dance that there used to be at Junior and Senior level).
But after seeing a few partnerships in the first Pattern Dance segment I watched, I realised that this is not the case. For the simple reason that every partnership was using different music.
That was what I never liked the Compulsory Dance. It was boring sitting there watching the same thing being done to the same music over and over and over again. And having to sit through this boring repititiveness again, and for 2 segments, was what I was dreading about watching Novice Dance. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I discovered that this wasn't what the Pattern Dance was.
But, it now begs the question - what exactly is the Pattern Dance then?
Is it something along the same lines as the Short Dance that was brought in to replace the CD and OD at Junior and Senior level, where the skaters are told that they have to use a particular rhythm? And is it called something different because there are more set sequences that they have to do within it, and less original content?
I haven't a clue!
In case you're wondering what I have watched so far, there was the Advanced Novice Ice Dance at the Volvo Open Cup, and all three levels of Novice Ice Dance at the British Championships.
I don't normally stray into The Lutz Corner, because I am not technically minded. But, the fact that I have this time is a sign of how curious I am to find out!
CaroLiza_fan
And now that I have started watching Ice Dance at the Novice levels, I am confused by the Pattern Dances.
Up until now, I had just assumed that "Pattern Dance" was just a new-fangled name for the old Compulsory Dance that we used to have (alongside the Original Dance and Free Dance as part of the 3-segment system used until the 2009-10 season). And that it was just given a different name because at Novice level there were 2 of them (the Novices don't have the Original Dance that there used to be at Junior and Senior level).
But after seeing a few partnerships in the first Pattern Dance segment I watched, I realised that this is not the case. For the simple reason that every partnership was using different music.
That was what I never liked the Compulsory Dance. It was boring sitting there watching the same thing being done to the same music over and over and over again. And having to sit through this boring repititiveness again, and for 2 segments, was what I was dreading about watching Novice Dance. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I discovered that this wasn't what the Pattern Dance was.
But, it now begs the question - what exactly is the Pattern Dance then?
Is it something along the same lines as the Short Dance that was brought in to replace the CD and OD at Junior and Senior level, where the skaters are told that they have to use a particular rhythm? And is it called something different because there are more set sequences that they have to do within it, and less original content?
I haven't a clue!
In case you're wondering what I have watched so far, there was the Advanced Novice Ice Dance at the Volvo Open Cup, and all three levels of Novice Ice Dance at the British Championships.
I don't normally stray into The Lutz Corner, because I am not technically minded. But, the fact that I have this time is a sign of how curious I am to find out!
CaroLiza_fan