If ICE DANCING Is A Sport...

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:27pm

Then so is Ballroom Dancing, Tap Dancing, Break Dancing, Ballet, and what the hell - theatre itself!

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE figure skating and ice dancing, however WHY IS ICE DANCING BEING PRESENTED AT THE OLYMPICS???

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:29pm

"however WHY IS ICE DANCING BEING PRESENTED AT THE OLYMPICS??? "

I don't know, but it has been since '76, so this isn't exactly a new revelation.

[Atrias]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:30pm

As my piano teacher says, "If I have to skip any Olympic skating event, I say, 'Skip ice dancing!'"

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:30pm

Because it's sexy (and it allows more women to compete).

[OddExoticCreature]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:37pm

I don't think it's sexy. I think it's incredibly boring, which is weird because I love ballroom dancing. I guess I'm too used to expecting Olympics + ice = big jumps and lifts. I knew a girl who competed in ice dancing in high school, I never really knew what that meant.

[theatrebabe]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:46pm

I think it's incredibly sexy. Well, the compulsory wasn't. I thought that was boring. But the rest, wow!

I actually like it more than the figure skating because there aren't as many throws and jumps. Those things freak the hell out of me. I'm so scared they're going to fall and hurt themselves.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:53pm

Actually ballroom dancing is a sport. Many colleges have teams that compete with each other.

[suddenlyseymour]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 9:56pm

Is anyone else pissed about softball not being in the summer olympics anymore? If ice dancing is a sport, then softball certainly is a sport too!

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:29pm

Wait a sec, softball isn't in the olympics anymore? Why not?

[LaVieHilary]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:32pm

I just want to say I'm sure it takes a lot more than just ball room dancing on ice. There are lifts and extensive weight training and im sure you need to be trained in cardio and endurance.
I consider ice dancing, ballet and other types of dancing sports but not ball room dancing.
and DEFIDENTLY not theatre.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:55pm

Dictionary.com says:

sport ( P ) Pronunciation Key (spôrt, sprt)
n.

1) Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
2) A particular form of this activity.
3) An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
4) An active pastime; recreation.


To me, a sport is something where you compete in where it's one person versus another or one team versus another. There are definitive rules to follow. It is a physical activity.

One COULD apply this to the theatre...to ballroom dancing...to break dancing...to tap dancing...to poker...etc. And none of these are Olympic sports.

Why ICE DANCING over the rest? I'd say get rid of it. Art should not be competitive. Let auditioning be the competitive component.

[Blair]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 11:09pm

Studies show that ice dancers are THE strongest of any figure skaters. Just in comparing it with pairs skating, the women in pairs skating are generally under 5 feet tall. The women in ice dancing are 5'6 and taller. It obviously takes more strength to lift a woman who is the same height as her partner.

Just by watching you can see that the strength in the lifts is unbelieveable. It's more taxing on both the atheletes bodies than any of the high lifts done in pairs skating. Just look at Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio in their lower lifts. That takes strength that one cannot even begin to imagine.

This sport requires killer indurance to get through a 4 and a half minute program while doing footwork and edges that start burning your quads halfway through the program.

I'm sorry, as a former ice dancer, I'm always defending the sport.

[Tragic_Melodie]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 11:21pm

I can see ice dancing as a sport. It's curling that I don't understand.

[cturtle]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:27am

some have tried to get ballroom dancing into the summer games, but so far without success.

[Overthemoon6]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:31am

I think that Ice Dancing is a sport, but I also think that lifting my hand with the chip in it to my mouth is a sport, so...

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:40am

Isn't Ice Dancing is the Special Olympic version of Figure Skating?

Akiva

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:42am

If by Special you mean Extremely difficult to master...then yeah.

[DG]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:44am

"Isn't Ice Dancing is the Special Olympic version of Figure Skating?"

Akiva - that's beneath you.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:44am

and they skate to Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera.

Come on.

But, this mean Italian pair are cracking me up with their anger at each other.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 1:29am

I'm just joking people. Don't you worry. While I personally don't find Ice Dancing as entertaining to watch as Figure Skating, it is still really fun. Although last night there were SOOO many painful trips and falls...yeesh. There are gonna be lots of bruised body parts after the Olympics.

Akiva

[Jon]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 9:31am

Akiva's line reminds me of the line from "Bring It On":

"Cheerleaders are like dancers who've gone retarded!"

[Elphaba]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 10:03am

by your own definition, of which only one has to apply....as remember the dictionary often gives more than one choice, here you're given 4:

1) Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
2) A particular form of this activity.
3) An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
4) An active pastime; recreation.

Hence ice-dancing fits and is a sport


America wins the ice-dancing silver medal. Bravo!

[xxnewgirlxx]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 10:31am

I dunno, but that Tanith Belbin is so hot, I might switch teams (and I ain't talkin' Olympic teams).

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 1:54pm

Anyone watching the Original or Free programs should see how physically demanding ice dancing is. The Compulsory is just the basics to compare each team using the same choreography and it is always boring to watch. The Original program allows for original choreography using three styles of Latin Ballroom and the Free program allows for original choreography using styles of the team's choice. I cannot imagine having the endurance and stamina of those couples who performed last night. It was amazing to watch. While Ice Dancing borrows elements of Ballroom Dancing, it is FAR more physically demanding. And the reason it is an Olympic sport, is because it is more directly related to the sport of ice skating, not the sport of dancing, which is why dancing itself is not considered a sport in the Summer Olympics.

I remember seeing the famous Torville and Dean Bolero performance in the 1984 Free program, but it was Klimova and Ponomarenko's 1992 gold medal performance in Albertville that made me a fan.

I'm just wondering why color guard has not been picked up by ESPN or the Olympics as it is not only physically demanding and technically difficult, but it also incorporates theatricality and artistic impression, much like the sport of figure skating. If Cheerleading is carried by ESPN, then we should also see the WGI Finals at the very least.

[caitiesus1522]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:04pm

I used to wonder about Ice Dancing too...until last night. I didn't watch much, but the French couple that did their routine to Les Mis made me really watch it. Some of those lifts and spins together were amazing. And think how hard it would be to be completely in sync with the other person while on ice.