Datebook: June 23, 2008
So now it has been decreed that compulsory dance will soon be a relic of the past, much like school figures and white bread.
I have to say there is a bit of bitterness on my part to have to wave bon voyage to the waltzes and the hoedowns. This is because my child usually scored great in this event and because I spent thousands on compulsory costumes each year. I fear in the next few years most of us will be regaling newcomers of the days when our skaters trained five or six dances each year while the current ISU rule du jour will only designate two. I am sure this will be as well received as when older folks admonish us about the days they were driving in their cars that had no seatbelts and airbags and the only means of restraint was using the nonsmoking hand to hold the baby back.
I feel the ISU should offer some type of rebates to long-timers in this sport who have paid their dues so to speak—it could be along the lines the U.S. government who is sponsoring the Stimulus Rebates—or maybe it could just be in Austrian crystals (the currency of Ice Dance) if there is too much confusion in the gold price per dollar ratio.
In the future judges and parents will no longer have to listen to 50 different versions of the Killian and Viennese Waltz per competition. This will change life as we know it forever. We will no longer be in the CVS or Optometrist’s office and hear snippets of songs we will try to identify by beats or measures. We will no longer be able to watch “Dancing With the Stars” and proclaim, “Oh, the Paso is one of the compulsories for novice this year” to a gathered group of uninterested listeners.
The skaters will no longer have the fun of learning to be quick-change artists in hair as well as costumes. Where else but at sectionals can you go from a waltz bun to a Latin spit curl with side ponytail in five minutes? I don’t think the skaters have processed how their training regiments are going to go in a few years, either. There will no longer be the “relief” of doing several patterns of the compulsories in between full run-throughs of the OD and FD—there will be no “break” so to speak.
I imagine this decision was made much like those on the TV show “Survivor.” Someone or something has to be eliminated and often it is not the one that needs to go, or if so, not for the reason stated. It has been speculated that Compulsory Dance is “boring” to the viewing public and with this in mind, it is never broadcast on television.
But there were other options to be considered before just canning the whole idea. I think a more equitable solution would be if they added the coverage of the CDs and then used some the technology offered during NFL events—we need someone (obviously a technical specialist) to use those Etch-A-Sketch type renditions of each “play.” They could hand draw the actual pattern that should have been skated with the outline of the pattern actually skated—this could produce the sighs and moans from the viewing public who will then stress on the lack of depth to the outer lobe on the second pattern.
Another way to make the CDs more relevant would be to have each member of a team skate with another team member (of the opposite sex of course) by means of a random draw. Then when each team returned to his or her partner they would be bringing the points that they earned with their random partner. This would be guaranteed to bring in the viewers as it would bring in the “element of surprise” to those watching—something we parents are never short on receiving in any given competition year.
Plus, I am sure this is going to push the price of Free Dance and Original Dance costumes through the roof. If we are only pumping out two dresses in place of the standard order of five, we are going to see crystals go up to over $4.00 a bead. It is all about supply and demand and let’s face it—we haven’t spent too much energy in research on other methods of light reflection while on the ice.
I’m just saying, I think this was a hasty decision and one we will regret. There will be a day in the future when we will hear a few bars of the Hickory Hoedown and we will all get a bit misty eyed for what we have lost.
Mombo
I have to say there is a bit of bitterness on my part to have to wave bon voyage to the waltzes and the hoedowns. This is because my child usually scored great in this event and because I spent thousands on compulsory costumes each year. I fear in the next few years most of us will be regaling newcomers of the days when our skaters trained five or six dances each year while the current ISU rule du jour will only designate two. I am sure this will be as well received as when older folks admonish us about the days they were driving in their cars that had no seatbelts and airbags and the only means of restraint was using the nonsmoking hand to hold the baby back.
I feel the ISU should offer some type of rebates to long-timers in this sport who have paid their dues so to speak—it could be along the lines the U.S. government who is sponsoring the Stimulus Rebates—or maybe it could just be in Austrian crystals (the currency of Ice Dance) if there is too much confusion in the gold price per dollar ratio.
In the future judges and parents will no longer have to listen to 50 different versions of the Killian and Viennese Waltz per competition. This will change life as we know it forever. We will no longer be in the CVS or Optometrist’s office and hear snippets of songs we will try to identify by beats or measures. We will no longer be able to watch “Dancing With the Stars” and proclaim, “Oh, the Paso is one of the compulsories for novice this year” to a gathered group of uninterested listeners.
The skaters will no longer have the fun of learning to be quick-change artists in hair as well as costumes. Where else but at sectionals can you go from a waltz bun to a Latin spit curl with side ponytail in five minutes? I don’t think the skaters have processed how their training regiments are going to go in a few years, either. There will no longer be the “relief” of doing several patterns of the compulsories in between full run-throughs of the OD and FD—there will be no “break” so to speak.
I imagine this decision was made much like those on the TV show “Survivor.” Someone or something has to be eliminated and often it is not the one that needs to go, or if so, not for the reason stated. It has been speculated that Compulsory Dance is “boring” to the viewing public and with this in mind, it is never broadcast on television.
But there were other options to be considered before just canning the whole idea. I think a more equitable solution would be if they added the coverage of the CDs and then used some the technology offered during NFL events—we need someone (obviously a technical specialist) to use those Etch-A-Sketch type renditions of each “play.” They could hand draw the actual pattern that should have been skated with the outline of the pattern actually skated—this could produce the sighs and moans from the viewing public who will then stress on the lack of depth to the outer lobe on the second pattern.
Another way to make the CDs more relevant would be to have each member of a team skate with another team member (of the opposite sex of course) by means of a random draw. Then when each team returned to his or her partner they would be bringing the points that they earned with their random partner. This would be guaranteed to bring in the viewers as it would bring in the “element of surprise” to those watching—something we parents are never short on receiving in any given competition year.
Plus, I am sure this is going to push the price of Free Dance and Original Dance costumes through the roof. If we are only pumping out two dresses in place of the standard order of five, we are going to see crystals go up to over $4.00 a bead. It is all about supply and demand and let’s face it—we haven’t spent too much energy in research on other methods of light reflection while on the ice.
I’m just saying, I think this was a hasty decision and one we will regret. There will be a day in the future when we will hear a few bars of the Hickory Hoedown and we will all get a bit misty eyed for what we have lost.
Mombo
posted by IDC Staff @ 11:28 AM
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