It’s time to bid the 2023/2024 Skate Canada Challenge adieu.
The Junior and Senior competition ran from November 30th to December 3rd in Winnipeg, Man. at the Seven Oaks arena. Next up, the 2024 Canadian Tire National Championships from January 8th to 14th in Calgary, Alta.
At Seven Oaks, there were outstanding throws and quads, superb choreography and step-sequences, sizzling spins and rotational lifts.
Speaking of rotational lifts, one stand out was the Junior and Senior Dance version of the short program – the Rhythm Dance. This might be your grandmother’s RD if she’s part of Generation X.
For the 2023/2024 season’s Rhythm Dance, the International Skating Union (ISU) chose “Music and Feeling of the Eighties” for the Junior and Seniors. While the choice was fabulous, the ISU’s statement included:
“… The couple should demonstrate through dance the culture and feeling/essence of this decade … The couple must use dance movements and dance holds to interpret the chosen music from this decade.”
In other words, choreographers were probably told to nix music from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack to avoid melting the ice.
The ISU included their usual “better safe than sorry” clause:
“Note: To comply with the ethical values of sports, any music chosen for Ice Dance competitions must not include aggressive and/or offending lyrics.”
Continue reading “What a “Feeling of the Eighties” in the Rhythm Dance – A Skate Canada Challenge Review”
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