Skate America, Part 2

Pairs
It's so cool that the U.S. grabbed the first two spots in this competition. It's taken me a while to warm up to Rena Inoue and John Baldwin. At the Olympics, though, they were so impressive, with their throw triple-Axel. They're such a regal-looking couple. The more I learn about them, the more impressed I am with them, from Baldwin's skating background to Inoue's bout with cancer. And I found out that Rena and I have the same birthday! She's exactly ten years younger than me.

I agree with what Peter Carruthers said about the death spirals. He's right; the new scoring system have changed the way they're done because the skaters are so busy changing positions to earn more points, they aren't able to go low enough. The old system encouraged them to have the ladies' head almost touch the ice. One of the most exciting aspects of pairs skating is the death spiral. I like watching them and fearing that the lady's head would hit the ice. It's unfortunate that the new system has changed that.

I look forward to future competitions that feature pairs skaters from China. Talk about impressive and exciting. No other team gets their height in their throws. Very remarkable.

Dance
Dance has made huge advances in the last few years, due to the new scoring system. The discipline has been forced to become more technical and difficult. In some ways, it's the most difficult of all the disciplines. Ice dancers have more difficult footwork, and they have to skate closer together. That became apparent at the Olympics last year; Dance was the most exciting and fun to watch. Four couples had falls, something that up to now has been relatively rare in Dance. And who can forget "The Glare" after French dancers Poli and Margaglio's performance. Now, that was Drama!


In spite of how much I enjoy ice dancing, there are things that annoy me about it.


Pechalat & Bourzat, France

The costumes! They can be so weird. I think that one of the reasons ice dancing isn't as popular, at least here in the States, have at least a little to do with the bizarre costumes. The costume of the Americans at this competition, Gregory and Petukhov, prove my point. Petukhov's costume had a red apple on his right wrist. Of course, it was designed by Johnny Weir, the guy who had the red swan on his wrist in last year's short program. I remember in the Olympics, the costumes in all the disciples were discussed. I'll have to do some research about that.

The other thing that bugs me about ice dance is the heavy reliance on themes and concepts. I find it a bit pretentious. Concepts can sometimes override their skating skill. I agree with Susie Wynn; ice dancers' skating skill and technique should support their concept. As the season goes on, I'll probably talk more about these aspects of ice dance.