Arts Editor
Oh, Canada! Monday night in the ice dancing event, partners Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir brought home the gold for the host country at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Meryl Davis and Charlie White from the United States won the silver medal, and Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin from the Russia Federation took home bronze.
With a combined score of 221.57, Virtue and Moir were able to upset the long-held Russian dominance of ice dancing, earning them a stadium full of fans chanting “Can-a-da! Can-a-da!”
“We knew it was in us, but to get out there on the Olympic ice and to perform and execute like that, it’s a feeling I’ve never had,” said Moir in an interview for the Associated Press after the competition.
However, since the event was added to the Winter Olympics in 1976, ice dancing has caused many spectators to raise an eyebrow, owing to its similarity to figure skating. One of the main differences between figure skating and ice dancing is that there are no jumps or throws. Partners cannot be more than two arm-lengths apart and should remain in a dance hold the majority of the time. But it is similar to ice skating because in both points are taken off if one isn’t on the beat.
Ice dance competitions consist of a three types of dances: a compulsory, an original, and a free dance. The compulsory dance is set to a specified tempo and partners must execute standardized steps and holds. In the original dance, competitors choose their own music in a specified tempo range and all dances must relate to a specified theme. The free dance allows for the most freedom and creativity. Competitors choose the tempo, music, and choreography, but programs must also contain certain elements like step sequences, lifts, and dance spins. The free dance is weighted heaviest in judging.
Controversy struck at Vancouver when Domnina and Shabalin from Russia performed their original dance in aboriginal costumes in their interpretation of the “country/folk dance” theme. Their costumes and lifts were of dubious Australian decent, offending native Australians and Canada’s Four Host First Nations.
Virtue and Moir’s performance on the other hand, was characterized by slow glides across the rink.
“Right now Vancouver is our favorite place to be,” said Virtue. “It’s been the perfect games. [sic]”
In any event, Virtue and Moir are going home with shiny gold around their necks.
