Drawing from ballroom dancing, ice dance is competed in pairs and incorporates social dances. Teams complete difficult dance patterns, step sequences and maneuvers while showcasing exceptional interpretation of music and precise steps.
Each year, skaters perform their rhythm dance to a specific rhythm of music within a required tempo range. Today, on International Dance Day, we shine the spotlight on our senior ice dancers, and asked them their favorite rhythm dance style. Check out their answers below!
Oona Brown and Gage Brown
Our favorite theme/style for the rhythm dance that we've performed is hip hop/blues. Hip hop was a style that we had always wanted to skate to, not only because we loved the choices of music, especially 80s and 90s hip hop. Ever since we watched Tessa and Scott perform their "Prince" rhythm dance or Piper and Paul perform their "Disco Inferno" rhythm dance in the 2016-17 season, we knew that we really wanted to skate to something that got everyone out of their seats and dancing. The year we skated our hip hop/blues rhythm dance was the year we won the World Junior Championships, so it also has a very special place in our hearts and skating career.
Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville
Our favorite rhythm dance theme so far was street dance with blues. We had so much fun with it and it gave us a lot of freedom to explore new styles. It is a more open theme than usual, so it was really cool seeing how everyone interpreted it differently!
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Christina: My favorite rhythm dance style so far has been Latin. I loved our program last year. The dance style translated really well on the ice, and it was very crowd pleasing. It was really fun to train and perform all year.
Anthony: My favorite rhythm dance theme has definitely been tango. Exploring the culture and depth of the dance and the rich history behind it was awesome. I learned a lot that year! I really hope to do it again soon!
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Our favorite rhythm dance was our hip hop themed, Billie Eilish program. Hip hop has a rich history and there are many different styles of dance to choose from within the hip hop category. It was very fun learning a variety of hip hop styles at the beginning of the season when we prepared for our choreographic process. We also really enjoyed seeing the styles other teams chose throughout the season!
Raffaella Koncius and Alexey Shchepetov
Raffaella: My favorite rhythm dance style is Latin by far. I feel like I can get into character with that style easily and it's so enjoyable. The music is soooo good also! :)
Alexey: My favorite style has been Latin for sure. I love the way the music makes your body move and it's such a fun theme to watch!
Angela Ling and Caleb Wein
We loved the blues/hip hop year! We had so much fun every time we performed it since we loved the music and choreography. Also, the audience was always super excited and engaged which is always a great bonus!
Lorraine McNamara and Anton Spiridonov
While it is so tough to pick a favorite (any time there is music playing, you can be sure we're grooving), we would have to choose hip hop. The possibilities of music to dance to are endless and it is so fun to experiment and learn the various styles within the genre! Also, the history of hip hop is so rich that it feels like there is something new to learn every day.
Eva Pate and Logan Bye
Our favorite rhythm dance theme/style we've performed to was the mix of blues and hip hop we skated to last year when we took on the characters Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake. The songs "Cry Me a River" and "Bye Bye Bye" were really fun to skate to, and we actually really like the theme of hip hop in general. The style of the music brings an energy and rhythm to the stage that we feel is a good mix of something very powerful but also fun and exciting. We will say that for this upcoming season, our plan is to bring that same energy to the ice, and so far, we are having a great time playing around with different songs within that genre.
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik
Our favorite rhythm dance theme we have performed is Latin. At the beginning of the season, we were able to experiment with different Latin rhythms, which was equally fun and exciting. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out what rhythm matched us the most. After some time, we decided on samba and rhumba. We found that the mix of these styles allowed us to show range through the contrast of the characters and movements between the two styles. Like Latin culture, Latin style dancing is vibrant and beautiful. This theme challenged us to learn new skills and show a greater connection with each other through dance.
