In the 1930’s, ice dance was the backbone of most figure skating clubs in America. Miracle Vinson, in her Primer on figure skating, suggested that most people wanting to learn to skate, did so in order to participate in social ice dancing. Today social ice dancing has all but vanished, along with the Swing Era in which it thrived.
Ice dance has long been considered somewhat separate from other parts of figure skating by USFSA. Figures tests (and now Moves in the Field / Skating Skills) were always required for Freestyle (now Singles), but not ice dance. And accomplishment in ice dance does not grandfather one into any tests outside of ice dance. In the past, ice dance was apparently seen as something that people who couldn’t achieve competitive level in Freestyle might do; whereas today, in on-line discussions ice dancers are considered to have better skating skills than Singles dancers. (This is likely related to the elimination of Figures).
But all of this begs the questions: What happened to social ice dance? And has ice dance changed now that it is being increasingly unmoored from its roots in social dancing? A quick look on Quora provides the following answer:
Dancing has undergone various changes in its role within American social life over the decades, but it hasn’t completely ceased to be significant. However, several factors contributed to a decline in its prominence as a central social activity, particularly from the mid-20th century onwards.
- Cultural Shifts: The rise of television in the 1950s transformed how people spent their leisure time. With more entertainment options available at home, fewer people went out to dance socially.
- Changes in Music and Dance Styles: The evolution of music genres, such as rock ‘n’ roll, disco, and hip-hop, led to different social dynamics. While these styles encouraged dancing, they often also promoted more individualistic expressions compared to the partner dancing of earlier decades.
- Urbanization and Lifestyle Changes: As people moved to urban areas, lifestyles changed. The traditional dance halls and community gatherings became less common, replaced by bars and clubs where dancing was less of a focal point.
- Technological Advances: The introduction of home entertainment systems, including music streaming and video games, provided alternatives to social dancing. People began to socialize in different ways, often centered around these technologies.
- Shifting Social Norms: The social context of dancing changed, with some people viewing it as less essential to social interaction, especially in younger generations who might prioritize other forms of entertainment.
Despite these trends, dance remains a vibrant part of American culture, with various forms, including ballroom, hip-hop, and country line dancing, continuing to thrive in different contexts. Social dancing experiences, such as weddings and parties, still play a significant role in gatherings today.
Differences in courtship are likely key for ice dance: in the early 20th century, apparently the ice rink was one of the places young people could go to socialize unchaperoned.
For the Future
My personal opinion is that ice dances, especially taken from the social context, provide Skating Artists with numerous benefits. They should have a place in any comprehensive skating curriculum (at least up through the WFS Silver level, which is equivalent to Mirabel Vinson’s “Primer” level):
- Moving from Figures to Ice Dance, you begin learning how to make the Figures bigger. Thus, Ice Dance and Fancy Skating can and should go hand in hand. Ice dances can and should reinforce the skills learned at each level of The Art of Skating. We should not forget that the four fundamental ice dances have always been the Waltz, Fox Trot, Tango and Kilian (check this fact in this history books).
- In Figures, you learn to make a compact core. The same principles apply in partnered ice dance, but with the center of gravity now existing between two bodies on ice. This reinforces the lessons learned controlling just one body.
- The set-pattern dance (whether traditional or original) is a good thing because, like a Figure, it goes back on itself and can be repeated. It allows the audience to see the movement more than once and appreciate it better. It also allows more than one skater / couple to practice at a time.
- Ice dance teaches Skating Artists the crucial skill of keeping in time to music; not just to keep in time with the music, but also to find out and train through the difficult parts (rather than slowing down on them).
- Ice dance teaches Skating Artists beautiful flow.
If ice dances were part of a Pewter-to-Pre-Silver skating curriculum, we could do the following:
- Designate the last 15 minutes of a skating session to practicing ice dances commensurate with the levels of Figures being practiced by skaters on that session. In the right community, this part of the skating session could be something people really look forward to.
- Encourage / require Skating Artists to learn both parts of all dances, thereby fully developing all skills. Historical footage of ice dance (1950’s) shows young women enjoying dancing with each other, and the practice is also common in Irish dancing and so many other forms of social dance.
Apart from that… maybe I want to just join my local Ballroom Club and learn Swing Dancing. The 1950’s will never return, but social dance continues to live in so many settings.
Further References
Figure skating is on thin ice. Here’s how to fix it (Vox, 2021)