How did you first feel when you first got on ice with a Partner?

[FSWer]

Say I was wondering how everyone here indivially first felt when they first got on ice with a Pairs or Ice-Dance Parter?

[skaternum]

Like I had an adrenaline rush that lasted for half an hour!!

[Mrs Redboots]

Absolutely terrified! I've never made such a prat of myself before or since, I think. It was way back in the days when they had dance intervals at Streatham on a Monday night, and I thought I was so good at dancing what was then called the Prelim Foxtrot (now Novice Foxtrot - all it consists of is crossovers or [ideally] runs and swing rolls). So some kind person - and to this day I've no idea who - offered to partner me..... oh help! All over the place, I was. Suddenly the music seemed to speed up to about the speed of light, and I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do next, and really made such a pillock of myself, it's surprising I ever tried again......

[Skate@Delaware]

It was kind of scary-because my partner (husband) is not as skilled a skater as me (but catching up quickly) and there were a few times I thought we were going down-he had a death grip on my hands (killian hold)!

We went around the rink a few times (my arms were stretched out as far as they could go to get some room from his blades of death-had to remind him to stroke narrower) then once we got going it was really cool!

We tried it again this past Sunday at the all Adult skate, doing a side-by-side spiral, then a front & back spiral (I did the back spiral) which was really cool!!! :D He was really motivated at that point and we did a mock-waltz around the rink for the last lap.

I think we did pretty good for a bunch of old farts! (he is 56 I'm 43)

[flo]

Hmm. It was very interesting. We had both not been skating very long, for me it was about a year. We had a very wise coach who made sure we learned to guide to eachother and skate side by side long before we even joined hands or tried any real pair moves. It worked. We can now both guide to anyone!

[samba]

Embarrassed, we had know each other for 13 years and all of a sudden we had to hold hands!! worse still for him, he had to pick me up, took us a long time to get used to it but we carried on skating together for 7 years with the wonderful support of his wife and my husband who both often used to act as referees.

[phoenix]

Very weird! I had been taking dance lessons for a couple of months but hadn't partnered even with my coach yet. I went to my first dance session & was sitting in the hockey box because I was afraid of being in everyone's way.......a guy came up & talked to me & when they played one of the 3 dances I knew, he came & got me & skated it with me. I just giggled the whole time because it was so fun & so strange to have someone's feet RIGHT there next to mine!

The funny thing was that several years later, I ended up coaching that guy! lol

[TashaKat]

I was used to dancing with my coach so dancing with a partner wasn't scary or even exciting. We laughed a lot and had a lot of fun but I found it difficult after skating with my coach, I had been well spoiled :)

[slusher]

I've known my coach for years as he coached my kids. Taking a dance lesson for the first time was very weird. I had no clue how to hold my hands so he basically grabbed them and cemented me to his hip and I said "I have to skate with you right next to me, whoa that's way too close!". D'oh, that's the point of dance. What a laugh. We've gotten comfortable together, that's the good part of skating with the same person all the time, so if I'm about to have a brain lapse he's getting better at anticipating my made up steps. I don't know if I could do a social dance weekend but would like to try one out sometime.

[Careygram]

The first time I ever skated pairs was with a pairs coach. I was a little nervous but after about 10 minutes into the lesson I looked up at him and said "Oh My God I love pairs". Six months later I found myself a pairs partner and I still love pairs, especially the throws. It was like I had found my calling.

Wishing everyone a smiliar profound experience! :)

[Melzorina]

I first got on the ice in a partner with my coach, so he easily adapted to me and it seemed like the easiest thing in the world.

At first, I was in a fit of giggles, because I'm very immature and it must have looked so funny with him being so tall and me being not 5 foot yet. (I will be 5 ft one day, I will, even it it kills me)

When I got over the fact that I was dancing with him, it felt quite cool, I felt all safe and protected. I quite liked it, until he made me dance with him infront of my best friend, then I felt stupid, even though I secretly thought it was allright. When she said it looked really cool and she liked it, I admitted that I didn't hate it quite as much as I told her...

I'd rather work on jumps and spins though. Dancing isn't quite my cup of tea. Allthough it would be amazingly cool to have a partner...My co-ordination is extremely crap though, so I might give that one a miss.

[iskatealot]

My first time skating with a partner was when I was little and working on my first few dances. The partner was our dance coach/partner for everyone in our club. I dont remember all but I do remember that I was about 4 ft tall and he was around 6'2. To skate with me he had to bend his knees way down just to be able to partner me. He was a good sport about it though. I also remember that we would finish a patern and me being so small he would swing me around in the corner (like off the ice)
My first time skating with someone who wasnt a dance coach was actually last year when I skated with Hydroblades for a dance test. All I remember was that I was very glad that I was skating with someone who wasnt 2 feet taller than me. OF course Im not 4 ft any more...more around 5 4 but all my dance coaches are still quite a bit taller than me, but at least they dont have 2 bend down.