Roller Willow WAltz

[AgnesNitt]

From the Parents and Coaches section.
Oh yes, the Willow ...

Find skaters performing it on YouTube, and have her watch it. It helped them find the expression and see what it should look like. You just need to search under Willow Waltz, you should get hits.
.

I was curious about the Willow in reading that thread--maybe someday I'll do dance--so I looked it up on YouTube.

What interested me after watching a few people do it on ice was the guy doing it in roller. This big heavily muscled mohawked guy who looks like he drives a tow truck in a tough neighborhood in Jersey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdFVT6p5rho). And he was doing it perfectly smoothly. I don't see ice dance guys with quite that look.

Roller and Ice two cultures separated by the same moves.

[icedancer2]

Actually he does it very beautifully!

Also noted that although it is done solo, he is doing what is known as the ladies part in ice-dance. Same with a 14-step - and it is interesting with all of those kids sitting on the floor in the corner!

Different cultures indeed.

[AgnesNitt]

I wondered if maybe he was an instructor doing a demo for a class.

[RachelSk8er]

A bunch of us at my rink have actually been taking some roller skating dance lessons (we get a group lesson for $10/person for an hour class once a month or so). It's really fun, we learned the first few dances and they were pretty easy. The instructor keeps trying to talk some of us into competing roller, but we're just doing it more as a group fun thing.

[dbny]

I wondered if maybe he was an instructor doing a demo for a class.

That's what it looks like to me. In fact, he kind of reminds me of my first roller dance instructor when I was a kid. That's exactly the solo arm position we were taught. I think it's actually very similar to ice dance. The major difference I see is that there is much less knee bend and very little up and down.

[Ellyn]

Also noted that although it is done solo, he is doing what is known as the ladies part in ice-dance. Same with a 14-step

And no cross-behind on the 14-step. Hard enough in freestyle blades -- near impossible on four wheels?

That might actually make that dance doable for me.

[RachelSk8er]

And no cross-behind on the 14-step. Hard enough in freestyle blades -- near impossible on four wheels?

That might actually make that dance doable for me.

You can do the cross behind on rollers. It would actually be easier than freestyle skates, since on real figure roller skates, the wheels are small and almost entirely underneath you (no blade sticking out like on figure skates). The 14 step is one of the dances I can directly take from ice to the roller rink on my roller skates since it has no 3 turns (I have roller derby boots/wheels, so I can do mohawks, but 3 turns/counters/rockers are nearly impossible--the wheels are wide so you can't get your weight fully over the inside our outside edges).

I think it would be fun to get some roller plates mounted on an old pair of figure skating boots and play around with roller skating, but the last thing I need is yet another hobby.

[AgnesNitt]

I know this video is Roller Dance, but I thought some people might be interested. Are those step behinds at the beginning?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9gBTSGqmk&feature=related
I don't know what the 'Plus' is since I don't 'do' ice dance, I just like to watch ice dance.

[dbny]

And no cross-behind on the 14-step. Hard enough in freestyle blades -- near impossible on four wheels?

Cross behinds are easier on roller skates. No chance of catching a toe pick :), though you can lock your wheels, which is worse, IMO.


Are those step behinds at the beginning?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9gBTSGqmk&feature=related
I don't know what the 'Plus' is since I don't 'do' ice dance, I just like to watch ice dance.

I would call those cross strokes. This skater is doing the men's part on one side and the Ladies' part on the other (women do the back swing roll). I don't know if that is part of the "plus", but the other thing that is different from the Fourteen Step is the additional turns at the end of the end pattern, before starting the pattern over. If you leave out one of those turns, then you would not be switching parts. In the original dance, the woman's part is to do a LFO mohawk, LBI for 2 beats, then begin the pattern again with a progressive run.

Here's the plain vanilla roller Fourteen Step (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8lClQpubtA&NR=1).