Couple here are good dancers .. but, the first day I came in to the rink
I saw that the guy was the only male ice dancer there. So, when they
started a dance .. like the Cha Cha .. every single female figure skater
on the ice immediatly stopped their practice and gathered in a group
behind the lead dancers and followed their pattern around the ice. It
was without a doubt, the most charming way to practice ice dancing
I have ever seen ... one guy and about 8 girls skating right together.
I'm new there, and so I just watched even though I know several of the
dances. The lead girl worked with me on one of the dances, so guess
I'll join the dancing flock. Try it. I'll make you smile.

johns

That's the way we do it at my ice dance classes

Sarah

I used to belong to a skating club that had a few dance sessions each week like that. It's a fun way to practice, but it's difficult to learn the steps without a diagram and some pre-session practice.

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I know exactly what you mean about diagrams! I really need to see a diagram in order to learn a dance. I just can't seem to get it if I'm shown how to do it on the ice.

Sarah

They did this for the new dances at the dance weekend I watched. The "host" dancers would gather all the men in one corner, and all the women in the other corner- and they would follow along the steps. Then the women and men who were brave enough to try it would partner up and the dance would be replayed with everyone starting in intervals of a few beats to distance each other.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Because of the "follow the leader" approach, not everyone is on the same steps at the same time. When the person in front of you turns backwards, you have to do the same a moment later and you can't see what they're doing.

Memorizing the pattern in advance makes social dances more fun.

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In relation to a posting about some dance classes, someone sent me pictures of the tee shirts they had prepared for their clinics - with the dance patterns printed on them.

The patterns are in http://usfsa.org/Content/Tests%20Boo...20diagrams.pdf, so you or the whole class could easily make tee shirts. Or print them.

Have fun! But you know by now that few ladies skate for the purpose of meeting guys. And, at least around here, those who take entry level group dance lessons rarely continue to become serious ice dance partners.

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Mitch Grunes ModifyingBoots FallingGently HomePage

Sarah, if you need any of the diagrams let me know - we've got most of them printed out as that's how Husband likes to learn, too, and can easily photocopy them for you.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

We would regularly do this before competitions, just for fun, learning dances, etc. If there was a group of girls or couples on the same dance and someone played it, we'd either all play "follow the leader" (and often the same steps at the same time) or we'd start at either end. Especially learning dances, someone would call out steps while we were going around with them - yes, doing same steps at roughly the same time. Or we'd see how many people could shadow dance the same song without killing each other. If we were actually practicing, we'd do the steps at different times and wait a few beats between skaters/couples. But I've seen it done at every rink I've skated at.

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

I mentioned this a few years ago, but I copy the dance steps from the rule book, color-code things I need to pay attention to, and laminate them. With a lanyard to hold them around my neck, they are handy when practicing.

When skating, I tuck the diagram into my warm up jacket to keep it from fluttering in the breeze, but it's an easy tug on the lanyard to get at it.

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Bill Schneider

That's a really cool idea. I still want them to have projectors showing the pattern on the ice, as I find some skaters know the steps but don't know the pattern.

Now that is a cool idea - and might keep the non-dancers out of the way.

No, it'll never work. If they're oblivious to a dance pair bearing down on them they'll probably think they should stand on the pattern

But it still might be an aid to learn the dance

And there'll always be the pair who cut you up when you're following the pattern because they don't have edges.