One for the skating experts...

When Frankie is introduced they say that she's an 'appagio' (sp?!?) skater.

Just wondered what that means and how it compares with the skating styles of the other DoI pros.

Thanks in advance for any help

Originally Posted by number six
They always introduce Frankie at the beginning of the show as an "Adgio Skater"....at the risk of being thick what does that mean?
I like Frankie as well, she seems a lovely down to earth Girl and I am glad she is skating with a good partner, although I though her and Lee made a good team last year.

adagio-it's do with skating and performing acrobatic lifts. I'm sure someone who knows more about skating will give you a better description

I asked the same thing a while ago and this is the answer I was given....i also asked if she had a professionsl partner, but I didn't get an answer to that question

http://www.italyworldclub.com/piemon...re-skating.htm

Figure skating disciplines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating#Disciplines

Disciplines:

Olympic sports in figure skating comprise the following disciplines:
[LIST][*]Singles competition for men and women (who are referred to as "ladies" in ISU rulebooks), wherein skaters perform jumps, spins, step sequences, spirals, and other elements in their programs.[*]Pair skating teams consist of a woman and a man. Pairs perform singles elements in unison as well as pair-specific elements such as throw jumps, in which the man 'throws' the woman into a jump; lifts, in which the woman is held above the man's head in one of various grips and positions; pair spins, in which both skaters spin together about a common axis; death spirals, and other elements.[*]Ice dancing is again for couples consisting of a woman and a man skating together. Ice dance differs from pairs in focusing on intricate footwork performed in close dance holds, in time with the music. Ice dance lifts must not go above the head.[/LIST]
Other disciplines of figure skating include:
[LIST][*]Synchronized skating, for mixed-gender groups of 12 to 20 skaters. This discipline resembles a group form of ice dance with additional emphasis on precise formations of the group as a whole and complex transitions between formations.[*]Compulsory figures, in which skaters use their blades to draw circles, figure 8s, and similar shapes in ice, and are judged on the accuracy and clarity of the figures and the cleanness and exact placement of the various turns on the circles. Figures were formerly included as a component of singles competitions but were eliminated from those events in 1990. Today figures are rarely taught or performed. The United States was the last country to retain a separate test and competitive structure for compulsory figures, but the last national-level figures championship was held in 1999.[*]Moves in the field (known in the United Kingdom as field moves), which have replaced compulsory figures as a discipline to teach the same turns and edge skills in the context of fluid free skating movements instead of being constrained to artificially precise circles.[*]Fours, a discipline that is to pairs as pairs is to singles. A team of four skaters, consisting of two men and two women, perform singles and pairs elements in unison, as well as unique elements that involve all four skaters.[*]Theatre on ice, also known as "ballet on ice" in Europe. This is a form of group skating that is less structured than synchronized skating and allows the use of props and theatrical costuming.[*]Adagio skating, a form of pair skating most commonly seen in ice shows, where the skaters perform many spectacular acrobatic lifts but few or none of the singles elements which competitive pairs must perform.[*]Special figures, the tracing of elaborate original designs on the ice, common in the early days of skating.[*]Acrobatic skating, also known as "Acrobatics on ice" or "Extreme Skating", is a combination of circus arts, technical artistic gymnastics skills, and figure skating. Acrobatic skating merges the best of many sporting worlds into an exciting spectacle. This "edge of your seat" specialty performance has become popular worldwide.[/LIST]

That's very interesting. Does that really mean then that the Dancing on Ice Show is really mainly Adagio skating then as its not strictly Ice Dancing given the type of lifts performed?

Sure looks that way

I think DOI is a bit of a mixture of ice dance and adagio but I'm certainly not an expert so I could be wrong.

I think that unlike amateur competition, in professional skating you can pretty much do whatever you want and it's not necessarily classifiable because elements from all types of skating can be used. DOI is the type of choreography Chris and Jayne do for professional skaters.

If you want to see real ice dancing then watch the World Championships this week.

Compulsory dance was on today (Eurosport show it) but there is original dance and Free dance later (maybe tomorrow). think BBC may show some highlights but not sure when.

You wouldn't get the type of lifts that the DOI contestants do in real ice dancing competitions (Olympics, Worlds, Europeans, British Championships etc).

Proper ice dancing has compulsory dances (like ballroom dancing on ice - no lifts - and mostly in hold and compuslroy steps so all couples do exactly the same). There is great emphasis on deep edges and synchronisation and a set pattern on the ice. Then they do original dance which has to be performed to a specified rhythm eg Tango, or Waltz or blues etc. This can have lifts and spins but no overhead lifts and no jumps of 1 revolution or above ( so definitly no axels)

Then they do a Free dance which as it's name implies is a free choice of rhythm but they do have to dance to the beat and not to the melody. Still no overhead lifts and no jumps of 1 rev or over. They do have to include certain prescribed elements eg spins, twizzles (like a controlled moving spin and done on each foot seperately - very difficult) a step sequence etc. These are about 4 mins in length (not sure offhand of exact timings)

So DOI is more like professional skaters in shows would do. I think Robin mentioned that things like the headbanger are banned in competition (too dangerous as many couples start when very young and no-one wants to be responsible for serious head injuries in a child!)

It's only in the last few years that dancers could skate to music with lyrics. Free skaters still have to have instrumental only.

Nice summary! Agree, DOI doesn't really resemble much of what goes on in competitive figure skating competitions, though Nicky did his best to encourage them to skate close together and do steps, not just glide, lift, glide, lift! (IMHO Gareth didn't get enough recognition from the judges for his skating, but what the hey.) The DOI-ers did incorporate some pairs skating elements like the spirals, spins and jumps tho.

I can't remember them exactly but in pairs there are rules as to how high the guy can lift the girl - he can't hold her lower than her hip. It's a safety thing I think. And there has to be changes of hold during the lift, while the man rotates while moving across the length of the rink - well it increases the difficulty as well as the marks compared to a static one anyway. No one's mentioned the split twists that pairs do - the boy lifts the girl while she does a split, before he throws her up, horizontally or vertically while she closes her legs and spins two or three (or four!) times in the air, before he catches her - so cool!

Whoever was commentating during the replays had the most extraordinary names for some of those lifts and moves! I was like <cringe-laugh> - are they for real??!!

Should check out YT for loads of figure skatng vids! I recommend Gordeeva & Grinkov's 1994 Olympic gold medal long program for a classic pairs routine!

Thanks for all the info guys. Really helpful.

The explanations also explained to me why T&D couldn't get 6's with Lets Face the Music and Dance (I thought they were robbed)

Bear in mind as well, that the Olympics, Worlds, Europeans etc. are "amateur" competitions - although, from 1994, skaters who had given up entering these comps and turned professional (i.e. become "show" skaters), could revert to amateur status later and re-enter them (T&D were the major example in ice dance at the time, and Katarina Witt did it in the ladies competitions as well).

There was also a Professional Skating Championships, which lasted for about 30 years or so I think. That was much more open in the rules than the amateur competitions were, you could use props, music with lyrics etc, which you can now do to some degree in the amateur competitions anyway.

It's pair skating according to those definitions posted above.