Improve the Character & Expression of Your Ice Dancing

Many skaters find it difficult to understand how to gain expression and character while skating compulsory dances. However with a little forethought and attention to your technique it should be easy to attain.

Firstly and most importantly every dance has a basic underlying rhythm and with this goes a natural rise and fall of the skating knee, this is what really gives a dance that feeling of dance. As I have stressed in many of my tips, it is always important that your skating knee is active while your free leg is passive and worked by the action of your skating knee, without this action your movement never really becomes musical and dance like as it is this action of the whole body being lifted and lowered that makes 'dance' it is not arm movements etc, they simply add to what is already there.

For instance if you take a Dutch or European Waltz the character is gain by the knee bending on 'and' then being down for the counts of one and two then rising softly for the count of three to return again on the count of 'and'. This knee action works on every step without exception and give the lilting 'rise and fall' which is so characteristic of a waltz. This together with a sway as you change from one hip to another as you change circles etc completes much of what is required for any waltz. The straight and elegant free leg lines and a gentle changing headline as you look first over one shoulder or the other should complete the picture. Therefore a good technique should really help you in gaining a character and feel for your dance.

In an American Waltz a 6/8 Waltz, the knee action that is down in the skating knee for 1,2 & 3 then up for 4,5 & 6, will automatically give you the correct character for this dance. You should also change your body weight and head position every time on the count of 4. For dances like the Viennese Waltz, Starlight Waltz, Golden Waltz and Ravensberger Waltz all are of a 'Viennese style' of the grand ballroom era and are 6/8 waltzes, however for these the underlying knee action is down in the skating knee for 1 & 2 a light rise for 3 down again for 4 & 5 and rise once more for 6. In all of these dances, this knee action should never stop whatever the timing of a specific step and in fact the steps of the dance are designed to allow you to do exactly this. 

For dances of a Foxtrot character, for example Rocker Foxtrot, or the Foxtrot itself, the predominate knee action is down in the skating knee for 1 with a soft rise for 2, then down for 3 and again softly rising for the count of 4. This should give a soft, romantic, strolling character of the dance, with effortless flow. Even on 4 count edges you should still maintain a rise and falling of the knee action you should never just stand on a static skating knee, for the second that you do this you stop dancing and lose instantly the character of your dance. The Blues would also fit into this knee action it should simply be even softer working the lower range of your knee action, but again your knee action must never stop for one moment, particularly on the long four beat edges.

For every dance and every style of dance you should be able to find an underlying and predominate knee action, and once you are aware of this you should be able to dance with character. All you need to add then is a style to your body movement. For instance when skating a Tango you body should feel like every muscle in you body is in tension and fighting with its opposite muscle group to help create that feeling of tension and frustration, that is part of the sexiness and passion of this style of dance. This together with great contrast between the 'ups' and 'downs' on the knee and particular use of the knee action on the count of 'and' should help gain drama and feeling.

Finally always remember that you should always try to give every step exactly it required and exact timing. A good dancer always manages to make it look as if they all the time in the world, even when a dance is fast.

I hope that this helps you to bring your dancing to life and to gain new insights into your interpretation of each dance.