
Ice dancing vs Figure skating – 7 differences
- At high level, ice dancers compete only as pairs. For traditional figure skating, you can see international competition for single women, single men and pairs.
- Ice dancing vs figure skating - no jumps. This second difference is the most obvious. ...
- Balance between partners. ...
- Differences in the competition events & use of themes. ...
- Falls. ...
What is the highest score in Figure Skating?
The following lists are included:
- Records: current record holders; technical and component record scores; progression of record scores
- Personal bests: highest personal best scores; highest PB technical element scores; highest PB program component scores
- Absolute bests: lists of absolute best scores
Is ice skating the same as ice dancing?
While, ice dancing is officially a discipline within Figure skating, it is quite different. If you want to explain briefly the difference between the 2 sports: Figure skating is gymnastics on ice - it is all about jumps, spins and dramatic lifts; Whilst ice dance is dance on ice - it is about musical interpretation, footwork and rhythm
When is pairs ice dancing?
When you tune in to watch figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, you'll find two distinct paired disciplines: ice dancing and pairs figure skating. What's the difference between the two? They might look similar on the surface, but besides the fact that they both require two skaters to be on the ice, they're actually quite different.
Who won ice dancing in the Olympics?
The United States has medaled in ice dance at five straight Olympics, and Hubbell and Donohue’s closest podium challenger here was a duo they’ve regularly faced back home for years. The Hubbell-Donohue partnership has shared the top tier of American ice dancing with Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who won the national title last month.

What is the difference between figure skating and ice skating?
The most notable difference is that ice dancing is thought of as ballroom dancing on ice, so the emphasis is on a graceful and entertaining routine that could easily be done on the ground. Ice dancers must dance to music that has a steady beat or rhythm, and it's the only discipline in which competitors can use music with vocals. Ice dancing is always done in pairs, and no jumps or throws are allowed. Figure skating focuses more on jumps, lifts, death spirals, and spins. There are both pairs and men's and women's singles competitions. While figure skaters are scored on the connecting footwork between all of those elements, ice dancers are judged more on the precision of their footwork.
Who were the women's figure skaters in the 2000s?
The U.S. dominated ladies figure skating through the mid-2000s, with greats like Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski, and Sarah Hughes gracing the ice and taking home gold-but U.S. women haven't taken home a medal since Sasha Cohen's silver medal in the 2006 Games in Torino. As for ice dancing, sister and brother pair Maia and Alex Shibutani (also ...
Is ice dancing allowed in pairs?
Ice dancing is always done in pairs, and no jumps or throws are allowed. Figure skating focuses more on jumps, lifts, death spirals, and spins. There are both pairs and men's and women's singles competitions.
What is the difference between ice dance and ice skating?
The major, most obvious difference between ice dance and the other skating events is the lack of jumps — under ice dance rules, jumps aren't even allowed. So you won’t see a triple axel or a quadruple jump in an ice dance routine, but the skaters’ feet do leave the ice for impressive, acrobatic lifts.
What is the world record for ice dance?
The best in the world usually score at or near 200 points. The current world record score in ice dance is 202.16, set by Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France in December. France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France perform during the ice dance short dance competition at the 2018 ISU European Figure Skating ...
What is the sparkliest sport in the Olympics?
Figure skating is definitely the sparkliest, twirliest sport you’ll see at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. And while no matter which skating event you tune in to, sequins and spins are a given — there are some important distinctions between each of the sport’s four disciplines. There’s the men’s and women’s single competitions, ...
What is a short dance?
But in ice dance, the short program, or short dance, has a required rhythm, or theme for the program, chosen by the International Skating Union (ISU), which oversees figure skating and speed skating worldwide. This content is imported from YouTube.
What is ice lift?
Ice dance lifts are a bit more graceful, like something you’d see in a ballet. Ice dance, then, is more like a cousin of ballroom dance. Rhythms like the foxtrot and the samba are used on the ice, just like they are on the dancefloor.
Do you need near perfection to do ice dance?
And near perfection is required. Since falls are rare, near perfection is required to make it to the podium in the ice dance event. In the other events, skaters can get partial credit for a jump they attempt but fall on, and still rack up enough points to land on the podium; not so for ice dance!
Is it rare to fall in figure skating?
Falls are rare. In the other figure skating events, falling is pretty common (because of the jumps). In ice dance, falls are rare — and disastrous. There is a mandatory one-point deduction if one partner hits the ice, two points if they both fall.
What Is Ice Dancing?
Ice dancers perform their routine in the rhythm dance and free dance events. The rules prohibit them from doing any throw jumps, twist lifts, overhead lifts and other moves that skaters like Nathan Chen would do. Think ballroom dancing, but on ice.
What Are the Ice Dancing Moves to Watch for?
Belbin White, who was part of the first-ever U.S. ice dancing team to win a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics, told TODAY that the biggest moves in ice dancing are the twizzle, a pattern dance, lift, spin, step sequence and choreography.
How Is it Different From Pairs Skating?
Athletes in the pairs discipline compete in the same two events as individual skaters: short and free programs. They perform the moves that aren’t allowed in ice dancing. The main elements include difficult moves like the twist lift, in which the male athlete lifts his partner over his head, tosses her in the air as she rotates and he catches her.
Who Are the Ice Dancing Duos to Watch for?
Coming up will be ice dancing’s rhythm dance event, which Team USA scored big in during the team event earlier in the Games.
What About Pairs Skaters?
Team USA’s Brandon Frazier and Alexa Knierim, a Chicago-area native, placed third in their team short program while scoring a personal best but unfortunately came in last during the free program. The 2022 Winter Olympics mark their first as a pair.
What Is Ice Dancing?
Ice dancers perform their routine in the rhythm dance and free dance events. The rules prohibit them from doing any throw jumps, twist lifts, overhead lifts and other moves that skaters like Nathan Chen would do. Think ballroom dancing, but on ice.
What Are the Ice Dancing Moves to Watch for?
Belbin White, who was part of the first-ever U.S. ice dancing team to win a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics, told TODAY that the biggest moves in ice dancing are the twizzle, a pattern dance, lift, spin, step sequence and choreography.
Clothing
First of all, it’s worth mentioning that the two events in the disciplines have different names. Competition is held in the short and free program in the pairs discipline, while in ice dancing the events are rhythm dance and free dance.
Competition elements
The main difference between the two disciplines is a glaring one: in ice dancing, the skaters barely jump. It's the only figure skating discipline in which no jumps are allowed (outside of single jumps). The other elements prohibited in ice dancing are throw jumps, twist lifts, overhead lifts and other moves which are close to acrobatics.
Music
Only 12 years ago, at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, there was a difference between ice dancing and the other figure skating events – it had three performances, not two. Instead of short and free programs, ice dancers performed compulsory dance, original dance and free dance.
Number of participants
There is an opinion that ice dancing is easier than pairs skating, which could explain where there are usually more participants in ice dancing at the World Championships. For example, in 2021, 32 duets participated in ice dancing, and 24 in pairs skating. In 2019 the ratio was 27 to 19.
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Ice Dancing
Ice dancing became a Winter Olympic sport in 1976 in Innsburck, Austria. Think of the event as two people ballroom dancing on skates.
Pairs Skating
Pairs skating has been an Olympic sport much longer than ice dancing and is more similar to the men’s and women’s singles competitions. All three of these disciplines have been Winter Olympics events since the first Winter Games in 1924. Before that, figure skating was competed at the Summer Olympics.
Ice Dancing
Ice dancing became a Winter Olympic sport in 1976 in Innsburck, Austria. Think of the event as two people ballroom dancing on skates.
Pairs Skating
Pairs skating has been an Olympic sport much longer than ice dancing and is more similar to the men’s and women’s singles competitions. All three of these disciplines have been Winter Olympics events since the first Winter Games in 1924. Before that, figure skating was competed at the Summer Olympics.
There Are No Jumps!
and There’S A Ballroom Dancing Influence.
- Pairs teams perform twisting lifts together, and the male partner throws the female on jumps. Ice dance lifts are a bit more graceful, like something you’d see in a ballet. Ice dance, then, is more like a cousin of ballroom dance. Rhythms like the foxtrot and the samba are used on the ice, just like they are on the dancefloor. The teams also skate using arm positions similar to ballroom da…
There Are Required themes.
- All four skating events involve a short program and a long program, with required elements in each — in singles and pairs figure skating, jumps and spins are some of the required elements. But in ice dance, the short program, or short dance, has a required rhythm, or theme for the program, chosen by the International Skating Union (ISU), which oversees figure skating and spe…
Falls Are Rare.
- In the other figure skating events, falling is pretty common (because of the jumps). In ice dance, falls are rare — and disastrous. There is a mandatory one-point deduction if one partner hits the ice, two points if they both fall. Then, on top of those deductions, the skaters also lose points for poor execution of the element in question. Losing t...
and Near Perfection Is required.
- Since falls are rare, near perfection is required to make it to the podium in the ice dance event. In the other events, skaters can get partial credit for a jump they attempt but fall on, and still rack up enough points to land on the podium; not so for ice dance! The point spread among the teams is usually really tight, and even a small mistake can spell disaster. Some of them might be so smal…
200 Is The Magic number.
- Skating used to be judged using a simple system where a 6.0 was the equivalent of a perfect 10. But these days, the judging criteria is more complicated, with pluses and minuses, grades of execution, and difficulty level for each element considered. Basically, there is a lot more math involved now. Skating is very subjective by nature, and judges' marks in many of these criteria ar…
Team USA Is A Powerhouse.
- Unlike in some other skating events, where Russian or Japanese athletes are the medal favorites in PyeongChang, ice dance is where Team USA is the powerhouse. Three of the top six teams in the world are from the U.S., and they are all podium contenders at the Games. Maia and Alex Shibutani, known as the ShibSibs on their social media and YouTube channel, are three-time Wo…
What Is Ice Dancing?
What Are The Ice Dancing Moves to Watch for?
How Is It Different from Pairs Skating?
Who Are The Ice Dancing Duos to Watch for?
What About Pairs Skaters?
When Can You Watch and Where?
- Figure skating began on Feb. 3 and runs through Feb. 19. The first week of programming was entirely team events, while the second week features individual competition. Next up on the schedule is ice dancing’s rhythm dance, which will see notable U.S. duos returning to the ice for what they hope will be another figure skating medal. One of the final...