Saturday, March 22 - Ice Dance Compulsory Dance / Original Dance Practice

And the CD Is...


So, once again I skipped the pairs practice group that had the Americans in it. Instead of sleep calling me, this time I wanted to run over to the ice dance practice at the Convention Center that was for the Compulsory Dance/Original Dance. This was my first visit to the Convention Center. The security level was a little different from the MCI Center. They make you spread 'em; they run a detection wand on your arms and legs while facing the security guard. Then, you turn around, with your back to security, and get wanded the same way before you can enter into the practice arena area.

The sight lines are not as good here. The ice surface is set up at ground level instead of below the spectator level as in the MCI Center. So, if you are not sitting above five rows up, you cannot see the skaters' feet from all locations of the room. The skaters are seen from waist up. The peripherals of the boards will obstruct the view. The ice surface is also considerably smaller. There is a barricade about 15 feet out from the edge of the ice surface keeping all spectators at that distance away from the boards. This in contrast to the MCI Center where if you sit on the side I was at pairs practice earlier tonight, the skaters whiz right past you, and you can literally touch the boards. Here at the Convention Center, the skater entrance to the ice is about thirty feet from the nearest spectator seat. There are only narrow boards around the sides of the rink for coaching at the Convention Center, so the coaches just sat in chairs in one area. They were all more confined together. And, every time I was at the Convention Center it just seemed much colder in temperature than the MCI.

So, I rolled in when Group 6 was exiting the ice. No teams showed up for the Group 1 practice that followed. They announced music selections for the Austrian Waltz that were subsequently played despite the absence of skaters on the ice. That's when I found out that the Austrian Waltz had been drawn as the compulsory dance instead of the Tango Romantica. I had totally thought the Austrian Waltz would not be drawn since a waltz was one of the rhythms for selection in the original dances. But, I really didn't mind since I do enjoy waltzes as the selections they were playing right then made me feel like dancing. Some people disdain the monotony of the compulsory dance because the same music plays for each couple, but there are different arrangements of each type of dance. For example, they would announce, 'We are playing selections 4, 5, and 6 of the Austrian Waltz.' And, although each selection has the same rhythm, the instrumental arrangement does vary. So, I left after a few minutes of hearing the music and decided to call it a day. Very eventful, very promising and with thought of so much more good fortune to come.

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