Olympic ice dancing is a triumph for American music

[grasswire]

Louis Armstrong
Ella Fitzgerald
Gershwin
Henry Mancini's Le Jazz Hot
Sing Sing Sing
42nd Street
A Kiss To Build a Dream On
Cheek to Cheek
Fred Astaire

......and that's just a sampling

Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Hollywood .... all glamorous, and the standard the world over for style.

Hooray for American songwriters and composers!

[shenmue]

1. Yes!

My favorite was the Prince song.

[grasswire]

2. oh, and "Happy Feet" twice. nt

[malaise]

3. Yep - European Classical Music has disappeared

I'm enjoying this

[madamesilverspurs]

4. Given that every team from every country

is skating to decidedly American music, all the medalists will owe a portion of their medals to the good old US of A. I'm loving that!

[TDale313]

5. I also kinda got a kick out of the fact...

That the version of Le Jazz Hot the German team chose was Chris Colfer's (Kurt from Glee) Just sayin'...

[grasswire]

9. yeah!

That was cool.

[grasswire]

6. the Russians skated to Kurt Weill'

"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"

Weill was German-American.

[grasswire]

7. and now we have Lerner and Lowe's "My Fair Lady"

[sufrommich]

8. Are the dancers given a musical theme

they have to use in their performance? I'm just curious and don't know much about figure skating.

[grasswire]

14. here's some info from wikipedia about ice dancing

Short dance

Following the 2009-10 season, the ISU congress voted to change the format of ice dance events and make them more similar to pairs and singles skating. Thus, the new short dance was introduced at the start of the 2010-11 season. This segment of the competition combines features of the discontinued CDs and ODs; each team performs a required pattern from one of the compulsory dances for about one half of the dance, then performs its own choreography, with some required elements, to a theme or rhythm specified by the ISU. Skaters are free to choose their own music, so long as the tempo is appropriate.

Free dance

The free dance is a part of an ice dancing competition. It is usually the second and final part of the competition to be contested, after the short dance.

In the free dance, teams are free to choose their own rhythms, program themes, and therefore music. Creativity is also strongly encouraged. Since 1998, dancers have been required to include certain elements in their free dances, including step sequences, lifts, dance spins, and multi-rotation turns called twizzles. Senior-level free dances are four minutes long (plus or minus 10 seconds) and usually include multiple music cuts and tempos that help bring variety to the routine. The hand holds and positions are much more open and free than in the compulsory and original dance categories. Often teams strive to skate in difficult or unusual positions to gain difficulty points. There are more lifts in the free dance than in the original dance.
Competition elements


Lifts in ice dancing differ from those in pair skating in prohibiting the man from extending his hands above his head, but allowing a wider variety of holds. The more change of direction, flexibility, and height in the lift, the greater number of points a team can earn from the judges under the Code of Points scale. Dance lifts have progressively become more athletic and risky.[2][3]

Multi-revolution jumps are not permitted but "half" jumps are now allowed. Spins must be performed by both skaters revolving around the same axis, the same as in pair spins.

Lots more at wikipedia

[hlthe2b]

10. Speaking of which--the Olympics are in full swing. So why is there an infomercial on my NBC

station right now? It is almost noon (mountain time on a Sunday)...and I am getting a damned nutribullet infomercial?

No wonder NBC is loosing their shirt on this whole event.

[grasswire]

12. I'm seeing it right now

....on my NBC affiliate.

[MADem]

15. Tune to the NBC Sports channel.

That is where the "live" shows are. I flipped past and they were showing live curling.

The "NBC affiliates" are locally owned and carry NBC programming--which include the night-time Olympic wrap-up.

[hlthe2b]

16. I have minimal cable package, so not an option...

NBC won't even let me access online content, event though I am a registered comcast cable consumer.

[MADem]

19. You have to be subscribed to the tier with the sports channel.

Your only other option is to use an anonymizer or some other ISP masker and try to access content in other countries.

Chalk it up to supporting equality!

I'm watching a show about typhun survivors in the PI. Sad but interesting.

[grasswire]

11. and the Americans Davis and White did very well. nt

Last edited Sun Feb 16, 2014, 03:54 PM - Edit history (1)

[WillowTree]

18. One continuous motion from beginning to end. They take my breath away!

[Paper Roses]

13. I've been away taking care of grandchildren. Missed this. Anyone have a link? n/t

[grasswire]

17. PR, Monday there is another ice dancing competition...

...if you can't find a way to watch this one.

The Monday event is the free style, and it is on NBC at 7 p.m. pacific time, according to the Sochi schedule that I see.

[grasswire]

21. oh, and PR it may re-show this afternoon or evening

Olympic coverage in the evening often re-plays something from earlier.

Example, the Russia-US hockey game will be replayed today. Figure skating is listed, but the exact time of that is not specified.

[MADem]

20. You should probably put a SPOILER ALERT in your subject line.

Just so people who are planning on watching this stuff at night aren't bored to tears from already knowing who didn't trip and fall, or who did, and who won, and who didn't....

[grasswire]

22. according to the US talking heads...

....most everyone knows who won before they see it on TV. In the age of twitter, there are no secrets.

[MADem]

23. Some people here get annoyed--they deliberately wall themselves off.

I've seen complaints in the past.

[liberalla]

24. I know this about the music, but I have to say I love Charlie White's hair!

http://www.meryl-charlie.com/2014/02/olympic-games-short-dance.html

with that suit, he looks like he belongs in a Jane Austen novel... :hearts: