Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1a 12/4/83; site rlgvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!seismo!rlgvax!knight From: knight@rlgvax.UUCP (Steve Knight) Newsgroups: net.misc Subject: Re: USA Nordic Combined RIPOFF! - (nf) Message-ID: <1757@rlgvax.UUCP> Date: Sun, 26-Feb-84 13:56:50 EST Article-I.D.: rlgvax.1757 Posted: Sun Feb 26 13:56:50 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 29-Feb-84 13:45:20 EST References: <926@inmet.UUCP> Organization: CCI Office Systems Group, Reston, VA Lines: 37 > From Beth Mazur ({ima,harpo,esquire}!inmet!mazur) > One other specific instance I can recall was in the final judging for the > Ice Dancing competition. The US pair was third going into the long program. > They chose to do a dance to "Scheherazade". They received good marks except > by the Italian judge who chose to give them a 5.6 (out of 6.0). The US pair > lost the bronze medal to the Russians who were in 4th place. The Italian > judge, when pressed for a reason for her low mark, pulled out the Ice Dancing > rule book and pointed out that couples are required to change tempos in their > long program. > The injustice? England's Torvill and Dean (easily the best ice dancer's in > the world) did their long program to Ravel's "Bolero". No major tempo change > that I can recall. The Italian judge gave this pair (who performed *after* > the US pair) a 6.0, a perfect mark. That's not exactly the rationale that the Italian judge used. Ice dancing *permits* couples to dance to four different tempo/meter changes in their long program, but does not require them to. It is, however, very standard to change tempos/meters the maximum number of times allowed, in order to demonstrate versatility, etc. Torvill & Dean's "Bolero" was first presented before the Olympics at a competition in South America, I believe, and was a radical departure from the norm, but well within the rules. The Italian judge's criteria for marking Blumberg & Seibert down (the American couple, whose names I hope I am spelling correctly) was that the music *is* supposed to be something to which you could dance on a ballroom floor--i.e., "ballroom dance" type music, as opposed to ballet, etc. Her argument was that "Bolero" fits this criteria, but "Scheherezade" does not, which strikes me as a fairly worthless nitpick. In any event, Blumberg & Seibert's getting marked down is supposed to indicate that ice dancing will return to its old conventions after Torvill & Dean retire, instead of continuing in the direction they started with "Bolero." Pity. -- Steve Knight {seismo,allegra,some other sites}!rlgvax!knight