Pairs

I was watching the World Figure Skating Championships yesterday or Worlds as they're known by the in crowd.  I haven't watched Worlds in forever, I'm not sure why, I guess life just interrupted things...that and living and working in places that don't have TV.  I guess I just fell out of the habit and didn't fall back in when TV reception was again available.  I used to watch every year because...well...I used to be a figure skater and I used to ice dance...not in a Torvill and Dean sort of way, but I did ice dance.  I loved it!  In addition to skating with my partner, every Sunday morning the ice hockey team would show up in their hockey skates (for those of you who don't know, hockey skates are WAY different from figure skates, the blades are much wider, the boots are heavier and there are no toe picks which are essential for jumping).  It always worked out okay though because the guys were GOOD skaters.  We all had a wonderful time and it was pretty fun to be held close by some pretty cute hockey players...what's not to love?

So, as I was watching, I began to remember what our coach used to say about how we should dance.  It is the man's part to present the woman.  It is the man's job to support the woman. It is the man's job to protect the woman.  I'm sure the same is true of ballroom dancing.  This idea is a pretty old because it is tied to a pretty old art form.  I just wonder when it stopped being the norm.  I was just as strong, capable and as good a skater as my partner, but how we ice danced was different.  Our feet were very close together and one misstep and we would both go down.  That's what was pretty impressive about ice dancing with guys in hockey skate, they had to be especially careful to keep from taking us both out in those clodhoppers they called ice skates. We were also often in a rink full of skaters and because I was skating backwards, it was up to my partner to negotiate me around all the other skaters.  I had to keep my eyes on him and trust where he was taking me.

So, I harkened back to the days of Viktor Petrenko.  He used to do a pairs routine...alone.  This wasn't ice dancing, this was a pair routine that involved him lifting the invisible woman over his head, doing death spirals alone and pretending he was actually skating with someone.  It was hilarious!  But it made an interesting point...the man's job is not nearly as complicated as the woman's.  His job is basically to lift her up so she can do pretty things with her body or be thrown through the air while executing a jump.  He holds her off the ice when she is doing a death spiral. In those cases his strength is what keeps her from crashing into the ice. In a lift, he is her only support, in a throw jump, he throws her and then will often catch her, in a death spiral, her face is inches from the ice and has only his hand to support her.

The thing I remember the most is that if you don't trust your partner, you will never be a good team.  If I didn't trust my partner to carry me or support me, I would hold back and when I didn't commit, it never went well. I noticed that at competitions and last night too...the guys always had their eyes on their partners.  They were protective and gentlemanly and considerate.  A carry over, I am sure, from how they were on the ice. The mens' hands were always out to help and the women took those offered hands.

So, my thoughts were that in ice dancing or pairs figure skating or ballroom dancing, the women's part is much more complicated.  She must accomplish a lot more in their time on the ice (not very different from life, I suppose, being the multi-taskers that we are).  The man's job is to watch his partner and figure out when he needs to provide his strength and support and when to let her fly alone.  I can remember those moments in competition when the crowd fell away, when my partner and I only had eyes for each other and when I could do anything because my partner was there to support me and keep me from falling.  It was liberating.

I also think those things are buried deep within each of us, just waiting to be nurtured out into the open.  It makes me a bit sad that in today's culture those supportive hands are frowned upon, because I would never have flown on the ice or made it as far in my life as I have without them. 

Now, I think I need to dig out my skates....