Renaming Things
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2018 2:22 am
Oh, how I wish the ISU would stop renaming things!
In my 30+ years watching skating, I've seen the penultimate segment of the ice dance competition go from the "Original Set Pattern" to the "Original Dance", then to the "Short Dance" and now to the "Rhythm Dance". (Silly name -- don't all dances incorporate a rhythm?)
Obviously, this tinkering involved more than just the name: the OSP required the skaters to execute an original choreographed dance to a preselected rhythm, which they repeated three times around the ice. (Look up Torvill and Dean's matador paso doble from 1983-84 for an outstanding example.)
The Original Dance, which came along in 1990, was similar, but removed the requirement of repetition, allowing for the greatest freedom for creativity and interpretation. (I really miss that! Look back at fantastic numbers like Davis and White's Indian dance of 2009-10 -- such innovation is no longer possible, sadly.)
Why not? Next came the elimination of the Compulsory Dances in the fall of 2010 and the incorporation of a compulsory pattern into the Short Dance -- a real loss to individual expression and creativity, to be sure. And now it's been redubbed the Rhythm Dance, for no clear reason, and requires two compulsory patterns to be incorporated instead of one.
Also, the ISU seems to have renamed the half-loop jump the "Euler" jump -- with no explanation given. The half-loop, of course, is a single loop jump landed on the left back inside edge instead of the usual right back outside (for a counterclockwise jumper), and is usually seen as the middle jump in a three-jump combination. Its purpose is to get the skater on the proper edge for a salchow or a flip. The "half-loop" was always a bit of a misleading name, since the jump is a full revolution, but where on earth did "Euler" come from? Apparently the jump is called a "Thoren" in parts of Europe, after a Swedish skater. So why do we need a third name?
DEAR ISU: PLEASE STOP RANDOMLY RENAMING THINGS!!!
Sincerely, A Weary Skating Fan
In my 30+ years watching skating, I've seen the penultimate segment of the ice dance competition go from the "Original Set Pattern" to the "Original Dance", then to the "Short Dance" and now to the "Rhythm Dance". (Silly name -- don't all dances incorporate a rhythm?)
Obviously, this tinkering involved more than just the name: the OSP required the skaters to execute an original choreographed dance to a preselected rhythm, which they repeated three times around the ice. (Look up Torvill and Dean's matador paso doble from 1983-84 for an outstanding example.)
The Original Dance, which came along in 1990, was similar, but removed the requirement of repetition, allowing for the greatest freedom for creativity and interpretation. (I really miss that! Look back at fantastic numbers like Davis and White's Indian dance of 2009-10 -- such innovation is no longer possible, sadly.)
Why not? Next came the elimination of the Compulsory Dances in the fall of 2010 and the incorporation of a compulsory pattern into the Short Dance -- a real loss to individual expression and creativity, to be sure. And now it's been redubbed the Rhythm Dance, for no clear reason, and requires two compulsory patterns to be incorporated instead of one.
Also, the ISU seems to have renamed the half-loop jump the "Euler" jump -- with no explanation given. The half-loop, of course, is a single loop jump landed on the left back inside edge instead of the usual right back outside (for a counterclockwise jumper), and is usually seen as the middle jump in a three-jump combination. Its purpose is to get the skater on the proper edge for a salchow or a flip. The "half-loop" was always a bit of a misleading name, since the jump is a full revolution, but where on earth did "Euler" come from? Apparently the jump is called a "Thoren" in parts of Europe, after a Swedish skater. So why do we need a third name?
DEAR ISU: PLEASE STOP RANDOMLY RENAMING THINGS!!!
Sincerely, A Weary Skating Fan