Saturday, November 8, 2014

Someone to Watch Over Me....


Miss Bianca started me on back 3's today.

Don't get your hopes up. Those things are notoriously difficult for adult learners to master, so I'll be bitching about them for some time to come.

Anyway, she had me doing them two footed on the semi-circle where the hockey guys put their net thingy, right on the centerline of the rink. It was a light session, a last minute change to the schedule , so there were only 6 people (including coaches on the ice). She and I are focused, then we hear the sound of blades coming at us.

Dance Coach and a woman skater were doing twizzles along the centerline, straight at us. We slide to one side, and when they're gone we go back to back 3s.
A couple of minutes later, Dance Coach and his student are skating along the long boards, doing some tango thing. They come around the corner and pass through the goal crease.

Miss Bianca and I gave them a long stare as they came up the side. They had two options as they rounded the corner: pass behind us into the privileged area, or pass right through us. They chose the "through" option. We moved aside.

Ice dancers always have the right of way. They're a black clad train that will mow you down without a care in the world. Give them their space.

So Miss Bianca and I yielded as Dance Coach and his student started working on a program. Sometimes it was twizzles, other tiems foot work; sometimes behind us, sometimes through, sometimes to once side.  Still Miss Bianca and I weren't bothered, they weren't a constant annoyance. Have I told you my perception of ice dance practice? Thirty seconds of skating followed by five minutes of bickering about edge placement. We had plenty of time between passes.

Then as the session is close to the end, Dance Coach and student come along the board, do a turn and go into a lift.
Sorry, not this one, But it is pretty.
Miss Bianca and I stare thoughtfully. Will they go into the privileged area or right through us?

I'm between Miss Bianca and the team.  She's directly behind me, and we just stand there, because we've never seen this program before, any way we go has a probability of being wrong. They know we're here; sometimes it's better to stay still.

They pass behind us and then into a diagonal foot work sequence.

I turned to Miss Bianca. "Hey," I say, "I was between you and Dance Coach. You're the coach. Aren't you supposed to protect me in case they crashed into us?"

"You were juuusssst where I wanted you." Miss Bianca said.

Really? Cause I expect the coach to take the bullet:



7 comments:

  1. Great post! As an ice dancer, I couldn't agree more about the five minutes of bickering. That makes us much more predictable in where we will be on the rink--and much less flexible about changing patterns to give others folks some space. Sorry about the black-clad mowing thing.

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  2. I donna know. Seems to me when I'm just about ready to start a pattern dance that the adult syncho team or the kid's production team (cast of millions) camps out smack dab in the middle of things.

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    1. Yeah, but ice dancers are all over the ice. Other people have to skate somewhere. We gave way to the team, so freestyle etiquette was maintained.

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  3. Yes, a dance team can be like a moving freight train! I was visiting a rink with no boards once and when a dance team starting coming my direction, I just jumped off the ice! As an occasional ice dancer, thanks for yielding. Dance can be hard to practice if there are no dedicated dance session because somebody always seems to be right in your pattern, even when it's not crowded. Sometimes I want to say, I'll be through here in 2 seconds, could you not just wait??

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  4. We have dedicated Dance Ice at our rink, which is why I get mad when Dance People show up and do Dance on Freestyle Ice. I don't do Freestyle on their ice, I just do MIF when I am invited onto their ice so they have more people (and can justify keeping their sessions.) So WTH do they think it's OK to come do their "I'm going this way like it or not" nonsense on my ice?? Ugh Ice Dance.

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    1. Not the first time I've heard this complaint. Especially w/ gold/silver ice dancers that show up on low freestyle.

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  5. Ice dancers always give me right of way for some reason. Maybe it's because I always clap for them. XD

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