Ice dance is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. According to the International Skating Union (ISU), an ice dance team consists of "one Lady and one Man".
Scott Patrick Moir is a Canadian ice dancer. With ice dance partner Tessa Virtue, he is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents champion, the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final champion, an eight-time Canadian national champion, and the 2006 World Junior champion. Moir and Virtue are also the 2018 Olympic gold medalists in the team event and the 2014 Olympic silver medalists in the team event. They are the most decorated Canadian ice dance team of all time and the most decorated Olympic figure skaters of all time.
Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. The International Skating Union (ISU) defines pair skating as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating as compared with independent Single Skating". The ISU also states that a pairs team must consist of "one Lady and one Man". Pair skating, along with men's and women's single skating, has been an Olympic discipline since figure skating, the oldest Winter Olympic sport, was introduced at the 1908 Olympic Games in London. The ISU World Figure Skating Championships introduced pair skating in 1908.
The ISU Judging System, occasionally referred to as the Code of Points (COP) system, is the scoring system currently used to judge the figure skating disciplines of men's and ladies' singles, pair skating, ice dance, and synchronized skating. It was designed and implemented by the International Skating Union (ISU), the ruling body of the sport. This system of scoring is used in all international competitions sanctioned by the ISU, including the Olympic Games. The ISU Judging System replaced the previous 6.0 system in 2004. This new system was created in response to the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal, in an attempt to make the scoring system more objective and less vulnerable to abuse.
Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles, along with the other figure skating disciples, pair skating, ice dance, and synchronized skating, are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU).
The short program of figure skating is the first of two segments of competitions, skated before the free skating program. It lasts, for both senior and junior singles and pair skaters, 2 minutes and 40 seconds. In synchronized skating, for both juniors and seniors, the short program lasts 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Vocal music with lyrics is allowed for all disciplines since the 2014-2015 season. The short program for single skaters and for pair skaters consists of seven required elements, and there are six required elements for synchronized skaters.
The free skating segment of figure skating, also called the free skate and the long program, is the second of two segments of competitions, skated after the short program. Its duration, across all disciplines, is 4 minutes for senior skaters and teams, and 3 1/2 minutes for junior skaters and teams. Vocal music with lyrics is allowed for all disciplines since the 2014-2015 season. The free skating program, across all disciplines, must be well-balanced and include certain elements described and published by the International Skating Union (ISU).
The original dance (OD) was one of the programs performed by figure skaters in ice dance competitions, in which the ice dancers skated "a dance of their own creation to dance music they have selected for the designated rhythm(s)". It was normally the second of three programs in the competition, sandwiched between the compulsory dance (CD) and the free dance (FD). The rhythm(s) and type of music required for the OD changed every season, and were selected by the International Skating Union (ISU) before the start of the season. The ice dancers were free to choose their own music and choreography and to create their own routines. They were judged on a set of required criteria, including skating skills and how well they interpreted the music and the rhythm.
The 2013 World Junior Figure Skating Championships was an international figure skating competition in the 2012–13 season. Commonly called "World Juniors" and "Junior Worlds", the event determined the World Junior champions in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
The 2012–13 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the 16th season of the series of junior international competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating contested by senior-level skaters. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance.
The 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating was a series of senior invitational internationals which ran from October 23 to December 13, 2015. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points based on their placement at each event and the top six in each discipline qualified to compete at the Grand Prix Final, held in Barcelona, Spain.
The 2015 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Big Hat in Nagano on November 27–29. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final.
The ice dance competition of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 19 and 20 February 2018 at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, South Korea. The short ice dance was held on 19 February and the free ice dance was held on 20 February.
The Compulsory dance (CDs), now called the pattern dance, is a part of the figure skating segment of ice dance competitions in which all the couples or solo dancers perform the same standardized steps and holds to music of a specified tempo and genre. One or more compulsory dances were usually skated as the first phase of ice dancing competitions. The 2009-10 season was the final season in which the segment was competed in International Skating Union (ISU) junior and senior level competition. In June 2010, the ISU replaced the name "compulsory dance" with "pattern dance" for ice dancing, and merged it into the short dance beginning in the 2010–2011 figure skating season.
Ice dance, a discipline of figure skating, has required elements that make up a well-balanced skating program and must be performed during competitions. They include: the dance lift, the dance spin, the step sequence, twizzles, and choreographic elements. The elements must be performed in specific ways, as described by published communications by the International Skating Union (ISU), unless otherwise specified. Choreographic elements are judged differently; they are considered complete if the minimum requirements defining the element are met.
The rhythm dance (RD) is the first segment of an ice dance competition. The International Skating Union (ISU) renamed the short dance to the "rhythm dance" in June 2018, prior to the 2018–2019 season. It became part of international competitions in July 2018. French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron hold the highest recorded RD score, at 88.42 points.
A choreographic sequence is a required element for the figure skating in all international competitions. A "maximum of 1" choreographic sequence is required during the free skating programs of single skating and pair skating.
