Ice dancing facts for kids
Ice dancing is a form of figure skating related to ballroom dancing. Its first competition was at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, but it did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976. As in pair skating, dancers compete as a couple, a man and a woman.
Ice dancing is different from pair skating because it limits the figures to those which are imitative of dance. Skaters must stay close together, and may not perform jumps. There are set dances, in which the style must be appropriate for the type of dance, and there is a Free Dance section which allows lifts up to shoulder level.
Ice dancing is the only form of figure skating to allow vocal music in official competitions.
Images for kids
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Jackson Haines, the "father of figure skating"
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Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman in 1965
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Torvill and Dean performing in 2011
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Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history.
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Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, 2018
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Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali perform their compulsory dance at the 2009 Cup of China.
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Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson perform a Curve dance lift.
See also
In Spanish: Danza sobre hielo para niños
