15. Ballet

It's possible to argue that no dance genre more seriously underpins ice dance than ballet. For as much as the discipline's social and competitive roots align with those of ballroom dance, ballet is a conventional element of figure skating education as a whole. Lines, general carriage and upper body movement translate fairly fluidly from the floor to the ice.

It's also then an interesting exercise to consider how ballet has itself been directly referenced within ice dance -- and examples might be less prevalent than expected. Because the idea of ballet, especially in its more contemporary form -- port de bras, positioning, a certain perceived quality of soft lyricism -- is so utterly ingrained, it would be too facile to argue that lyrical ice dance programs are themselves somehow demonstrations of ballet. Ballet as a form of dance on floor -- neoclassical, contemporary, modern, romantic -- is basically united by a commitment at base to a shared language of technique. For this writer, then, what might truly define ballet on ice would be a program as crafted by a choreographer with a pure understanding of ballet technique, executed by skaters with above-average knowledge and comfort with said technique. This definition makes actual on-ice ballet very much the exception rather than rule.

With that said, the idea of a ballet program has been an especially popular one in this season of the waltz short dance -- ballet scores providing excellent examples of the fast-tempoed waltz necessary to the Ravensburger, along with well-matched marches and polkas appropriate to the short dance's secondary rhythm. Let's take a look at three teams who committed to three very different approaches to the idea of a ballet program -- with a range of outcomes as faith to a genre goes.

With a short dance set to -- but not portraying -- selections from John Lanchbery's Tales of Beatrix Potter ballet score, Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam also tackled the year's most dedicated attempt at classical ballet on ice. The couple's efforts were detailed more thoroughly in this Two for the Ice article, but highlight an absolute interest in technical reference, from the skaters' -- especially Paul's -- basis in off-ice ballet and the input of ballet instructor Daria Kruszel:


Sequences such as 0:48-56, 1:21-24 and 2:52-55 clearly intend to reference opening bows, pirouettes and chaînés along with the cabrioles and temps leves touched upon in the article, and are executed well, given the limitations of on-ice action; Paul's foundations are obvious.

While Maia and Alex Shibutani's Coppelia is inspired by Petipa's popular work, ballet here serves as a narrative touchstone:


Although the two worked with ballet performers, including Cheryl Yeager and Alex Wong, there's really no strong technical comparison to be drawn in this program; program choice here is based in story more than classical movement. Similarly, musical selections are matched to the waltz and march rhythms and patterns, not the story strictly presented in the ballet's counterpart moments. But even with that caveat, Swanhilda's dance, as performed by the Royal Ballet in 2000, makes a most interesting companion to the specifics of Maia's masterful (and deeply committed) performance as the dancer-as-doll -- including at 1:54:



Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker tackled an especially beloved ballet in their decision to draw from The Nutcracker's "Waltz of the Flowers" and "Dance of the Parents." In one program-focused interview this fall, Hawayek and Baker noted that their approach to ballet in this program was more suggestive than literal, with the team -- neither partner heavily trained in the style -- taking a primary role in choreography and coach Anjelika Krylova bringing in her own understanding:


Nods to the ballet concept are evident in moments like the arabesque penchées at 0:36 and 0:42 along with the small jeté lift at 1:09, but the dance, as a whole, is more ice dance waltz and polka with a twist. The hybrid approach, however, is also delivered with considerable charm and poses some useful challenges for the couple's development.

As a useful point of technical contrast, Moscow Ballet presents a partnered take on the "Waltz of the Flowers":


(But here, too, is the parents' dance, as danced by the Royal Opera Ballet, with a courtly dance that is indeed reflected by the ice dancers taking it on.)

But perhaps the most novel balletic concept within ice dance has been the purest. While the idea of the barre played a role in this 1986 exhibition from Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took it to a much more literal level in this 2008 number:


We open with stretches and plies, a modified battement with arms moving through the positions -- essentially, a fairly spot-on condensed ice version of a barre exercise, such as this from the London Russian Ballet School:


It is, of course, another case where faithfulness to a style comes as no surprise given particularly the off-ice background for Virtue, famously offered a spot in Canada's National Ballet School after youthful studies. Moir's solo turn at 1:20-33 demonstrates an appropriate lightness of movement, but Virtue's subsequent sequence from 1:34-41 highlights more in the way of technique, from ballonnés to a few concluding chaînés. The ensuing pas de deux is really a step sequence -- but fluidly connected courtesy of that marriage of dance and skating skill.

For all the classical ballet references found in the current ice dance era -- Meryl Davis and Charlie White's 2012-13 Giselle short dance another inspired by a well-established work -- less obvious have been demonstrations of more modern ballet in a clearly distinct form (though Virtue and Moir's work with ballet and modern dance teacher and choreographer Jennifer Swan might serve as an example). But as lyrical becomes especially prevalent on the competitive scene, a more technically rigorous take, combined with excellence of skating technique, may present itself -- especially if more outside creative forces get involved.