Skating Technique: Intermediate Dropped 3-Turns (Ice Dancing)

I'm working lately a lot on 3-turns. I do the Ice Dancing  dropped 3-turns, and also the ones for the MITF Pre-Juvenile test (Forward Outside to Backward Inside and Forward Inside to Backward Outside. I had a post describing Beginner Forward 3-turns (FO 3-turns and FI 3-turns), and I kept writing the new instruction I've got in different posts.

Today I'm writing about the Ice dancing Forward Dropped 3-turns. I've done one Left, or ccw, as part of the intro steps to the Swing Dance, the same one in the Hickory Hoedown, the on Right or cw, in the Willow Waltz, and there are two Left ones (one as intro step and one in the dance), in the Ten Fox. They are getting better, but after I'll test the Ten Fox I'll start working at the Pre-Silver Dances, and the European Waltz is basically just 3-turns... And they have to be good.

Look at this video, these are really good ones. She is an Olympic medalist in Ice Dancing...

Instructions:
Stroke (not step) into the 3-turn, hold the outside edge and extension and pressure into ice.
As you rise:
- keep pressing into the ice
- turn the head into the circle and look up
- turn the upper body toward the center of the circle, lean in the circle
- feel the inside shoulder scapula going back
- bring the free foot near the other foot (some do a T at the back).
- bring the hips around.
- don't think and try to turn backwards, just 90 degrees, the rest is done automatically by the blade sliding and body inertia
Turn and Check
- roll to the front of your blade (the ball of your foot)
- boots are touching
- the turn is happening from the knee,
Hold the Back Inside Edge for a little
- after the turn, balance on the front of the blade
- press into ice
- the boots are still together
- hold posture, butt in, look up
Re bend holding the weight on the skating foot
- press the foot into ice by feeling the shoulder pressing down (and lift from the rib cage as for plie in ballet)
- press the boots together, creating tension. The skating, pushing foot is on a back inside edge and as the free foot boot is hold pressed on the pushing foot boot, it is getting in a goot position to be placed on ice on an outside edge
Push to a outside back edge straight back
- keep the pushing foot pointed forward, don't let the hip go back, that will make the upper body twist

 And for 3-turns done one after the other
- Rise on the back edge with the back  align over the circle
- Re bend
- Open the feet on a T position
- Stroke into a new 3-turn , push forward without leaning forward

Tracking the partner:
- you stroke towards the inside of the circle.For a ccw 3-turn that is towards the left of the partner. It is counter intuitive, because the partner feels in your way, but trust me it is gonna work. It was proven to me by my coach, by drawing it on the ice, demonstrating with another skating so I can watch, and doing it with me at vary slow speed... yes I was very stubborn in my disbelieving
- as you rise, look up, at the partner, lean towards the partner, don't stick the butt out, and square the shoulders with the partner
- the turns happens by itself....

I had to fight hard to do every single line I wrote in the instructions. I'm still not always looking into the circle before the turn, even when I do the 3-turn on its own not in a dance. In a dance, I still do randomly all the mistakes that I thought I've fixed long time ago. Instead of stroking I was stepping and not holding the extension and not pressing into the ice.  But you need a good outside edge and reasonably fast, the extension and pressure into ice hold that outside edge. Then keep pressing into the ice. Then twist the upper body, then lean into the circle...I'm still not holding the exit edge and I rush to push what it should be backwards but it is in fact a hook around, while breaking at the waist (butt out). And don't ask me about partnering... some days I do it, and some days I'm just not. I mean, I am getting better, but painfully slow.

Update on dropped 3-turns on Jan 2020 here

Ice Dancing: Swing Dance

The Swing Dance is basically just chasses and swing rolls, it should be easy, right? Well, it is the first dance in a waltz hold so it's the first dance that requires skating backwards. Another new concept is the tracking, meaning that the skater going forward has to follow the one going backward in a certain way. And there is one more challenge, it is a longer dance. The pattern dances have to be repeated twice at these levels. The previous pattern dances were half of the ice rink so twice of that is once around the rink. The Swing Dance pattern goes around the whole rink, and twice that would mean you have to go twice around the rink.

Here is the form used for judging, and it shows the diagram of the dance.

Intro Steps: facing South lateral to the right side of the partner - Left stroke, Right Outside 3-turn and Left Back Swing Roll (on the hockey circle, finishing on the axis formed by the red dots on the length of the rink) during which you get into the waltz hold

The Pattern Dance I'll describe in steps grouped in lobes:
1.2.3. Right Back Outside Chasse (count 1-1-2, total 4 beats) (on the judges drawing these steps are (16.17.18.). I've described the Back Chasses here.
4.5.6. Left Back Outside Chasse (count 1-1-2, total 4 beats) (19.20.21). This should bring you to the middle of the rink.
7. Right Back Outside Swing Roll (4 beats) (22.), and I'll link the explanation of the Back Swing Roll soon.
8. Left Back Outside Swing Roll (4 beats) (23.)
9.10. Right Back Outside Edge to Left Forward Outside Edge (2-2, 4 beats total) (24.25.). Here at the end of the back edge you have to rise and bring your weight over the skating foot and hip and rebend the knees and ankles in order to step forward neatly (feet close together). On the step forward the waltz hold is released into just holding hands.
11.12.13. Right Forward Inside Edge to Left Forward Outside Edge to Right Forward Inside Slide Chasse (2-2-2, 6 beats total) (26.27.28.). I explained about the Forward Slide Chasse here. This is an optional step, meaning you can do just a regular edge, but the partner at this point does the second edge of a Mohowk and the extension of the slide matches nicely the extension of the partner's Mohowk.
14.15. Left Forward Outside Edge to Right Forward Outside Swing Roll that I described the technique here. (2-4, 6 beats total) (29.30.). These steps follow the hockey circle as in the intro steps. The waltz hold is reacquired during the left outside edge.
16.17.18. Left Forward Outside Chasse (1-1-2, 4 beats total) (diagram steps are 1.2.3. and described as the first steps for the man)
19.20.21. Right Forward Outside Chasse (1-1-2, 4 beats total) (4.5.6.) and this should bring you to the middle of the rink.
22. Left Forward Swing Roll (4 beats) (7.)
23. Right Forward Swing Roll (4 beats) (8.)
24.25.26 Left Forward Outside Edge to Right Forward Inside Edge to  Left Forward Outside Edge (2-2-2, 6 beats total)
27.28. Mohawk that I described the technique for here is Right Forward Inside Edge to Left Back Inside Edge (2-2, 4 beats total)
29.30. Right Back Outside Edge to Left Back Outside Swing Roll (2-4, 6 beats total)

I mentioned "tracking" that is following the partner, and you can see that in the pattern dance drawing tracking is shown with an interrupted line at both ends of the pattern. Tracking also happens in all the other lobes, But I feel there is enough to be said about tracking to fill a whole post.

I also mentioned that learning the backward skating felt difficult. I was surprised how uncomfortable it was to go forward while the partner was going backwards in a waltz hold. I suspect it was a mental component, fear of hitting my partner... But it also felt that he was going faster then me and I was being dragged and a little off balance because of that. The coach's correction was to stroke each step, not step it. And here is the video from the test (test that i described here). I've got passing marks on each category, with the mention that I was "cautious".

Test: Pre-Bronze Dances (Swing Dance, Cha Cha, Fiesta Tango)

This was my second test session

I won't go into the details of these dances, I'll come back to them after I go over more beginner stuff.  If you read my view on Figure Skating Levels, I split beginners into Low-Beginners, Beginners, and Advanced Beginners. I find that Preliminary dances correspond to a Beginner level and The Pre-Bronze Dances correspond to an Advanced Beginner level.

I tested these Pre-Bronze dances on March 2017, just 2 months after testing the Preliminary dances. Looking back, I think my skills level was in between Low-Beginner and Beginner. I had no business in testing these... I did pass them at standard track, but I didn't succeed at that point in developing the skills for that level. I also didn't enjoy working at them and I was terrified when I tested. It's all part of the learning experience I guess.

There are many reasons I tested them. I was mentioning that I've learned the first 9 dances, so 3 levels, from a friend during 6 months and it was exciting. Then I started private lessons with a young male coach/partner with whom I continued dancing at the advice of my friend. She was advising from her own experience learning the dances after 40s, 30 years ago. The thing is that then, Ice Dancing was huge as social dancing. She was learning Ice Dancing as a fun and  social activity and she was having lots of fun. It was mostly partnered dancing for her and she developed skills necessary for that (like speed), while counting on the partner to help other skills (like turns). She also didn't do any Freestyle, MITF or Free Dance. Where I'm getting at is that her skating experience didn't translate perfectly to my skating experience. At that point I added private lessons from a young female coach that started me on MITF and started correcting my Freestyle technique. I don't know how my learning experience would have gone with them (the young coaches). Maybe they were too inexperienced to have a methodology and at some point I would have plateaued, but I felt I was learning a lot and I was having fun. And then, they moved away, both of them at the same time, both of them a little unexpected, to follow great opportunities. I continued lessons with an Ice Dance coach that taught both of them, an amazingly accomplished skater and person. Her approach was very different, very methodical. I appreciated the lessons but I didn't settle into them. To keep myself excited and motivated I decided to test, and so I met my current Ice Dancing coach that is a male I can partner with. It was confusing to me on which coach is teaching what. So, confused, bored from doing the same dances for a while, and obviously thinking I've got them, I asked to test and my female coach signed the registration form. My male coach reaction was an obvious surprised one, but he did his best to get me ready.

Driving to the rink on the day of the test I didn't feel as nervous as on the first test. On the first test I didn't know what to expect, now I did. I've got really nervous at the rink waiting for my turn, around an hour. My coach babysat me again. And he used the time to teach me warming up off ice, running the steps of the dances off ice, breathing technique to relax and I suspect he was trying to get my mind off the test.

The warm up: my coach didn't have anybody else testing those dances so he was all the time with me. After 4 min with random music, the organizers played the rhythm for each of the Pre-Bronze dances. And my coach partnered me on each of them. On the Swing Dance music, the first dance of the set, we were the only ones on  ice so I asked him if that is the actual test. He said something that I thought it's yes and I perked up and present it at my best. When I realized it wasn't the test, I felt an adrenaline rush and a panic wondering if I'll have it in me to do it again... for all 3 dances.

The Swing Dance (here is my video from the test), is a longer dance. Its pattern goes around the full rink and you have to do it twice. It's done in a waltz hold and for half the women goes backward and for the other half the man goes backward. I wasn't too good on going backward both on my own and with a partner. As I didn't have enough speed I was feeling push backwards, not comfortable. Going forward with the coach going faster backwards wasn't comfortable either :( I've got passing average points on both technique and presentation and a comment that the dance felt cautious. Yeap, that's exactly how I felt.

The Cha Cha (here is the video) is a dance that goes just forward as the Preliminary ones. So it was my "better dance" from the 3. There was another student testing this, and my coach pull me back to let them go first so I can catch my breath and my composure. Those 10 seconds of resting helped... I've got points over the passing average (testing standard) on both technique and presentation.

The Fiesta Tango: (here is the video) has a quick inside Mohawk on which on the exit edge you keep the free foot at the ankle, you don't extend it. I wasn't used with both he quickness and not using the free leg as a balancing tool. I was usually doing it in practice but now at the test I was spent. I messed it up a little on both passes. I didn't actually mess up the Mohawk but I was slowing down more then acceptable and unable to continue going backwards confidently. My coach practically dragged me! I didn't get passing points on the technical part, but I got extra on presentation (hey, I love the tango rhythm) so the points added up to passing average.

I wasn't happy after the test. The redeeming experience was the yearly rink ice show where for the Ice Dancing number we did the Fiesta tango and I did reasonably well.