figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics – ice dancing

Background

The ice dance event was one of four figure skating competitions contested at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada. It was held at the Pacific Coliseum over three nights: the compulsory dance took place on 19 February, the original dance on 21 February, and the free dance on 22 February. The competition featured 23 teams representing 15 nations. Since ice dance became an Olympic sport in 1976, only twice had a Soviet or Russian team not won the event: in 1984, when Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean of Great Britain won after performing their Boléro routine, and in 2002, when the French Federation of Ice Sports was implicated in colluding with the Figure Skating Federation of Russia to award Russia the pairs event and France the ice dance event.

Several teams this season were seen as likely medal contenders. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada were two-time world medalists (silver in 2008, bronze in 2009), the 2008 Four Continents champions, and three-time Canadian national champions. Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia were the 2009 world champions, two-time European champions, and two-time Russian national champions. However, their original dance this season, set to what they claimed was Australian Aboriginal music and featuring garish costumes, provoked controversy. Two teams from the United States were also seen as medal contenders. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto had won the silver medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics. They were four-time world medalists (silver in 2005 and 2009, bronze in 2006 and 2007), two-time Four Continents champions, and three-time U.S. national champions. However, they finished second to Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the 2010 U.S. Championships. Davis and White, who had trained together with Virtue and Moir in Detroit, were the 2009 Four Continents champions and two-time U.S. national champions.

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France were the 2008 world champions, 2007 European champions, and six-time French national champions. They had finished fourth at the 2006 Winter Olympics; however, Delobel sustained a shoulder injury in late 2008, and shortly thereafter, announced that she was pregnant. She gave birth in October 2009 and returned to training in late October to prepare for the Olympics. Having missed the entire fall competition season, they also skipped the 2010 European Championships, making the 2010 Winter Olympics their first event since 2008.

Qualification

Nineteen quota spots in the ice dance event were awarded based on the results at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships. Lithuania had originally qualified one quota spot at the 2009 World Championships; however, they relinquished that spot when Katherine Copely was unable to secure Lithuanian citizenship. The extra quota spot was made available at the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy along with the other four spots originally allocated.

Required performance elements

The ice dance competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics consisted of three segments: the compulsory dance, the original dance, and the free dance. The assigned compulsory dance, the Tango Romantica, was drawn on 4 February 2010. Couples performed the compulsory dance on 19 February, which required them to perform two sequences of the Tango Romantica. All teams performed the same pattern to the same music.

Couples performed their original dances on 21 February. The required rhythm was folk or country. Teams were encouraged, but not required, to use traditional folk or country music and dance styles native to their own nations. Lasting 2 minutes 30 seconds (+/− 10 seconds), the original dance had to include the following elements: one dance lift, one midline step sequence while not touching, one diagonal or circular step sequence while in hold, and one set of sequential twizzles.

Couples performed their free dances on 22 February. Lasting 4 minutes (+/− 10 seconds), the free dance had to include the following elements: three dance lifts, one dance spin, one midline or diagonal step sequence while in hold, one circular or serpentine step sequence while in hold, and one set of synchronized twizzles.

Judging

Teams competing in ice dance were judged according to the required technical elements of their program (such as choreographic elements), as well as the overall presentation of their program, based on a number of program components. Each technical element in an ice dance performance was assigned a predetermined base point value and scored by a panel of nine judges on a scale from –3 to +3 based on the quality of its execution. Each Grade of Execution (GOE) from –3 to +3 was assigned a value as indicated on the Scale of Values. The judging panel's GOE for each element was determined by calculating the trimmed mean (the average after discarding the highest and lowest scores). The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a Total Elements Score. At the same time, the judges evaluated each performance based on the program components and assigned each a score from 0.25 to 10 in 0.25-point increments. The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the chart below; the results were added together to generate a total Program Component Score.

Deductions were applied for certain violations, such as time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls. The Total Elements Score and Program Component Score were then added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each skater or team.

Results

Code key

Compulsory dance

The compulsory dance, the Tango Romantica, was held on 19 February. The Tango Romantica was described by Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star as "a sinuous dance that expresses the soft, lyrical interpretive characteristics of the tango ... and convey[s] a sense of arrogance". All teams performed the same pattern to the same music. Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia finished in first place and were slightly more than one point ahead of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada. A difference of fewer than three points separated the top four couples.

Original dance

The original dance was held on 21 February. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took the lead, while Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States finished in second place, roughly 2.60 points behind Virtue and Moir. Virtue and Moir's flamenco routine was described by Nancy Armour of the Associated Press as "so hot, the ice could have melted beneath their blades", and featured the crisp staccato movements that one would expect from a flamenco, as well as great speed, balance, and strength. Armour described Davis and White's Bollywood-styled routine as a "feast for the senses", featuring complicated steps, interesting movements, speed, and a playful expression. Afterward, Moir expressed his satisfaction that he and Virtue, and Davis and White, had taken the lead: "I'm glad that it's the four of us up at first and second ... That's the way it should be."

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin finished in third place after performing their Australian Aboriginal-inspired routine that had received much scrutiny before the Olympics had even begun. Christine Brennan, a sports reporter for USA Today, wrote that "as bad as they looked, they skated even worse, with garish, halting moves". Though their routine was described as energetic and entertaining, it lacked the difficulty that Virtue and Moir, and Davis and White, had put into their routines. Armour wrote that it "had no recognizable melody", making the music difficult to follow, relying on heavy drums, didgeridoo riffs, and screams and grunts as vocals.

Free dance

The free dance was held on 22 February. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the first ice dancers from Canada – and all of North America – to win the Olympic gold medals in ice dance. Their free dance was described by Nancy Armour as tender and sensual, starting slow while highlighting their skating skills and deep edges that gave them the illusion of floating above the ice, while building power and speed, and performing exquisite spins and lifts.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the silver medals. Armour wrote that Davis and White's routine, set to music from The Phantom of the Opera, was as "big and bold... as any Broadway production", featuring lifts performed with tremendous speed and control, while also conveying lyricism and romance. Davis and White's silver was the 25th medal won by the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin finished in third place; their routine was described by Barry Wilner of the Associated Press as highly entertaining and theatrical, but lacking in the skating skills, power, and innovation that the gold and silver medalists demonstrated. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States, who had won the silver at the 2006 Winter Olympics, finished fourth.

Reactions to Russian team's original dance

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia provoked controversy with their original dance – set to what they described as Australian Aboriginal music – and their costume design, which many found garish. Domnina and Shabalin debuted their routine at the 2010 Russian Figure Skating Championships, and then performed it again at the 2010 European Championships; they ended up winning both events. The theme of the original dance was folk or country, and while it was recommended that couples use traditional folk or country music and dance styles native to their own nations, it was not a requirement. Domnina and Shabalin's music featured heavy drums, a didgeridoo, and vocal chanting, while their costumes consisted of dark flesh-toned bodysuits with red loincloths, decorated with white markings and faux green leaves, as well as face paint.

Bev Manton, chairwoman of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, wrote that Domnina and Shabalin's costumes were "no more authentic or Aboriginal than the shiploads of cheap Aboriginal tourist trinkets that pour into [Australia] from overseas". Manton found their depiction of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture offensive, citing the brown bodysuits as problematic and likening their appearance to blackface. She added further: "They are not, as they state, wearing 'authentic Aboriginal paint markings'. They are wearing white body paint in designs they dreamed up after reading about Aboriginal Australians on the internet." Just as the designs were not from the Australian First Nations community, neither was the music, as she explained, since it was composed by Sheila Chandra, a Briton of Indian descent. Sol Bellear, the New South Wales representative on the Aboriginal Land Council, said the routine was "yet another example of the Aboriginal people of Australia being exploited" and "straight-out cultural theft". Additionally, members of the First Nations community in British Columbia were upset with the way Indigenous culture was being represented on a global platform, with former First Nations chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band Arthur Manuel stating, "People make fun of us and it is painful; that is something [Domnina and Shabalin] should have been very cognizant of."

Belinda Noonan, four-time Australian national champion in pair skating and Australian figure skating commentator, was critical of Domnina and Shabalin's routine, calling the costumes "dreadful" and criticizing their lack of research. She also criticized the musical arrangement, noting the use of Chandra's music versus that of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist with "some didgeridoo [put] in a couple of places". Noonan stated that she had contacted Domnina and Shabalin's team for more information about their program, but had not received a response.