Ice dancing

Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) 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'.:p. 9 Before the 2010–11 figure skating season, there were three segments in ice dance competitions: the compulsory dance (CD), the original dance (OD), and the free dance (FD). In 2010, the ISU voted to change the competition format by eliminating the CD and the OD and adding the new short dance (SD) segment to the competition schedule. In 2018, the ISU voted to re-name the SD to the rhythm dance (RD). Ice dance has required elements that ice dancers must perform during a competition and that make up a well-balanced skating program. They include: the dance lift, the dance spin, the step sequence, twizzles, and choreographic elements. They must be performed in specific ways, as described in published communications by the ISU, unless otherwise specified.