Thornhill Summer Skate: Up and Coming Young Skaters- Novice Dance

The two novice pattern dances are the Cha Cha and the Argentine Tango. These are two of my favourite dances, and I have to say I was thrilled both with the skaters and the choice of dances.

 The Cha Cha might be the hardest pattern dance in the system. The changes of hold are frequent and difficult, and there are a ton of steps. It is also extremely fast, so there is no chance to make adjustments or settle into an edge.

That being said, the dancers were good, but not amazing. None of them seemed particularly comfortable with the dance, unlike the Argentine. This is probably because most don't learn the Cha Cha with the senior silvers, if they learn it at all.

The novices were a whole lot better than the juveniles, even though their Cha Chas weren't great.

The Argentine was a lot better for almost all of the skaters at the event competing in the Novice event.

Most struggled with the twizzle, as they are supposed to, that is really the only particularly difficult section of the dance. For the most part, the skaters looked comfortable in their edges, and their hold looked more secure than in the Cha Cha, even though it still wasn't perfect.

Many of the novice skaters looked quite tentative on the ice in both pattern dances, but surely, these young skaters will grow into competition as they mature and become more confident.

Like with the juvenile dance, I missed the freedance (it was very early this morning, and I had spent yesterday at the arena and got home quite late) though I'm sure if the pattern dances are any indication, it will have been very good.