Monday, February 22, 2010

American ice dancing couple use Moldovan folk for routine

American ice dancing couple Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, who have won the American championship five times, used a Moldovan folk routine to perform during the 2010 Winter Olympics tonight. They took fourth after judges' scores came in.

The material seems to be a combination of a number of folk songs, including a Moldovan Dance performed during the Soviet Union by the Moiseyev Dance Ensemble, and Ciocirlia (The Lark), a famous Romanian folk dance commonly used to show skill at playing an instrument because of its complicated structure.

The couple is trained by Russian Olympic ice dancing champions Natalia Linichuk and Ghennadi Karponosov, which could be why it might have picked a Moldovan dance. Folk dancing from Moldova was rather popular in the Soviet Union.

The couple also wore garb resembling the Moldovan national costume.

A version of the dance can be seen here.

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