This book was published in 1966 by the US Figure Skating Association, but exists outside of the Rulebook and test structure. It, according to the foreward [sic], exists
to help further interest, proficiency and enjoyment to the skaters who like this phase of our sport.
Ice Dances, p. 3
The book can be divided into three major sections: Skating fitness, dance figures, and dances.
The section on skating fitness is a fairly short description of exercises for improving posture and flexibility. Most are for off-ice use, but a few are on-ice stroking exercises.
The dance figures are dance steps on a figure eight. The one that survives today is the waltz eight, which is now on the pre-preliminary moves in the field test. Some are quite complex, and I’d have trouble fitting them onto a standard figures circle.
The dance section begins with a glossary of dance terms before presenting a catalog of dances you’ve probably never heard of. Many of the patterns can be found on Skate Dance Diagrams and Tools
- Beguine
- Carroll Swing
- Collegiate
- Rotary Roll
- Variated Foxtrot
- Beaver March
- British Fourteenstep
- Junior March
- Pioneer March
- St. Louis Ice Dance
- British Tenstep Variations
- Toronto Tenstep
- Twenty-Two Step
- College Twostep
- French Twostep
- Missouri Dance
- Polka
- Polka Promenade
- Windmill Polka (ordinary & circular patterns)
- Jamaican Rhumba
- Rhumba (now an International dance)
- Samba
- Silver Samba (now an International dance)
- Carroll Tango
- Iceland Tango
- California Waltz
- Carnival Dance
- Double Three-Lobed-Eight Waltz
- English Eight Waltz
- Ice Club Waltz
- Icelandia Waltz
- “Once Around” Willow Waltz (the familiar Willow, skated on half ice)
- Paramount Waltz
- Rinkromp
- Six-Step Waltz
- Starlight Waltz (now on the Pre-Gold test)
- Star Waltz
- Swing Waltz (the Fourteenstep to waltz time)
- Western Waltz
The amount of context provided varies. Some include lengthy descriptions, others are just diagrams. The dances are at different levels, from easy to quite difficult. They’re a reminder of age of social dance and should be fun to try on the ice.