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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), the
governing body of figure skating, an ice dance team consists of one
woman and one man.
Ice dance, like pair skating, has its roots in
the "combined skating" developed in the 19th century by skating clubs
and organizations and in recreational social skating. Couples and
friends would skate waltzes, marches, and other social dances. The first
steps in ice dance were similar to those used in ballroom dancing. In
the late 1800s, American Jackson Haines, known as "the Father of Figure
Skating", brought his style of skating, which included waltz steps and
social dances, to Europe. By the end of the 19th century, waltzing
competitions on the ice became popular throughout the world. By the
early 1900s, ice dance was popular around the world and was primarily a
recreational sport, although during the 1920s, local skating clubs in
Britain and the U.S. conducted informal dance contests. Recreational
skating became more popular during the 1930s in England.