Waltz, Kilian, tango and open hold: what sets the four basic ice dance positions apart, why you must switch, and how to avoid blade collisions.
Reader question: "Isn't holding hands enough?" The honest answer: no — ice dance has four fundamentally different holds, and each demands its own balance, its own body angle, its own way of transferring weight. The hold in ice dance is what the stance is in combat sport: the foundation everything else grows from.
This isn't for show. To reach the top difficulty level in a step sequence, you must switch holds at least three times during the sequence and show at least three different hold types — standing in one position throughout won't earn top marks. And one of the official Skating Skills judging criteria is simply called unison — how exactly the two of you show the same movement at the same time. A wobbly hold shows up instantly here, because two bodies reveal it at once, not just one.
The second reason holds deserve so much attention: with close body contact, a badly set hold can make your blades touch — one of the most unpleasant and most avoidable causes of falls in ice dance. Clean holds are technique and safety in one.
Train Smart. Play Hard. — in ice dance that means: master the hold first, then increase speed and difficulty.
You stand face to face, one skating forward, the other backward. The lead hand rests on the partner's back, the other hand on their shoulder, the free arms extend loosely at shoulder height. This hold is closest to classic ballroom dance — and usually the first beginners learn.
Here you stand side by side, both facing the same direction, hip to hip. This hold comes in three variants: open (the outer arm extended), closed (the hand rests on the partner's hip) or crossed. Kilian is the hold with the tightest continuous contact — here millimeters decide whether your blades get in each other's way.
Similar to waltz you skate in opposite directions, but offset instead of face-on — the hips sit slightly angled to each other rather than directly opposite. This offset allows tighter, faster step patterns but demands more timing precision, because you're not looking directly into each other's eyes.
The loosest variant: you hold only one or both hands, the rest of the body moves freely. This allows greater individual freedom of movement and is often used for choreographically expressive passages — but exactly because there's less guidance, timing errors show up more easily here.
Practice each switch in isolation before building it into a step sequence: slowly from waltz to Kilian, then to tango, then back to open. Agree beforehand who initiates the switch and with what signal — a brief glance, a light press of the hand. Only once the switch happens without thinking do you raise the tempo.
The biggest concrete danger in close holds like Kilian is blade collision — if your skates touch during a step change, it can cause sudden, uncontrolled falls. So always practice new holds first at low tempo and with enough distance from other skaters on the ice.
Pay special attention to the transitions between holds — most collisions don't happen within a hold itself but at the moment of switching, when timing and position are briefly uncertain. An experienced coach should directly supervise the first switches.
Practice every hold mirrored too — with roles swapped, who skates forward and who skates backward. That sharpens your feel for your partner's position and makes you more flexible overall in choreography, because many programs demand exactly this kind of role swap.
A trick experienced pairs use: count the first repetitions of every hold switch out loud. Once the switch sits automatically, the counting drops away by itself — and that's exactly the signal you're ready for more speed.
The waltz hold is usually seen as the entry hold, because it's closest to classic ballroom dance and allows the most direct eye contact. From there, Kilian, tango and the open hold are easier to unlock, because the basic feel for shared weight is already there.
For the higher difficulty levels, the rules require at least three hold switches with at least three different hold types within one sequence. This is also choreographically intended — constant variation shows versatility and keeps a program visually interesting.
Unison is an official Skating Skills judging criterion describing how exactly both partners perform the same movement at the same time. Small deviations in timing or body angle stand out far faster with two synchronized skaters than with a single one.
Practice new holds slowly first, with deliberate focus on foot position rather than speed. Blade collisions almost always happen during hold switches, not in a stable state — clear agreements on leading and signaling noticeably lower this risk.
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