I don’t usually think of ice
dancing as being particularly risqué— if anything, it always seems a
little straight-laced and stodgy to me — but it seems that’s not always
the case: Canadian ice dance duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s Moulin Rouge-themed free skate is apparently so sexy that they’re changing it up for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in order to make it more family-friendly. The change will be made to one particular lift which the Toronto Star reports was “so suggestive that The Canadian Press
had initially been leery about moving photos on the wire that
freeze-framed the moment”—although it turns out the story is perhaps a
bit more complex than just, “OH NO, TOO MUCH SEXINESS, WE CANNOT HAVE
THAT!”
Virtue and Moir, who took home the silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Games, have been skating this routine all year; scored with a medley from the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge, it begins with “Tango Roxanne” before seguing into “Come What May.” The lift in question, which Lori Ewing at the Toronto Star described as both “risqué” and “athletically impressive,”
occurs during the “Tango Roxanne” bit (because of course it does — few
things are as sexy as a good tango). Previously, it involved Virtue
“[sticking] a toe pick in the ice to propel herself backwards so that
she landed straddling Moir’s shoulders, her hands clasping the back of
his head.” After several spins in that position, Moir then brought her
gradually back to the ice.
Here’s what it looked like within the context of the full program — the lift is at about the 2:25 mark:
Brau Avitia 2 on YouTube
And here it is isolated as a GIF:
GiphyMoir has described the move variously as “suggestive” and “porno”-like, while Virtue stuck with “edgy”; she did, however, note to the Toronto Star at the Canadian championships recently, “We wanted to make a bit of a different statement,
and if that was bringing a certain edge or sexuality or darkness or a
contemporary feeling to it, mission accomplished, I guess.”
The new version, however, will see Virtue “[straddling] Moir’s shoulders for a brief moment before dipping one knee down and then dismounting,” according to the Star.
I’m having a little bit of trouble visualizing what exactly that means
(can you tell I don’t have a background in skating?), but I assume that
in the updated move, Moir’s face won’t be buried in Virtue’s stomach for
quite as long as it was during the old one.
To be honest, the lift as it was didn’t strike me as “X-rated” or anything; sensual,
sure, but not, as Moir cheekily suggested, “porno”-esque (although it
certainly is one heck of a program either way — these two are so much
fun to watch that I’m seriously considering devoting my evening to
marathoning every video of them I can find on YouTube). So: Why the change?
It
turns out that it’s not just for the benefit of the public’s seemingly
delicate sensibilities. A large part of it is an artistic and narrative
choice; as Virtue explained to Ewing of the Star, “I think we
liked that [the original lift] made a statement, and it was different.
And that was great for the start of the season, but for the overall
vision of the program, we hope that this new position fits a little better.”
What’s more, added Moir, the goal is to “take the ice with programs
where we’re confident in every single second, and we’re in love with the
movement every second.” He noted, “Hopefully that will show through and
we’ll be able to capitalize on that.”
Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Sport/Getty ImagesIn
a separate opinion piece in the same publication, however, columnist
Rosie Dimanno theorized that the change might also have something to do
with adjusting the performance to suit the Olympic judging panel. “It’s
all in the eye of the beholder, of course. But the eyes beholding at PyeongChang,
at least those that count most, belong to those magistrates of the
marks. And they’re a conservative lot,” wrote Dimanno, adding later in
the piece that “it’s still a somewhat stuffy world… especially in the
dance division.” If it's well-known that risqué programs don't really
fly with the judges, then it would make sense to want to switch things
up a bit.
What’s clear, though, is that Virtue and Moir really love this program, with
or without that one lift. They love the music; they love the moves; and
you can see exactly how much they love it in their performance. It’s in
their energy — and even, when the camera gets close enough, in their
faces. And that? Is worth its weight in gold when you’re competing
against the best athletes and artists in the world.
Indeed, when news broke last summer that the pair would be skating to music from Moulin Rouge during the their Olympic year, Virtue told the Toronto Sun, “There was no other option for us.
We just knew we felt this and loved it so much, there was nothing that
would compare.” Moir added, “We always loved the movie. We know it’s a
theme used a lot in figure skating, but as we always do, we try to give
our own stamp on it and make it unique. Only a handful of times in our
career, we’ve brought music to our coaches and almost insisted we skated
to it.”
This was one of those times, and, well… it looks like it's probably the right call.
Koki Nagahama/Getty Images Sport/Getty ImagesIt’s
worth noting, by the way, that Virtue and Moir are no strangers to
tweaking their programs as needed. As Tamara Fuentes points out at
Cosmo, this is the second time they’ve switched up some details in the Moulin Rouge routine; and according to Dimanno at the Toronto Star, they’ve also made some adjustments to their short program —
which strings together the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,”
the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” and Carlos Santana’s “Oye Como Va” —
throughout the season as well. And, I mean, that makes sense; when the
stakes are as high as they are at the Olympics, you want to make sure
every moment of your routine is exactly what it needs to be.
The short program is pretty amazing, too, by the way; they’ve skated it before, including at the 2017 Autumn Classic International. Said Moir about their musical picks for this program to the National Post, “They’re pretty epic songs.
Yes, they were before our time, but obviously they’ve kind of withstood
the test of time.” (Virtue was born in 1989 and Moir in 1987; “Sympathy
for the Devil,” meanwhile, was released in 1968, “Hotel California” in
1977, and Santana’s version of “Oye Como Va” in 1971.) He continued,
“They’re still some of the best music. That’s the generation of music
that in many ways we connect to the most.”
Here’s that routine:
Brau Avitia on YouTube
I…
...Uh…
...Think I might actually be rooting for Canada in the ice dancing competitions this year. These two are on fire, and I love it.
Before Virtue and Moir actually hit the ice, though, we’ll be seeing them in another capacity: They’re going to be the Canadian flag bearers in the Opening Ceremony, too. Tune into the Opening Ceremony on Friday night, and head here to see the schedule for figure skating and ice dancing competitions throughout the Winter Games. May the best competitor win!
Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images
Koki Nagahama/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images
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