Russian Ice Dancers

This year the theme for the ice skating original dance the skaters were to perform a folk dance. Some countries portrayed their own countries styles while others portrayed different countries. Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin from Russia portrayed Australian aboriginals. They have performed this dance at other competitions and have always been criticized for it. First, the aboriginals said that their outfits were nothing like what they wear. Then, they said the dance contained no original moves and it was more of the ice dancers interpretation of the aboriginals. The aboriginal leaders actual found the outfits and dance offensive. They were offended by Shabalin leading Domnina around by her pony tail, the dancers sticking out their tongues, and the hand over the mouth gesture which is actually contributed to American Indians. After they performed at the European Championships and were criticized they said they were going to make some changes. They did change their outfits but almost no changes were made to the dance. They also fell from 1st place to 3rd so it was not a gold winning dance. I personally watched this dance and thought it was ridiculous.

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