How to Improve your Swing Dance - On-Ice Exercises

Hello everyone. My name is Igor Lukanin and I'm a world and Olympic figure skating coach. Today I'm going to show you several exercises which will help you to improve your swing dance. First exercise is forward chasse, forward outside edge. Chasse is performed by completing a proper stroke from the right leg onto the left. After you have completed the push with the right leg, you bend your right knee, bringing the free leg's foot to your standing leg. As your right foot takes the ice, your left foot comes off the ice in a flexed position, keeping them close together as if they were glued together. Chasse is followed by the outside edge. That edge starts in the exact same position of your upper body in relation to the circle you're on, as the previous step, chasse. Right after you enter that outside edge, keeping the lean over the same circle, you start changing the leading arm and your free leg bends so your feet can get together. Once your feet are together and the edge is completed, you turn your head, which changes the lean, preparing you for the push onto the next chasse. Next exercise is the backward chasse and an outside edge. To prepare for the backward chasse, you need to place your weight over your standing leg, being twisted and leaning into the circle you intend to be on. Standing leg completes the push of an inside edge and extends slightly outside of the circle. Then it bends, bringing your feet back together. The outside edge starts with your upper body in the exact same position and is completed by extending your leg slightly outside of the circle as the push completes. Your leg bends again and returns to the standing leg. Once your feet are together, your head turns and twists your upper body into the circle, preparing you for the next chasse. The next exercise is backward outside swing rolls. To prepare for a backward outside swing roll, you need to place your arms over the circle you want to be on for the swing roll, bring your feet together and pushing off the inside edge, place the outside edge on the ice. After your pushing leg has left the ice and extended, you should start to rise out of the standing knee and bring the extended swing leg to the straightened standing leg, placing your shoulders over the same line as your hips. Next, keeping the lean over the circle you're on, keep your free leg fully extended as it brushes past your standing leg, turned out as it reaches an arabesque. As this happens, your upper body should twist and open outside of the circle as your lean remains over the circle. Then bringing your feet back together, re-bend to prepare for the next step. And the next exercise is forward outside swing rolls. To prepare for the forward outside swing roll, you need to place your weight over your standing leg and rotate your body into the circle. As your pushing foot leaves the ice, your upper body needs to lean on and twist inside the circle, then you need to change your leading arm, keeping that same lean and swing your leg underneath the opposite arm. Then bring your feet together, re-bend and turn your head in the direction of the new circle. And the final exercise is open forward inside mohawk. To prepare for a forward right inside mohawk, you will collect your feet, placing your weight over your left foot, guiding with the left arm. Keeping your left arm in front, you push off the left inside edge as your right inside edge is placed on the ice. After the left leg fully extends, it bends and turns out, retracting the standing leg. Keeping your left arm directed into the center of the circle, you then bring the heel of the left foot to the middle of your right foot and slide your left blade on the ice as your right foot leaves the ice. Once your foot is in the air, it extends, placed over the same line as your left leg. Then re-bend your right leg, bringing your feet together and keeping your arms over the circle you're on while preparing for the next step.