The ice dance competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada, from 19 to 22 February. Controversy arose from the decision of Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia to perform their original dance to what they claimed to be Australian Aboriginal music while wearing costumes which many found offensive. Despite the negative reactions from the Australian press, members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and members of the First Nations in British Columbia, in whose ancestral territory the Winter Olympics were being staged, Domnina and Shabalin ended up finishing in third place, winning the bronze medals.
Background The ice dance competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics consisted of three segments: the compulsory dance, the original dance, and the free dance. The competition was held from 19 to 22 February at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada. The required rhythm of the original dance was folk or country. The theme of the original dance was folk or country, and while it was recommended that couples should use traditional folk or country music and dance styles native to their own nations, this was not a requirement. Lasting 2 minutes 30 seconds (+/− 10 seconds), the original dance had to include the following elements: one dance lift, one midline step sequence while not touching, one diagonal or circular step sequence while in hold, and one set of sequential twizzles.
Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin had won the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles and were entering the Olympic season as the favourites to win the ice dance event in Vancouver. However, the couple missed the entire 2009–10 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating season debuted their routine at the 2010 Russian Figure Skating Championships, after missing the first half of the season due to Shabalin injuring his knee in the season prior, winning the event. Domnina and Shabalin revealed that their original dance would be set to what they described as Australian Aboriginal music. The idea for the routine was suggested to them by their coach Natalia Linichuk, with the couple declining it at first, only to change their minds after listening to the musical arrangement again and seeing Domnina's dog, Topi, react to the music. Domnina and Shabalin's music featured heavy drums, a didgeridoo, and vocal chanting; and their costumes consisted of dark flesh-toned bodysuits with red loincloths, decorated with white markings and faux green leaves, as well as face paint. They performed it again at the 2010 European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, with the audience giving them a "warm reception" at the conclusion of the routine; they also won the event.
Controversy over the program
Reactions from Australia, Canada and First Nations communities The outrage concerning Domnina and Shabalin's routine came between their debut performance at the Russian Nationals and European Championships, making its way to the Australian media and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities days before their first performance of the program in Tallinn. Worimi elder Bev Manton, chairwoman of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, wrote that Domnina and Shabalin's costumes were "no more authentic or Aboriginal than the shiploads of cheap Aboriginal tourist trinkets that pour into [Australia] from overseas". Manton found their depiction of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture offensive, although she did not believe that was their intention. She cited the brown bodysuits as problematic and likened their appearance to blackface. She added further: "They are not, as they state, wearing 'authentic Aboriginal paint markings'. They are wearing white body paint in designs they dreamed up after reading about Aboriginal Australians on the internet." And just as the designs were not from the Australian First Nations community, neither was the music, as she explained, since it was composed by Sheila Chandra, a Briton of Indian descent. Sol Bellear, also of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, said the routine was "yet another example of the Aboriginal people of Australia being exploited". He also stated that he intended to send a letter of protest to the Russian Embassy in Canberra, noting that "it's not just intellectual property. It's straight-out cultural theft." Additionally, members of the First Nations community in British Columbia were upset with the way Indigenous culture was being represented on a global platform, with former First Nations chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band Arthur Manuel stating, "People make fun of us and it is painful; that is something [Domnina and Shabalin] should have been very cognizant of".
Belinda Noonan, four-time Australian national champion in pair skating and Australian figure skating commentator, was critical of Domnina and Shabalin's routine, calling the costumes "dreadful" and criticizing their lack of research. She also criticized the musical arrangement, noting the use of Chandra's music versus that of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist with "some didgeridoo [put] in a couple of places." Manton also criticized the use of the didgeridoo in the performance, stating that while she is accepting of its use by people outside of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, it "does not mean it should be sampled and then presented as something it is not." Noonan stated that she had contacted Domnina and Shabalin's team for more information about their program, but had not received a response.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and creative scene was also displeased with the routine. Choreographer for the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and then-artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, Stephen Page, felt the entire routine was disrespectful and when asked about his thoughts on the routine's concept, "Well, you just have to have a look at how they looked. I believe now that we just tend to ... just bastardize any form of culture." He also said that it looked "stupid", and that "probably the elders in the bush would be laughing because they would be saying, “Look how stupid these fellas are” because they've got it all wrong." Page also criticized the choreography as "trying to emulate the token savage caveman."
Danielle O'Brien and Gregory Merriman, an Australian ice dance team, had also performed their original dance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music, but they had sought input from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians, choreographers and artists to ensure the dance was performed and choreographed accurately and respectfully. O'Brien, when asked about their routine after the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships, stated that they had worked with their songs chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians Scott Wilson, James Drury, and David Hudson, with their costumes designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art company, ThulliiDreaming. Victor Kraatz, who was the 2003 world champion and ten-time Canadian national champion in ice dance with his former partner Shae-Lynn Bourne, who had worked with O'Brien and Merriman on helping construct their routine, as well as O'Brien herself explained that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women did not wear body paint, nor did they wear red except for ceremonial purposes and only men had traditionally performed ceremonial dances.
Response by Domnina, Shabalin and Russian figure skating When Domnina and Shabalin were questioned about their program during the European Championships, Domnina said that they were unaware of any controversy concerning their program. Shabalin said that he did perform research on the internet for their routine, but claimed, "Our dance is not specifically an Australian Aboriginal dance; it is an aboriginal dance," and they decided to create the routine because they "wanted to be different." Domnina also defended their costumes, saying they "were spot on right away." Domnina added that they did not want to create another Slavic-style program and chose it because they "immediately fell in love with it".
The Figure Skating Federation of Russia expressed shock at criticism of the program, stating that all teams had to perform a "world" dance, pointing to the Argentine tango and Viennese waltz as examples of routines performed without controversy. Oleg Ovsyannikov, 1988 Winter Olympic silver medalist in ice dance, defended Domnina and Shabalin's intentions, saying that they were "not trying to hurt anyone's feelings", while also acknowledging "these kinds of dances are really rather typical [in ice dance]". Ovsyannikov pointed to a routine he and his former partner Anjelika Krylova had once done where Ovsyannikov had portrayed Buffalo Bill and Krylova a Native American princess.
Before the Olympic Games Upon hearing that Domnina and Shabalin intended to perform the same routine at the 2010 Winter Olympics, representatives of the Four Host First Nations – the Lilʼwat, the Musqueam, the Squamish, and the Tsleil-Waututh – offered to meet with them. These First Nations, in whose traditional land the 2010 Winter Olympics were held, were recognized as partners in the planning of the Olympics by the Vancouver Organizing Committee. They recommended that Domnina and Shabalin contact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia for feedback before coming to the Olympics. Both Domnina and Shabalin were gifted blankets by the Four Host First Nations communities upon their arrival in Vancouver.
Shabalin had told the media a week before the start of the event that they had changed their costumes, a decision that was welcomed by members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. However, Russian journalists stated that they would continue performing the original routine and choreography, a point confirmed by Shabalin after a meeting with the First Nations representatives in Vancouver. Despite Shabalin originally saying their costumes had changed, their coach, Natalia Linichuk backtracked on this statement with the Australian media 24 hours before their performance in Vancouver, saying, "They (Domnina and Shabalin) will wear the same costumes (as before), but a little less." Linichuk was also seen before the original dance carrying multiple photos of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the media zone, repeatedly saying, "We didn't make this up."
Sheila Chandra, the original composer of the music used by Domnina and Shabalin, was unhappy with her song being utilised in the routine. She subsequently made a complaint to the International Olympic Committee and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia just over a week before the ice dance competition in Vancouver, with the intention of stopping her song from being used. Chandra also stated that it was "inappropriate" for her song to be performed as it was. She also stated that neither Domnina, Shabalin, Linichuk, nor the Russian figure skating federation had sought permission from her for her song to be used. It was reported by The Washington Post that IOC president, Jacques Rogge, was considering intervening in forcing complete changes to the routine for Olympic competition, but ultimately, nothing came of it.
Olympic performance