The Greatest of All Time Debate: Ice Dance
In the free time I have, I like watching ice dance performances of the past. Recently, I've watched the performances of British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and it made me think about the greatest of all time debate that marks ice dance. Torvill and Dean have unanimously been considered the best in ice dance since their Olympic gold in 1984. But after the 2018 Olympic gold that Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won, the greatest of all time debate has been an argument to be had among skating lovers. I want to concentrate on these two teams and try to see, with each of their respective honors and achievements, which is truly the greatest of all time in the ice dance world. Obviously, there is some opinion based analysis involved but I'm going to try to be as objective as I can. I'll also include some video footage so you can make a choice yourself! Without further ado, here goes.
Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean
The de facto greatest of all time ice dancers for many years, Britain's Torvill and Dean started skating together as teenagers after meeting at the ages of ten and eleven respectively. Their first full year at the senior level of figure skating came in the 1976-1977 season, shortly after the first Olympic ice dance event. For the first few years of their career, each of them had a paying job, Dean as a police officer and Torvill as an insurance clerk, simply because they saw ice skating as a hobby that didn't pay enough to make a living on. After coming fifth at the 1980 Olympics, they quit their jobs to focus entirely on skating.
The move paid off immediately. The next year, Torvill and Dean were European and World Champions, making them the first British ice dancers to win in over ten years. They weren't unlike the rest of their competitors of the time, doing a free dance that was very much akin to the free dances where the ice dancers would skate along to random songs put together. A few things set them apart though. Their ice coverage and speed were astonishing and their music cuts were much cleaner than their contemporaries. At twenty-three and twenty-two respectively, they beat their heroes, Soviet pair Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov to claim the top spot on the podium.
The next year, they decided to push the boundaries of the rules by skating their Original Set Pattern dance (a dance where a couple would interpret a ballroom dance and make their own compulsory in that style) to Gershwin's "Summertime", the slowest tempo allowed for the blues dance, making it much harder to perform. They then went on to create the first free dance entirely based on one song by skating to the overture of the Broadway show "Mack and Mabel". Instead of constant music changes to suit the change in tempo, they instead found one song that had its own change in tempo and based an entire free dance on the story of the Broadway show. It sounds simple now, but at the time it was completely unheard of.
In 1983, they continued to push ice dance by skating to another Broadway soundtrack for their free dance in the "Barnum" soundtrack. With "Barnum" being about trapeze artists, Torvill and Dean decided to base their free dance on flips and tricks to mimic circus performers. Christopher Dean acted as choreographer for their own programs which gave them a heavy hand in how their performances looked and if they were properly meeting requirements. Their Original Set Pattern to rock 'n roll music showed the difficulty that could be incorporated into the sport through difficult moves on the ice.
In the Olympic year of 1984, Torvill and Dean went for the gold after three straight undefeated seasons. For their Original Set Pattern, they did a paso doble where Torvill was the cape to Dean's matador. It's still one of the most original interpretations of the paso doble seen on ice thirty-six years later. They then went on to produce their magnum opus free dance of "Bolero". At the time, the free dance was only four minutes and ten seconds. But Torvill and Dean wanted to use the entire four minutes and twenty-eight seconds of the song. They perused the rule book and found that the timer only started when their blades hit the ice. So instead of starting with their skates to the ice, they spent the first eighteen seconds of the free dance kneeling. It was this blatant circling of the rules that made Torvill and Dean so memorable and helped them push ice dance from novelty discipline to actual sport. They earned the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics and completed their unbeaten four seasons at the top. When they walked out of the arena, they were two of the greatest figure skaters to grace the ice.
Ten years later, they returned to compete in the 1994 Olympics after the rules prohibiting professional skaters from competing was relaxed. Torvill and Dean performed an amazing rhumba original dance (a dance that replaced the original set pattern dance that didn't require a compulsory be performed but instead looked more like a free dance to a set ballroom style) but their free dance left a little to be desired in retrospect. With ten years between their two Olympic appearances, it also looked like the technical side of the sport had gotten a bit away from them with the newer rules in place. They walked away from the event with a bronze medal but they also solidified their greatness in the fans' eyes. Much of their success since has been due to their brief return.
Their case for GOAT status: Torvill and Dean have been seen as the bar in ice dance since their first retirement in 1984. They changed ice dance in obvious ways. The idea that a free dance should have a story and a complete thought to it beyond that of dancing to different tunes was so revolutionary at the time and is the only way free dances and short dances are arranged to this day. Their emphasis on doing difficult tricks and stunts through their programs gave judges an objective way to see which team was better by comparing the difficulty of movement. There have been many commentators who have said that Torvill and Dean made ice dance a sport and I couldn't agree more.
On top of that Christopher Dean still contributes to figure skating today by choreographing routines for pairs skaters and ice dancers. He was responsible for the choreography for Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot's 2018 gold medal pairs free skate and France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron's short dance at the 2018 Olympics. In this way, they've had a hand in the continuation of the sport.
Ultimately, Torvill and Dean changed the game for all that came after them. For years, there wasn't anyone who could rival their impact, admiration and legacy. Comparing any couple to Torvill and Dean has been the utmost compliment. And the only couple to challenge Torvill and Dean as the greatest of all time in ice dancing got just that compliment in their second senior season.
Immediately on entering the senior scene, Virtue and Moir were gaining praise from judges and commentators alike for their chemistry, flow, skating skills and musicality. At their first Worlds, they debuted at sixth place, the highest debut in decades. The next season, they established themselves as one of the best ice dancing couples in the world and got a silver medal at only their second Worlds. Their free dance to Umbrellas of Cherbourg was the highest scoring free dance of the night
Very soon after their silver medal, Virtue learned of a chronic injury to her shins, called compartment syndrome, that was leaving her legs numb after short amounts of time on the ice. She opted for surgery and the couple missed half of the next season and came back mistake ridden. Even still, they managed to get a bronze medal with a free dance to Pink Floyd that incorporated modern dance and innovative lifts. While it wasn't well received at the time, quite a few current ice dancers have cited it as one of their favorites, including current World champion Guillaume Cizeron.
For the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Virtue and Moir were determined to get gold in their home country. While they knew it was possible, no ice dancer had won an Olympic gold without a World gold before, and none were as young as Virtue and Moir's twenty and twenty-two. Yet, they came out with two perfect programs for the season. Their original dance was a flamenco to "Farrucas" that featured a logic-defying lift and difficult skating skills and got the Canadian crowd on their feet. But their magnum opus was their free dance to Mahler's fifth symphony. The stirring piece was one you admired in silence; each position, each step, each lift was perfectly timed to the music. It was the first dance to earn 10s in performance scores in the new judging system and earned four tens the night of the Olympics. Virtue and Moir became the youngest Olympic gold medalists in ice dance that night and ushered in a new era of North American dominance in the discipline after becoming the first North Americans to win the gold medal.
The next season continued their top level performances with a Broadway inspired free dance to "Funny Face" that earned them a second World title. They seemed poised to stay on top for the foreseeable future. Yet Virtue continued to have issues with her shins and debated a third surgery before deciding to change her skating technique to alleviate the pain. This led to a series of mishaps throughout the 2012-2013 season. While their Carmen free dance was ambitious and a modern, provocative interpretation that hadn't been seen on ice before, it was skated clean only once the whole year between stumbles and interruptions. And those mistakes extended into the short dance. This led to their rivals, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White, going unbeaten that season while Virtue and Moir lost their reputation for clean programs.
For the Olympic season, Virtue and Moir were after a second Olympic gold. Their jazzy short dance to Ella Fitzgerald's "Dream a Little Dream" was a performance to be remembered (and my first memory of ice dance!) but their free dance tried too hard to recapture Mahler and instead felt like a cheap knockoff. They came in second to Davis and White after not winning against them for two straight years. Virtue and Moir decided to retire.
Except it didn't last long. Just two years later, Virtue and Moir decided to return to the ice and compete for the 2018 gold. They came out with a vengeance, skating a short dance to Prince and a mature free dance to Sam Smith's "Latch" that reaffirmed for everyone that Virtue and Moir, when healthy, are nearly untouchable. They went undefeated in their comeback season after many thought they wouldn't be able to adapt to the new contemporary style that had sprung up in their absence. For the Olympic season, they crafted two programs made to win. The one worth talking about though is their "Moulin Rouge" free dance. The passionate first half gave way to a love song of "Come What May" while Virtue and Moir told the story of Moulin Rouge as Christian and Satine. The free dance was able to incorporate the new contemporary style of ice dance with the ballroom style that they had pioneered themselves as they performed a tango in the first half and contemporary in the second. It captured the attention of audiences around the world and the chemistry they undoubtedly shared made the free dance all the more believable. The free dance propelled them to their second Olympic gold, just the second time any ice dancer had ever won two Olympic golds and the first time they were non-consecutive. With the win, calls of "the greatest of all time" were heard from commentators.
In 1983, they continued to push ice dance by skating to another Broadway soundtrack for their free dance in the "Barnum" soundtrack. With "Barnum" being about trapeze artists, Torvill and Dean decided to base their free dance on flips and tricks to mimic circus performers. Christopher Dean acted as choreographer for their own programs which gave them a heavy hand in how their performances looked and if they were properly meeting requirements. Their Original Set Pattern to rock 'n roll music showed the difficulty that could be incorporated into the sport through difficult moves on the ice.
In the Olympic year of 1984, Torvill and Dean went for the gold after three straight undefeated seasons. For their Original Set Pattern, they did a paso doble where Torvill was the cape to Dean's matador. It's still one of the most original interpretations of the paso doble seen on ice thirty-six years later. They then went on to produce their magnum opus free dance of "Bolero". At the time, the free dance was only four minutes and ten seconds. But Torvill and Dean wanted to use the entire four minutes and twenty-eight seconds of the song. They perused the rule book and found that the timer only started when their blades hit the ice. So instead of starting with their skates to the ice, they spent the first eighteen seconds of the free dance kneeling. It was this blatant circling of the rules that made Torvill and Dean so memorable and helped them push ice dance from novelty discipline to actual sport. They earned the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics and completed their unbeaten four seasons at the top. When they walked out of the arena, they were two of the greatest figure skaters to grace the ice.
Ten years later, they returned to compete in the 1994 Olympics after the rules prohibiting professional skaters from competing was relaxed. Torvill and Dean performed an amazing rhumba original dance (a dance that replaced the original set pattern dance that didn't require a compulsory be performed but instead looked more like a free dance to a set ballroom style) but their free dance left a little to be desired in retrospect. With ten years between their two Olympic appearances, it also looked like the technical side of the sport had gotten a bit away from them with the newer rules in place. They walked away from the event with a bronze medal but they also solidified their greatness in the fans' eyes. Much of their success since has been due to their brief return.
Their case for GOAT status: Torvill and Dean have been seen as the bar in ice dance since their first retirement in 1984. They changed ice dance in obvious ways. The idea that a free dance should have a story and a complete thought to it beyond that of dancing to different tunes was so revolutionary at the time and is the only way free dances and short dances are arranged to this day. Their emphasis on doing difficult tricks and stunts through their programs gave judges an objective way to see which team was better by comparing the difficulty of movement. There have been many commentators who have said that Torvill and Dean made ice dance a sport and I couldn't agree more.
On top of that Christopher Dean still contributes to figure skating today by choreographing routines for pairs skaters and ice dancers. He was responsible for the choreography for Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot's 2018 gold medal pairs free skate and France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron's short dance at the 2018 Olympics. In this way, they've had a hand in the continuation of the sport.
Ultimately, Torvill and Dean changed the game for all that came after them. For years, there wasn't anyone who could rival their impact, admiration and legacy. Comparing any couple to Torvill and Dean has been the utmost compliment. And the only couple to challenge Torvill and Dean as the greatest of all time in ice dancing got just that compliment in their second senior season.
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir
In 1997, Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir started skating together at the young ages of seven and nine. They started skating in competitions quite early and within two years were the juvenile champions in Ontario. By 2004, they were junior national champions, and in 2006 became junior world champions at sixteen and eighteen respectively. (To be fair to Torvill and Dean, most junior competitions didn't exist in the 70s.) They began skating at the senior level in the 2006-2007 season, just a few months after the 2006 Olympics.
Immediately on entering the senior scene, Virtue and Moir were gaining praise from judges and commentators alike for their chemistry, flow, skating skills and musicality. At their first Worlds, they debuted at sixth place, the highest debut in decades. The next season, they established themselves as one of the best ice dancing couples in the world and got a silver medal at only their second Worlds. Their free dance to Umbrellas of Cherbourg was the highest scoring free dance of the night
Very soon after their silver medal, Virtue learned of a chronic injury to her shins, called compartment syndrome, that was leaving her legs numb after short amounts of time on the ice. She opted for surgery and the couple missed half of the next season and came back mistake ridden. Even still, they managed to get a bronze medal with a free dance to Pink Floyd that incorporated modern dance and innovative lifts. While it wasn't well received at the time, quite a few current ice dancers have cited it as one of their favorites, including current World champion Guillaume Cizeron.
For the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Virtue and Moir were determined to get gold in their home country. While they knew it was possible, no ice dancer had won an Olympic gold without a World gold before, and none were as young as Virtue and Moir's twenty and twenty-two. Yet, they came out with two perfect programs for the season. Their original dance was a flamenco to "Farrucas" that featured a logic-defying lift and difficult skating skills and got the Canadian crowd on their feet. But their magnum opus was their free dance to Mahler's fifth symphony. The stirring piece was one you admired in silence; each position, each step, each lift was perfectly timed to the music. It was the first dance to earn 10s in performance scores in the new judging system and earned four tens the night of the Olympics. Virtue and Moir became the youngest Olympic gold medalists in ice dance that night and ushered in a new era of North American dominance in the discipline after becoming the first North Americans to win the gold medal.
Between the Olympics and the start of the new season in the fall of 2010, the International Skating Union did away with compulsories and Original Dances and instead formed the Short Dance, which would combine the two. Virtue and Moir were in favor of this move as they thought it would bring more freedom to express themselves in the short dance if they didn't have to focus so much time on the compulsory. They decided to keep competing after the Olympics but Virtue needed another surgery in the fall of 2010. They missed the entirety of that season except for the Worlds of 2011. Even while only competing in one competition the whole year, they managed to win the silver medal and win the Short Dance portion. Their Latin free dance brought ballroom back onto the ice and featured difficult footwork.
For the Olympic season, Virtue and Moir were after a second Olympic gold. Their jazzy short dance to Ella Fitzgerald's "Dream a Little Dream" was a performance to be remembered (and my first memory of ice dance!) but their free dance tried too hard to recapture Mahler and instead felt like a cheap knockoff. They came in second to Davis and White after not winning against them for two straight years. Virtue and Moir decided to retire.
Except it didn't last long. Just two years later, Virtue and Moir decided to return to the ice and compete for the 2018 gold. They came out with a vengeance, skating a short dance to Prince and a mature free dance to Sam Smith's "Latch" that reaffirmed for everyone that Virtue and Moir, when healthy, are nearly untouchable. They went undefeated in their comeback season after many thought they wouldn't be able to adapt to the new contemporary style that had sprung up in their absence. For the Olympic season, they crafted two programs made to win. The one worth talking about though is their "Moulin Rouge" free dance. The passionate first half gave way to a love song of "Come What May" while Virtue and Moir told the story of Moulin Rouge as Christian and Satine. The free dance was able to incorporate the new contemporary style of ice dance with the ballroom style that they had pioneered themselves as they performed a tango in the first half and contemporary in the second. It captured the attention of audiences around the world and the chemistry they undoubtedly shared made the free dance all the more believable. The free dance propelled them to their second Olympic gold, just the second time any ice dancer had ever won two Olympic golds and the first time they were non-consecutive. With the win, calls of "the greatest of all time" were heard from commentators.
Their case for GOAT status: There are very few ice dance teams with the longevity of Virtue and Moir. Over eight seasons (from Four Continents 2008-2014 and 2016-2018) there has only been one time that they have earned less than a silver and there was never a time that they were off the podium. Their quick rise to the top of the standings at a very young age was unparalleled at the time and paved the way for other teams to get that type of quick success. Their adaptability is also to be commended. When they started at the senior level, compulsory dances were still a requirement that enforced strong skating skills. They conquered that. When the compulsory dance was removed in favor of the short dance, they became masters of that too. When the prominent style of ice dancing changed in their time away, they found a way to incorporate the new contemporary style into their own style of skating. With these three ways of winning set before them, Virtue and Moir were able to master them all, becoming the only couple to win World and Olympic titles before and after the compulsory dance was removed.
Virtue and Moir's change to ice dance was far more subtle than that of Torvill and Dean. When Virtue and Moir came onto the scene of ice dance, ice dance was, admittedly, a little trashy, with costumes that looked like they had been shredded or were barely there and many skaters of the era struggling to make the new judging system look effortless. Virtue and Moir made ice dance classy again, their flow made each element feel light and easy and their costumes could be worn in a ballroom setting. They were costumes you could show your kids. The reason we see beautiful costumes in ice dance today is because of Virtue and Moir's influence.
Not only that, but Virtue and Moir came at a time when the judging system changed from the 6.0 judging to a judging system that gave base scores to each element and judges determined how well that element was performed in order to get a technical score. Then, judges determine how well the skate was performed with choreography, timing and interpretation considered. With a more technical judging system, it would've been easy for ice dance to become incredibly athletic, more akin to Davis and White's skating style. Instead, Virtue and Moir made sure that artistry didn't suffer from the new judging system and performed programs that were simultaneously athletic feats and emotionally engaging. They gave the new judging system a defined look that current ice dancers use as a blueprint.
The Comparison
Torvill and Dean and Virtue and Moir came from two very different times in ice dance. Torvill and Dean operated under the 6.0 system, where it was common for one couple to dominate for several years at a time. Virtue and Moir operated under the new judging system, the International Judging System (IJS) that made unbeaten seasons nearly impossible to do and several unbeaten seasons legitimately impossible. In fact, they're one of only four teams to have one unbeaten season in the sixteen years that the IJS has been implemented. Because of that, they faced different challenges to getting to the top and far different requirements to stay there.
In the 1980s, Torvill and Dean had to contend with the recent Soviet domination of the sport to be able to get to the top. They had to be perfect for the judges to accept a non-Soviet team to stand on top of the podium. With little reasoning to scores, it was hard for Torvill and Dean to know what they had to do to get to the top. The best they could do was to focus on their skating skills and making enjoyable programs. Yet when they were there, they received the most 6.0s ever, indicating perfection. Their free dance at the 1984 Olympics received straight 6.0s for the first time ever in figure skating.
In the late 2000s and 2010s, Virtue and Moir had to go up against the Russian block on World and Olympic gold medals. Russians had won all but one Olympic gold medal and North Americans had only three Olympic medals to their name over nine Olympic games. Canadians had only just gotten the first World gold in 2003 but the path didn't look much clearer. They had to convince Russian and eastern judges alike that they were worthy of getting gold. With that said, Virtue and Moir benefited from having judging sheets where they could see what they did wrong and how the judges felt about their specific elements. In this way, they could tackle certain parts of their skating to make it better instead of vague ideas. It's also probable that judges saw Virtue and Moir as the new face of the IJS when they were young, as judges had singled them out as having all the qualities that they had been looking for to represent the new era. This could have benefited their perception even as they stumbled due to injury.
As far as choreography goes, Torvill and Dean take it by a long shot. While Virtue and Moir probably had a heavy say in what they performed as seniors, they ultimately were not their own choreographers. By contrast, Christopher Dean had his hands in every part of each routine they did. All of their programs were authentically theirs, not someone else's interpretation of them. However, Virtue and Moir were definitely the better skaters overall. Watching compulsories back, it's amazing how deep their edges are compared to Torvill and Dean, and at a much younger age.
Torvill and Dean were far more dominant in their four years at the top of the world, but it is worth noting that their first few years at the senior level were not a success and had them in the middle of the pack. They were 11th in the 1978 Worlds and 8th at the 1979 Worlds before getting 5th at the 1980 Olympics and deciding to dedicate more time. This could be because they were not completely dedicated to only doing skating in those years, but looking back they weren't particularly remarkable at that time. They did come back a decade after their win and were still very competitive which is a testament to their own talent.
By contrast, Virtue and Moir found success almost straight away at the same time that they were finishing high school and entering college. They were not as dominant over a period of time as Torvill and Dean were, but were consistent over a longer period of time. This on top of the fact that Virtue had an injury that required surgeries that would leave her in crutches for weeks and made walking painful during the 2010 Olympics. They didn't have dominance, but they were one of the best ice dance teams for nearly a decade.
Iconic programs seem about equal overall. Not only did Torvill and Dean have the iconic "Bolero", they also have their Summertime OSP, Mack and Mabel free dance, Paso Doble OSP and their Rhumba original dance. Virtue and Moir have their iconic programs of the 2010 Olympics in their Farrucas original dance and Mahler free dance. They also have their Carmen free dance, Prince short dance and Moulin Rouge free dance. Torvill and Dean's music is reused only to pay tribute to them, and never Bolero. Virtue and Moir's Mahler hasn't been used since 2010.
Today, you'd be hard pressed to find a couple who doesn't look up to Torvill and Dean or think that they are icons of the sport. The many couples who go to Christopher Dean for choreography can attest to that. Yet the same can be said of Virtue and Moir. Many current skaters watched as Virtue and Moir won their first gold (current American ice dancer Evan Bates was actually on the sidelines competing) and at some point have expressed admiration for them. Reigning World Champions Guillaume Cizeron and Gabriella Papadakis were huge fans as youngsters and claimed a Virtue/Moir program was their favorite ever. Reigning World bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue have expressed their admiration of Virtue and Moir's ambition and programs over the years. British ice dancers Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland said that Virtue and Moir were the natural successors of Torvill and Dean. Elena Ilinykh, bronze medalist at the 2014 Olympics, stated her love for the couple after they had won a second time. Tanith Belbin-White, silver medalist at the 2006 Olympics and NBC commentator (as well as the wife to Virtue/Moir's greatest rival in Charlie White), claimed there was no dispute about the greatest of all time: it was Virtue and Moir.
Ultimately, I think these two couples are so equal and are hard to compare. They both changed ice dance in their own ways. Torvill and Dean made much more obvious changes in how programs in general were constructed in ice dance and made the theatrical, unruly event into a legitimate sport. Virtue and Moir kept the roots of ice dance in the new judging system by combining athleticism and artisty and made the sport classy and elegant after years of questionable programs.
Personally, I'm going to give the edge to Torvill and Dean for now. Torvill and Dean have a much more noticeable legacy that's being felt almost forty years after their Bolero free dance. And forty years later, they're still the bar. There has simply not been enough time after Virtue and Moir's second win to really see how much they truly impacted ice dance. However, I wouldn't be surprised if, in ten years, the legacies of the two couples start looking more similar.
In the 1980s, Torvill and Dean had to contend with the recent Soviet domination of the sport to be able to get to the top. They had to be perfect for the judges to accept a non-Soviet team to stand on top of the podium. With little reasoning to scores, it was hard for Torvill and Dean to know what they had to do to get to the top. The best they could do was to focus on their skating skills and making enjoyable programs. Yet when they were there, they received the most 6.0s ever, indicating perfection. Their free dance at the 1984 Olympics received straight 6.0s for the first time ever in figure skating.
In the late 2000s and 2010s, Virtue and Moir had to go up against the Russian block on World and Olympic gold medals. Russians had won all but one Olympic gold medal and North Americans had only three Olympic medals to their name over nine Olympic games. Canadians had only just gotten the first World gold in 2003 but the path didn't look much clearer. They had to convince Russian and eastern judges alike that they were worthy of getting gold. With that said, Virtue and Moir benefited from having judging sheets where they could see what they did wrong and how the judges felt about their specific elements. In this way, they could tackle certain parts of their skating to make it better instead of vague ideas. It's also probable that judges saw Virtue and Moir as the new face of the IJS when they were young, as judges had singled them out as having all the qualities that they had been looking for to represent the new era. This could have benefited their perception even as they stumbled due to injury.
As far as choreography goes, Torvill and Dean take it by a long shot. While Virtue and Moir probably had a heavy say in what they performed as seniors, they ultimately were not their own choreographers. By contrast, Christopher Dean had his hands in every part of each routine they did. All of their programs were authentically theirs, not someone else's interpretation of them. However, Virtue and Moir were definitely the better skaters overall. Watching compulsories back, it's amazing how deep their edges are compared to Torvill and Dean, and at a much younger age.
Torvill and Dean were far more dominant in their four years at the top of the world, but it is worth noting that their first few years at the senior level were not a success and had them in the middle of the pack. They were 11th in the 1978 Worlds and 8th at the 1979 Worlds before getting 5th at the 1980 Olympics and deciding to dedicate more time. This could be because they were not completely dedicated to only doing skating in those years, but looking back they weren't particularly remarkable at that time. They did come back a decade after their win and were still very competitive which is a testament to their own talent.
By contrast, Virtue and Moir found success almost straight away at the same time that they were finishing high school and entering college. They were not as dominant over a period of time as Torvill and Dean were, but were consistent over a longer period of time. This on top of the fact that Virtue had an injury that required surgeries that would leave her in crutches for weeks and made walking painful during the 2010 Olympics. They didn't have dominance, but they were one of the best ice dance teams for nearly a decade.
Iconic programs seem about equal overall. Not only did Torvill and Dean have the iconic "Bolero", they also have their Summertime OSP, Mack and Mabel free dance, Paso Doble OSP and their Rhumba original dance. Virtue and Moir have their iconic programs of the 2010 Olympics in their Farrucas original dance and Mahler free dance. They also have their Carmen free dance, Prince short dance and Moulin Rouge free dance. Torvill and Dean's music is reused only to pay tribute to them, and never Bolero. Virtue and Moir's Mahler hasn't been used since 2010.
Today, you'd be hard pressed to find a couple who doesn't look up to Torvill and Dean or think that they are icons of the sport. The many couples who go to Christopher Dean for choreography can attest to that. Yet the same can be said of Virtue and Moir. Many current skaters watched as Virtue and Moir won their first gold (current American ice dancer Evan Bates was actually on the sidelines competing) and at some point have expressed admiration for them. Reigning World Champions Guillaume Cizeron and Gabriella Papadakis were huge fans as youngsters and claimed a Virtue/Moir program was their favorite ever. Reigning World bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue have expressed their admiration of Virtue and Moir's ambition and programs over the years. British ice dancers Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland said that Virtue and Moir were the natural successors of Torvill and Dean. Elena Ilinykh, bronze medalist at the 2014 Olympics, stated her love for the couple after they had won a second time. Tanith Belbin-White, silver medalist at the 2006 Olympics and NBC commentator (as well as the wife to Virtue/Moir's greatest rival in Charlie White), claimed there was no dispute about the greatest of all time: it was Virtue and Moir.
Ultimately, I think these two couples are so equal and are hard to compare. They both changed ice dance in their own ways. Torvill and Dean made much more obvious changes in how programs in general were constructed in ice dance and made the theatrical, unruly event into a legitimate sport. Virtue and Moir kept the roots of ice dance in the new judging system by combining athleticism and artisty and made the sport classy and elegant after years of questionable programs.
Personally, I'm going to give the edge to Torvill and Dean for now. Torvill and Dean have a much more noticeable legacy that's being felt almost forty years after their Bolero free dance. And forty years later, they're still the bar. There has simply not been enough time after Virtue and Moir's second win to really see how much they truly impacted ice dance. However, I wouldn't be surprised if, in ten years, the legacies of the two couples start looking more similar.
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