Diane Towler & Bernard Ford - 1967 Worlds FD

It is with great sadness that we hear of the passing of Ice Dance legend Bernard Ford early this week. He, along with Diane were and are, British skating legends and they revolutionised the sport of ice dance. This performance represented the world debut of their Zorba FD and with it, a complete shift in how the free dance could be presented, which paved the way for all that came after.
On a side note, Bernard was probably the first skater I was able to help find footage for and I still have the lovely thank you letter he sent to me. Only a few weeks ago he was commenting on this channel and sharing memories of his early days training alongside a young John Curry in Birmingham. RIP Bernard.

[@larhumba4233]

🖤😢 Such sad news. RIP Bernard. It is thanks to British Ice Dancers like Bernard Ford, Sue & Roy Bradshaw and the Lanes who brought the discipline up to where it is in Canada today. What a wonderful exhilirating Free Dance that was, with the very first Assisted Jumps, which the ID Technical Committee introduced as an element in the Free Dance this past season. You can clearly see how Ford & Towler influenced TorvillandDean. Such a marvellous legacy of which we are very proud. Thank you Flo for marking this sad news with a beautiful write up, and allowing us to pay tribute to a Legend. ❤

[@ddjr6673]

How sad to read of his passing - what a truly great free dance and a wonderful performance. Thank you so much for this video (and who gave them 5.6?!)

[@floskate]

The French judge. This free dance was revolutionary at the time. They introduced so many elements into free dance as a discipline and like with any big changes, some are resistant to it. Of the 7 judges, two had them second to the American's Lorna Dyer & John Carroll I believe. A year later they were getting 6.0's for the same free dance. I guess by then they were used to the new style. But this is the dance that opened the door to what was to come.

[@patmcgillivray1926]

Bernard Ford was my dance coach. What a master!! He started coaching at Toronto Cricket when he first came to Canada. He had us all train to the ISU music..how much better that was for Sr Silver & Gold dances.

[@davidprice3218]

I had my first icedance lessons from diane towler. My coach was peri Horne who taught diane and hilary green and glyn watts. RIP bernard Ford. I used to skate at streatham icerink with Pippa and candice diane's twin daughters! Diane and bernard were truly sensational skaters. My coach peri Horne invented the starlight waltz and silver samba knew bernard Ford very well. She taught diane as a little girl. Bernard Ford invented the cha cha congelado.

[@ГалинаДмитриевна-о6е]

Спасибо большое! Когда-то для меня они были кумиры!Они стоили того! Да и сейчас это можно признать! Супер!👍👍👍🎉🎉🎉🌹🌹🌹

[@dumdeedumlalala]

Lots of great tidbits! From this wonderful freedance, to receiving scores while on the ice (no kiss and cry), to judges walking to the ice with their scores in hand. Didn't realize Troll Dolls existed back then! Thanks for sharing this video and your anecdotes!

[@callmeerrol]

@dumdeedumlalala, we also had "Wishnics" back then (I turned 10 in 1967). They were basically trolls, but I think they had horseshoes or something stamped on the bottom of their feet. Information I'm sure you desperately needed to have! 😁

[@romankotov9914]

Let's not forget that these are the two people who had invented modern ice dancing. Without them there wouldn't be Pakhomova/Gorshokov, Moiseeva/Minenkov or Torvill/Dean

[@АлексейВозьмилов-у6г]

А в 1968 г на Играх в Гренобле отдельно танцы на льду представляли Таулер и Форд и Пахомова и Горшков перед членами МОК. Как показательные выступления. МОК после этого и ввел в 1976 г танцы в программу Игр в Инсбруке.

[@sk8rjer]

Indeed a blessing to watch this! And yes, thanks for sharing!

[@jenniferbeattie6861]

Wot, no sixes?! It’s a shame ice dancing wasn’t in the Winter Olympics until 1976.

[@floskate]

They got three 6.0's a year later at the 1968 Worlds in Geneva.

[@jenniferbeattie6861]

@@floskate Many thanks for your reply; very much appreciated.

[@TroysPop]

I best remember Bernard Ford as coach of Wilson and McCall. They are still one of my favorite ice dance couples, next to Blumberg and Seibert.

[@ЭлеонораЭшанкулова]

Я ИХ ПОМНЮ

[@martypellow9908]

Thank you very much for posting FloSkate. He was my first skating teacher and I remember him fondly.

[@sedekiman824]

Seamless choreography-beautiful style.

[@Календула-р8ф]

❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉

[@gaylesmith7849]

Lovely, thanks for this!

[@timothyhh]

Always thought I'd read about this program but never see it and now here it is! She reminds me a lot of another dancer you've shared with us - Janet Sawbridge. Or I guess the other way around. What is the story with the oversized troll doll?

[@floskate]

Not sure about the troll, maybe an event mascot? Diane and Janet both took from Gladys Hogg around this time so that might explain it. Janet and Bernie Ford were both from Birmingham and grew up skating at the same rink. In 1968 when British teams swept the board at Worlds, Gladys trained all three medalling teams. She was a one woman IAM of her day!! Janet I always found to be very vivacious on the ice. She was a born performer.

[@m.m.9684]

Thnk you.