But over the past few years, that has changed.

It has been 30 years since an ice dance team from the United States has won an Olympic medal. Colleen O'Connor and Jim Millns won a bronze medal in 1976, the year the ice dancing made its debut at the Games. But here, there is one couple, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, that can break that drought. When they skate, they sizzle.

Maybe it is because Belbin did not become a United States citizen until Dec. 31, just in time to be eligible for the Olympics. Whatever the reason, she and Agosto have a good chance of winning a medal. Last year, they won silver at the world championships, the highest finish by a United States dance team since 1975.

In the compulsory dance Friday, they finished sixth but are only 1.42 points out of first place.

In the United States, ballroom dancing has taken off in recent years, particularly with the popularity of television shows like "Dancing With the Stars" and movies like "Mad Hot Ballroom," a film that follows 11-year-olds from three New York City public schools as they prepare for and compete in a citywide ballroom dancing contest. On the film's Web site, the motto is, "Anyone can make it if they learn how to shake it."

"When we first started, it was kind of discouraging that only our family and friends came to watch, but now there is a crowd there," Belbin said of ice dance events in the United States. She added that people seemed to be flocking to her sport because they could relate to it.

"I think at home, everyone dances around in their underwear," she said.

On Sunday, fans at the Palavela will see exactly which ice dancers have learned how to shake it, this time to Latin music.