VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — It's no surprise that Russian ice dancers Maxim Shabalin and Oksana Domnina have the lead after the first round of ice dancing — after all, they're world champions. But the rest of the competition won't be a coronation.

Though the Russians have a habit of building up big leads in compulsories, less than three points separate the top four couples, a margin teenier than some of those outfits the women were wearing Friday. That gap can easily be made up in Sunday's original dance and Monday's free dance.

"We are satisfied with our skating today," Shabalin said. "We were working very hard these last three weeks and we feel more confident than at Europeans, and we are optimistic about what we'll see the next few days."

The Russians' tango romantica earned 43.76 points for a highly expressive program that also gave them high marks for interpretation.

Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, medalists at the last two world championships, are just 1.02 points behind the Russians. Americans and Grand Prix final winners and Michigan students Meryl Davis and Charlie White are third, followed by 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates, who train with the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club, are 14th.

Rarely are there upsets in compulsory dance, which often means a Russian couple in first place. Either a Russian or Soviet dance team has won all but two gold medals since the sport was added to the Olympics in 1976.

There's been rumblings about ditching compulsories after the Vancouver Games, and you'll have to look hard to find many who'll shed a tear over the loss. That would have saved everyone Friday from three mind-numbing hours of dancers doing the exact same tango romantica, in the exact same pattern, to the same few pieces of music. It's like "Groundhog Day," minus Bill Murray — and the laughs.

"If this is the last time we perform compulsory dances, awesome. That would be great," Belbin said. "Good riddance."

But compulsories, much like the old school figures for singles skaters, give ice dancers the foundation for their sport, regardless of how dull they are when seen in bunches. Eliminate them, and there's little to really distinguish one team from another, Shabalin said.

"I don't see the big difference between the original and free dances because the difference is only the time and little restrictions in the (program)," he said. "I feel there's a big difference between compulsories and the original dance and the free program because in the same steps, you will show your level of skating."

The top four couples were so close Friday, fans had a hard time seeing why one was better than another. It came down to whose pattern was bigger, whose movements had more of that tango arrogance, who sold the dance better.

And just when fans were ready to drop off, Virtue and Moir livened up the place with an emotion-packed performance to close out the night. Their defiant dance had the fans clapping in unison long before they finished, and they remained in character for 15 seconds before breaking into wide smiles and taking deep bows to all four sides of the Pacific Coliseum, even saluting the fans in the cheap seats.

"As I said to Tessa, we've been training for this moment all our lives," Moir said.

The ice — and the arena itself — could heat up Sunday night.

Ice dance oozes drama — and that's just what goes on off the ice. Someone's always unhappy about something, and the ensuing chatter is often as entertaining as the competitions themselves. This year it's been Domnina and Shabalin stirring the pot with their Aboriginal-themed original dance.

Some Australian aboriginal leaders have called it offensive cultural theft, with inauthentic steps and gaudy costumes. The music includes a didgeridoo riff, and Domnina and Shabalin wear brown-toned costumes adorned with leaves and white Aboriginal-style markings.

In the original dance, couples can create any kind of dance that falls within an assigned theme. This year's theme is country/folk.

Domnina and Shabalin met with members of Canada's Four Host First Nations after they arrived Monday. The group had also expressed concerns about the Russians' original dance, but the meeting went so well the group even gave the ice dancers traditional red, white and black blankets, which the couple wore after their performance Friday night.

"They said it should cover our hearts and keep us from any bad things," Shabalin said, "so we were very pleased with that."