A Guide To Artistic Roller SkatingArtistic skating demands from its skaters a careful balance of strength, precision and artistry all wrapped up into a single, breathtaking performance. The results, as spectacular to watch as they are to perform, demonstrate a master of the sport in all its subtleness. The breadth of artistic skating is also reflected in the diversity of its members. Skaters of all ages and gender are attracted to artistic skating, finding any number of challenges to inspire them to reach individual goals - from a beginners class to world-championship level. This diversity, both in appeal and participants, has made artistic skating the largest division of competitive roller skating in the United States. Skaters enter artistic events in one or more categories: Figures, Singles Freestyle, Pairs Freestyle and Dance. They are judged on content and manner of performance. This includes the skater's ability to do the identifiable, difficult content items, like jumps, spins and footwork; while utilizing those movements in artistic interpretation of the accompanying music. |
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Figures
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Figure skating demands tracing accuracy, body control and intense concentration. Each skater retraces a series of figure patterns - combining a variety of difficult take-offs, edges and turns - on a set of circles painted on the skating surface. Figure skating, considered the basis of all skating, teaches balance and control. Skaters at the national level devote hours of silent and demanding practice each week to attain their success. |
SinglesSingles free skating demands creativity, technical agility and virtuosity. The objective is for skaters to freely integrate the essential ingredients of artistic skating - jumps, spins and footwork with music to create a performance which embraces the realms of both sport and art. Judges look for speed and height in jumps, control, velocity and a variety of positions in spins and originality and confidence in the footwork segments used to connect each item in the program. These elements are scored as technical merit. Manner of performance reflects the skater's poise, showmanship and expression during a performance. The basic jumps, thanks to the International Olympic Committee for these illustrations, were shown on the link to the Nagano Winter OlympicsWeb site. Finding these diagrams on that site is not the easiest, nor is the download all that quick, so you may view the jump diagrams on a link that I have made available on this page. In addition, if you want to get a complete look at the various rotation and edge requirements for all of the jumps officially recognized, then you can check these pages from a judges training guide published by RSA for thier achievement judge's training program. PairsPairs skating involves all the difficulty of singles skating and complicates the procedure by adding a partner. Synchronicity is the key to pairs skating. Partners mirror or shadow each other as they move through their program, striving for the perfect conversion of music to movement by executing simultaneous spins, jumps and footwork, punctuated by exciting and physically demanding overhead lifts. Contestants in this event are also scored according to both technical merit and manner of performance. |
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Dance
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Dance skaters may select one of two styles of competition. American dance
events involve skating a series of compulsory dances - each with its own specific sequence
of steps and rhythms - in elimination and final rounds. Compulsory dances are performed by
mixed couples in team dance events and individually in solo dance events. In World Class Dance, performances in the compulsory dance portions (compulsory and original set pattern dances) serve as eliminations to determine which teams will advance to the final free dance segment. In the dance events, the judges look for timing, posture, accuracy of the steps and musical impression. The second stage of the compulsory segment is the original set pattern dance. The OSP requires the team to create their own original dance along guidelines similar to the compulsory dances. Scores from the OSP and compulsory segments are then totalled to determine which teams qualify for the final free dance segment. In the free dance, teams skate their own original choreography to music of their choice. Each team tailors its program with music and moves best suited to the skaters' particular skating style. The judges focus on creativity, step execution and musical interpretation in determining the best overall team. The stakes and tension are high in this event, as teams push their skating ability to the limit in a quest to earn gold medals. |
