How a Skater Progresses

Figures are where we start a skater learning to balance on one foot with immense precision. Think of "figure eights." Many skating rinks have figure circles drawn on the floor for skaters to practice on. 

Figure events at competitions are usually the first events new skaters are ready for. They offer the experience of the skater being lead to know what to do next by me as their coach, standing nearby on the floor with them. Then after they practiced, they go in front of the judges and perform their figures to receive a score. The skater with the highest score wins. Figures are a great first step for new skaters to understand what skating competitions is like as they get experience in front of the judges and to learn the basics technical fundamentals of the sport. 

In ballet, every other dance form is built off of it. In skating, many skills are developed on the basis of knowing figures which is why figures are considered "the ballet of skating." Many times the skater does figures and moves on to also doing dance. The skater does these two disicplines for about 2 years before adding the final disciple: freedance or freestyle.

Similar to ballroom dancing, dance skating follows set steps (patterns) on the floor and requires the skater to move in beat with the tempo of a song. 

Necessary for disciplining the body in balance and training the ear to hear the beats, dance skating is the skill often neglected by those who wish to move on to full routines filled with tricks. 

Dance skating feels radical to the beginner skater because it is so different than dancing on foot. One does not step forward to move forward in skating, one pushes forward. The simple act of pushing correctly can take months to develop. The beginning process of learning to dance skate usually takes 2 competition years. The skater should be competiting in figures as well in order to advance in dance. Once a skater masters their body by being able to stay balanced while skating forward and backwards and performing the dance patterns, they are ready to move on to creating a full freestyle or freedance routine! 

This is where the skater moves from learning the technical aspects of the sport to applying them for choreographed routines including jumps, spins, and footwork sequences. The main difference between freedance and freestyle is that freedance has fewer jumps and spins but more footwork than freestyle. Both are challenging events and are a beautiful chance for the skater to express themselves.

Staying in the advanced class throughout the process of taking private lessons and competition is important once the skater moves to this step. For competition skaters, the advanced class is where they work on their skills to do tricks. Tricks given to the non-competition skaters can be upgraded to competition-level footwork, jumps, and spins. I advance the competition skaters by challenging them to do these harder requirements in class so that one day when they get to this stage, they have a foundation of tricks to implement in their freedance or freestyle routine. 

The skater needs to keep up on their figure and dance skills in order to advance their routines year by year. Everything works together to create a high-speed, exciting routine that the skater can connect with, be challenged by, and be the best skater they can be.