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Figure skating for the intermediate and advanced student falls
into five very distinct categories:
Each of these types has its own series
of tests that measure proficiency at each level. Competitive
skaters must test in order to progress to higher test levels
and to qualify for certain competitions. But you may be a recreational
skater (noncompetitive) and still participate in all types of
figure skating.
This is the type of ice skating that most everyone thinks of
when figure skating is mentioned, and it has been popularized
by the Olympic and World competitions.
Free style consists of jumps, spins, and other maneuvers connected
by footwork into a program that is skated to music. Competitive
and test programs need only contain certain prescribed elements
that are specific for the particular level, leaving the skater
wide latitude in choosing music, costume, and the program design
itself. At the highest levels of competition, a skater can choose
from approximately 35 different jumps and 15 different spins,
which can be put together in various combinations.
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Pair Skating is a variation of free style skating wherein two
skaters skate a program in unison. It began as merely a male
and female skating together and was later to take two different
paths; one leading to what we know today as pair skating, the
other to what is known as ice dancing.
The jumps, spins, and footwork of free style skating all appear
in our current definition of pair skating, but the presence
of two skaters allows them to do lifts as well as additional
types of spins (e.g., death spirals) and jumps (e.g., throw
jumps).
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Ice Dancing developed from the original type of pair skating.
Men and women began doing ballroom dancing on the ice, and that
development still forms the basis for this branch of figure
skating today. The emphasis is on edges, footwork, and coordination
of side-by-side movements. No jumps, extended spins, or lifts
above a certain height are allowed in competition. The skaters
must stay within a certain distance of each other.
There are compulsory dances, which consist of a series of required
steps to a specific type of music. The pattern is repeated several
times around the rink. These dances are the ones that most closely
resemble actual ballroom dances. Original set-pattern dances
are compulsory dances that permit the skater's own choreography,
but the dance must follow the structure of prescribed compulsory
dances.
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Moves-in-the-Field have been added to the individual free skating
tests to help the skater with stroking, balance, style, form,
and flow. Music is not used. The structure consists of eight
tests, which parallel the revised free skating tests. At the
lowest level the moves consist of stroking and edges. At the
higher levels more complex turns are gradually introduced.
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The newest category in figure skating is synchronized skating.
Teams of skaters, made up of 12 to 32 skaters of both sexes
and grouped according to age, perform choreographed routines
to music. The routines consist of lines, boxes, wheels, and
other patterns reminiscent of those done by marching bands.
Synchronized skating has rapidly become very popular within
the last ten years, and the U.S. Figure Skating now sanctions
a national competition. There are over 500 teams competing worldwide.
The International Ice Centre offers instruction in all of these
areas of intermediate and advanced skating. And we have the
newest and most comprehensive facilities in the Chicagoland
area.
In addition to the most extensive schedule of contract ice
and practice times, IIC offers several unique features all with
daily availability:
- A pre-skate warm-up space
- Ballet training area
- Off-Ice conditioning and weight training
- Separate rinks for Dance & Moves and Free Style jumps
practice
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