FS Archive

Examples of figure skating from weak to good, for each discipline and synchronised skating.

Definition: The personal and creative translation of the music to movement on ice. To reward the skater who through movement creates a personal and creative translation of the music. As the tempo binds all notes in time, the ability to use the tempos and rhythms of the music in a variety of ways, along with the subtle use of finesse to reflect the nuances of all the fundamentals of music: melody, rhythm, harmony, color, texture, and form creates a mastery of interpretation. Criteria: - Effortless Movements in Time to the Music (Timing) Note: Timing is a separate component in Compulsory Dances. The ability to translate music through sureness of rhythm, tempo, effective movement, and effortless flow over the ice surface by: rhythmic continuity, awareness of all tempo/rhythm changes in a variety of ways. - Expression of the music’s style, character, and rhythm Maintaining the character and style of the music throughout the entire program by use of body and skating techniques to depict a mood, style, shape, or thematic idea as motivated by the structure of the music: melody, harmony, rhythm, color, texture, and form. The total involvement of the body and being should express the intent of the music. - Use of finesse to reflect the nuances of music. Finesse is the skater’s refined, artful manipulation of nuances. Nuances are the personal, artistic ways of bringing subtle variations to the intensity, tempo, and dynamics of the music made by the composer and/or the musician. - Relationship between the partners reflecting the character of the music. Interpretive unison is an equal partnership with the same degree of sensitivity between partners not only to the music, but also to the equal understanding of the music’s nuances. There is an intimacy between the partners that is characterized by a feeling of “surrender” to the music and possibly to each other that creates an entity greater than the two of them. - Appropriateness of music (original dance and free dance)

Examples of figure skating from weak to good, for each discipline and synchronised skating.

Definition: An intentional, developed, and/or original arrangement of all movements according to the principles of proportion, unity, space, pattern, structure, and phrasing. Criteria: - Purpose: (Idea, concept, vision, mood) To reward the intentional and quality design of a program. - Proportion (equal weight of all parts) Each part and section has equal weight in achieving the aesthetic pursuit of the composition. - Unity – purposeful threading of all movements A program achieves unity when: every step, movement, and element is motivated by the music. As well, all its parts, big or small, seem necessary to the whole, and there is an underlying vision or symbolic meaning that threads together the entire composition. - Utilization of Personal and Public Space Movement phrases are distributed in such a way they communicate from every angle in a 360 degree skater-viewer relationship. - Pattern and Ice Coverage Movement phrases are designed using an interesting and meaningful variety of patterns and directions of travel. - Phrasing and Form (movement and parts are structured to match the phrasing of music) A phrase is a unit of movement marked by an impulse of energy that grows, builds, finds a conclusion, and then flows easily and naturally into the next movement phrase. Form is the presentation of an idea, the development of the idea, and its conclusion presented in a specific number of parts and a specific order for design. - Originality of Purpose, Movement, and Design Originality involves an individual perspective of movement and design in pursuit of a creative composition as inspired by the music and the underlying vision. - Shared Responsibility of Purpose (Pair Skating, Ice Dancing, and Synchronized) Each skater has equal roles in achieving the aesthetic pursuit of the composition with equal steps, movements, and a sense of purpose in unifying the composition.