WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO LEARN THE DISCIPLINE OF SKATING YOU DO?

FSWer

Well-Known Member
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3,885
Ok,I know we have Skaters here who do more then just Freestyle. So...what I want to ask you all today (if you do any other Discipline besides Freestyle is...what inspired you to learn the other Disciplines you do? For eg. if you also do Ice-Dance..what inspired you to become an Ice-Dancer. For me, my inspiration to becoming an Ice-Dancer was from just being attached to Tessa and Scott. How gorgous the Teams in genual are, As well,as all the Gracefulness Ice-Dancing shows. If you do more then 1 other Discipline, please give the inspiration for all. Ok my Skater Friends.... your turn!!!
 

overedge

Mayor of Carrot City
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35,795
@FSWer The basic skills of skating - stroking, edges, balance - are the same in every discipline. Pretty much every skater learns those skills in learn to skate classes or lessons with a coach, and then decides which discipline they want to do. They don't go straight into a specific discipline without learning those basic skills first.

I know that some skaters here do more than one discipline just because they can get more ice time that way - not necessarily because they chose that other discipline or felt drawn to it. Other skaters might have other reasons for doing another discipline. For example some of the male skaters at my rink do ice dance as well as free skate because the ice dance helps them be better free skaters - they have no plans to compete or do tests in ice dance. They can also make a little money as partners for skaters who are doing dance tests.
 

Clarice

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When I started skating I learned basic skills just like everyone does. I wanted to learn how to jump and spin, so I moved on to freestyle skating. I noticed that the skaters who did best in competitions had beautiful skating skills - good edges, smooth stroking, and quiet turns. Most skaters say that ice dancers have the best skating skills, so I decided to learn ice dancing to improve my basic skating. I discovered I really like ice dance, so I don't do much free skating any more. I also do some work in figures - the old figure eight patterns - to improve my edges and turns even more. For me, it's all about becoming a better skater.
 

Yazmeen

All we are saying, is give peace a chance
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5,835
I was inspired by wanting to learn to skate, period. Not by dreams of competing or performing solo or with a partner. I loved watching skating and wanted to do it. And the learning is the fun part, the best part in my opinion. I agree with Clarice, it's all about being a better skater. And having fun doing it.
 

gkelly

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16,441
As a kid I did singles skating, which included both school figures and freestyle.

When I came back as an adult it was while school figures were already gone at the higher levels and being phased out at lower levels. I didn't really want to work on figures, so I started taking ice dance lessons to work on my basic skating skills. And also because I was inspired by the creativity I saw from top ice dance teams on TV in the early 1990s. I was interested in the way two skaters could work around each other to make more interesting shapes and patterns than one skater could do by herself.

But I learned that lower level ice dance is all about skating ballroom-inspired set patterns with a partner of the opposite sex. No room for creativity. And no room for me to have a permanent partner since there are too many women who do ice dance and not enough men to go around.

I strongly disliked the idea that ice dance held up an ideal of being part of a couple and that most participants, including myself, would be left out of that ideal. Also, I had trouble passing one of the bronze dances.

So I stopped ice dancing for almost 20 years and focused on freestyle, and Moves in the Field testing.

Then my body got older and I got some injuries that meant I couldn't jump and spin any more to do freestyle I and couldn't master the next levels of Moves in the Field to pass more tests.

So I went back to ice dancing once a week with an ice dance coach and I have passed a couple more adult-track dance tests with him partnering me.

And I've also been doing Light Entertainment and Dramatic Entertainment programs with my singles coach. So finally I get to be creative.
 

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