Choreographic sequence

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A choreographic sequence is a required element for figure skating in all international competitions. It is required in the free skating programs of senior and junior single skaters and in the free skating programs of senior pair skaters. It is also required during ice dancers' rhythm dances and free dances. Judges do not evaluate individual elements in a choreographic sequence; rather, they note that it was accomplished. Skaters must fulfill certain requirements to fulfill the highest points possible during choreographic sequences. There are six types of choreographic elements in ice dance: the Choreographic lift, the Choreographic spinning movement, the Choreographic assisted jump movement, the Choreographic twizzling movement, the Choreographic sliding movement, and the Choreographic character step sequence.

Contents

Background

A choreographic sequence is a required element for figure skating in all international competitions. [1] According to the International Skating Union (ISU), the organization that oversees the sport, a choreographic sequence "consists of any kind of movements like steps, turns, spirals, arabesques, spread eagles, Ina Bauers, hydroblading, any jumps with maximum of 2 revolutions, spins, etc." [2] Senior single skaters and junior and senior pair skaters must include one choreographic sequence in their free skating programs. [3] The ISU may require the element in ice dancers' rhythm dances; it is always required during their free dances. [4]

Judges do not evaluate individual elements in a choreographic sequence; rather, they note that it was accomplished. [5] For example, any spin or any single and double jumps included in a choreographic sequence are not included in the final score. If a skater performs a jump with more than two revolutions, the sequence is considered ended. [6] There are no restrictions, but the sequence must be clearly visible. The technical panel identifies when a choreographic sequence begins, at its first movement, and ends, which occurs when the skater prepares to perform the next element if it is not the last element of the program. It can be executed before or after the step sequence. [5]

Single skaters must include the following in order to earn the highest points possible during choreographic sequences: it must have originality and creativity, the sequence must match the music; and their performance must be effortless throughout the entire sequence, with good energy, execution, and flow. They must also have the following: good precision and clarity; skaters must use the entire ice surface; and skaters must demonstrate "excellent commitment" and control of their whole body while performing their choreographic sequences. [7] Pair skaters, in order to earn the most points possible, must include the following: it must have originality and creativity; the sequence must match the music and reflect the program's concept and character; and demonstrate effortlessness of the element as a sequence. They must also do the following: use the entire ice surface; demonstrate good unison between the partners; and demonstrate "excellent commitment" and control of the whole body. [8]

Choreographic elements in ice dance

There are six types of choreographic elements in ice dance. The Choreographic lift is a dance lift lasting from a minimum of three seconds to a maximum of ten seconds. It must be performed after all the other required dance lifts. Teams can execute the Choreographic spinning movement at any time during their program and both partners must perform at least two continuous rotations in any hold. The partners must also be on the same axis, which may be moving, and must be executed on either one foot, two feet, when the partner is elevated for less than two rotations, or a combination of the three. A Choreographic assisted jump movement is at least three assisted jump movements (the same or different), performed at any time during the program and performed continuously, one after the other. The assisted partner, who can be either the man or the woman, must not rotate over one rotation in each assisted jump movement by the partner doing the assisting and the assisted partner must be off the ice for less than three seconds. The Choreographic twizzling movement is performed after the required set of twizzles. It is composed of two parts. For the first part, there must be at least two continuous rotations performed at the same time and both partners must be travelling (i.e., "cannot be on the spot"). [9] For the second part, at least one partner must perform at least two continuous rotations, with a maximum of three steps between the first and second twizzling movement. Either one or both partners can be on the spot or traveling, or a combination of both. Both parts must be on one foot, two feet, or a combination of both. [9]

The Choreographic sliding movement is "a controlled sliding movement across the ice on a part of the body by either partner". [10] It must last for at least two seconds, and ice dance teams may execute it at any time during the program, at the same time, and on any part of the body. [9] The ISU states that "the start and ending of the Choreographic Sliding Movement does not have to be performed simultaneously". [9] It can be performed in hold or not touching, or a combination of both, and can also rotate. If the skaters complete, as a stop, a controlled sliding movement on two knees or if they sit and/or lie on the ice, it will be deemed as a Choreographic sliding movement and a deduction for a fall and/or illegal element will be applied. The Choreographic character step sequence, which may be executed at any time in the program, must be done around the rink's short axis (within ten meters on either side of the short axis) and must be skated from barrier to barrier (when at least one partner is not over two meters from each barrier). It can be executed while either in hold or not touching, and a dance team can touch the ice, with controlled movements, with any part of their body. They can be a maximum of four arms lengths, or four meters, apart. [9]

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Ice dance is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. According to the International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of figure skating, an ice dance team consists of one woman and one man.

Figure skating jumps are an element of three competitive figure skating disciplines: men's singles, women's singles, and pair skating – but not ice dancing. Jumping in figure skating is "relatively recent". They were originally individual compulsory figures, and sometimes special figures; many jumps were named after the skaters who invented them or from the figures from which they were developed. It was not until the early part of the 20th century, well after the establishment of organized skating competitions, when jumps with the potential of being completed with multiple revolutions were invented and when jumps were formally categorized. In the 1920s Austrian skaters began to perform the first double jumps in practice. Skaters experimented with jumps, and by the end of the period, the modern repertoire of jumps had been developed. Jumps did not have a major role in free skating programs during international competitions until the 1930s. During the post-war period and into the 1950s and early 1960s, triple jumps became more common for both male and female skaters, and a full repertoire of two-revolution jumps had been fully developed. In the 1980s men were expected to complete four or five difficult triple jumps, and women had to perform the easier triples. By the 1990s, after compulsory figures were removed from competitions, multi-revolution jumps became more important in figure skating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Figure skating spins</span> Element in competitve figure skating

Spins are an element in figure skating in which the skater rotates, centered on a single point on the ice, while holding one or more body positions. They are performed by all disciplines of the sport, single skating, pair skating, and ice dance, and are a required element in most figure skating competitions. As The New York Times says, "While jumps look like sport, spins look more like art. While jumps provide the suspense, spins provide the scenery, but there is so much more to the scenery than most viewers have time or means to grasp". According to world champion and figure skating commentator Scott Hamilton, spins are often used "as breathing points or transitions to bigger things"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchronized skating</span> Ice skating discipline

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pair skating</span> Discipline of figure skating

Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating as compared with independent Single Skating". The ISU also states that a pairs team consists of "one Woman and one Man". Pair skating, along with men's and women's single skating, has been an Olympic discipline since figure skating, the oldest Winter Olympic sport, was introduced at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The ISU World Figure Skating Championships introduced pair skating in 1908.

The ISU Judging System or the International Judging System (IJS), occasionally referred to as the Code of Points (COP) system, is the scoring system that has been used since 2004 to judge the figure skating disciplines of men's and ladies' singles, pair skating, ice dance, and synchronized skating. It was designed and implemented by the International Skating Union (ISU), the ruling body of the sport.

The following is a glossary of figure skating terms, sorted alphabetically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single skating</span> Discipline of figure skating

Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport contested at the Olympics, with men's and women's single skating appearing as two of the four figure skating events at the London Games in 1908.

The short program of figure skating is the first of two segments of competitions, skated before the free skating program. It lasts, for both senior and junior singles and pair skaters, 2 minutes and 40 seconds. In synchronized skating, for both juniors and seniors, the short program lasts 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Vocal music with lyrics is allowed for all disciplines since the 2014-2015 season. The short program for single skaters and for pair skaters consists of seven required elements, and there are six required elements for synchronized skaters.

The free skating segment of figure skating, also called the free skate and the long program, is the second of two segments of competitions, skated after the short program. Its duration, across all disciplines, is four minutes for senior skaters and teams, and three and one-half minutes for junior skaters and teams. Vocal music with lyrics is allowed for all disciplines since the 2014—2015 season. The free skating program, across all disciplines, must be well-balanced and include certain elements described and published by the International Skating Union (ISU).

The 6.0 system of judging figure skating was developed during the early days of the sport, when early international competitions consisted of only compulsory figures. Skaters performed each figure three times on each foot, for a total of six, which as writer Ellyn Kestnbaum states, "gave rise to the system of awarding marks based on a standard of 6.0 as perfection". It was used in competitive figure skating until 2004, when it was replaced by the ISU Judging System in international competitions, as a result of the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal. British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean earned the most overall 6.0s in ice dance, Midori Ito from Japan has the most 6.0s in single skating, and Irina Rodnina from Russia, with two different partners, has the most 6.0s in pair skating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Figure skating lifts</span> Figure skating technique

Figure skating lifts are required elements in two disciplines of figure skating, pair skating and ice dance. There are five groups of lifts in pair skating, categorized in order of increasing level of difficulty. Judges look for the following when evaluating pair lifts: speed of entry and exit; control of the woman's free leg when she is exiting out of the lift, with the goal of keeping the leg high and sweeping; the position of the woman in the air; the man's footwork; quick and easy changes of position; and the maintenance of flow throughout the lift. Twist lifts are "the most thrilling and exciting component in pair skating". They can also be the most difficult movement to perform correctly. They require more strength and coordination than many other pair elements, and are usually the first or second element in a program. According to the International Skating Union (ISU), "the Woman must be caught in the air at the waist by the Man prior to landing and be assisted to a smooth landing on the ice on a backward outside edge on one foot" during a twist lift. A pair lift and twist lift is required in the short program of pair skating; a well-balanced free skating program in pair skating must include lifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free dance (ice dance)</span> Segment in an ice dancing competition

The free dance (FD) is a segment of an ice dance competition, the second contested. It follows the rhythm dance (RD). Skaters perform "a creative dance program blending dance steps and movements expressing the character/rhythm(s) of the dance music chosen by the couple". Its duration is four minutes for senior ice dancers, and 3.5 minutes for juniors. French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron hold the highest recorded international FD score of 137.09 points.

British Ice Skating is the national governing body of ice skating within the United Kingdom. Formed in 1879, it is responsible for overseeing all disciplines of ice skating: figure skating ; synchronised skating; and speed skating.

The upright spin is one of the three basic figure skating spin positions. The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of figure skating, defines an upright spin as a spin with "any position with the skating leg extended or slightly bent which is not a camel position". It was invented by British figure skater Cecilia Colledge. Variations of the upright spin include the layback spin, the Biellmann spin, the full layback, the split, the back upright spin, the forward upright spin, the scratchspin, and the sideways leaning spin.

A step sequence is a required element in all four disciplines of figure skating, men's single skating, women's single skating, pair skating, and ice dance. Step sequences have been defined as "steps and turns in a pattern on the ice". Skaters earn the most points in step sequences by performing steps and movements with "flair and personality", by turning in both directions, by using one foot and then the other, and by including up and down movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Competition elements in ice dance</span>

Ice dance, a discipline of figure skating, has required elements that make up a well-balanced rhythm dance program and free dance program, which must be performed during competitions. They include: the dance lift, the dance spin, the step sequence, turn sequences, and choreographic elements. The elements must be performed in specific ways, as described by published communications by the International Skating Union (ISU), unless otherwise specified. The ISU has also provided a list of illegal movements.

The rhythm dance (RD) is the first segment of an ice dance competition. The International Skating Union (ISU) renamed the short dance to the "rhythm dance" in June 2018, prior to the 2018–2019 season. It became part of international competitions in July 2018. French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron hold the highest RD score of 90.83 points, which they achieved at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

References

  1. ↑ S&P/ID 2021, p. 107, 115, 127
  2. ↑ S&P/ID 2021, p. 109
  3. ↑ S&P/ID 2021, pp. 107, 115
  4. ↑ S&P/ID 2021, pp. 139, 142
  5. 1 2 S&P/ID 2021, pp. 109, 117
  6. ↑ "Technical Panel Handbook: Single Skating 2022/2023". International Skating Union. 15 July 2022. p. 6. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  7. ↑ ISU 2334, p. 8
  8. ↑ ISU 2334, p. 9
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Communication No. 2468: Ice Dance". Lausanne, Switzerland: International Skating Union. 19 April 2022. p. 7. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  10. ↑ Walker, Elvin (19 September 2018). "New Season New Rules". International Figure Skating. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

Works cited

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