What is skating - art or sport?

[shepherdess]

This is just a bit of a fun question, how should we define ice skating - is it an art or a sport?  Think about it.... It's very like ballet on ice, ballet has jumps, arabesque's (spirals) spins and can be very athletic.  Yet most people would say ice skating is a sport.  My instincts (as a British skater) are that ballet involves far more snobbery than ice skating and wouldn't seem anywhere near as attractive to the 'refined' upper and middle class English if it were called a 'sport'.  So why is ice skating different? What do you think?

[Query]

Yes.

To both.



I'll even grant that Ballet is more than a sport; it has some artistic elements. Even though they move funny. 

[riley876]

Depends entirely on the context.

I would venture to say that if it's scored, it's a sport.

And if anyone cares how it looks (vs. say long jump, where only the final number matter), then it's art.

Ballroom dancing is probably not considered by most a sport by most, but it certainly has competitions and judging and scoring etc.  So I'd call it a sport, when it's done in competitions.   Ditto skating competitions.

Skating can certainly just be an art too, e.g. ice shows, or even just little Sally showing off her spiral in a practice session.

[Doubletoe]

I would say that competitive figure skating is a sport with a strong artistic aspect, while show skating is an art with a strong athletic aspect.
The fact that figure skating requires both athleticism and artistry is what will keep people arguing over judging systems until the end of time!

[Query]

I think most sports have an artistic aspect, like the art of a perfectly executed hockey strategy, and that most sports have an artistic element - like the art and grace of a perfect long jump. And that "sports" don't have to be competitive.

It's silly to view art and sport as exclusive - or to worry about labels in the first place.

I saw a lady, that I've mentioned before on this forum, doing amazing things at an ice rink, who said she'd only skated for ten months. She told me she had never gone out for a sport. At first, she she didn't mention that she'd been a professional ballerina. When she did, she claimed that Ballet was an Art - so it didn't count as a sport.

Obviously, she was just funning me. She knew that professional performance Dance has all the aspects of a very competitive sport. And that skating has all the aspects of an art.

[Doubletoe]

This just in, courtesy of International Figure Skating on Facebook:

"ISU judge David Molina tweeted this news earlier today: Strong rumor at highest level: ice dance may no longer be @Olympics discipline. It would be such a pity!! Decision on June 5th @ IOC meeting."

So, apparently, somebody on the Olympic Committee does not consider ice dance a sport!

[icedancer]

Wow, that would be terrible!!  Especially since we FINALLY have Olympic Gold Medal in dance!!

Hope they vote this thing down.

P.S. Skating is sport and art.

[Laneybug7]

Both, but more importantly skating is a way of life!

[PhysicsOnIce]

I would say that skating is SUPPOSE to be a combination of both. However, I really do think that since the IJS was put in place we are loosing a lot of the artistic aspects and making it much more into a sport concentrated on Jumps and Contortionistic (is that even a word) Spins. You don't really see programs like Phillipe Candeloro's D'artgana ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGyPUXHrNA  ) or Oksana Baiul's Black Swan ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GDdHQmcK7g ) which really transmit a character and/or theme. I really feel like now days even top level skaters are skating with music rather than to music.

[FigureSpins]

I'll be the devil's advocate who says that figure skating is imbalanced towards artistry moreso than sport.  It's not enough to jump high, complete revolutions, spin long and in varied positions - you have to make it look easy and tell a story.  It is a reason that many people shy away from the sport for themselves and their children, along with the expense. 

When the Team Challenge was introduced, I was disappointed that it didn't highlight the athleticism required for skating.  I would have liked to see jump and spin competitions with measurable judging criteria that can eliminate the subjectivity involved with artistry.

[FigureSpins]

Eliminate ice dancing?  That's just crazy talk!  I could see pairs and ice dance being combined since so many people ask "what's the difference?"  (I know the differences but the free dance programs are just as awesome as pairs without the headbangers, detroiters, throw jumps, etc.)

[icedancer]

I'll be the devil's advocate who says that figure skating is imbalanced towards artistry moreso than sport.  It's not enough to jump high, complete revolutions, spin long and in varied positions - you have to make it look easy and tell a story.  It is a reason that many people shy away from the sport for themselves and their children, along with the expense. 

It's so funny that you wrote this BECAUSE just as I was looking at this thread title I thought about Theater on Ice and how that is definitely more artistry than sport AND one of our coaches started a Theater on Ice Class BECAUSE of kids who wanted skate but she knew that their families couldn't really afford the whole competition skating track and she wanted them to enjoy a part of skating.

And NO Pairs and Dance should not be combined LOL!  That being said, the pairs skaters could learn a LOT about skating if they learned to dance.

Just my 2 cents.

[AgnesNitt]

The only places I've seen this reported is Molina's tweet and GoldenSkate forums. If you go over there you'll see it's been multiply denied by others in ISU.

[Query]

free dance programs are just as awesome as pairs without the headbangers, detroiters, throw jumps, etc.

BTW Headbangers and Detroiters are currently banned.

[PinkLaces]

I'll be the devil's advocate who says that figure skating is imbalanced towards artistry moreso than sport.  It's not enough to jump high, complete revolutions, spin long and in varied positions - you have to make it look easy and tell a story.  It is a reason that many people shy away from the sport for themselves and their children, along with the expense. 

When the Team Challenge was introduced, I was disappointed that it didn't highlight the athleticism required for skating.  I would have liked to see jump and spin competitions with measurable judging criteria that can eliminate the subjectivity involved with artistry.

Wish there was a like button. I felt exactly the same way about the Team Challenge.