Acrobatic skating vs. singles ice dancing

How many times have you heard "it's figure skating not ice jumping" or on the other hand "it's a sport not an ice show".

I know fans like figure skating especially because it's a combination of both but if you had to choose between these two extremes which one would your prefer as a sport discipline?

Acrobatic skating would be only about jumps and tricks, contortionist positions etc.

Single ice dancing would be...well, just like current ice dancing.

I also want you to consider it as a sport discipline that would have to be absolutely objectively scored.

Just choose one or the other and if possible explain why.
No need to talk about how you can't choose etc. everybody knows that!

Well, i say acrobatic skating! I think, simple ice dance is kinda boring, cause i love to see them jump and spin and fly over the ice
But i dont share Pluschenkos opinion and say jumps are not everything!
I was happy to see in the Olympics and Worlds, that the judges gave many points to the program components!
Im sorry, for my poor english!

I chose 'acrobatic skating' , simply because I'm not sure what single ice dancing would look like . I think the amount of spins, spirals and jumps in the current layout is well-suited to show-casing the skater's talent.

Acrobatic skating 4ever!
The best thing about the sport is holding my breath everytime a skater jumps and all the emotion that comes with it which is something ice dancing can't give me. Combined with the beauty of spins (laybacks are my favorite ), spirals, and the flow of the step sequences, acrobatic skating is

Acrobatic skating!
Cause it's so much harder to jump & spin than just doing beautiful hands & arms movements.
Of course I like the artistic side too, for me this is only the cherry on top .
Maybe it's a little exaggerated but I think you might spend much more time to learn how to jump than learning how to smile.

Thank you guys!

I'm very pleasantly surprised with your voting and comments so far!

I've heard so many comments from people on other forums that it's all about artistry, choreography and programs and how they would restrict the jumps only to doubles etc. I couldn't quite believe what I was reading.

I also remember Evan once came up with an idea for something like an ice jumping competition and he was almost eaten alive and called the biggest idiot ever!

There was also a lot of criticism for the "gumbies" like Caroline Zhang and their extreme flexibily as if it was something offensive .

For me it's clear. I don't even follow ice dance because as Haidogirl said, I find it pretty boring. I've also always felt it shouldn't even be an Olympic discipline. Why not have ballroom dance at the Olympics then too? What's the difference?

Although I love watching dance performances of all kinds, as a sport surely acrobatic skating. The reason for my choice above all, is that I simply do not believe that artistry can ever be fairly judged. So whenever I watch ice-dancing, I never care much about who wins. I have my preferances but I can't make out which pair is better than another.

Plus the only skaters I'd enjoy seeing perform without jumps and spins are, Mao, Johnny, Joubert (luv his SS no matter what others say), Akiko, Dai, Jeremy, Denis, Yuzuru and maybe Miki, Ashley and Lepisto...which is quite a few, but still...I'd prefer them with jumps anyway. I wouldn't mind seeing Plush and Mirai ice dance, but I'd definitely miss their quad and spins.

Also, we'd probabaly get to see alot of skaters doing back flips like Candeloro and Bonaly in acrobatic skating, and I'm more than sure that Shen& Zhao would present us with the most unimaginable Chinese acrobatics, too!

I guess I'm alone for ice dancing here
I love the jumps so much, but I also love the in-between elements that make each program unique, and just enjoying watching the skates do beautiful footwork
I might also be a little biased for ice dancing, though, too

However, acrobatic skating would create awesome moves that are just really cool to watch.
I guess (I hope) figure skating is a balance between the two.

'Acrobatic skating', sure.

Like Tarasova said in some interview regarding recent Plush's olympic adventures: to skate well you can teach almost anyone, to do difficult jumps - it's impossible to teach.

And, well, it's not even about the fact that some people are able to do, for example, a quad technically and some - can't. A sport as a quintessence of the "Run faster, jump higher, and throw further" motto is an obsolence. In this case we, again, could have skating just as a set of difficult steps, spins and so on: some people are more physically predisposed to doing steps, and other just practice 20 hours a day.

You can't do the most difficult jumps in competitions just because nature gave you some physical advantage over others (longer legs, more flexible muscles and so on), or even just because you don't do anything else but practice all the time.
Every jump is a mental check of a sort. A check that measures one's spirit strength/mental toughness/the ability to handle the pressure... If you have a heart of a champion or a soul of a rabbit - not spins, not steps, not spirals, not transitions can give you an answer on this one , because those are mostly technical values. Look at jumps - and you'll instantly see who is who, and who really worth what.

I'm a little lost... Isn't acrobatic skating the same as singles' figure skating? Or are you referring to an X-games version of figure skating?

Honestly if the choice lay between Lysacek's idea of a jumping contest on ice and a more show-style version of ice dancing I think I would definitely prefer to watch singles's dancing. The reason I enjoy watching skating as it is now is because there is still some creativity left for skaters, some chance to show a little bit artistry on the ice (even though I feel that the current system is a bit constricting on this matter). This is also the reason why I personally don't find rhythmic gymnastics appealing, for example. It's called artistic gymnastics in my language but I personally do not see much artistry, just a lot of contortionist moves.

Aibhlin wrote:

I'm a little lost... Isn't acrobatic skating the same as singles' figure skating? Or are you referring to an X-games version of figure skating?

Yes, I mean something like the X-games version. My idea of acrobatic skating is not the same as current single's skating transition-is-more-than-a-quad state at all.

Aibhlin wrote:

Honestly if the choice lay between Lysacek's idea of a jumping contest on ice and a more show-style version of ice dancing I think I would definitely prefer to watch singles's dancing. The reason I enjoy watching skating as it is now is because there is still some creativity left for skaters, some chance to show a little bit artistry on the ice (even though I feel that the current system is a bit constricting on this matter). This is also the reason why I personally don't find rhythmic gymnastics appealing, for example. It's called artistic gymnastics in my language but I personally do not see much artistry, just a lot of contortionist moves.

I agree with you about rhythmic gymnastics. I see no art there either and it's funny how they choose different kinds of music as if it actually had anything to do with what they are presenting there.
The problem is, to me skating doesn't really differ that much from rhythmic gymnastics and I don't see much creativity or artistry there either.

I don't think it's the system. The skaters could show off their creativity in exhibitions and shows but those I usually don't even watch as it's always the same old stuff and pretty boring.
I also can't see how the programs were that much better under the 6.0 system as some people are claiming.

From time to time, there appears a program that is really interesting and in combination with the skater's interpretation and performance it can indeed create something magical and even move me to tears. But this is extremely rare. I could easily count these moments on my two hands and I've been watching skating for over 15 years.
And when this magical moment does happen, I hear other people talking about what a crap of a program it was, how the skater couldn't express the music and, at the same time, they rave about programs that imho have no artistic quality in them at all.

Of course we all have different perception of what art is and that it can never be objectively scored. But that's exactly why I think it should not have the importance of the technical side if we are to still talk about a sport.
And that's also why I think we will never see programs and performances with any real artistic value as long as skating is considered a sport that needs to be scored based on certain criteria. No system can possibly achieve that.

I actually do prefer the sport as it is now but I'm not looking for art when I'm watching it and only take it as a pleasant surprise when a glimpse of it apears from time to time.
When I need to experience catharsis I rather go to the theater than watch skating which to me is just a wanna be art at most anyway.

kawaiimao wrote:

Of course we all have different perception of what art is and that it can never be objectively scored. But that's exactly why I think it should not have the importance of the technical side if we are to still talk about a sport.
And that's also why I think we will never see programs and performances with any real artistic value as long as skating is considered a sport that needs to be scored based on certain criteria. No system can possibly achieve that.

I actually do prefer the sport as it is now but I'm not looking for art when I'm watching it and only take it as a pleasant surprise when a glimpse of it apears from time to time.
When I need to experience catharsis I rather go to the theater than watch skating which to me is just a wanna be art at most anyway.

What about pro competitions then? I think there used to be such shows back in the 90's. I've always wondered what happened with them? In theory, skaters who entered such shows should be more free to experiment with artistry and elements without worrying about point totals or judging criterias.

Of course, I like standard ice shows as well and think many skaters definitely light up more and seem more expressive and into the music than during competition (of course this is just my opinion).

To see an X-games version of figure skating would hurt my hear a lot. For me a big part of figure skating is that through both jumps so much as dance/step sequence make up the artistry that is figure skating. I love it because it is difficult so far as physicality is concerned but also because that physicality gives rise to art and beauty.
For me i would have to say that Acrobatic skating would entice and interest me but i would never be into is as much a figure skating what a horrible compromise
Lol but like other people said i think acrobatic skating would give rise to a host of cool new tricks, so that would be something to look forward to
And as others have said, Ice Dance seriously bores me, i change the channel when it's on

I think that the artistic aspect, ans the athlletic aspect of skating are equally as important - almost. The sport would suck without artistry, but it would still be a sport without it.

I always find myself bored, and frustrated when I see someones lame gala that has zero jumps. I think I would just not be very interested in figure skating if it was just dancing on ice. If it was all the big tricks on the other hand, it would be enough to catch my attention - but not enough to hold my attention for as long as real figure skating does.

So in figure skating, artistry and athleticism need each other badly. Although I think just athleticism would be able to survive better than just artistry on their own, neither would thrive like real figure skating does.

Hmm...good question.

That said, kawaiimao's question asks us to consider the two choices as feasible sport disciplines and something that would be scored, so I would easily pick acrobatic skating. I don't even want to think about scoring singles ice dancing where there's no elements involved whatsoever (no lifts, no side-by-side twizzles, spins etc.).