Artistic skating demands from its skaters a careful balance of strength, precision and artistry all wrapped up into a single, breathtaking performance. The results, as spectacular to watch as they are to perform, demonstrate a master of the sport in all its subtleness. Artistic Skating falls in one or more categories: Figures, Singles Freestyle, Pairs Freestyle and Dance.

Figure skating demands tracing accuracy, body control and intense concentration. Each skater retraces a series of figure patterns - combining a variety of difficult take-offs, edges and turns - on a set of circles painted on the skating surface. Figure skating, considered the basis of all skating, teaches balance and control. Skaters at the national level devote hours of silent and demanding practice each week to attain their success.

Singles free skating demands creativity, technical agility and virtuosity. The objective is for skaters to freely integrate the essential ingredients of artistic skating - jumps, spins and footwork with music to create a performance which embraces the realms of both sport and art. Judges look for speed and height in jumps, control, velocity and a variety of positions in spins and originality and confidence in the footwork segments used to connect each item in the program. These elements are scored as technical merit. Manner of performance reflects the skater's poise, showmanship and expression during a performance.

Pairs skating involves all the difficulty of singles skating and complicates the procedure by adding a partner. Synchronicity is the key to pairs skating. Partners mirror or shadow each other as they move through their program, striving for the perfect conversion of music to movement by executing simultaneous spins, jumps and footwork, punctuated by exciting and physically demanding overhead lifts. Contestants in this event are also scored according to both technical merit and manner of performance.

Dance skaters may select one of two styles of competition. Dance events involve skating a series of compulsory dances - each with its own specific sequence of steps and rhythms - in elimination and final rounds. Compulsory dances are performed by mixed couples in team dance events and individually in solo dance events.

In World Class Dance, performances in the compulsory dance portions (compulsory and original set pattern dances) serve as eliminations to determine which teams will advance.

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