If you missed Part 1, of How to Craft a Figure Skating Program, you can find it here.

Putting It All Together

At this point, I’m on the ice with the choreographer, working through the program in three to four segments. We focus on the transitions, steps, and turns needed to get in and out of the planned elements. I’ve really enjoyed working with this particular choreographer, both last year and this year, as she has a strong vision and is very detail-oriented. She gives me specific instructions on how each move needs to happen to achieve the edge quality, ice coverage, and visual lines we’re aiming for. At my skating level, we try to balance difficulty without sacrificing performance quality. She’s also particular about ensuring that every movement has a purpose and that I take the time to execute each element to the fullest.

Once we’re satisfied with the complete program, the real work begins for me! I return to the music and work with a professional editor to finalize the cut, making any adjustments needed based on the choreography.

I Have Nothing to Wear

Oh wait, I do! Actually, I start thinking about the competition dress once the music is selected. It’s important to consider this early to ensure there’s time to have a custom dress made if needed. As an adult, I generally prefer custom-made dresses since many off-the-rack options are designed for a child’s body. That said, I’m not an elite skater on the international stage where my competitions are broadcast on TV, so I try to wear a dress for more than one season if possible. This assumes the music isn’t drastically different and I’m not portraying a character. I may change things up by altering the dress, adding or subtracting gloves, or matching tights to the dress instead of using skin-colored tights.

Let the Run-Throughs Begin

Once I have my program and final music, it’s time to incorporate run-throughs into my regular training schedule. Skating a clean program requires a lot of muscle memory, so when you’re in a competition situation, you’re no longer thinking—you’re simply executing. When I first begin a new program, I’ll run through it without adding the elements, meaning I’ll simply mark the jumps and spins without actually performing them. This helps me get used to the movements and pacing of the program as it relates to the music. I gradually add in the elements, often starting with spins and then moving on to jumps. During regular training, I’ll practice the jumps and spins where and how they happen in my program, so I get used to the new entrances, patterns, and pacing. Before long, it’s ‘ready or not time,’ and I start doing complete run-throughs with all elements. These early run-throughs are NOT pretty and are often not in time with the music, but going through this process helps build confidence in a new program. Whether I’m practicing on my own or during a lesson, I almost always run the complete program start to finish, no matter what happens or how bad it is. I do this for two reasons: to push through the uncomfortable moments and to prepare for the unexpected. You never know what might happen during a competition, and you need to practice how to pick up a program after a mistake so you can handle it under pressure.

Fine-Tuning

Ideally, I like about a month or so to run through the program and get comfortable with it before fine-tuning begins. By this, I mean making any adjustments needed—editing things in or out of the program because they’re not working for whatever reason. I’m fortunate that my skating club offers both exhibitions and a judges’ critique. The exhibitions are like mock competitions where you wear your competition outfit (also an opportunity to ensure it works without needing alterations), go through a very short warm-up session, and then perform a solo program on the ice just like in a competition. The judges’ critiques follow the same process, but you perform in front of one or two judges or a judge and a technical specialist who spend a few minutes with you post-event, sharing feedback on your program. Last season after the critique I brought the feedback (along with a video of the performance) back to my coach to see if he thought additional adjustments were warranted.

Incorporating the feedback and practicing continues throughout the season. Some skaters, myself included, do what’s called back-to-back run-throughs. This is where you literally run your full program with all elements, and the second you finish, you go back to your starting position and run it through a second time. I do this to build endurance—not critical at my level, but for many higher-level skaters, this helps build the fitness needed for a more demanding program. Additionally, at higher levels, you may travel more for competitions, and in some locations, altitude can be a factor.

If you’ve been on this journey with me so far, stay tuned as we prepare to take this program to competitions!

Let’s Get Started

Have you ever wondered about the skating programs you see on TV? I mean, really, how hard can it be? You skate around for about two minutes, learn some arm movements, spin, jump, and then you’re done, right? Well, not exactly—actually, that’s very far from reality. In this blog series, I’ll take you through my process as an adult competitive skater and explain what really goes into creating a figure skating program.

More Than Choosing Your Favorite Song

The first step to crafting any skating program is the music because everything else will be built on top of that. Think of the music as the plot to a movie. What story are you trying to tell? Another consideration is the pace and theme of the music. Is it dramatic or energetic music that requires quick transitions in and out of positions? Does it suit your personal style? For example, do you excel in programs that embody a character, or do you prefer a flowing program where the sound and movements are the main focus? Once I’ve considered these factors, my next step is selecting a couple of pieces for my coach and I to listen to over the rink’s sound system. You wouldn’t guess this, but music sounds different in a large, empty space where the echo can have an impact (more on that here).

I involve my coach in the process because he knows me well. He’ll have me do some edge exercises while playing my music choices to gauge whether the pacing suits me. He also knows which choreographers could work for me and what types of music will be best for both my and the choreographer’s style. Once the music selection is complete, I typically work with a professional editor to have it cut. I know skaters who cut their own music, but I’m just not skilled enough to do more than a rough cut. The right person can really work some magic with a piece and make it stand out.

Prepping For The Choreographer

I begin working with a rough cut of the music to start choreography—generally speaking, having the music cut to the proper length and including the selections I want to use. I wait on the final cut until after we’ve completed the program, that way I know if there are areas that need emphasis or slight tempo changes, and whether it’s a ‘hard ending’ (on the beat) or a soft fade-out. Another thing I’ve found really helpful is creating a document for the choreographer that states the program time, the order of jumps and spins as I plan to do them, and other helpful information such as, “I need to set this jump up, so I’d like a slower entrance,” “I jump and spin clockwise,” or “I have this difficult entrance or exit planned.”  This gives the choreographer something to go on, especially when working with someone new or someone you only work with on an annual basis. The final step, which is highly dependent on where you skate and the schedules involved, is that I try to schedule choreography on quieter freestyle sessions. This isn’t always possible, but I find it super helpful. I’m so focused on working with the choreographer that it can be challenging to also keep up with the activity of a busy freestyle session.

Let’s Take It To The Ice

Maybe it’s my classic Type A personality, but I try to arrive earlier than normal on choreography days so I can complete a thorough off-ice warm-up and make sure my music is loaded onto the skating club’s sound system ahead of time. Every choreographer works differently, but for me, we typically complete the program in 3–4 thirty-minute sessions. I like shorter sessions because, as someone who never did dance as a child, all that movement is a lot of information to process. This gives me time to ‘digest’ before the next session. Another trick I use is to either video my last ‘run-through’ of the session or, if that’s not possible, to write down the entire program in detail as soon as I get off the ice. This gives me the opportunity to practice before the next session if I can, or at minimum, to run through it off-ice to further cement it in my mind. Since I’m not an advanced skater, I also find that my body needs time to get used to ‘where it’s going.’

Don’t miss the part two of this series, where I’ll dive deeper into my journey as an adult competitive skater and the art of building a figure skating program!