Figure Skating Misnomers

by

Gary Beacom made a video on Figure Skating Misnomers:

Here’s my response:

Yes I liked this video. But oh boy you got my nerd juice flowing, here are more misnomers you asked for. References with URLs in the following post (I’m not sure if they are allowed in your Comments section):

  • “Spiral”: Yes, the term refers to the figure on the ice, not the body position. See “Skating with Bror Meyer” (1921) pages 102-104, where he shows many different body positions for a spiral. Also on Page 87 he shows a spiral after a waltz jump: “Left forward outside jump to right back outside (1/2 revolution). The curve gradually becomes a straight line and develops into a spiral with stop.”
  • “Arabesque” can also be a misnomer. It is a French term meaning “in the Arabic style,” referring to the “surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils.” These curvilinear designs were adopted on “French Curve Rulers” (look up the term on Google to see examples). For a time ballet was developed in France, and the ballet term “Arabesque” borrows from the Arabesque aesthetic with reference to the beautiful curving line made from the dancer’s shoulders, through back, and out to the leg. To get into an arabesque position, you stretch your free leg (“working leg” in ballet) to the back and up as far as it goes; and then allow it to lift further by bending your spine. When it won’t go up any further, that’s the end of your basic arabesque. You can get it higher by then tilting your entire body forward on your standing leg, hence making a “penchee arabesque” (“Pencher” means to lean over), ideally getting your legs to a 180 degree split (but please not beyond). See photos of Sasha Cohen for a beautiful penchee arabesque on a skater. The camel spin position you showed is NOT an arabesque because there is no curve in the back, it’s more of a straight line from head to toe. Centrifugal force demands such a postion for a spin, but I prefer spirls in a true arabesque position with the back held as curved as possible given physical constraints of the body.
  • The terminology of Flying Figures can help with the Waltz Jump stuff. I agree, the 3-turn jump you showed would be called a “Flying 3 turn,” and is related to a kind of fouette in ballet (where you flip your hips in a hop, turning the free leg from forward to back). I would not call a Waltz Jump a “Flying Mohawk” because I am not aware of any toe-to-toe turned-in Mohawks. But a Waltz Jump (and Axel) is turned out no turned in. I would call a Waltz Jump a flying figure in which you do two things in the air: (a) a 3-turn; (b) bringing the other leg under you and stepping on it. In the Axel jump, add a spin to the list of things you do in the air. Overall I would classify Waltz Jump and Axel Jump as a kind of flying 3-turn, so I don’t think “3 jump” is too much of a misnomer.
  • “Flying Mercury” is a misnomer because it’s not a flying figure at all. “Gliding Mercury” would be a better name of the move.
  • Hops vs. Jumps: In ballet, a hop starts on one leg and ends on the same leg, whereas a jump starts on one leg and lands on the other leg. Skating is not ballet and doesn’t have to follow ballet terminology conventions, but the difference between a “hop” and “jump” seems more arbitrary and subjective. Here’s how things would be called if we used ballet terminology for this:
    • “Bunny Hop” -> “Bunny Jump”
    • “Waltz Jump”, “Axel Jump”, “Salchow Jump”… these are jumps
    • “Loop Jump” -> “Loop Hop”
    • “Half Loop Jump” -> “Loop Jump” (This solves a misnomer problem you brought up)
    • “Toe Loop Jump”: It’s subjective, but I would say the toe pick is NOT the leg you take off from. Hence this should be called a “Toe Loop Hop,” consistent with the related non-toe-picking “Loop Hop.”
    • “Flip Jump:… OK that’s a jump.
    • “Lutz Jump”: It’s a jump. But more interestingly, it’s a kind of “flying counter,” and just really cool all along.
  • “Loop” as shorthand for “Loop Jump” (“Loop Hop”?) is a misnomer because “Loop” already has a well defined meaning in figure skating. A “double loop” is a loop where you go around a second time before pulling out (I’ve experimented with these), whereas a “double loop hop” involves two rotations in the air.”
  • Not a misnomer but: skating names things based on your standing leg, whereas ballet names things based on the leg you are not standing on (“working leg” in ballet, or “unemployed leg” as Bror Meyer calls it, funny how you can be both working and unemployed at the same time). This is because of different intuition on which leg is “important,” whereas both legs are important in both disciplines. Anyway when relating ballet to skating positions, right-to-left is reversed. If you push off on a left outside edge and hold, you that is a “LEFT” position in skating, but in ballet we would call it a “RIGHT tendu back” position.
  • The terms “forward” and “backward” to describe a direction of rotation are misnomers because those terms are already used for direction of travel. Also, it’s subjective which direction you call “forward” vs. “backward.” Ballet has specific terms for direction of rotation: “en dehors” (like you do in a “back spin”) and “en dedans” (like you do in a “scratch spin”). These terms can also be used in skating to communicate clearly.
  • “Scratch Spin” is a misnomer because scratcing your toe pick is poor technique. “Forward Spin” is a misnomer because you’re on a back inside edge. “Back spin” is a misnomer because most spins exist on a backwards edge. All these terms imply that spinnin on the flat might be good technique. Better to classify spins as a “BI spin” or “BO spin”.
  • “Two foot spin” is a misnomer because a “crossfoot spin” is also on two feet. Better to call them a “FI-BI spin” and “FO-BO spin,” again based on the edges you’re on.
  • “Power Pull” or “pull” is a misnomer because the ONLY way to gain speed is to PUSH against the ice, not pull. When you “pull” in skating, you actually do two things: first PUSH against the ice to gain speed, then PULL your body together so the foot you used to push comes back under your body to support your weight. The term “push-pull” would be more appropriate, and also emphasize that you can find opportunities to gain speed through push-pull in this way in so many settings: change of edge, 3-turns, swing rolls, continuous loop-size paragraph 8’s, probably more.

“The Art of Skating”, Irving Brokaw, 1913
https://archive.org/details/artofskating00brok

“The Ultimate Guide to the Arabesque” in Dance and Ballet, 2024
https://www.easyflexibility.com/blogs/ballet-and-modern-dance/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-arabesque-in-dance-and-ballet

Arabesque (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabesque