A “figure” in many kinds of dance from the British Isles is a named pattern of movement larger than a step and smaller than a phrase. When English people started skating, they brought their dancing with them and created English Style Skating, which involved a caller and people moving around the ice to make patterns, like square dancing or contra dancing. The caller would call a figure by name, which the skaters would then all execute cooperatively. People soon realized that executing a skating figure produced a tracing on the ice that reflected the movement, and that tracing also became known as a “figure.” In North America but also worldwide, figures became a visual art, with beautiful complex designs etched into the ice with incredible precision. Nikolai Panin won the first and only “Special Figures” Olympic competition in 1908 (Google “Nikoli Panin figure”)
When the ISU organized a sport around figure skating in the 1890’s, they chose a standardized set of figures to compete. Unlike the figures that came before, the ISU standardized only on circles. The set of figures chosen, which came to be known as “school figures,” include all figure skating technique (except beaks and crosscuts), and mastering all 9 ISU figure tests is quite a challenge! In 2008 Janet Lynn wrote a beautiful essay explaining how ISU figures were essential in training figure skaters: https://iceskatingintnl.com/archive/features/Janet%20Lynn%20Address%20to%20USFS%20May%202nd%202008.pdf
Around 1990, USFS deprecated ISU figures and replaced them with Moves in the Field. Nobody claimed that this would improve skaters’ training, in fact one reason for the change was to reduce the amount of ice and coach time required to learn how to figure skate. Now 30 years later, almost everybody believes the level of skating has diminished, as skaters increasinly focus on the tricks without first learning the technique to accomplish them safely.
You can see “figures in action” by searching for “World Figure Sport” on YouTube. Here are some key figures, some with explanations: https://worldfiguresport.org/2026/04/22/figure-artwork-gallery/
Studying and practicing figures is slow and steady and careful and precise and methodical, many feel it is meditative. If you would like to start practicing figures yourself, the best way is to contact World Figure Sport txt or cell: 518.304.3029 The World Figure Sport exams are here:
https://worldfiguresport.org/wfs-exams/