[SKATING.]
I.
I propose in this article simply to give my own personal views on the subject of skating in general, and to say what I consider to be the best method of attaining proficiency in the art. As what I have to say will be rather jottings from my personal experience than anything in the nature of a formal treatise, I hope I may be excused if my remarks are of a somewhat scrappy and discursive character.
In England at the present time, the art of skating is passing through a transition stage, and it is quite possible that what to-day is regarded as a necessary condition of good skating, will in a few years' time be discarded as obsolete and old-fashioned. I think it therefore wiser, not to formulate any theory, or lay down any general rule on the subject, but to confine myself to giving my readers a few hints gathered from my own experience, which may prove useful to those who wish to attain a certain measure of proficiency in the art.
My earliest skating experiences were probably similar to those of most English people, that is to say, I was limited to the very short periods of frost that occur in English winters, and I had none of the advantages of regular instruction from competent teachers which it is easy now for anybody to get. I learnt to keep my balance, not on ice, but with roller skates on asphalte, and this was sufficient to enable me to go forward with a certain amount of ease when I first skated on ice. I remember vividly the first time I attempted the outside edge. This is a grand epoch in the life of any skater, and the sensation of accomplishing it for the first time, however clumsily, is never to be forgotten. I may say here, that I consider a real mastery of the outside edge the only foundation for all figure skating, and I believe it would be a mistake to attempt such accomplishments as going backwards, or turning a three, without first being fairly steady on the outside edge. Another point that I early learned to be of great importance, was to approach as near as possible equality on both legs, to attain which of course it is necessary to give one's weaker leg—in most cases the left—double practice.
The next advance I made was to turn a three from the outside edge. For a long time I practised this on my right leg alone and neglected my left, which of course was extremely unwise, and resulted in my being much weaker on that leg than on the other. The ordinary turning of a three is a comparatively simple matter, but the difficulty lies in being able to do it to a centre on both feet. Yet this accomplishment is absolutely essential to anyone who would attempt combined figures. In my opinion there is more enjoyment to be gained, both for performers and spectators, from combined figures gracefully and neatly done, than from far more difficult turns performed alone. I will not go into details as to particular figures, because they can be learnt so much better from the innumerable books that have been written on the subject.
Hand-in-hand skating is another most delightful branch of the art, and has been very strikingly developed in the last few years in England. A number of new scuds have been elaborated by the ingenuity of experts, many of which are most fascinating to do, and in many cases they have the great advantage of being performed either with one or two companions. The advance in this department of the art is largely due to the number of covered rinks that have been started lately in England and France, these being particularly adapted to the practice of this style of skating.
Another accomplishment, to which the practice of covered rinks is specially suited is waltzing on skates—which merely consists in a series of turns of threes, and outside-edge forwards and outside-edge backwards. The important point to remember about waltzing is, that the partners must accommodate their steps, and the woman must take care not to drag. When gracefully and neatly done by two people, well used to each other, and to the sound of a good band, this sensation surpasses anything that can be enjoyed in ordinary dancing.