Skills, Tests, Achievement, Recognition – this is what STARSkate is all about! 

STARSkate offers opportunities for skaters of all ages to develop fundamental figure skating skills in the areas of ice dance, skating skills, free skate and artistic skating. Unique in Canada, this program teaches figure skating skills in a group and/or private lesson format in a progressive and sequential manner and includes specifically designed awards and incentives. Skaters have the opportunity to take Skate Canada Tests through a nationally standardized testing system. Skaters who have mastered figure skating skills in STARSkate may also choose to pursue synchronized skating or pairs skating.

Skating Tests

The STARSkate program consists of figure skating skills in four areas - Skating Skills, Ice Dance, Free Skate and Artistic.  Tests are assessed either by coach or evaluator, depending on level of test being taken:

 Skating Skills

Skating Skills are a combination of fundamental skating movements, executed on a pattern and skated solo. The basic components of all disciplines of figure skating are incorporated into the program. The movements are derived from former compulsory figures, free skating and ice dancing. The objective of the Skating Skills program is mastery of the basic fundamentals of skating - edge quality, control, power and speed.

There are eleven Skating Skills tests in the STARSkate program:

• Star 1
• Star 2
• Star 3
• Star 4
• Star 5
• Star 6
• Star 7
• Star 8
• Star 9
• Star 10
• Gold

 

 

Ice Dance

Consisting of fourteen levels of tests, the Dance Test program teaches timing, musicality, rhythm interpretation, structure as well as basic skating skills such as edges, flow, control and unison.The dances in the STARSkate Program can be tried in any order but a candidate must pass the required number of dances in a dance test before proceeding to the next level. In addition to the traditional compulsory dances, there are also Creative Dances to challenge skaters' creativity, artistry and originality.

The Dance Tests are as follows:

• Star 1 Elements
• Star 2a Dutch Waltz
• Star 2b Canasta Tango
• Star 3a Baby Blues
• Star 3b Elements
• Star 4a Swing Dance
• Star 4b Fiesta Tango
• Star 5a Willow Waltz
• Star 5b Elements
• Star 6a Ten Fox, 14 Step
• Star 6b Fourteen Step
• Star 6c European
• Star 7a Foxtrot
• Star 7b Tango
• Star 7c American Waltz
• Star 8a Kilian
• Star 8b Rocker Foxtrot
• Star 8c Starlight Waltz
• Star 9a Paso Doble
• Star 9b Blues
• Star 9c Silver Samba
• Star 10a Cha Cha
• Star 10b Westminister Waltz
• Star 10c Quickstep
• Gold A  Viennese Waltz
• Gold B Argentine Tango
• Gold C Open Solo Rhythm Dance
• Diamond - Rhumba, Tango Romantica, Yankee Polka, Ravensburg Waltz

 

Free Skate

Free skating consists of the execution of jumps, spins, footwork, field movements and stroking, either in isolation or performed in sequence to music. Each test consists of 2 parts - Elements in Isolation and a Free Program.

There are twenty Free Skating tests in the STARSkate program:

• Star 1
• Star 2 Elements & Program
• Star 3 Elements & Program
• Star 4 Elements & Program
• Star 5 Elements & Program
• Star 6 Elements & Program
• Star 7 Elements & Program
• Star 8 Elements & Program
• Star 9 Elements & Program
• Star 10 Elements & Program
• Gold Program

Each test consists of 2 parts - Elements in Isolation and a Free Program.

 

Artistic

The objective of the Artistic program is to encourage and develop skaters' creativity, expression, musicality, movement, interpretation of music, as well as the use of space, rhythm, line and style. The program provides skaters with the opportunity to explore the performance aspect of skating without focusing on technical elements.

• Star 5
• Star 7
• Star 9
• Gold