Skating for an Audience

This chapter discusses the evolution of show skating. Show skating is neither new nor unique. Its roots can be traced back farther than competitive skating. In Victorian England, gentlemen amateurs tell of interested observers who watched in amazement as they traced their figures, and they admit that their egos swelled with pride when spectators watched them go through their paces. That was amateur skating at its best, albeit with an element of showing off to those less skilled. Jackson Haines, however, skated professionally in the United States and Canada before moving permanently to Europe to continue his career. Thus, exhibition types of skating, from individuals showing off on local ponds to itinerant professionals were a part of the skating scene in the mid-nineteenth century. While the success of Haines' performances in Europe is legion, skating shows were popular in America as well. The importance of carnivals to the advancement of the sport cannot be overemphasized because they provided performance experience to skaters at all levels.