I've been haphazardly and half understandingly been doing some reading on the philosophy of art, aesthetics, media theory, emotions(neuroscience and philosophy), and affect theory... and after TSL linked some old US nationals performances from their twitter feed my mind think about how to rework the PCS categories for figure skating.
First of all, how exactly are PCS judged in the real world? I think there's many different judging heuristics(methods), but I doubt all categories are considered equally. I personally think that many judges look mostly at Skating Skills, Transitions, and then Performance/Composition/Interpretation as one. Any major performance mistakes would add a negative mask to those scores even if unrelated to the category. A positive mask would be added to amazing technical performances. And then the judges have to mind a corridor which forces the scores to be somewhat homogeneous. And the corridor is dictated not just on what other judges legitimately think but can also be biased by PR, reputation, previous performances, and the crowd. And with trying to juggle so many categories along with the corridor to mind, they may have a 1-10 scale of where to put them in comparison to other skaters that they my coalesce their scores around. Now I've seen my general sentiment here expressed elsewhere(FSU) and a judge objected, but to my mind PCS scores are not judged as advertised though I think the system mostly kind of works in it's own way.
The program components categories are not just a tool for judging, they're a pedagogical(teaching) tool. While I think reworking the PCS categories can improve judging, I'm more optimistic that a rework of the PCS would result in better programs. Coaches in cultivating their skaters think in these categories... choreographers mind them when constructing programs... and skaters somewhat internalize these categories.
Here is a table of the current PCS categories that I copied from here.
If you have trouble viewing the tables, try changing the zoom in your browser temporarily.
Below is my reimagining of the PCS categories. I think it achieves 3 main things:
The main changes I made were to.
I left out "Use of finesse to reflect the details and nuances of the music". I kind of felt this was simultaneously redundant while not fitting in well with my scheme. Could easily go in either Affect or Aesthetic but not really needed in either. If I had to choose, I'd put it in Affect but I prefer it out because it may cause confusion between the two categories.
"Skating Flow" could be used instead of "Skating Glide" but it really doesn't matter.
This is just a start and I'm sure other people would rework things differently. The main critique I see against this is that it over privileges skating over the artistic side and and this might not work as well for pairs and ice dance as for singles. My response is that it seems to me that often skating skills and transitions are already highly weighted but if there's a problem perhaps Composition could be given double weight or Composition/Affect be given a 50% boost or Composition/Affect/Aesthetic be given a 30% boost. Or someone else might come up with a better solution(maybe a new category)... or it may not be a real problem.
Here's an interesting recent thread I found in the middle of writing this that I also think could be an improvement. He/She wants to just use Skating Skills, Transitions, Performance: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?78451-Modernization-of-PCS-score
First of all, how exactly are PCS judged in the real world? I think there's many different judging heuristics(methods), but I doubt all categories are considered equally. I personally think that many judges look mostly at Skating Skills, Transitions, and then Performance/Composition/Interpretation as one. Any major performance mistakes would add a negative mask to those scores even if unrelated to the category. A positive mask would be added to amazing technical performances. And then the judges have to mind a corridor which forces the scores to be somewhat homogeneous. And the corridor is dictated not just on what other judges legitimately think but can also be biased by PR, reputation, previous performances, and the crowd. And with trying to juggle so many categories along with the corridor to mind, they may have a 1-10 scale of where to put them in comparison to other skaters that they my coalesce their scores around. Now I've seen my general sentiment here expressed elsewhere(FSU) and a judge objected, but to my mind PCS scores are not judged as advertised though I think the system mostly kind of works in it's own way.
The program components categories are not just a tool for judging, they're a pedagogical(teaching) tool. While I think reworking the PCS categories can improve judging, I'm more optimistic that a rework of the PCS would result in better programs. Coaches in cultivating their skaters think in these categories... choreographers mind them when constructing programs... and skaters somewhat internalize these categories.
Here is a table of the current PCS categories that I copied from here.
If you have trouble viewing the tables, try changing the zoom in your browser temporarily.
SKATING SKILLS | TRANSITIONS | PERFORMANCE | COMPOSITION | INTERPRETATION |
Defined by overall cleanness and sureness, edge control and flow over the ice surface demonstrated by a command of the skating vocabulary (edges, turns, steps, etc.), the clarity of technique and the use of effortless power to accelerate and vary speed. | The varied and purposeful use of intricate footwork, positions, movements and holds that link all elements. | Involvement of the Skater/Pair/Couple physically, emotionally and intellectually as they deliver the intent of the music and composition. | An intentionally developed and/or original arrangement of all types of movements according to the principles of musical phrase, space, pattern, and structure. | The personal, creative, and genuine translation of the rhythm, character and content of music to movement on ice. |
Use of deep edges, steps and turns | Continuity of movements from one element to another | Physical, emotional, intellectual involvement | Purpose (Idea, concept, vision, mood) | Movement and steps in time to the music (Timing) |
Balance, rhythmic knee action and precision of foot placement | Variety (including variety of holds in Ice Dance) | Projection | Pattern/Ice coverage | Expression of the music’s character/feeling and rhythm, when clearly identifiable |
Flow and glide | Difficulty | Carriage & Clarity of movement | Multidimensional use of space and design of movements | Use of finesse to reflect the details and nuances of the music |
Varies use of power, speed and acceleration | Quality | Variety and contrast of movements and energy | Phrase and form (movements & parts of the program to match the musical phrasing) | Relationship between the skaters and reflecting the character and rhythm of the music (Pairs, Ice Dance) |
Use of multi directional skating | Individuality/Personality | Originality of the composition | Skating primarily to the rhythmic beat for Rhythm Dance and keeping a good balance between skating to the beat and melody in the Free Dance (Ice Dance) | |
Use of one foot skating | Unison and “oneness” (Pairs, Ice Dance) | |||
Spatial awareness between partners (Pairs, Ice Dance) |
Below is my reimagining of the PCS categories. I think it achieves 3 main things:
- More discreet and differentiated categories for better judging
- More memorable and mnemonic categories for the skaters internal dialogue
- Encourages better program construction... less transitions for the sake of transitions
The main changes I made were to.
- Split of Skating Skills into Skating Glide and Skating Skill. These should be measured separately since quite often there are skaters quite adept at precise difficult turns but don't have great glide and (less often) vice versa.
- Dissolve the Transitions category into the Skating Skill and Composition categories. This is to prevent transition overloading just for the sake of transitions.
- Rename and rearrange Performance and Interpretation to Affect and Aesthetic. Affect tries to judge the artistic aspect of emotional and conceptual transference while Aesthetic judges the more general and usually kinesthetic artistic aspect of the performance.
- I reworded and edited a few things and wrote new descriptions when needed.
SKATING GLIDE | SKATING SKILL | COMPOSITION | AFFECT | AESTHETIC |
Defined by overall cleanness and sureness, edge control and flow over the ice surface. | The varied and purposeful use of intricate footwork and movements. | Arrangement of movements according to the principles of musical phrase, space, pattern, and structure. | Transference of emotions and concepts from the skater to the audience through a physical interpretation of the music. | Eyepleasing qualities intrinsic to the craft of figure skating itself that are general and not particular to the emotions and concepts expressed in the music. |
Use of deep edges | Use of steps and turns | Pattern/Ice coverage | Emotional and intellectual involvement | Carriage & Clarity of movement |
Flow and glide | Balance, rhythmic knee action and precision of foot placement | Continuity of movements from one element to another | Projection | Movement and steps in time to the music (Timing) |
Varies use of power, speed and acceleration | Use of multi directional skating | Phrase and form (movements & parts of the program to match the musical phrasing) | Contrast of energy | Unison and “oneness” (Pairs, Ice Dance) |
Use of one foot skating | Originality of the composition | Individuality/Personality | Spatial awareness between partners (Pairs, Ice Dance) | |
Variety | Variety of movements | Expression of the music’s character/feeling and rhythm, when clearly identifiable | Skating primarily to the rhythmic beat for Rhythm Dance and keeping a good balance between skating to the beat and melody in the Free Dance (Ice Dance) | |
Difficulty | Multidimensional design of movements and use of space | Relationship between the skaters reflects the character and rhythm of the music (Pairs, Ice Dance) | ||
Quality | There are a lot of other things that could be added to this category like Posture, Positioning, Presence, Poise, Costuming |
I left out "Use of finesse to reflect the details and nuances of the music". I kind of felt this was simultaneously redundant while not fitting in well with my scheme. Could easily go in either Affect or Aesthetic but not really needed in either. If I had to choose, I'd put it in Affect but I prefer it out because it may cause confusion between the two categories.
"Skating Flow" could be used instead of "Skating Glide" but it really doesn't matter.
This is just a start and I'm sure other people would rework things differently. The main critique I see against this is that it over privileges skating over the artistic side and and this might not work as well for pairs and ice dance as for singles. My response is that it seems to me that often skating skills and transitions are already highly weighted but if there's a problem perhaps Composition could be given double weight or Composition/Affect be given a 50% boost or Composition/Affect/Aesthetic be given a 30% boost. Or someone else might come up with a better solution(maybe a new category)... or it may not be a real problem.
Here's an interesting recent thread I found in the middle of writing this that I also think could be an improvement. He/She wants to just use Skating Skills, Transitions, Performance: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?78451-Modernization-of-PCS-score