Test News:
Congratulations to the club's skaters who have achieved Gold Test Level in the 2010 - 2011 season!

• Jessica Hynes - Gold Skating Skills, Gold Interpretive
• Alexa Kummer - Gold Dance (also previously Gold Skating Skills)
• Jordan Nielsen - Gold FreeSkate (also previously Gold Skating Skills and Gold Dance)
• Mackenzie Skalski - Gold Dance (also previously Gold Skating Skills)

Test Days:
The Stony Plain Skating Club bases our figure skating programs upon the Skate Canada Test Program. Test Days are held at appropriate intervals during the year. Skaters challenge tests when they can consistently perform all of the requirements that meet the national standard.

Skate Canada evaluators (judges) determine if the skaters meet the standards for the test and therefore 'pass'. It is not unusual for a skater to be required to 'retry' a test at a subsequent test day.

Volunteers are required to assist with the operation of club test days. Please contact Elaine Higgins to volunteer.

Tentative test days for the 2011 - 2012 season are:

• Monday, December 12
• Monday, March 19

Skate Canada Test Program:
Skate Canada offers a standardized figure skating test program. Skaters may challenge tests at progressive levels in four disciplines.

FreeSkate Tests:

• Freeskating consists of the execution of jumps, spins, footwork, field movements and stroking, either in isolation or performed in sequence to music.
  
• There are six Free Skating test levels in the STARSkate Program: Preliminary, Junior Bronze, Senior Bronze, Junior Silver, Senior Silver and Gold.
• Each STARSkate level consists of 2 parts - Elements in Isolation and a Free Program. Skaters may challenge each part independently.
  
• There are also five Competitive FreeSkate test levels: Juvenile, PreNovice, Novice, Junior and Senior.
  
• Each Competitive FreeSkate test consists of a Free Program.
  

Dance Tests:

• The Dance Test program teaches timing, musicality, rhythm interpretation, structure as well as basic skating skills such as edges, flow, control and unison.
  
• There are seven Dance test levels in the STARSkate Program: Preliminary, Junior Bronze, Senior Bronze, Junior Silver, Senior Silver, Gold and Diamond.
• Each STARSkate level consists of 3 to 5 dance tests. The dances in each level can be tried in any order but a candidate must pass the required number of dances at a test level 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.
  

Skating Skills Tests:

• Skating Skills are a combination of fundamental skating movements, executed on a pattern and skated solo to prescribed music. 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 six Skating Skills test levels in the STARSkate Program: Preliminary, Junior Bronze, Senior Bronze, Junior Silver, Senior Silver and Gold.
• Each Skating Skills test consists of 3 exercises.

Interpretive Tests:

• The objective of the Interpretive 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.
  
• There are four Interpretive test levels in the STARSkate Program: Introductory, Bronze, Silver and Gold.
• T he Interpretive tests consist of skating to and interpreting a piece of music 2.0 to 3.0 minutes in length. Skaters can take Interpretive tests as individuals and/or as a couple (male/female, female/female or male/male).