I play roller derby for fun. I make a living as a professional skating coach & choreographer, and moonlight in graphic communications. Outside of commercial copy writing/editing & a bit of blogging, I write for myself – almost no one has seen any of my writing or lyrics.

There is room for creativity in everything I do, but not every creative thing I do is considered “art” in its entirety. Each activity I am involved in has its own set of “rules”, written or unwritten. Occasionally, I get to write my own rules, but primarily, they are written by those who came before me, or my audience or those judging my performance. That is just how life works.

In sports with an artistic bent, the sport comes first, with it’s rules and point values and levels of difficulty (certain things simply are harder to do than others), followed by equally important artistry, that carries it and brings the cream of the crop to the top.

Artistry weighs differently according to the rules. In roller derby, for instance, if you’re a really good player, you can afford to show off a bit if you’re ahead, but no matter how good you look doing it, it’s not going to get you more points on the board.

In figure skating, however, everyone competing against each other is technically capable of doing maneuvers of equivalent point values. The winners are the ones who do them best – with the most accuracy, consistency, security, rotation, speed, power, flow, etc, AND if everyone has proved they can do absolutely everything equally well, the winners are those who have accomplished it all with the most style, form, flair, carriage, poise & polish, and made their performance look easy & passionate – like a natural expression of themselves. For the best figure skaters out there, it really is natural. For others, it is all choreographed and put in place.

Artistry is judged, not by how you look on the ice, but how well you achieve your look on the ice. Judges are typically accomplished former skaters, and find it easy to tell the difference between natural and contrived artistry. They can see if it’s a skater’s authentic voice coming through the work, or if it’s the coach’s or choreographer’s; if a skater has simply learned over time how to put their body into expressive positions, or if they are truly feeling and expressing emotion through their physique. And yes, as an unwritten rule, you get more points as a “natural”.

Consider how few skaters make it to National and International competition. Personally, I don’t think it’s because they can’t, or that there are only so many openings available. You see the same names competing year after year, and so many others dropping off or never making it because THEY DON’T WANT TO. When you’re a “natural” and really love the artistic aspect of skating, the points and medals often mean much less than the experience, and the work and politics of competing can be disheartening. Many skaters could have gone further, but have chosen instead to skate in shows, or coach, or judge, or even do something completely different with their lives and skate only for themselves in practice.

Some artists want to use their talents for fortune and career gains. Others get more out of it than money, and keep their work close to their hearts or to themselves. Some even want to get a little of both out of it. The key is figuring it out for yourself, and doing what you want to do with it – whatever it is.

And that’s OK.