Activities Sports & Athletics The Different Types of Ice Skating Types of Figure Skating Share PINTEREST Email Print Ice Dance and Pair Skaters Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris. Photo © JO ANN Schneider Farris Sports & Athletics Skating Basics History Gear Lessons Famous Skaters Inline Skating Baseball Basketball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Cricket Extreme Sports Football Golf Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Paintball Soccer Swimming & Diving Table Tennis Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Other Activities Learn More By Jo Ann Schneider Farris Jo Ann Schneider Farris was a silver medalist in junior ice dancing at the 1975 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships and is the author of two books on skating our editorial process Jo Ann Schneider Farris Updated March 30, 2017 Before you begin to figure skate, it is wise to get familiar with the different types of ice skating. There are four major branches of figure skating: Singles, Pairs, Ice Dance, and Synchronized Skating. Single Skating The most popular form of figure skating is Single Skating. A skater performs jumps, spins, footwork, and other skating moves to music. Single Skating Pair Skating Pair Skating is the most thrilling event in figure skating. A man and a woman skate together and perform jumps and spins both together as a pair and side by side in unison. The man lifts and throws the lady. Pair Skating Ice Dancing Ice Dancing is really ballroom dancing on the ice. Skaters can skate waltzes, tangos, foxtrots, and other dances. Ice dancing can be done with or without a partner. Ice Dancing Synchronized Skating Synchronized Skating is done with a team of twelve to twenty skaters. The team performs a routine in unison to music and skates together in various patterns. Synchronized Skating