Roller skating
Roller skating is traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sidewalks, and bike paths. Roller skating originated in the performing arts in the 18th century. It gained widespread popularity starting in the 1880s. Roller skating was very popular in United States from the 1930s to 1950s, then again in the 1970s when it was associated with disco music and roller discos. During the 1990s, inline outdoor roller skating became popular . Sport roller skating includes speed skating, roller hockey, roller derby, figure skating and aggressive quad skating. History. The earliest roller skates known are from 18th century Europe. These skates were used in theater and musical performances, possibly to simulate ice skating onstage. Early roller skating was done in a straight line because turning or curving was very difficult with the primitive skate designs of the time. Limited to an occasional performance prop at the time, roller skating would not see widespread use until the 1840s. Waitresses in an 1840s beer hall in Berlin used roller skates to serve customers. Ballet  and opera of the late 1840s, such as "Le prophète", featured roller skating. This helped to make roller skating popular for the first time, in 1850s Europe. Technological improvements helped as well, such as rubber wheels in 1859 and four-wheeled turning skates in 1863. The popularity of roller skating has fluctuated greatly since then; it is typically called a "craze" at its high points. Roller skating boomed in popularity from 1880 to 1910; roller skates were mass produced and skating in rinks became popular with the general public in Europe, North and South America, and Australia. Specialized types of  roller skating appeared in this period, such as figure skating and speed skating. After a decline in popularity, roller skating became widespread again in the 1930s to the 1950s. This era is known as the Golden Age of Roller Skating. Many skating rinks offering electric organ music were built throughout the United States in this period. In the 1970s, roller disco became widespread. This style of skating originated with disco music predominantly among Black and gay skaters. During the late 1980s and the 1990s, outdoor and indoor inline skating (with "rollerblades") became popular. Roller skating declined in popularity in the  early 21st century, but became more popular again during the COVID pandemic. Roller skating has long been tied to Black American social movements, immigrant communities, and the LGBT community, particularly for women in roller derby. As a hobby it is perceived as whimsical and is widely accessible. Types of roller skating. Artistic. Artistic roller skating is a sport which consists of a number of events. These are usually accomplished on quad skates, but inline skates may be used for some events. Various flights of events are organized by age and ability/experience. In the US, local competitions lead to 9  regional competitions which led to the National Championships and World Championships. Figures. A prescribed movement symmetrically composed of at least two circles, but not more than three circles, involving primary, or primary and secondary movements, with or without turns. Figures are skated on circles, which have been inscribed on the skating surface. Dance. In competition skaters can enter more than one event; Solo Dance; solo dance a competition starts at tiny tot and goes up to golden, for a test it starts with bronze and goes up to gold. You do not have to take tests anymore to skate in  harder categories, you must have a couple of tests once you get to a certain event, though. In competition, these dances are set patterns and the judges give you marks for good edges, how neat they look and how well they do turns, etc. Team Dance; this is where two people skate together doing the set dances. Most people skate with a partner the same ability and age. Skaters are judged by the accuracy of steps that they skate when performing a particular dance. In addition to being judged on their edges and turns, skaters must carry themselves in an  elegant manner while paying careful attention to the rhythm and timing of the music. Freestyle. Freestyle roller dancing is a style of physical movement, usually done to music, that is not choreographed or planned ahead of time. It occurs in many genres, including those where people dance with partners. By definition, this kind of dance is never the same from performance to performance, although it can be done formally and informally, sometimes using some sparse choreography as a very loose outline for the improvisation. Precision teams. A team of skaters (usually counted in multiples of four) creates various patterns and  movements to music. Often used elements include skating in a line, skating in a box, "splicing" (subgroups skating towards each other such that they do not contact each other), and skating in a circle. The team is judged on its choreography and the ability to skate together precisely, and jumps and spins are not as important. In this category, they are classified as "small groups" (6 to 15 people) or "big groups" (16 to 30 skaters). These show groups are also divided due to the level and ages. Singles and pairs. A single skater or a pair of skaters present  routines to music. They are judged on skating ability and creativity. Jumps, spins and turns are expected in these events. Sometimes with a pair or couple skaters slow music will play, and usually it is two songs. Speed skating. Speed skating originally started on traditional roller skates, quads or four wheels per skate. The first organized, national competition was held in 1938 in Detroit Michigan at the Arena Gardens Roller Rink, once home of "Detroit's Premier Sports Palace. The Arena opened in 1935 as roller skating began its ascension as a top sport. In the early years, competitors representing  the mid-west states, primarily Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio dominated the sport. By 1950 as rinks hired speed skating coaches who trained competitors, the east and west coast began to compete effectively for the national titles. But in the early years, national titles were dominated by Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati. As rules were established for state and national competitions, the speed skating season began in fall and continued through spring leading up to a state tournament. Eventually approximately 1947, due to the growth of speed skating, the top three places at a state tournament would qualify skaters for  a regional tournament. The top three places at regional tournaments then went on to compete at a national tournament. Skaters could qualify as individuals or as part of a two-person or four-person (relay) team. Qualification at regional events could warrant an invite to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO for a one-week training session on their outdoor velodrome. Inline speed skating is a competitive non-contact sport on inline skates. Variants include indoor, track and road racing, with many different grades of skaters, so the whole family can compete. Jam Skating. Jam skating is a  skating style consisting of a combination of dance, gymnastics, and roller skating, performed on roller skates. Jam skating is the predominant style of skating featured in the documentary film "United Skates". Group skating. Among skaters not committed to a particular discipline, a popular social activity is the "group skate" or street skate, in which large groups of skaters regularly meet to skate together, usually on city streets. One such group is the San Francisco Midnight Rollers. In 1989 the small 15–20 group that became the Midnight Rollers explored the closed doubIe-decker Embarcadero Freeway after the Loma-Prieta earthquake until  it was torn down. At which point the new route was created settling on Friday nights at 9 pm from the San Francisco Ferry Building circling 12 miles around the city back at midnight to the start. Although such touring existed among quad roller skate clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, it made the jump to inline skates in 1990 with groups in large cities throughout the United States. In some cases, hundreds of skaters would regularly participate, resembling a rolling party. In the late 1990s, the group skate phenomenon spread to Europe and east Asia. The weekly Friday night  skate in Paris, France (called Pari Roller) is believed to be one of the largest repeating group skates in the world. At times, it has had as many as 35,000 skaters participating on the boulevards of Paris, on a single night. The Sunday Skate Night in Berlin also attracts over 10,000 skaters during the summer, and Copenhagen, Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo host other popular events. Charity skates in Paris have attracted 50,000 participants (the yearly Paris-Versailles skate). The current Official Guinness World Record holder is Nightskating Warszawa (Poland) in  number of 4013 participants from 19 June 2014, but their real record from 25 April 2015, is 7303 participants and over 38 000 skaters total in 10 events in season 2015. Aggressive inline. Aggressive inline skating, or roller freestyle, is trick-based skating. The individual performs tricks using modified skates, which have grind blocks between two wheels, and boots designed to take additional strain. The wheels have a flat large contact surface for grip. Aggressive inline can either take place at a skate park or on the street, and typically involves predominantly grinds but also air tricks such as spins  and flips. This form of roller skating involves performing tricks and airs in mini ramps, street, vert, and bowls. Any roller skate can be used for park skating though many skaters prefer a higher-ankle boot over speed style boot. Additional modifications to traditional rollers skates include the addition of a plastic block between the front and rear trucks commonly called slide blocks or grind blocks. The front and rear trucks can also be modified to use a 3-inch wide truck to allow for different tricks. Many skaters prefer small, hard wheels to allow more speed and less wheel  bite. Roller hockey. Roller hockey is the overarching name for variants of hockey played on quad or inline skates. Quad hockey (also called rink hockey, hardball hockey, or simply roller hockey) has been played since the 19th century. It is played in many countries worldwide and was a demonstration rollersport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Other variations include inline hockey and inline skater hockey. Roller derby. Roller derby is a team sport played on roller skates on an oval track. Originally a trademarked product developed out of speed skating demonstrations, the sport underwent a revival in the early  2000s as a grass-roots-driven, five-a-side sport played mainly by women. Most roller derby leagues adopt the rules and guidelines set by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association or its open gender counterpart, Men's Roller Derby Association, but there are leagues that play on a banked track, as the sport was originally played from the 1930s. Skating federations. The Fédération Internationale de Patinage a Roulettes was founded in 1924, and in the 1960s it was renamed the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports. In 2017 it merged with the International Skateboarding Federation to form the World  Skate. It currently has over 130 national federations. In the United States, the Roller Skating Rink Operators Association was founded in 1937 and the United States Amateur Roller Skating Association was founded in 1939. They merged in 1972 to form the USA Confederation of Roller Skating, later renamed USA Roller Sports. It is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, also home of the National Museum of Roller Skating. Nationals are held each summer with skaters required to qualify through state and regional competitions. Alternatives. Roller skating, like skateboarding, has created a number of spin-off sports and sports devices. In addition to  rollerblades/inline skates, there have also been: