Roller Figure Skating
If speed skating is the rambunctious little boy of competitive roller sports, figure skating is its graceful older sister.
Overview
Roller figure skating is also known as artistic roller skating, according to the article "Artistic Roller Figure Skating" on About.com. It can be accomplished on either quad roller skates or inline skates. Figure skating on inline skates is the closest approximation to figure skating on ice skates.
Strictly speaking, figure skating refers to only one type of artistic roller skating, according to Wikipedia. In figure roller skating, the skater traces circles painted on the competition surface. This may make it slightly easier than figure ice skating, in which the skater has to make their own circles on blank ice.
Dance Roller Skating
There is also dance roller skating, with the subcategories of free dance, compulsory dance and original dance. In compulsory dance, particular dances must be addressed by the roller skater. In free dance, the roller skater can be creative in his or her interpreation of the music. In the original dance category, the roller skater learns dances that are changed by FIRS, the Federation Internationale de Roller Sports, every year.
To learn all about this sport, go to QuadSkating.com. This site focuses on events that require quad skates, rather than inline skates (which are in their own seperate competitive category.) Here, you can find information on artistic roller skating competitions that go back to 1947, locate a club for artistic roller skaters in your country, and look at photos of artistic skaters to compare your technique with theirs.
Popularity of Roller Figure Skating
This sport (or art, depending on how you look at it) is popular throughout the Americas, particularly in South America. Chile has its own roller skating federation, the Federacion Chileana de Hockey y Patinaje, which governs roller sports including roller hockey and artistic roller skating.
Brazil also has a strong presence on the international artistic skating circuit. SkateLog has photos of Brazilian male and female skaters who competed in the 2004 Roller Figure Skating World Championships in Fresno, California.
Of course, the U.S. and Canada also support this sport, though it remains less popular in North America than figure skating on the ice. There are clubs and competitions in every region of the U.S., like the South, which is home to the Port City Jammers in Mobile, Alabama. If you are an artistic roller skater in Ontario, Canada, check out the 8 Wheels Rollersports Club, which is currently looking for a new facility.