Great skates

Though Google doesn’t necessarily show it, roller skating is poised to make a comeback in America.

Why? “When the economy slows down, the roller rink business gets better,” say Dale Johnson a spokesman for the Roller Skating Association International. “People can’t travel anymore, so they stay close to home. The slower times are, the better roller skating is.” Very true, considering the cost of admission of most roller rinks is between $4 and $7. It’s the cheapest date, babysitting, family outing, group celebration around. Plus, no one can resist the captivating vibes of the music.

If you go to a skating rink, you will probably find all kinds of people. On a recent visit to a rink in Maine I saw people from all walks of life. Beginners clinging to the rail for dear life. Retired artistic skaters with bad knees. Men who choreograph their lives to the music. Couples skating hand-in-hand. Inebriated mothers – on weeknights. Boys zipping in and out of traffic on their blades because they think are too “cool” for skates. Teens performing freestyle moves in the center to strobe lights. And the odd person who looks straight out of 1979. Yes, skating is an activity that brings out the extrovert in everyone. Music, lights, and sweat easily produce euphoria even in the most stoic of individuals.

For teens, the rink is a haven away from home. Gone are the flared jeans, feathered hair, the comb in the back pocket, and the days when a “Saturday Night Fever” tune caused a crush on the floor. Still present is the classic game of erotic chase. [I've actually seen this happen more than once]

The popularity of roller skating may have hit its peak in the 1970s, but the sport has never faced extinction. Anywhere from 3,500 to 4,000 rinks operated during the Disco Era, and about 2,500 were still operational in 2000. In fact, the surge of inline skaters in the early 90s helped rinks stay in business. As we near the end of yet another decade, it is roller skates that dominate roller blades once again.

from joebly.com

The modern roller skate, or quad, was designed in 1863. Mass production began in the 1880s. The rest is history. In the early days, wooden skating rinks were outdoors. Young men and women would chase each other around to the whimsical sound of organ music.

from rollerskatingmuseum.com

Soon, disco had logically infiltrated the roller scene. By 1980 there were 3 box-office films featuring roller skates:

Skatetown USA (claiming Patrick Swayze’s first role):

Roller Boogie (featuring Linda Blair of The Exorcist)

Xanadu (with Olivia Newton-John and music by ELO!)

Xanadu is one of the greatest musicals ever…it’s right up there with Cats – but that’s another story.

Skating remained fairly popular, just not volcanic, through the 80s and into the early 90s with the help of freestyle music. The tempo of Freestyle music is almost always between 110 and 130 beats per minute – perfect for skating. I loved growing up to the sounds of Shannon, Stevie B, and Collage in addition to Marky Mark and Eurodance (Haddaway, Culture Beat, La Bouche, Snap).

Still hanging in there, circa 1988

However, despite Heather Graham’s role in Boogie Nights, the roller industry took a hit in the late-1990s and early 21st century with the advent of the Internet and less active American lifestyle. Disaffected youth often loitered at rinks and gangs forced rink owners to hire police officers. It was hardly conducive to a healthy skating atmosphere. Seattle somehow managed to experience a roller-revival in 2001:

The roller rink, that faithful retainer of cheap, family fun, is a comeback kid. And her repertoire has expanded.

Today’s roller rink offers something for every skating enthusiast: speed skating; artistic skating; tiny-tot lessons; home-school sessions; Christian music night; adult hip-hop night; and roller fitness. Not to mention a thriving birthday party scene.

Seattle is sadly rinkless, but skating flourishes in suburbia.

Roller skating’s glory years faded long ago, when skaters grew up and stopped skating to raise the baby boomers. It boomed once more with their kids’ coming of age, but the next generation was left in the lurch the day disco died. There were so many other things to compete for adolescent attention: the mall, video games, after-school sports, mega movie complexes and more.

From a near flat line, the roller rink has been resuscitated by in-line skates, an interest in things retro and its affordable cost. For some of its followers, it never died.

However, that is not to say the the nation as a whole experienced this same rebirth. In particular, the New York City metro area was hit hard by the changing times. Property was more productive as a warehouse or development than a roller rink. Liability insurance is pricey too. Just last year the New York Times described one such situation:

”With most of the rinks that have closed, especially on the East and West Coasts, it has been because the buildings are more valuable as real estate than as roller rinks,” Mr. Champa said. ”People put skating rinks at places that have become prime locations. It’s unfortunate when a skating rink closes, but we have plenty of situations like what just happened to a rink that’s closing in California. Walgreens came to an owner who was 63 years old and offered him $4 million for his property.”

Mr. Champa owns one roller rink and his family owns two others, all in Kentucky. He is opening a new rink there in Lexington, and said that in some areas of the country, particularly where land is still relatively inexpensive, skating is booming.

Rollergirl, Boogie Nights, 1997

There is more good news however. Within the past two weeks, a new rink has opened on Coney Island:

The plan, at first, was to open the rink for just one night, but the response from the public, and the city’s legions of bereft roller skaters, was so overwhelming that Ms. Carlin resolved to reopen the place on a semi-permanent basis.

“It was amazing,” Ms. Carlin said of the rink’s inaugural night, which drew luminaries like the singer Ashanti and the actress Marisa Tomei. “Over 1,000 people RSVP’d for the party, but we could only allow 300 people in. It showed how passionate people are for roller-skating.”

Urban areas are showing interest in freestyle skating and roller derby is a big craze among women, with leagues springing up all over the country. I know from experience that in rural Maine, skating remains a popular and inexpensive activity suitable for any night of the week. Maybe it’s fine that the crowds have thinned a bit. Like Roger Miller says, you can’t skate in a buffalo herd.