This is indeed a different style of skating than we see nowadays. This a single skater that did some type of skating that became rather popular at the end of the 19th century in the netherlands. It was done by single persons or by pairs. It was called "schoonrijden" or elegant skating. In the middle of the last century this type of skating that my father and mother had done disappeared for speed skating .
Aard Schenk a famous world champion in speed skating is now ambassador of “Schoonrijden” in order to get it on the list of immaterial cultural heritages of the Unesco. For a demonstration of Schoonrijden one of the oldest forms of skating. There is a nice video presenting Schoonrijden in 1925 and recent campioships in the Netherlands
Aard Schenk a famous world champion in speed skating is now ambassador of “Schoonrijden” in order to get it on the list of immaterial cultural heritages of the Unesco. For a demonstration of Schoonrijden one of the oldest forms of skating. There is a nice video presenting Schoonrijden in 1925 and recent campioships in the Netherlands
The reporter says that in 1925 the entertaiment on the ice in the Netherlands was quit different from nowadays. This is indeed what one can see if one watches this video for some while.