At a nondescript, basketball court in Waltham, Massachusetts, the leaves take on an autumnal glow and the air is crisp. But there are no pickup basketball players. This is now a spot for people who roller skate.

B次元官网网址淚 had my eye on skates for a while B次元官网网址� I saw they were making a comeback,B次元官网网址� said Tammy Donroe Inman, 48, of Waltham, Massachusetts, who recently bought a pair of sparkly Impalas. She comes here every few days, turns on music, and skates.

B次元官网网址淎s an older skater, I thought I was going to be self-conscious, but IB次元官网网址檓 not,B次元官网网址� she said, wearing a helmet and knee pads. B次元官网网址淚 fall all the time but itB次元官网网址檚 pure joy.B次元官网网址�

With its retro flair, roller skating has been enjoying a 2020s revival and shows no signs of receding.

That may be partly due to the pandemic, which drew more people . ItB次元官网网址檚 also part of a larger and music throwback to the disco era of the B次元官网网址�70s and B次元官网网址�80s, the last time roller skating was so hot. In the 1990s, inline skates, a kind of roller skate, were all the rage, but their buzz had gotten quieter.

Now, there are roller skating pop-up rinks in parks and on roadways, and lots and lots of skates on social media. Skate meet-ups in large cities are common B次元官网网址� outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, for instance, or in Venice Beach, California, where skaters have congregated for decades.

New York CityB次元官网网址檚 Rockefeller Center hosted a roller rink this summer for the first time since 1940, advertising that it was B次元官网网址渂ringing the magic of the 1970s with it.B次元官网网址�

And then there are all the celebrities on skates.

Country star Tyler Hubbard does laps under a disco ball in a video to the new song B次元官网网址淏aby Gets Her LovinB次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�. Madonna took a spin around a popup rink in New YorkB次元官网网址檚 Central Park at a disco celebration this summer.

R&B singer UsherB次元官网网址檚 smooth skating videos pull in the views on TikTok and YouTube, while Joanna Gaines wore skates on the summer edition of her Magnolia magazine. Actors Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie cruise up and down Venice Beach in neon-yellow inline skates as Ken and Barbie in next summerB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淏arbieB次元官网网址� movie.

The filmmakers behind a 2019 HBO documentary, B次元官网网址淯nited Skates,B次元官网网址� about told The Associated Press then that they expected to be chronicling the end of an era. But they found the opposite. As one young Black skater told them, B次元官网网址淪katingB次元官网网址檚 not dead. It just went underground.B次元官网网址�

At a San Carlos, California-based skate-boot company started in 1933, fourth-generation owner Jason Kuhn said roller skate sales started to take off again in 2020.

B次元官网网址淚 started seeing the orders roll in,B次元官网网址� he said archly.

While roller skates used to be only 20% of HarlickB次元官网网址檚 business, theyB次元官网网址檙e now more popular than ice skates. B次元官网网址淚t was hard to find workers. Not everyone knows how to do this kind of work,B次元官网网址� he said.

Many adult roller skaters havenB次元官网网址檛 skated since they were children. This has sparked a boom in online classes.

Nicole Fiore, 30, of Orange County, California, teaches skills and choreography classes online and on YouTube. Her parents worked as roller skating instructors, and sheB次元官网网址檚 a four-time roller skating World Champion. She often missed school growing up because she was at competitions.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e never seen people roller skating in grocery store parking lots before, and suddenly theyB次元官网网址檙e here,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been waiting for this moment my entire life.B次元官网网址�

A day of skating can be a killer workout. There are varied forms of roller skating, including competitive, speed, dancing and roller derby, a contact sport played between two teams.

Yet you donB次元官网网址檛 need to be in top shape to start roller skating.

Dana Johnson, whose roller derby name is Val Kyrie, started participating in a local league seven years ago after getting a divorce. She picked up roller derby after seeing a match, even though she didnB次元官网网址檛 consider herself athletic.

Kyrie, 35, of Minneapolis, is an engineer who now does public relations on the side for the Minnesota Roller Derby.

B次元官网网址淭hose skates are a great equalizer,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 all about how you use your body on those skates.B次元官网网址�

There are, of course, roller-skating influencers. Across all social-media platforms, you can find people posting roller-skating videos, tutorials and pretty pictures of skates.

Thirty-one-year-old Ana Coto lives in Los Angeles and goes by the social media handle @anaocto, an homage to the eight wheels on a roller skate. A 2020 TikTok video of her skating effortlessly to the Jennifer Lopez hit B次元官网网址淛enny From the BlockB次元官网网址� garnered 2.5 million likes and millions of views.

B次元官网网址淭here was no intention B次元官网网址� just to feel good and feel happy, not to find something to put on TikTok,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 started posting a skate journal, really for myself.B次元官网网址�

Then Coto saw that people were interested in watching her skate. An actress, she was contacted for appearances in a movie and has since appeared in the Dua Lipa music video B次元官网网址淟evitating.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚t is funny. Skating has given me this little foothold in the industry that I never had before,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址擳racee M. Herbaugh, The Associated Press