The new season of figure skating is fast approaching. Athletes are working hard on new programs and getting into shape to properly present them at the skating events. This year, few prefer to keep all the intrigue until mid-September. Skaters boldly announce music, share spoilers, and some even show entire sections of their programs. For example, Denis Samokhin’s group organized an open training session, where the guys showed almost complete performances. Journalists and fans were able to see how the bronze medalists of the Russian Championship Irina Khavronina and David Narizhny, as well as the vice-champions of the Russian Championship Anna Kolomenskaya and Artyom Frolov, who this year enter the senior category, are preparing.
“Everyone is in good health, everyone is in top condition right now. They are preparing, two junior couples will have skates in two and a half weeks, the adults are preparing, there is one month left. Now we will move on to direct loads, implementing programs, only for skates. Everything has been delivered, there are still some small things that need to be completed in production. After the skates we will do what they tell us, we will change something, we will correct it, we will clean it up, we will prepare for the competitions.
Khavronina and Narizhny are mentally ready to fight for the leadership, not even for the second place: nothing stands in their way. Of course, we are a little upset that we do not have an international stage, no one has it now, nothing can be done. One day, maybe this will happen, we will see. They are ready to fight for leadership within the country,” Samokhin told reporters.
How will Khavronin and Narizhny surprise?
In the rhythm dance, the leaders of the group will skate to the music of James Brown.
“We were looking for interesting compositions according to the rules that the ISU proposed to us. The rules are a bit similar to what they have been offering us for several years: musicals, then the 80s, there was disco, then there was a dance party. In principle, everything is very similar. When we were choosing songs, we didn’t want to go for disco, but for funk. As the competition showed, most American couples chose disco. But disco already existed that year and the year before. I don’t quite understand why the ISU got into it, because they don’t accept waltzes or anything else characteristic. They stick to what they like. Next year we will have a disco from the 2000s, we’ll see,” Samokhin said.
In the free dance, Ira and David will show a deeper story. At the end of March, Denis Eduardovich’s mother, the distinguished figure skating coach Natalya Dubinskaya, died. Her story of fighting the disease served as inspiration for the staging of a new dance by Khavronina and Narizhny.
“For the free dance I chose music, it is Ezio Bosso. We show through dance how a person with an incurable disease must hurry to live. It so happened that my mother passed away at the end of March, she died of the same disease as the composer. This is a great dedication to all people who are seriously ill or terminally ill. The road will still end in a sense, but you have to hurry and want to live. They are trying to do this.
“We added to the composition and transitions this year. We tried to incorporate as much as we can into this program now – complex transitions, compositional changes and some interesting elements. Also to maintain the speed. Maybe not everything is working yet, but we can fix it. We pay attention to musicality in the execution of the programs – for some reason, in Russia we have a disadvantage in our dances – people do not pay much attention to the musical interpretation of the accents. We try to do this every year,” Samokhin said.
After the open training, “Championship” managed to chat a little with Ira and David, asking them about the productions and plans for the new season.
— What is your rhythm dance about? irina: This season we have a social dance theme. This is the most vibrant, relaxed dance, like in a disco. Two people came and started dancing. We didn’t base it on any movie, although we have the second part of “Dirty Dancing”, we just liked this music. We don’t have any semantic connection between the two compositions, but they sound good together. We first found the first music, we liked it a lot in terms of rhythm and mood. So we just danced two people in a disco (smiles).
— Are you tired of these rhythmic dance numbers? Denis Eduardovich said that there is now too much emphasis on this club, there is not much variety. David: Yes, next year there will be something similar, but from the 2000s. When we found out that the obligatory dance this year would be the pasodoble, I was already on the attack, because Spain is for me. And then they told me that there would be social dancing, music from the 70s. And I thought: “Maybe it’s a pasodoble after all?” I started looking for a pasodoble from the 70s, I didn’t like anything there, but I was still determined to look. And then they told me that this was some kind of disco and that was it, I got angry. I didn’t even want to choose the music.
irina: But now we like it. I want us to show something that is different from last season, we chose a completely different mood. “Michael Jackson” was more daring and assertive, but here we want more lightness and fun.
David: But I would happily play Michael Jackson again! (Laughs) I even looked specifically, he had some interesting tracks there.
Irina Khavronina and David Narizhny
Photo by: RIA Novosti
— What is your free dance about, what do you put in it? irina: The coaches found very beautiful music by pianist Ezio Bosso, who died of the same disease as Denis Eduardovich’s mother. And before that we chose the composition Run by Ludovico Einaudi. We decided to combine them and the coaches offered to show the life and struggle of a person in this program.
David: In simple words: we show life as it is. Every person, even those who do not have serious illnesses, faces many problems, struggles with them and strives for something.
irina: This is something new for us. This is not like last year: there is no love story, no romantic feelings. This is breathing, the will to live.
— How difficult is it to skate a program with such a message? irina: There is no heaviness here, on the contrary, we are inspired from somewhere. We really like the program, the music and the way we live the moment. Let’s see how it will be in the competition. During training, we are mostly immersed in the elements, but I can experience the program directly at the competitions. Let’s see what emotions I will experience there.
— What skills are you focusing on developing in the new season? David: The main thing is that you want to perfect your bodywork.
irina: Yes, but in general we focus on everything. I want to add something to the bodywork and emotions to make it look harmonious, and I want to improve the speed and proximity of positions. I would like to improve what we started to develop last year.
Great interview with Ira and David:
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Kolomenskaya and Frolov prepare to reach a new level
Anna Kolomenskaya and Artyom Frolov are preparing for their first season as masters of sport.
“I think it will be absolutely easy for them to join there, because they are very efficient and have a lot of desire to do it. What they have achieved in their three years of career together is due to the fact that they worked very hard. Few people achieve this. I think they will fit in well. It is difficult to talk about places, because there are so many pairs, who will skate how, who will show what, plus several junior pairs go out with them and will continue to fight with them. Look, they are full of optimism and motivation, with a lot of work I think they will do well,” said Denis Samokhin.
“Championship” managed to talk to Anya and Artyom about their new productions and their feelings ahead of the upcoming season.
— Tell us about your new dances. Ann: In rhythm dance we used music from California Dreaming and 25 Miles: the first part was suggested by the coaches and the second we chose ourselves. Our goal is to reflect the dances of that time, how people had fun then, how they felt. To entertain the audience and the judges.
In the free dance, the coaches wanted to continue developing the signature style, but Artyom and I wanted to try out the lyrics. Then the coaches suggested music from the movie “WE. We believe in love.”
Artem: This track was added to our playlist, but we didn’t think at all that they might offer us to put a program on it. I still remember how I was skating and Maria Valerievna said: “Artyom, now I’ll put music for the free program, listen, what do you think?” And the track appeared that gave me goosebumps. My eyes turned into balls and I told Maria Valeryevna that from the first notes it was clear to me that I needed to take this particular music.
Ann: We skate on love, on feelings. Later we will reveal more specific images.
— How difficult is it for you to reveal the theme of love on ice? Artem: This will be an experiment for us. Before, we had rhythmic programs: tango, Felicita. And here there is even more complex music for the free program: this will be something new for us. We may not fully understand it yet, but we have to work on it. We will reveal the plot throughout the season.
— What are your goals for the season? Ann: Drive clean and get results every time.
Artem: We need to start with a clean skate and then we’ll see. There’s no point in looking for places and thinking about them now, because this is our first season at the Master of Sports. We need to earn our place in the sun.
Anna Kolomenskaya and Artyom Frolov
Photo: Yulia KOMAROVA / fsrussia.ru
—How do you feel before entering adulthood? Artem: Pretty calm. Our training camp went on as usual, thank God, without any injuries. So far everything is calm, there is not even the feeling that the season is approaching, although today there is already the feeling that everything will apparently work out soon (laughs).
Ann: I am looking forward to it, but my feelings are also quite calm, there is no fear. There is a desire to get out quickly and show myself in competitions.
— Are you afraid of having to prove your worth as a teacher again, starting practically from scratch? Artem: There is no such fear. Before the training camp I was afraid that I would have to train all over again and that in the first few weeks I would die and not feel my legs at all. But usually four weeks pass and you already get drawn into this mode and life seems to improve (smiles). And as for competitions, the fight for a place in the national team, I don’t think about it yet. I just want to show clean skating.
Great interview with Anya and Artyom:
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Samokhin’s team is already ready for the fight in mid-August and is determined to surprise. It will be interesting to see how the boys develop in the new season.
