现役冰舞选手讨论专贴~②~（2012，Nathalie & Fabian）

对了，才发现今年ISU针对拉丁舞系的服装“传统”，多增加了条对服装的规定：服装要遮住50%以上的身体部分

GP结束喽~ DW VM PB WP BS SS六对成功晋级GPF~期待两周后的大战

哇，今天才后知后觉的发现了这个专栏。 喜欢冰舞的冰迷们要顶起来呀。

gopatrick 发表于 2011-11-23 13:13
对了，才发现今年ISU针对拉丁舞系的服装“传统”，多增加了条对服装的规定：服装要遮住50%以上的身体部分[e ...

好囧的规定……

enderstar 发表于 2012-2-21 12:19
好囧的规定……

想询问一下：现行规定下，冰舞女选手是否可以穿裤装？

sunshine 发表于 2012-2-21 20:23
想询问一下：现行规定下，冰舞女选手是否可以穿裤装？

好专业的问题！我一直没注意，去查查规则先~

冰舞女伴必须穿裙装。男伴不得穿短裤，必须是长裤，并且上衣必须有袖子。

sunshine 发表于 2012-2-21 20:23
想询问一下：现行规定下，冰舞女选手是否可以穿裤装？

冰舞女伴只能穿裙子，这个貌似有好久了，只在民族舞蹈赛季作了特例。

这张好萌啊

Zhiganshina and Gazsi prepare to up the ante

July 8, 2012 - by Tatjana Flade
Photo Irene Probst   

German ice dancers Nelli Zhiganshina and Alexander Gazsi take a break from training camp in Oberstdorf.

Last season, German ice dancers Nelli Zhiganshina and Alexander Gazsi established themselves in the top ten in Europe. This season, the three-time German Champions want to crack the top ten at the world level following two consecutive 11th-place finishes.

Instead of taking a well-deserved vacation after the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships, the team from Oberstdorf went more or less straight to Moscow to mount a new free program.

“We did that directly because we told ourselves we should do it as long as we are still in shape and before taking a break,” joked Gazsi.

The decision was made easier as Gazsi had to attend a course with the German army that lasted six weeks starting in mid April.

Zhiganshina and Gazsi trained in Moscow from 2005 to 2009, as well as frequent trips back to work with choreographers and circus artists. This season, however, they picked Ilia Averbukh as their new choreographer.

The 2002 Olympic silver medalist and Ice Dance World Champion choreographed a competitive program for the first time for a high-level ice dance team. For the skaters, it was a great experience.

“Actually it was my idea,” Russian-born Zhiganshina shared. “We’ve worked for a long time with Maxim Staviski as a choreographer, but even the most talented choreographer has his typical style. After five years, we were looking for a change. We’ve seen what he (Averbukh) does in his shows and what kind of ideas he has.”

“It was great,” agreed Gazsi. “You notice that he did like three million programs in the past few years. They had four seasons of their (TV) show and each week they had to do eight programs and they were not allowed to repeat any music from one of the previous shows.”

“Averbukh had his music guy with him and the man is amazing,” the 27-year-old continued. “He was looking for music the whole day long. Later we met, he cut the music in a cafe, and Averbukh was dancing around us and presenting us his ideas. That was really a lot of fun.”

The dancers and Averbukh then went to train at an ice rink in the night from 1 to 3 in the morning to work on the new program.

“It is a problem to find ice in Moscow without someone watching,” Gazsi said, grinning.

Once they began, everything happened really fast. Now the dancers are ready to reveal some information about their new program.

“The first part is a Rhumba, Tore my Heart, then the piece in the middle is something that nobody knows, and the third part is Ramalama Bang Bang,” Gazsi revealed. “The music is cool and the story is fun, not a drama. The story is “Two from the Grave”, not exactly about zombies, but going into that direction. It will be comical.”

“Our goal last year was to do something different (with Romeo and Juliet) and not to do something funny each time,” Gazsi explained. “Now we do again something we prefer.”

The dancers went back to Moscow at the end of May for two weeks to select music for their short dance with Averbukh and the music technician. Finding something suitable for the Polka was a challenge, and they discussed their options.

Zhiganshina didn’t want to do a Bavarian Polka again like they did before and both disliked the idea of the “classical” Polka with an officer in uniform and his beloved lady on the opera ball. They had discovered a beautiful French Waltz, but even Averbukh’s magic musician didn’t find a suitable Polka.

“I must say that I don’t like the Polka so much in general,” Zhiganshina admitted. “I’d have preferred Blues, Paso Doble or Tango, but we have a Polka that is different and I even like it.”

They finally chose an unknown piece – they don’t know the name – and a Waltz from the Russian movie The Admiral.

While many skaters were not thrilled about the Polka theme, the German Champions feel it is actually challenging.

“You should not underestimate the Polka,” Gazsi pointed out. “First of all, it is really fast and secondly, there are not so many nice Polka music pieces. A lot of it will be repeated or similar, and therefore it is hard to find something different.”

He feels that the Polka is technically challenging, which he sees as an advantage for them.

“The more difficult the dance is the more the teams are set apart,” observed Gazsi. “I believe the more difficult the dance is, the better it is for us.”

Gazsi thinks that technique is their strength and wants to improve their dynamics on the ice. He describes the character of their team as “versatile”.

“I hope that we have several characters and that we are able to portray them,” he elaborated. “It is, and always has been, our goal to show different characters in different programs. I believe so far we were able to do that.”

With a smile, the sport soldier added that they rely on the coaches to push them in training.

“Overall the coaches can be happy with us,” he said. “You could say that so far we have taken the next step each time and haven’t been treading water. We still have to do a lot and we can take further steps. For this, we still have some time until the Olympic Games and maybe after the Olympic Games.”

Since early June, Zhiganshina and Gazsi have been in Oberstdorf working with coaches Martin Skotnicky and Rostislav Sinicyn. They are taking part in the two IceDome summer camps in Oberstdorf and plan to open their competitive season with the Nebelhorn Trophy on home ice. They are also slated for two upcoming Grand Prix events – Skate America and Cup of Russia.

The team is unsure whether they will be doing any other competitions in between.

“It depends on how it goes and what changes we have to make,” Gazsi said.

The event in Moscow will be especially interesting as Zhiganshina and Gazsi will compete against her younger brother, World Junior Champion Ruslan Zhiganshin, and his partner Victoria Sinitsina for the first time.

“I can’t really explain what my feelings are,” the 25-year-old dancer said. “It is very, very strange to compete against my own brother, the little brother on top of that. I know that for Ruslan it is much more interesting to compete against me than the other way round. Obviously, to beat the big sister would be great for him.”

“I’m still happy that we’ll be in the same competition,” she added. “Our goal is clear – we want to beat them, even on their home turf,” Gazsi assured, laughing.

The main goal for the upcoming season is to improve.

“We want to up the ante,” Gazsi noted. “We want to defend our National title. Looking at the Grand Prix, I don’t think we can make the podium as the competition at all events will be very tough. So if it is no podium, we are aiming for the first place after the podium. I think we can do that.”

He also hopes to improve from their 8th-place-finish at Europeans and to get into the top ten at Worlds.

“We were a little disappointed at Europeans,” he admitted.

The couple was ranked seventh in 2011, which marked their breakthrough. At Worlds, they came very close again to making the top ten.

“The opportunity was there,” said Gazsi. “It would have happened if not for my stupid twizzle (he made an error in the short dance). Hopefully we’ll get another chance.”

A good placement at Worlds will be important towards the qualification for the Olympic Games. Zhiganshina doesn’t have German citizenship yet, but the dancers are positive that she will receive it in time. The skater has passed several tests successfully and has officially applied for citizenship. Her documents are currently under review by the German authorities.

In addition to training, Zhiganshina is helping to prepare the summer ice shows in Oberstdorf, “Musicals on Ice”.

“This is interesting,” she shared. “It is hard to do after our practices, but it is a different aspect.”

Despite her participation in the work for “Musicals On Ice”, Zhiganshina doesn’t see herself as a coach or choreographer in the future.

“I’d prefer to have a job outside of figure skating with just some skating on the side,” the ice dancer explained. “I’d like to work in the fitness business. I’m afraid to lose my flexibility if I stop training. I always want to be athletic and stay in shape.”

Her partner does not plan to coach in the future, either.

“In between finishing and starting to do something else, I have to take another step,” Gazsi said. “There are a few things I am interested in and many others I definitely don’t want to do, and one of them is coaching. It is an ungrateful job. You have to work very hard. I think I’d be a coach who wants to give everything and that’s even worse than an being athlete.”

Zhiganshina agreed: “If the athletes do well, everybody says they are good athletes, and if the athletes don’t do well, it is the fault of the coach.”

Cappellini and Lanotte ready to challenge

July 22, 2012 - by Tatjana Flade
Photo Robin Ritoss  
 

Tagged with: anna cappellini and luca lanotte

Italy’s Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte perform their 2011-12 Free Dance to “La Strada” by Nino Rota.

Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy missed the podium at the 2012 European Figure Skating Championships by the slimmest of margins – just 0.03 points. However, the fourth place at Europeans and their sixth place finish at the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships were their best results to date, and made the Italian team just hungry for more.

Currently, Cappellini and Lanotte are in Novi, Mich. working with Igor Shpilband for the new season. They are also joined by their main coach Paola Mezzadri.

The much-discussed end of the professional relationship of Shpilband and Marina Zueva also affected the Italians, who originally had planned to train with both coaches and next to some of the world’s best ice dance teams during the summer.

“We were completely gobsmacked to hear about Igor and Marina’s split,” said Cappellini. “We had been looking forward for a long time to work with such a strong team of coaches and they were both so amazing in their own ways.”

“Our decision to come and train in Novi with Igor is mostly based on the fact that we already have choreographer Paola Mezzadri in Italy to guide us with new ideas and the construction of our programs,” she continued. “What we mostly needed was someone to help us improve our elements and our skating technique and training methods, so we thought Igor was just the perfect man for the job.”

“Obviously we would have loved to train in Canton with both coaches and the amazing group of skaters they created,” summed up Cappellini, “but after two weeks in Novi with Igor we couldn’t be any happier with the work he’s doing with us. It’s simply a pleasure to work with such a competent, committed, genuinely nice man.”

Beforehand, Cappellini and Lanotte had spoken to Zueva and Shpilband about coming to Canton.

“We were very excited to join such a successful school with such hard working students. Our agreement was to work with both coaches, therefore we feel these allegations have nothing to do with us,” Cappellini explained, referring to rumors that they were a reason for the conflict between the coaches.

The Italian Champions are working hard on their new programs and picked two very different themes. For the short dance, they chose music from the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

“We fell in love with this music the first time we heard it and we went to watch the movie right away!” Cappellini pointed out happily. “It’s such a lively music and a great style solution. We were looking for something not classical and with a story, so this musical really suits our needs.”

There new free dance is inspired by Carmen.

“We always felt this story and the characters suited us, our passion, and ability to portray stories and emotions,” Cappellini shared. “We were only waiting for the right time and we feel like after last season we’re ready to take on the challenge of portraying this theme differently than it’s ever been done before.”

The 2010 Olympians believe that Carmen, although it has been used many times, is still very popular with the audience.

“Some music simply always delivers a strong emotion and is always a pleasure to hear. This happened last year as the crowd was enthralled by Carmen in Verona’s historic arena,” the dancer explained, referring to the “Opera on Ice” show they participated in last September.

The team hopes that their programs will propel them to new heights in the upcoming season.

“We’re obviously looking to improve all our results, starting from the Grand Prixs but also at Europeans and Worlds, as well,” stated Cappellini. “In the summer this means you go back to your basics to look for any improvement possible. Never becoming lazy or content with what you do, but always trying to push yourself out of your comfort zone.”

However, looking back, they were satisfied with what they did this past season.

“I think it was the best season that we have ever done,” Lanotte commented, “but there was something missing and we are pretty disappointed about that, but it is the rules of the game.”

The “missing” piece is that bronze medal from the European Championships that they came so close to.

“For the first time, we skated under the pressure of wanting that medal,” said Cappellini. “I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we were just trying to collect points, which isn’t a bad concept in itself. We really separated ourselves from the performance.”

“We were skating, thinking ‘this was level four choctaw, I’m not sure,’” Cappellini added about their short dance at Europeans, where they made a costly mistake on the twizzles at the end. “We didn’t live the program.”

It was a learning experience for the ice dancers. One of their goals was to ensure that the judges knew that they were there and belonged in the top group.

“We were not like 100 points away from a medal,” Lanotte pointed out, referring to Europeans.

“Even better was the way we used to compete before and the way we compete now,” continued Lanotte. “Now, we are more complete, more independent, and more alone. It doesn’t mean that the coach or choreographer are not important, but what’s going to happen on the ice is Anna and I.”

The Italians had been working on developing this kind of mindset before, however, only their experience at Europeans helped them to fully embrace it.

“Sometimes when you want to become a champion, you can’t be nice to anyone and you cannot let everyone enter your zone,” Cappellini explained. “Maybe they want to help and that can make you feel obligated to be polite and talk to them, but it is just really our moment.We know exactly what we have to do, so we have to focus on ourselves.”

“Even just listening to people before going on to the ice can be a little detrimental,” Cappellini elaborated. “I think it is the biggest lesson that we could learn. Now, hopefully, we’ll be fighting for more medals and for higher placements. It is important to handle everyone around you tactfully, because they want to help, but it can definitely interfere with your concentration.”

Cappellini and Lanotte now seem to have found the team they need in order to succeed. In 2009, they left Italy to work with Muriel Zazoui and Romain Haguenauer in Lyon, France. While the first year went really well, the next, post-Olympic season, was a setback. The team didn’t feel comfortable with their free dance, didn’t perform too well, and finally missed the 2011 European Championships due to Lanotte suffering from injury.

Subsequently they returned to Italy and are coached by Paola Mezzadri and Valter Rizzo in Milan, however, they are the only top-level ice dance couple in their group and sometimes feel lonely. Hence, their decision to go to the USA for summer training.

For the upcoming season, the Italians have been assigned to the Grand Prix events in Canada and France.

“We’re really pleased with them,” Cappellini shared. “We always found amazing crowds both in Canada and Paris, so we know that as long as we put our hearts in our skating, we’ll be able to create great moments on the ice, for us, and the people who will be watching.”

In addition, they are considering doing one or two smaller competitions before the Grand Prix season starts, however, haven’t decided which ones yet.

“Luca and I are just so busy training and taking in the life here in Detroit,” Cappellini noted. “Weeks are literally flying by and before we know it, our names will be called by the announcer on the ice once again.”

Cappellini, 25, and Lanotte, who will turn 27 on July 30, teamed up in spring 2005.

“I think that we’ve really grown up together,” Cappellini said of their relationship. “We’ve really changed and evolved a lot when I think of day one when we got on the ice. I think of Luca like family. We’ve been through so much together that he’s like a cousin. We can fight and we can go through rough patches, but deep down there is like love in the sense of – if you ever need me, I’ll be there night and day.”

Off the ice, they don’t spend much time together, but they get along very well.

“Our relationships has gotten way more direct,” reflected Cappellini. “There is no more joking around or trying to get attention. If I think something was bad, I’ll say it and no one is offended. It’s going both ways. If Luca says I’m wrong, I’ll stop, think about it and say, ‘Ok, let’s do it again.’ We can totally be ourselves with each other.”

Her partner agreed. “We are still careful that we are not too harsh with each other. The important thing is what you have done at the end of the day. This is important. It’s not how you talk, good or bad.”

As a dance team, the Italians see their strength in interpretation.

“There is one thing I learned – I can’t do a program that I don’t like,” Cappellini said. “I know there are people that can or they try and learn to love it, but if I don’t love it, I won’t love it and it’s not going to work.We definitely have to have programs that really do something for us emotionally.”

“Our link with the performances and the ice is the feeling,” Lanotte elaborated. “If we feel something during the program, if we feel the program, we can bring it to the public. If not, we’re just try to act, pretending on the ice. It’s everything about the feeling for us.”

Outside the ice rink, Cappellini can sometimes be found in an animal shelter walking dogs.

“It’s like a little hobby for myself that I’ve done during the weekend,” she revealed. “It’s nice for me to go and see something that is totally unrelated to skating. I think it’s refreshing and selfless when you are not always at the center of attention or in the spotlight, and instead go out to a little place just to see that there are animals there that need you, that need a little love.”

Lanotte enjoys cooking and hanging out with his friends in his spare time. Both ice dancers have not yet decided what they want to do after their competitive career is over, however, Cappellini’s dream is to study physiotherapy.

Unsurprisingly, their focus are the upcoming 2014 Olympic Games in Sotchi. After this, they plan to sit down and think about their future.

“I think it’s fairly sure that we won’t stop at Sotchi,” Cappellini shared. “Of course it depends on results, it depends on health, and if we feel that we can push it if our bodies are good. We don’t expect to finish with Sotchi, but it will be the first time that we’ll talk about it.”

“We’ll also evaluate our status the first year after Sotchi,” Lanotte added. “After Sotchi you can say things, you can decide, but actually you’re going to see after the first year. This is because if you are in the top three at Europeans, you can say, ‘okay, we still have three years and it could be a good three years.’ Maybe we can keep going.”

Allison Reed换了新舞伴Vasili Rogov