Courtesy of
@maya1985 who provided scans
, a summary of the new interview from Patinage Magazine with the
gorgeous cover from Liam Ross . This interview happened in Montreal just before the European Championships where the journalist talked to two key people in their coaching team: Catherine Pinard and Romain Hagenauer.
First a nice little Q&A:
Where do you take your strength ? GP: within us, within the other, in our coachs and families ...
Your three main qualities ? GC: the ability to question ourselves, determination and involvement
What was the most important professional encounter ? GC: the one between Gabriella and I.
Have you been scared in your professional life ? GP: yes of course, moments of doubts mainly, of anxiety.
What is the greatest risk ? GC: lack of confidence
Were you thinking of being where you are now ? Did you have any role model ? GP: nobody knows where they are, we keep moving that's all...
Catherine Pinard who works with them on interpretation:
She has quite the artistic background: played music then harpsichord, studied theater, classical singing, was a pianist, composer and a musical director in a Theater. Then she coached at Cirque du Soleil for five years where she understood there is a link between the emotional state and the muscular one. She coached Duhamel and Radford. When Patrice Lauzon saw how they were skating differently, he called them up to ask if they had a new coach. That's when she started working with him. She met Gabriella and Guillaume in 2014.
Her role amidst the other coaches: she works on all there is underneath the programs: the story, the energy or the musical phrases. For Beethoven, she looked at his intimate journal and his will. With Gaby and Guillaume, they observed how they felt about it. For instance, if they worked on desire and it made one feel dizzy while the other one felt paralysed, then she was not gonna work on desire but on how dizziness provokes paralysis. When they meet, they used to listen to the sonata, reread the will, talk about it and see if the direction they were pursuing was honoring the music and the program.
The journalist finds Gaby and Guillaume are more present for one another this year, they look more mature, her answer: first time she met skaters, she realized they were more executing orders taken at the boards about edges and such than anything else. She, not understanding a thing about edges, was just asking "but who are you ? what do you feel ?" They were unable to answer. As a musician, she always tries to connect to the source of the music, what emotions it stirs inside while always staying very humble because one can never reach perfection. Gaby and Guillaume learnt this and they don't look to be in total control anymore but to get the closest they can to what's sacred in the music and within themselves. First time she met them she had them sitting and facing each other for 5 minutes. They had never truly look at each other. She then let them three hours looking at each other (they nearly tear her head off though
) Next day, she asks Gabriella to let go and Guillaume to welcome her. They worked a bit on erotism. This year they wanted to be more identified as artists which they chose to do through Beethoven. As she doesn't know anything about skating, she always bring a fresh perspective.
The journalist feels this year they're in full awareness: they really own what they're doing because they've been working for hundreds of hours on interpretation, presence, charisma and so on this year. They refined each minute details of the movements trying to convey something.
I won't translate Romain's because it's short and nothing new really comes through is interview.
No wonder why they said her classes were special and quite intense and crazy 
that Gabriella said in the same interview that she loses weight easily and her favorite foods are pizza, chocolate, cheese, foie gras. Girl's living the dream. Or least my dream.
I can't wait to see their programs in Milano again 
The air is cleaner for other obvious reasons.
