This is a part of big interview with Volosozhar/Trankov about their book, past and future, I’ll try to translate it later today
Here’s the link
- How you decided to write your own book?
Max: People talked a lot about private life, some pieces started to pop up. Our friends suggested that we should write a book, and we started working on it. Tanya wrote a prologue and epilogue, one of our friends also helped us with it. Those, who know my character understand, how hard to was for us to do all of this. This book is mostly about myself, my family. I have a very interesting family - not only in sports or art. I tell about all my skating partners, my 'great' character, coaches, about all our programs and each costume. And also how Tatiana and I became an off-ice pair as well. Our next book will be about Tanya.
- What is your favorite program of yours?
Maxim: Jesus Christ Superstar, it was my dream - to skate to that music. And not only my dream came true, we won an OGM with that program.
Tatiana: My favorite program is "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. I am a gentle person, I like lyrical programs, for me it was easier to skate to it. I also like out LP to "Swan Lake" - I wanted to show different sides of myself.
Maxim: When we teamed up, Tatiana was our TES and I was responsible for artistry. But these two programs changed this, Tatiana played the main role there.
- Since you mentioned your olympic program, I have to ask - what happened to your yellow pants?
Maxim: They are at home, waiting for their faith, maybe the place at the museum. Not so long ago I decided to read comment on the Internet. Not about myself, but mostly about Tarasova/Morozov, with whom I'm working now. And there was one anonymous, who harshly criticized our costumes. Each of them was awful but those yellow pants were like a nightmare. Other people would have been offended, but I thought that it was cool - after all those years people were still talking about my yellow pants. People would hardly remember other costumes from that Olympics, but still remember those pants. And also my jacket from the SP to Masquerade Waltz
Tatiana: I remember, that fans in Japan supported us with yellow flags of the same color. And our SP costumes are now in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
Maxim: By the way, those yellow pants have their own secret. But I won't tell you about it. Probably I have just came up with a title for our new book - 'The secret of yellow pants'
- Not so long ago you competed on the ice and now Maxin started coaching Tarasova/Morozov, Russian leading team and 2018 olympians. How did this happened?
Maxim: It was not my initiative, it was their choice. We worked together in the past, for two months only , when they were moving from juniors to seniors. Tatiana and I just saw them on the ice at our camp in Italy - they were skating really great! We were watching at them and thinking - gosh, they were so good!
It was before the test skates, my shoulder was injured and I couldn't train. And the guys were moving to seniors and were going through hard times. Then I helped them to find the way out of this.
- But you stopped working with them then?
Maxim: I went on rehabilitation to Munich, Robin Szolkowy started working in our team. And Tatiana and I didn't know anything about our future plans. So the guys started working with Robin. Maybe I was hurt a little bit, but that's life.
- How you started working together again?
Maxim: After our coach, Nina Mozer, stopped working on the ice full-time, the guys had two options - a coach in the United States and me. They chose me.
- And you immediately agreed?
Maxim: No. They told me that they want to work with me right after Lp at the Olympics, but I ahem already started working on TV, doing commentary on MatchTV and 1st Channel, I worked in the field and quite liked it. We also had invitations from different shows.
- But you still chose coaching in the end?
Maxim: We had a long discussion with Tanya. I gave the answer only in May, three months after our talk with the guys. And I have to say that it turned out that everyone was ok with this decision - our coaching team, our federation.
- What does it mean to you?
Maxim: It's a challenge. We agreed on this: right now we are working for one season, if things don't work out, then I, Trankov, am a bad coach, I have failed. I will come back to my previous work, they will go their way with someone more professional. There's no offense - there are three more years until the Olympics, they have time.
- And what if things work out?
Maxim: Then we will work together till 2022
- How is it- to stand at the boards?
Maxim: I worked as a coach at the 'Ice Age. Kids', and that project helped me a lot. At first I was super nervous, even more than then I was skating myself. Only by the 4th episode I started to calm down - I learnt , how to talk with kids, I started feeling them.
...
- What's with Tarasova/Morozov's psychology?
Maxim: They are unpredictable. Their strong sides are , at the same time, their weaknesses. Right now I can explain all their results. They failed in the SP at Euros, but it motivated them and they were great in the free. Right now they are like the scales, and I have to find a right balance.
- What these 'scales' will show to the public this season?
Maxim: I didn't work with them on their SP this season, probably it will shine by the middle of the season. It's a fast and intensive program to rock music. To be honest, I didn't like that idea. But it was a challenge for them. And Evgenia has to become an overall skater. We chose the same way we went with Tanya in 2011/12 with our Evanescence program, when we focused on modern choreography. We worked with a Broadway choreographer then.
Right now everything depends on their physical strength - you can't stop skating to that program, you have to fly across the ice.
- And their LP?
Maxim: I like it a lot! And I see, that they also enjoy it. It's neoclassical, the main idea - black and white, yin and yang. The program is not about two particular persons, just two essences, who try to contact with each other despite all their differences. And at the end they become one.
- That's true, Zhenya and Vova are indeed very different
Maxim: That's why this program is absolutely theirs. They are very different, they have difficulties because of this. I'm teaching them to trust each other, not to let each other down, to support and not to demand anything. I connect them with that program, so they could entwined with each other like those yin and yang. Peter Tchernyshev did a great job with this program, I liked what he did. Zhenya Prisyazhny, young and very creative choreographer, also helped us with the choreo.
*am a little bit tired of his stream of consciousness, will continue tomorrow*
