Khodorovski's interview with Averbukh

TAHbKA

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Boris Khodorovski's interview with Ilya Averbukh for sport-weekend.com
BH: Last season you choreographed the programmes for Sofia Samodurova and for Dmitrii Aliev. Is it a shame Samodurova's programmes were a hit - she became a European champion, while Aliev's programmes went unnoticed?
IA: It's a shame when the programme is a flop. The skaters need to land their jumps, only then the choreographer's talent will be noticed. Take Zagitova - she won the Olympics with a junior programme. It's a bad taste in figure skating keeping a programme for two season. And yet here a junior programme with a 30seconds addition to comply the seniors rules. Samodurova was the most consistent Russian lady last season, hence the programme shone.

BH: Did Aliev's programme had a chance?
IA: He is a very talented skater. I like what Rukavitsin and Glinka do with him. The programme was full of meaning and everyone knew how it should be skated. Just that things didn't work from the very beginning. I hope this season Dmitri recovers and will aim for the highest places in the major competitions. He has great gliding skills and feels the music.

BH: Will you continue collaborating with the St. Petersburg skaters this season?
IA: I had. The new LP for Samodurova and Tuktamysheva are already done. They are now polishing it. Alexey Mishin loved my work. Though they still have to finish editing the music.

BH: Who else will be skating your programmes this season?
IA: Am working again with Evgenia Medvedeva - did her SP. We are now working on the rhythm dance with Stepanova/Bukin. The guys asked me to work with them - my experience with the ice dancers is rather small. I only worked with the Germans Zhiganshina/Gazi - their `Zombie' dance with which they placed the highest in their career. Working with Stepanova/Bukin is a challenge.

BH: It's not a secret Medvedeva skated the programmes that were originally planned for Lipnitskaya. How important the personality of the skater is for a choreographer?
IA: It's not quite true. It's not Julia, but her mother who declined my idea of the programme and the music. The idea was really good, even Eteri Tutberidze said so. In the end we decided to choreograph it for Evgenia. It does not mean we took the steps mean for Julia, no, we just used the musical idea. Which, by the way, came from the `Ice Age' show.

BH: Is today's Medvedeva different from the one who worked in Tutberidze's group?
IA: The age is what it is and Evgenia is past the puberty. Many think of Tutberidze as of some kind of a monster. It's not true. Yes, there is a discipline in her group, but she loves her pupils. I saw how much she put in Medvedeva, how protective of Medvedeva she was. They had a relationship resembling mother/daughter. Of course things are different with Orser. Medvedeva is a different person to work with. She adds some small details now. Her body works beautifully, she adopted some of the North American skating style. And even given all that - she still must land her jumps!

BH: Was Medvedeva the one to call you?
IA: I think it was her idea. Am grateful to Orser for not objecting. After all he has his own preferred choreographers and we are the foreigners for him. The point of view on choreography is different in Canada and Russia. We worked on the programme in Moscow. Unlike Tutberidze's group, where everyone is involved in working with the choreographer this time Evgenia and I worked alone. Orser saw the finished programme.

BH: You had a chance to work in Linitchuk/Karponosov group, where at one moment 6 out of top 10 teams were training. It's the same in Tutberidze's group now...
IA: Such groups come up at the time in Russia, Canada and the USA. Before Linitchuk/Karponosov there was a group with all the top Russian dancers under Natalia Dubova. For a coach it's a great thing when they don't have to motivate their skaters daily - they see how their main rivals work and every training session becomes a competition. It's a huger game that pushes you! On the other hand with such a competition the elite group will fall apart eventually. Some will leave because they think they are lacking the coach's attention, some will blame the coach on holding them back. Some talents will be lost when switching groups.

BH: What held you in Linitchuk/Karponosov's group?
IA: we moved ranks from being Russia n.3 to Russia n.2 and then Russia n1. in that group. The others left. I would hate Tutberidze's group going through the same.

BH: The American producers defined the key to success of the professional shows: a scandal or dominating of the local skaters, first of all at the Olympics. Russia has both right now, at least in the ladies. Will it give an additional boost to the popularity of your ice shows?
IA: For now neither Zagitova nor Medvedeva are skating in my shows. If the income went up after they had joined we could had discussed the American way. I can't and won't answer how to gain from the internet scandals created by their fans in the social media. Figure skating gained popularity in the recent years, and it's great.
 
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antmanb

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BH: Will you continue collaborating with the St. Petersburg skaters this season?
IA: I had. The new LP for Samodurova and Tuktamysheva are already done. They are now polishing it. Alexey Mishin loved my work. Though they still have to find the music.

This answer confused me - he's choreographed the LPs for both skaters but they still have to find the music? Does that mean for the SP?
 

Enchanted

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This answer confused me - he's choreographed the LPs for both skaters but they still have to find the music? Does that mean for the SP?

I was wondering the same as it sounds as if he choreographed the programs without knowing the music.
 

alchemy void

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Take Zagitova - she won the Olympics with a junior programme. It's a bad taste in figure skating keeping a programme for two season. And yet here a junior programme with a 30seconds addition to comply the seniors rules.

:rofl:
 
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Tinami Amori

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Averbuch... :lol:., he's been giving a lot of interviews lately, each one with interesting twists; either it is "Ice Age Kids postpartum anxiety", or he wants to choreograph competition programmes again, and does not know which horses to bet on.. :D
 

Ananas Astra

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I tend to ignore Averbukh. I just can't stand him and he usually says a lot of stupid stuff.
He can create good programs from time to time (Makarova's SP back in the days and Lipnitskaya's iconic "Schindler's List"), but mostly his work is pretentious over-dramatic miming bs.
Plus, he treated Lobacheva like shit, never protected her from his overly-protective mother and cheated on her quite often. To me, he is a (unfortunately) moderately talented piece of shit.

Keeping a program for two seasons is bad?
He should look at his own competitive history when he and ex-wifey recycled "Jesus Christ Superstar".
 

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