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Anatoly Samokhvalov's interview with Viktoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov `We love the USA and sometime miss the atmosphere there' for rsport.ru
On Rachmaninov:
NK: Vika and I brought the Rakhmaninov piece the day after the first practice. We didn't discuss it with anyone. We started the off ice training, Sergey Petukhov walks in and bursts `Nikita, I love the Rachmaninov's 2nd concert. What do you think?'
VS: Nikita and I looked at each other and said together `we love it!'
NK: But we haven't yet told them we had the same idea. And then we go on the ice, Sasha Zhulin walks in says `guys, I thought perhaps about Rachmaninov? The 2nd concert?'
AS: Did you laugh?
NK: It was epic!
VS: They haven't even discussed it with Petukhov! Just each brought his own idea to the practice. We brought a file.
AS: Have you seen Rachmaninov on the ice before? I think of Elena Radionova.
VS: She was skating a different concert - the 3rd.
NK: Arthur Dmitriev skated to the 2nd.
(omg.. ABT!!! How can one think of anyone but Abt when talking of Rachmaninov!?)
AS: The 2nd is the coolest.
VS: The strongest.
NK: We listened to every possible performance, all the recording we could find including the one by the author.
AS: How did you get to Rachmaninov at the first place?
NK: That time after the Euros, we had a will to go through a lot of material to find what will suit us. We listened to everything. Very different pieces. At one moment Elena Anatolievna Tchaikovskaya switched to a different tune and we started listening to the classical music with her. Strong classical pieces. We brought her Rachmaninov and she stated `guys, you have a good taste!'. We decided on the spot, including the coach. I recall together with Kotin we started cutting the 2nd concerto to the pieces we needed. The Kotin/Tchaikovskaya version is what we brought Zhulin. We have 4 minutes of the strongest parts of the concert on the ice.
Of course there are moments when we have to breath, rest a bit - we can't run on the ice all the time as the concert demands. Hence the middle part of the programme - Rachmaninov's `Vocalize'. Sasha Zhulin said `Vocalize will fit great. I'll do it', and cut the music.
AS: Is Tchaikovskaya going to visit you in Zhulin's `Olimpiiskii' rink?
NK: Yes, she spoke on the phone both with Sasha Zhulin and us.
AS: Your previous season was hard, to put it mildly.
NK: Mentally not easy.
AS: Not easy? I thought some would be defeated after such a season.
NK: Ha ha. We are grateful to Marina Zueva and Oleg Epstein, who supported and helped us, who did not abandon us. In Moscow we were helped by Oleg Volkov, who did a huge job cleaning our mistakes.
VS: In Sochi test skates he looked at us, approached and said `Yeah, guys, there is a lot of work to do'.
NK: And when Elena Anatolievna joined in we realized: we have a team. And it became easier.
VS: The competitions began
NK: The Europeans we came there with a team and the fighting mood.
VS: Even the Russian nationals we were breathing there.
NK: We looked great in the practices. But in the Europenas we were mentally defeated.
AS: Still your coaching team raised questions: Volkov, who never worked alone before. Tchaikovskaya, who was out of coaching for a while..
NK: It wasn't that. The thing was a silly lack of ice. The federation, probably, experiences some financial lacks and we were unable to find a base where we would train all the time. We were not allowed to train in Novogorsk constantly either.
VS: The Europeans were over and we had to travel to 3 different rinks every day. Finish the practice, pack your stuff, go to the next rink.
NK: We couldn't survive a season of such travels. We would crash under the strain. Every day Vika and I asked each other the same question `What do we do?'. Next season is the Olympic. It's not just the Olympics, but we felt the will to work. We needed the feedback we could give. And then we thought of Zhulin. Who is the best team in our country? Right, Zhulin's. It's a coach I am close to. My first dancing coach was Sasha. We couldn't tell when we decided to travel to `Olimpiiskii'. Would it work? Would it not? We had our doubts, but the idea was there. During the search for the music we often met at Tchaikovskaya's office in Strogino and dared to share our thoughts.
AS: And?
NK: Tchaikovskaya said `Guys, let's... let's give it a try'. She supported us and almost immediately called Sasha. We were lucky. And we are grateful to Sasha for accepting us in his group.
AS: A new life. So was the main factor the troubles finding the rink or Zhulin's group coaching potential?
NK: It's 2 different things. First of all we realized that...
VS: We have nowhere to skate.
NK: Besides, Elena Anatolievna holds lots of seminars, she teaches, so she has to travel all the time. She couldn't be with us all the time and coach.
AS: Nikita, you've known Zhulin for a long time and your departure from his group was quite dramatic and not positive.
NK: We spoke about that briefly and I hope, that never... I grew up. I was young and I couldn't do everything right. If now I have a chance to work with Sasha I will do all I can not to let him down. Not to let the team down. Not to let Vika down.
AS: Tatiana Tarasova even said that Zhulin..
NK: My last chance?
AS: yes.
NK: We have all we need to shoot. You have no idea how eager we are to work every day. And things work out.
AS: Is Tarasova right in her way?
NK: Tatiana Anatolievna is a very experienced, wise, legendary coach. If she said so - she is right. She has a point. We have to rush up.
AS: The competition with Bobrova/Soloviev - would it bother you?
NK: We are in a good terms with them, but not close enough to know what is going on with them or what are their ideas. Besides we spoke to the coaches about the switch. We asked Sasha to accept us and he did. We started working on our stuff from day one.
AS: If things worked out for you in the USA I imagine you would have started the Olympic season as you should had, taking Marina Zueva plans winning the games with Maya and Alex Shibutani.
NK: It's a `what if' now.
VS: We don't go into the coaches layouts.
NK: We learned so much from Marina Zueva, Oleg Epsten, Massimo Scally and Johnny Jones.
VS: It was an amazing experience!
NK: We love them all so much. I'm serious - we think about them every day and recall our coach on the other side of the ocean.
VK: Even now, when working on `Olimpiiskii' we have in mind what we did with Marina. We automatically do what we were taught to do in Canton. The day off for us is not a couch, but listening to the music, the videos, searching for something that could be used in the programme. Marina is never resting and we took it from her.
NK: Marina made us fall in love what we do again.
AS: I recall my first conversation with Zueva in Sochi, she was saying how much she loves musicales and picking the music..
VS: WE all became like that.
AS: Nikita even looks American - with the had on the side and 2 chains.
NK: It's not jewelry. It's a cross. I don't really try to look `in style'. If I like something I buy it and then pick the clothes that would suit it.
VS: The dressing code in the USA is different than in Russia. There is no competition to look the best. The American women would not go out thinking `I'm so good looking, look at me!!'. They can go out wearing pijamas.
NK: It socks and slippers.
VS: And a coat and shorts at the winter.
AS: What do you miss from the USA?
NK: Many things. We love the USA. In our own way.
VS: We used to live in Detroit, where everything was so comfortable for practicing. Nothing kept you mind off.
NK: Though now our conditions are no worse, and we are home. We sometimes miss the atmosphere in the USA, we think of that time with a warm smile, especially Detroit, Marina's academy in Canton. The hamburger, on the other hand, I can have here in Russia. But most importantly, nothing presses on us now.
AS: Zhulin said your team is using about 30% of it's potential. That you still have so much to give.
VS: This is what we are working on.
NK: I think we really grew a lot in these 3 years we've been together and we keep growing, we just lack the maturity. We had some injuries. We look really cool in the practices. You know, sometimes the team goes out there, work really hard, then dismount the element and they are so happy. For us - it's a given. Vika and I feel each other. Without touching. With our eyes closed.
AS: That's great.
NK: With Sasha we found a common route and we walk it. Zhulin is careful with us. If he sees something we need to work on he does not tell it directly. So we could see it from the side. We just hear what he says, go and do that. Guess that's the way he helps us to develop.
VS: Petr Durnev is very attentive to the details (the technical specialist: if we come up with something he immediately says whether it would suit the rules or not. On the spot he recommends the right element and it helps a lot. `This entry', `this lift'...
NK: Petr helps a lot.
AS: I asked a year ago in Bratislava whether Vika can depict anything but a Russian beauty and be a hooligan. Had the USA have it's influence?
NK: Oh, Vika can be a hooligan. She can be everything.
VS: In the USA I danced the hip hop and a latin. With the shoes. And I transformed. Marina Zueva would say `Vika, Nikita is injured. But don't sit around - go and dance!'. And I did. I loved it so much. We would go with the girls from the rink to the centre of Detroit to the ghetto and dance hip hop. Because hip hop there is the core of that dance. It's the only place when it's danced so cool with all the right emotions.
AS: Wasn't it dangerous?
VS: We were a bunch. 5-6 people. Someone's mom would take us there. Sometimes Nikita would come and dance with us there.
AS: Are your injures healed?
NK: Yes, nothing hurts. Or, to be exact, everything hurts, but there are no injures.
AS: What was the hardest moment last season?
NK: When we had to prepare fast to our first GP. But together with Volkov I think we did it. Of course we could had done more, but the move from the USA had it's impact. But we went through all that and it was easier later.
AS: Vika, excuse me, but I can't avoid asking Nikita about the aggressive rumours circulating after Ruslan Zhiganshin's unofficial retirement news that your partner is under a pressure to revive the Olympic bronze medallist team.
NK: No one put any pressure on me. I also heard such rumours.
AS: Were the rumours started because you, Nikita, is very much against?
NK: I did nothing about it and spoke to no one about that. You see, it can't be returned. Vika and I have our own way, we walk it together and have no plans turning around.
On Rachmaninov:
NK: Vika and I brought the Rakhmaninov piece the day after the first practice. We didn't discuss it with anyone. We started the off ice training, Sergey Petukhov walks in and bursts `Nikita, I love the Rachmaninov's 2nd concert. What do you think?'
VS: Nikita and I looked at each other and said together `we love it!'
NK: But we haven't yet told them we had the same idea. And then we go on the ice, Sasha Zhulin walks in says `guys, I thought perhaps about Rachmaninov? The 2nd concert?'
AS: Did you laugh?
NK: It was epic!
VS: They haven't even discussed it with Petukhov! Just each brought his own idea to the practice. We brought a file.
AS: Have you seen Rachmaninov on the ice before? I think of Elena Radionova.
VS: She was skating a different concert - the 3rd.
NK: Arthur Dmitriev skated to the 2nd.
(omg.. ABT!!! How can one think of anyone but Abt when talking of Rachmaninov!?)
AS: The 2nd is the coolest.
VS: The strongest.
NK: We listened to every possible performance, all the recording we could find including the one by the author.
AS: How did you get to Rachmaninov at the first place?
NK: That time after the Euros, we had a will to go through a lot of material to find what will suit us. We listened to everything. Very different pieces. At one moment Elena Anatolievna Tchaikovskaya switched to a different tune and we started listening to the classical music with her. Strong classical pieces. We brought her Rachmaninov and she stated `guys, you have a good taste!'. We decided on the spot, including the coach. I recall together with Kotin we started cutting the 2nd concerto to the pieces we needed. The Kotin/Tchaikovskaya version is what we brought Zhulin. We have 4 minutes of the strongest parts of the concert on the ice.
Of course there are moments when we have to breath, rest a bit - we can't run on the ice all the time as the concert demands. Hence the middle part of the programme - Rachmaninov's `Vocalize'. Sasha Zhulin said `Vocalize will fit great. I'll do it', and cut the music.
AS: Is Tchaikovskaya going to visit you in Zhulin's `Olimpiiskii' rink?
NK: Yes, she spoke on the phone both with Sasha Zhulin and us.
AS: Your previous season was hard, to put it mildly.
NK: Mentally not easy.
AS: Not easy? I thought some would be defeated after such a season.
NK: Ha ha. We are grateful to Marina Zueva and Oleg Epstein, who supported and helped us, who did not abandon us. In Moscow we were helped by Oleg Volkov, who did a huge job cleaning our mistakes.
VS: In Sochi test skates he looked at us, approached and said `Yeah, guys, there is a lot of work to do'.
NK: And when Elena Anatolievna joined in we realized: we have a team. And it became easier.
VS: The competitions began
NK: The Europeans we came there with a team and the fighting mood.
VS: Even the Russian nationals we were breathing there.
NK: We looked great in the practices. But in the Europenas we were mentally defeated.
AS: Still your coaching team raised questions: Volkov, who never worked alone before. Tchaikovskaya, who was out of coaching for a while..
NK: It wasn't that. The thing was a silly lack of ice. The federation, probably, experiences some financial lacks and we were unable to find a base where we would train all the time. We were not allowed to train in Novogorsk constantly either.
VS: The Europeans were over and we had to travel to 3 different rinks every day. Finish the practice, pack your stuff, go to the next rink.
NK: We couldn't survive a season of such travels. We would crash under the strain. Every day Vika and I asked each other the same question `What do we do?'. Next season is the Olympic. It's not just the Olympics, but we felt the will to work. We needed the feedback we could give. And then we thought of Zhulin. Who is the best team in our country? Right, Zhulin's. It's a coach I am close to. My first dancing coach was Sasha. We couldn't tell when we decided to travel to `Olimpiiskii'. Would it work? Would it not? We had our doubts, but the idea was there. During the search for the music we often met at Tchaikovskaya's office in Strogino and dared to share our thoughts.
AS: And?
NK: Tchaikovskaya said `Guys, let's... let's give it a try'. She supported us and almost immediately called Sasha. We were lucky. And we are grateful to Sasha for accepting us in his group.
AS: A new life. So was the main factor the troubles finding the rink or Zhulin's group coaching potential?
NK: It's 2 different things. First of all we realized that...
VS: We have nowhere to skate.
NK: Besides, Elena Anatolievna holds lots of seminars, she teaches, so she has to travel all the time. She couldn't be with us all the time and coach.
AS: Nikita, you've known Zhulin for a long time and your departure from his group was quite dramatic and not positive.
NK: We spoke about that briefly and I hope, that never... I grew up. I was young and I couldn't do everything right. If now I have a chance to work with Sasha I will do all I can not to let him down. Not to let the team down. Not to let Vika down.
AS: Tatiana Tarasova even said that Zhulin..
NK: My last chance?
AS: yes.
NK: We have all we need to shoot. You have no idea how eager we are to work every day. And things work out.
AS: Is Tarasova right in her way?
NK: Tatiana Anatolievna is a very experienced, wise, legendary coach. If she said so - she is right. She has a point. We have to rush up.
AS: The competition with Bobrova/Soloviev - would it bother you?
NK: We are in a good terms with them, but not close enough to know what is going on with them or what are their ideas. Besides we spoke to the coaches about the switch. We asked Sasha to accept us and he did. We started working on our stuff from day one.
AS: If things worked out for you in the USA I imagine you would have started the Olympic season as you should had, taking Marina Zueva plans winning the games with Maya and Alex Shibutani.
NK: It's a `what if' now.
VS: We don't go into the coaches layouts.
NK: We learned so much from Marina Zueva, Oleg Epsten, Massimo Scally and Johnny Jones.
VS: It was an amazing experience!
NK: We love them all so much. I'm serious - we think about them every day and recall our coach on the other side of the ocean.
VK: Even now, when working on `Olimpiiskii' we have in mind what we did with Marina. We automatically do what we were taught to do in Canton. The day off for us is not a couch, but listening to the music, the videos, searching for something that could be used in the programme. Marina is never resting and we took it from her.
NK: Marina made us fall in love what we do again.
AS: I recall my first conversation with Zueva in Sochi, she was saying how much she loves musicales and picking the music..
VS: WE all became like that.
AS: Nikita even looks American - with the had on the side and 2 chains.
NK: It's not jewelry. It's a cross. I don't really try to look `in style'. If I like something I buy it and then pick the clothes that would suit it.
VS: The dressing code in the USA is different than in Russia. There is no competition to look the best. The American women would not go out thinking `I'm so good looking, look at me!!'. They can go out wearing pijamas.
NK: It socks and slippers.
VS: And a coat and shorts at the winter.
AS: What do you miss from the USA?
NK: Many things. We love the USA. In our own way.
VS: We used to live in Detroit, where everything was so comfortable for practicing. Nothing kept you mind off.
NK: Though now our conditions are no worse, and we are home. We sometimes miss the atmosphere in the USA, we think of that time with a warm smile, especially Detroit, Marina's academy in Canton. The hamburger, on the other hand, I can have here in Russia. But most importantly, nothing presses on us now.
AS: Zhulin said your team is using about 30% of it's potential. That you still have so much to give.
VS: This is what we are working on.
NK: I think we really grew a lot in these 3 years we've been together and we keep growing, we just lack the maturity. We had some injuries. We look really cool in the practices. You know, sometimes the team goes out there, work really hard, then dismount the element and they are so happy. For us - it's a given. Vika and I feel each other. Without touching. With our eyes closed.
AS: That's great.
NK: With Sasha we found a common route and we walk it. Zhulin is careful with us. If he sees something we need to work on he does not tell it directly. So we could see it from the side. We just hear what he says, go and do that. Guess that's the way he helps us to develop.
VS: Petr Durnev is very attentive to the details (the technical specialist: if we come up with something he immediately says whether it would suit the rules or not. On the spot he recommends the right element and it helps a lot. `This entry', `this lift'...
NK: Petr helps a lot.
AS: I asked a year ago in Bratislava whether Vika can depict anything but a Russian beauty and be a hooligan. Had the USA have it's influence?
NK: Oh, Vika can be a hooligan. She can be everything.
VS: In the USA I danced the hip hop and a latin. With the shoes. And I transformed. Marina Zueva would say `Vika, Nikita is injured. But don't sit around - go and dance!'. And I did. I loved it so much. We would go with the girls from the rink to the centre of Detroit to the ghetto and dance hip hop. Because hip hop there is the core of that dance. It's the only place when it's danced so cool with all the right emotions.
AS: Wasn't it dangerous?
VS: We were a bunch. 5-6 people. Someone's mom would take us there. Sometimes Nikita would come and dance with us there.
AS: Are your injures healed?
NK: Yes, nothing hurts. Or, to be exact, everything hurts, but there are no injures.
AS: What was the hardest moment last season?
NK: When we had to prepare fast to our first GP. But together with Volkov I think we did it. Of course we could had done more, but the move from the USA had it's impact. But we went through all that and it was easier later.
AS: Vika, excuse me, but I can't avoid asking Nikita about the aggressive rumours circulating after Ruslan Zhiganshin's unofficial retirement news that your partner is under a pressure to revive the Olympic bronze medallist team.
NK: No one put any pressure on me. I also heard such rumours.
AS: Were the rumours started because you, Nikita, is very much against?
NK: I did nothing about it and spoke to no one about that. You see, it can't be returned. Vika and I have our own way, we walk it together and have no plans turning around.
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