TAHbKA
Cats and garlic lover
- Messages
- 20,871
Andrey Simonenko's interview with Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov for ria.ru
AS: Evgenia, Vladimir, starting this season you are working with a new coach - Marina Zueva and live in a new country - USA. The changes usually come with disappointments, which you have to live through. How do you cope?
VM: We have no disappointments, we know exactly how things should go this season. We expected it and waited for it. Just that it's not so easy to move to a new country, change your life style, the training system, the coach. Change everything. We have to get used to those and it'll take some time. We try to cope, but the first part of this season not everything worked out. Though some things worked better than previously, we did not regress, which is the most important. We just need time for the training.
AS: The GP in Canada and Russia you experienced troubles with your jumps. Is it a one time thing or a result of working more on different things now? Your coach Marina Zueva said you work a lot on the presentation of the programmes.
ET: I wouldn't say we spend less time working on the technique. We work on it the same as we did in Moscow. Just that we spend more time on choreography and gliding.
VM: It's hard to combine it all. Previously we had a lot of empty time between the element, say, we held hands and did basic steps. Now those places are filled with the transitions, new moves. Of course we try to make the elements as interesting as possible. All the lifts are done with the interesting entrances and dismounts. We don't have a single classical lift in our LP. We are quite far from that. We don't want to go back there. Yes, it's hard to accept everyone gets their lvl4, but some do the easiest things and we do the originals. And that the 2nd mark is rather low. Indeed we make mistakes, but we try not to let it influence the programme, the story. Fortunately, it works. All and all, our programmes are really hard and we need time to get used to them. In the GP our LP was too raw and we were not 100% ready.
AS: Are those your most interesting programmes of your career?
ET: I guess for now they are just the hardest.
VM: The LP is certainly the most interesting. The SP - we used to have good ones. The Olympic one was good, the pre-Olympic as well. But this year is better.
AS: The `Bolero' - your SP music is an ice legend. How come you picked it?
ET: When we came to Florida Marina said `We have to decide on the music. Put on everything you picked'. We started with our music and then she said `Guys, do you want a `Bolero'? We looked at each other and said `yes, we do'. We loved that piece but we were not sure we can skate it. It just happened - she offered, we wanted it.
AS: Who do you associate the `Bolero' with: Torvill/Dean? Pluschenko? Kostner?
VM: Kostner is a recent one, the others were a while ago. And I can't recall any pairs skating to `Bolero'. We like it that our `Bolero' is contemporary. The music is classical, but the choreography is not really - the arms, the moves, the mini lifts. And we express it differently.
AS: When you first met with Zueva, what were you discussing? What were your goals?
VM: I think the goals are obvious. We need two medals we don't have - the Worlds and the Olympic gold. This is what we spoke about from the start. In order to reach these goals we have to create our own image, our own style. This is what we are working on now.
AS: Were you discussing it'll take time?
VM: We did back then and she still says it. We have our way. Yes, not all will work out at once because we never worked on those things. And the hardest thing in figure skating is to learn to skate.
AS: You mentioned the ice time ends quite early - around 3PM. For many skaters is unusual - there is an evening practice.
ET: Yes, it took us almost a month to get adjusted to being home around 3-4pm and understanding you have a free evening.
VM: But we now have a gym in the evening. It's something you can do any time of the day.
AS: After Moscow with it's crazy paste you now live in a part of Florida where everything is so easy and relaxed.
VM: It's not bad
ET: Nothing disturbs us. There is an ice, there is home. We are most focused and don't have to send time between
AS: But you do have a car?
VM: One for both of us. We drive to the gym, but otherwise we hardly use it because we live in front of the rink.
AS: You drive to the beach as well?
VM: Yes, about 15 minutes. It's great. You swim for half an hour and recover from the practice. It takes all the stress off.
AS: Have you seen the alligators?
ET: No.
VM: I have. There is a lake nearby where they live. But they are rather small. The big ones are taken out while the small ones are harmless. But the sweet water in Florida is not one to swim in.
AS: What is the main legend about the USA that turned out to be wrong once you moved there?
ET: I guess food. That as if everything is too oily and not healthy. There are healthy food stores.
VM: I weight 2kg less than last season and can't gain it.
ET: We really practice so much that we don't have time to gain weight. So yes, we were told to be careful with the food once we move to the USA but it turned out to be the opposite.
AS: There is a saying in Russia that everything in the USA is fake - the smiles, the feelings. Have you noticed it?
ET: I haven't. People on the rink are really nice, we have met everyone and they are nice to talk to. The same with the others. If you don't put your mind in finding the faults everything is good.
VM: We live in an unusual place. There is no winter - it's sunny all the time. Everything around you makes you positive. We used to travel quite a lot to the USA in the past - the training camps, but it was mainly NY, Manhatten, Times sq, the skyscrappers, too many people and all just boils. Here everything is so calm, hardly any cars, not so many people...
AS: But you almost lived through a hurricane.
VM: Yeah, it happens in Florida regularly every year. We were said it's something to get used to.
ET: We were more scared not by the hurricane itself, but the preparations. People were emptying the shelves in the stores.. we entered one and all the water bottles there were gone. We didn't know what the hurricane was like and apparently people prepare to it as if to something horrible.
VM: All the petrol stations were empty, there was no petrol, all covered with the tapes. As if in a war.
AS: It ended well for you - you simply left for the test skates.
VM: Yes. We had to change the tickets, well buy the new ones, and leave earlier.
AS: How often does Mozer or Trankov come and what is their part in your training?
VM: Mozer was with use when we were preparing to the GP in Canada, then we worked with her before the GP in Moscow, she came to us 2-3 times during the summer. The same with Maksim - not that they came together, but with the same frequency. Marina Zueva runs the whole practicing process. Mozer is taking a look, gives advice, points on the errors.
AS: You haven't made it to the GPF, how will it influence your preparations to the nationals?
VM: We had more time to work on the problems and change some things in our programmes.
AS: You were the face of the GP in Russia. Was it weird seeing yourself everywhere?
VM: It was really nice to be picked, it was a surprise. Usually it's the girls on the posters, but this time someone even told me `Vova, you are all over Moscow!'.
ET: When we came to the practice we met Medvedeva. She said hello and said `I have a feeling it's the 3rd time we meet today!'
AS: Vladimir, I can't help asking - even the girls make ponytails when they skate, your hair is all over the place. Does it bother?
VM: Not at all. I used to have an even longer hair 4 years ago. I got used to it and don't pay attention. So it's around, I can still see enough.
AS: Is it a temporary and you are trying to grow a long hair, say, like the ponytail Jason Brown used to have?
VM: No, certainly no ponytail for me. No longer than the shoulders.
AS: Evgenia, Vladimir, starting this season you are working with a new coach - Marina Zueva and live in a new country - USA. The changes usually come with disappointments, which you have to live through. How do you cope?
VM: We have no disappointments, we know exactly how things should go this season. We expected it and waited for it. Just that it's not so easy to move to a new country, change your life style, the training system, the coach. Change everything. We have to get used to those and it'll take some time. We try to cope, but the first part of this season not everything worked out. Though some things worked better than previously, we did not regress, which is the most important. We just need time for the training.
AS: The GP in Canada and Russia you experienced troubles with your jumps. Is it a one time thing or a result of working more on different things now? Your coach Marina Zueva said you work a lot on the presentation of the programmes.
ET: I wouldn't say we spend less time working on the technique. We work on it the same as we did in Moscow. Just that we spend more time on choreography and gliding.
VM: It's hard to combine it all. Previously we had a lot of empty time between the element, say, we held hands and did basic steps. Now those places are filled with the transitions, new moves. Of course we try to make the elements as interesting as possible. All the lifts are done with the interesting entrances and dismounts. We don't have a single classical lift in our LP. We are quite far from that. We don't want to go back there. Yes, it's hard to accept everyone gets their lvl4, but some do the easiest things and we do the originals. And that the 2nd mark is rather low. Indeed we make mistakes, but we try not to let it influence the programme, the story. Fortunately, it works. All and all, our programmes are really hard and we need time to get used to them. In the GP our LP was too raw and we were not 100% ready.
AS: Are those your most interesting programmes of your career?
ET: I guess for now they are just the hardest.
VM: The LP is certainly the most interesting. The SP - we used to have good ones. The Olympic one was good, the pre-Olympic as well. But this year is better.
AS: The `Bolero' - your SP music is an ice legend. How come you picked it?
ET: When we came to Florida Marina said `We have to decide on the music. Put on everything you picked'. We started with our music and then she said `Guys, do you want a `Bolero'? We looked at each other and said `yes, we do'. We loved that piece but we were not sure we can skate it. It just happened - she offered, we wanted it.
AS: Who do you associate the `Bolero' with: Torvill/Dean? Pluschenko? Kostner?
VM: Kostner is a recent one, the others were a while ago. And I can't recall any pairs skating to `Bolero'. We like it that our `Bolero' is contemporary. The music is classical, but the choreography is not really - the arms, the moves, the mini lifts. And we express it differently.
AS: When you first met with Zueva, what were you discussing? What were your goals?
VM: I think the goals are obvious. We need two medals we don't have - the Worlds and the Olympic gold. This is what we spoke about from the start. In order to reach these goals we have to create our own image, our own style. This is what we are working on now.
AS: Were you discussing it'll take time?
VM: We did back then and she still says it. We have our way. Yes, not all will work out at once because we never worked on those things. And the hardest thing in figure skating is to learn to skate.
AS: You mentioned the ice time ends quite early - around 3PM. For many skaters is unusual - there is an evening practice.
ET: Yes, it took us almost a month to get adjusted to being home around 3-4pm and understanding you have a free evening.
VM: But we now have a gym in the evening. It's something you can do any time of the day.
AS: After Moscow with it's crazy paste you now live in a part of Florida where everything is so easy and relaxed.
VM: It's not bad
ET: Nothing disturbs us. There is an ice, there is home. We are most focused and don't have to send time between
AS: But you do have a car?
VM: One for both of us. We drive to the gym, but otherwise we hardly use it because we live in front of the rink.
AS: You drive to the beach as well?
VM: Yes, about 15 minutes. It's great. You swim for half an hour and recover from the practice. It takes all the stress off.
AS: Have you seen the alligators?
ET: No.
VM: I have. There is a lake nearby where they live. But they are rather small. The big ones are taken out while the small ones are harmless. But the sweet water in Florida is not one to swim in.
AS: What is the main legend about the USA that turned out to be wrong once you moved there?
ET: I guess food. That as if everything is too oily and not healthy. There are healthy food stores.
VM: I weight 2kg less than last season and can't gain it.
ET: We really practice so much that we don't have time to gain weight. So yes, we were told to be careful with the food once we move to the USA but it turned out to be the opposite.
AS: There is a saying in Russia that everything in the USA is fake - the smiles, the feelings. Have you noticed it?
ET: I haven't. People on the rink are really nice, we have met everyone and they are nice to talk to. The same with the others. If you don't put your mind in finding the faults everything is good.
VM: We live in an unusual place. There is no winter - it's sunny all the time. Everything around you makes you positive. We used to travel quite a lot to the USA in the past - the training camps, but it was mainly NY, Manhatten, Times sq, the skyscrappers, too many people and all just boils. Here everything is so calm, hardly any cars, not so many people...
AS: But you almost lived through a hurricane.
VM: Yeah, it happens in Florida regularly every year. We were said it's something to get used to.
ET: We were more scared not by the hurricane itself, but the preparations. People were emptying the shelves in the stores.. we entered one and all the water bottles there were gone. We didn't know what the hurricane was like and apparently people prepare to it as if to something horrible.
VM: All the petrol stations were empty, there was no petrol, all covered with the tapes. As if in a war.
AS: It ended well for you - you simply left for the test skates.
VM: Yes. We had to change the tickets, well buy the new ones, and leave earlier.
AS: How often does Mozer or Trankov come and what is their part in your training?
VM: Mozer was with use when we were preparing to the GP in Canada, then we worked with her before the GP in Moscow, she came to us 2-3 times during the summer. The same with Maksim - not that they came together, but with the same frequency. Marina Zueva runs the whole practicing process. Mozer is taking a look, gives advice, points on the errors.
AS: You haven't made it to the GPF, how will it influence your preparations to the nationals?
VM: We had more time to work on the problems and change some things in our programmes.
AS: You were the face of the GP in Russia. Was it weird seeing yourself everywhere?
VM: It was really nice to be picked, it was a surprise. Usually it's the girls on the posters, but this time someone even told me `Vova, you are all over Moscow!'.
ET: When we came to the practice we met Medvedeva. She said hello and said `I have a feeling it's the 3rd time we meet today!'
AS: Vladimir, I can't help asking - even the girls make ponytails when they skate, your hair is all over the place. Does it bother?
VM: Not at all. I used to have an even longer hair 4 years ago. I got used to it and don't pay attention. So it's around, I can still see enough.
AS: Is it a temporary and you are trying to grow a long hair, say, like the ponytail Jason Brown used to have?
VM: No, certainly no ponytail for me. No longer than the shoulders.
) Marina is very good at helping her teams develop a strong mental game.
Zueva does not need to weight Tarasova, she is thin naturally....
