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Elena Vaytsekhovskaya's interview with Tamara Moskvina for ria.ru (please click the link and all that jazz)
EV: In the mixed zone after the skate Kozlovski said `not everyone can pull a classical programme'. What were you thinking as a coach, when picking a classical ballet music for your team?
TM: That we should pick the music which would allow the pair to show their best sides. Nothing more. `The Nutcracker' is a programme Alexandra and Dmitrii are skating for 2 seasons now. It was obvious last season the programme was a good hit, but they never polished it enough. Hence we decided to keep it for another year.
Other than that I wanted the guys to stand out, that they would be different from the others they are competing with. Tchaikovsky is always a winning music, it's easy for them to skate it because their basic step matches this music.
EV: Dmitrii took his time to discuss the ballet in the mixed zone. It almost seems he can't imagine skating to anything else.
TM: He indeed loves the ballet, attends the productions. But it does not mean he'll spend his whole career skating to the classics. He is not the one to pick, right?
EV: It seems you have some ides for the next season?
TM: I've been thinking and looking for the music. But there is nothing decided yet. I wanted first to see the worlds and who the guys will be competing next season.
EV: You didn't really have to work so closely with Boikova/Kozlovski. What did you see in them that made you join the team as a consultant?
TM: Among the teams coached by Arthur Minchuk in our school those are the athletes who have a great potential
EV: Yet it's not only Minchuk who works in your school, but also Oleg Vasiliev.
TM: Vasilieve is an experienced coach. We worked on some details with his pupils, we discussed a lot of things, but he doesn't require a lot of my attention, he knows everything himself just fine. My goal is not only working with the athletes, but creating a competitive environment in our school. That's why I invited Oleg Vasilieve to join the team. That's the teacher's role. I can't really tell I was pushing one of the teams. They were competing during the season.
EV: What do you like the most about Boikova/Kozlovski?
TM: Their spirit. They both have what we call a `plus start'. They both do their best at the competitions.
EV: Working with an inexperienced coach do you have to hold yourself from putting too much foot?
TM: Of course. I see how much Arthur wants to learn, how he attempts to learn all he can. He has his ambitions. I understand the press and the TV who prefer to name Boikova/Kozlovski as a Moskvina team. But they are not. They are Arthur Minchuk and Tamara Moskvina skaters.
EV: How did they join your team at the first place?
TM: In a way it was my idea. And Alexey Nikolaevich Mishin's. When we were working together in the `Stary ice' school and were forming the teams both Alexandra and Dmitrii were skating as singles. Kawaguti/Smirnov were about to retire and I was looking for a young skaters who I could pair up. We were constantly discussing that with Mishin and came to a conclusion Boikova/Kozlovski would make a decent team.
EV: It's usually quite hard to convince the single skaters to pair up.
TM: That was the biggest problem. Mishin and I were constantly pushing them in that direction and waiting for the guys to make the right decision. And they had. Just that because of me being very busy personally I was unable to give them as much attention as needed. Hence I offered Arthur to become the main coach.
EV: The Olympic champion Trankov who coaches Tarasova/Morozov this season does not hide his point of view does not always go hand in hand with their main coach Nina Mozer. Did you encounter the same - the young specialists not agreeing with you?
TM: I think it's something quite common for the young people - not to doubt. I told Minchuk from the very beginning I have no plan becoming the main coach of Boikova/Kozlovski, hence he didn't have to worry about that.
EV: Really you don't plan to?
TM: How do you imagine it? The 2022 Olympics they will have a 80 y.o. grandma with a shaking hands near the border?
EV: Oh, come on.
TM: No, seriously. It's the real life. Hence I think of that option. If the grandma Tamara will not be able to be near the border the team needs a professional coach who they trust, who knows the team, is a good coach and does everything right.
EV: Is Minchuk a crazy coach?
TM: I don't understand what do you mean. What is `crazy'? I was never crazy about the coaching, it's just something everyone keep saying. Yet I have a husband, a family, two kids, theatre, the club...
EV: But you are on the ice every day.
TM: Of course. On every practice. Though it's in the summer it's not necessarily twice a day. But a team who aim to be in the top 6, as it turned out, demands more attention.
EV: Were you assuming in December Boikova/Kozlovski would be top 6?
TM: We thought they would be higher.
EV: Compared to December your skaters look very polished.
TM: You just think so. There is plenty of work to do. I'd say it's the low point of our preparations. It's sometimes hard to explain the athletes how important it is.
EV: Why?
TM: I can't really tell. Perhaps because the young generation generally doesn't believe in the authority. They truly believe what they do is great. They don't mind the details, the standards etc. Though in general am very satisfied with them doing all the elements in the LP and not making any mistakes. There were two elements where Boikova/Kozlovski missed a level, but it was not a mistake. More of a result of lacking the precision. It's missing the position, the hold. It's just a lack of experience.
EV: Who will be choreographing their programmes next season?
TM: Am not sure yet. This season the SP was done by Bestemianova/Bobrin and the LP by Tchernyshev.
EV: Trankov, when talking about the world champions Sui/Han said one of their best qualities are Lory Nicole's programmes.
TM: True.
EV: What does Nicole do that our specialists can't?
TM: Nothing. We used to do it as well, just that Lory keeps developing that. She unifies the contemporary music with the modern style and created the programmes for the Chinese team that stand out. They integrate the original entrances, dismounts, changes. The programmes are done in a way that the music and the energy builds the emotions all the time.
EV: It's more or less the same that the European champions James/Cipres were trying to gain when invited to work with the 3 times World champion Cizeron and the Olympic champion White.
TM: We used to that as well at the time. Just when you are talking about the choreographer who works with the experienced teams keep in mind Boikova/Kozlovski had just learned their elements. Arthur and I simply didn't have time to work on their style yet. We'll start now.
EV: This season many though the favourites were the French and not the Chinese. What were you thinking about it?
TM: I always say the same: let's wait for the competition and look at the table.
EV: In the mixed zone after the skate Kozlovski said `not everyone can pull a classical programme'. What were you thinking as a coach, when picking a classical ballet music for your team?
TM: That we should pick the music which would allow the pair to show their best sides. Nothing more. `The Nutcracker' is a programme Alexandra and Dmitrii are skating for 2 seasons now. It was obvious last season the programme was a good hit, but they never polished it enough. Hence we decided to keep it for another year.
Other than that I wanted the guys to stand out, that they would be different from the others they are competing with. Tchaikovsky is always a winning music, it's easy for them to skate it because their basic step matches this music.
EV: Dmitrii took his time to discuss the ballet in the mixed zone. It almost seems he can't imagine skating to anything else.
TM: He indeed loves the ballet, attends the productions. But it does not mean he'll spend his whole career skating to the classics. He is not the one to pick, right?
EV: It seems you have some ides for the next season?
TM: I've been thinking and looking for the music. But there is nothing decided yet. I wanted first to see the worlds and who the guys will be competing next season.
EV: You didn't really have to work so closely with Boikova/Kozlovski. What did you see in them that made you join the team as a consultant?
TM: Among the teams coached by Arthur Minchuk in our school those are the athletes who have a great potential
EV: Yet it's not only Minchuk who works in your school, but also Oleg Vasiliev.
TM: Vasilieve is an experienced coach. We worked on some details with his pupils, we discussed a lot of things, but he doesn't require a lot of my attention, he knows everything himself just fine. My goal is not only working with the athletes, but creating a competitive environment in our school. That's why I invited Oleg Vasilieve to join the team. That's the teacher's role. I can't really tell I was pushing one of the teams. They were competing during the season.
EV: What do you like the most about Boikova/Kozlovski?
TM: Their spirit. They both have what we call a `plus start'. They both do their best at the competitions.
EV: Working with an inexperienced coach do you have to hold yourself from putting too much foot?
TM: Of course. I see how much Arthur wants to learn, how he attempts to learn all he can. He has his ambitions. I understand the press and the TV who prefer to name Boikova/Kozlovski as a Moskvina team. But they are not. They are Arthur Minchuk and Tamara Moskvina skaters.
EV: How did they join your team at the first place?
TM: In a way it was my idea. And Alexey Nikolaevich Mishin's. When we were working together in the `Stary ice' school and were forming the teams both Alexandra and Dmitrii were skating as singles. Kawaguti/Smirnov were about to retire and I was looking for a young skaters who I could pair up. We were constantly discussing that with Mishin and came to a conclusion Boikova/Kozlovski would make a decent team.
EV: It's usually quite hard to convince the single skaters to pair up.
TM: That was the biggest problem. Mishin and I were constantly pushing them in that direction and waiting for the guys to make the right decision. And they had. Just that because of me being very busy personally I was unable to give them as much attention as needed. Hence I offered Arthur to become the main coach.
EV: The Olympic champion Trankov who coaches Tarasova/Morozov this season does not hide his point of view does not always go hand in hand with their main coach Nina Mozer. Did you encounter the same - the young specialists not agreeing with you?
TM: I think it's something quite common for the young people - not to doubt. I told Minchuk from the very beginning I have no plan becoming the main coach of Boikova/Kozlovski, hence he didn't have to worry about that.
EV: Really you don't plan to?
TM: How do you imagine it? The 2022 Olympics they will have a 80 y.o. grandma with a shaking hands near the border?
EV: Oh, come on.
TM: No, seriously. It's the real life. Hence I think of that option. If the grandma Tamara will not be able to be near the border the team needs a professional coach who they trust, who knows the team, is a good coach and does everything right.
EV: Is Minchuk a crazy coach?
TM: I don't understand what do you mean. What is `crazy'? I was never crazy about the coaching, it's just something everyone keep saying. Yet I have a husband, a family, two kids, theatre, the club...
EV: But you are on the ice every day.
TM: Of course. On every practice. Though it's in the summer it's not necessarily twice a day. But a team who aim to be in the top 6, as it turned out, demands more attention.
EV: Were you assuming in December Boikova/Kozlovski would be top 6?
TM: We thought they would be higher.
EV: Compared to December your skaters look very polished.
TM: You just think so. There is plenty of work to do. I'd say it's the low point of our preparations. It's sometimes hard to explain the athletes how important it is.
EV: Why?
TM: I can't really tell. Perhaps because the young generation generally doesn't believe in the authority. They truly believe what they do is great. They don't mind the details, the standards etc. Though in general am very satisfied with them doing all the elements in the LP and not making any mistakes. There were two elements where Boikova/Kozlovski missed a level, but it was not a mistake. More of a result of lacking the precision. It's missing the position, the hold. It's just a lack of experience.
EV: Who will be choreographing their programmes next season?
TM: Am not sure yet. This season the SP was done by Bestemianova/Bobrin and the LP by Tchernyshev.
EV: Trankov, when talking about the world champions Sui/Han said one of their best qualities are Lory Nicole's programmes.
TM: True.
EV: What does Nicole do that our specialists can't?
TM: Nothing. We used to do it as well, just that Lory keeps developing that. She unifies the contemporary music with the modern style and created the programmes for the Chinese team that stand out. They integrate the original entrances, dismounts, changes. The programmes are done in a way that the music and the energy builds the emotions all the time.
EV: It's more or less the same that the European champions James/Cipres were trying to gain when invited to work with the 3 times World champion Cizeron and the Olympic champion White.
TM: We used to that as well at the time. Just when you are talking about the choreographer who works with the experienced teams keep in mind Boikova/Kozlovski had just learned their elements. Arthur and I simply didn't have time to work on their style yet. We'll start now.
EV: This season many though the favourites were the French and not the Chinese. What were you thinking about it?
TM: I always say the same: let's wait for the competition and look at the table.