“For Trusova, I would stage Mulan: the choreographer Maslennikova - about innovative ideas, trainer's jealousy and ice shows

Elena Maslennikova knows everything about ice choreography. She entered the elite of the profession more than 20 years ago, when she staged the Olympic programs for the strongest Japanese single skater Midori Ito, with whom she became the vice-champion of the 1992 Games. With her productions, Lithuanians Margarita Drobyazko and Povilas Vanagas won bronze medals at the 2000 World Championship in Nice, and her Phantom of the Opera brought them European bronze in 2006 and became perhaps the most memorable world figure skating program that season.

Since 2006 Maslennikova is a constant co-author of all ice projects of Ilya Averbukh.

"Tarasova was an innovator in many things"

- For several years now, one can observe how some choreographers, instead of coming up with something new for their wards, take a theme that has been repeatedly worked out and is well known in figure skating. The question arises: is it necessary at all to strive for originality in productions?

- I think it is necessary. But there is one difficult point here. I still work with many athletes as a guest choreographer and very often use the composition that they give me, and not the one that I would suggest myself. There is only one answer: "The coach will be calmer if we take the undisputed music."

- What do you mean "indisputable"?

- Understandable. Popular. "Don Quixote", "Romeo and Juliet", "Bolero", although it is difficult to swing at him. Think for yourself, what judge would dare to say that this is bad music in case of such a choice? He will immediately run into the question: "Don't you like the classics?" One of the coaches with whom I worked this season took a very interesting and unusual treatment of the classics for his skaters, and at the skates the judges told him: “Well, why did you wind all this up? I would take normal music and not show off. " And what should a person do in this situation? After all, these same people will then judge his students, the result directly depends on their perception of the programs.

So mentors are afraid to take risks. It is easier for them to put something extremely affordable so that no one has any complaints. Although the problem is actually that the judges simply do not want to grow, they do not want to develop their ears and worldview in general - to watch something new, listen, read.

- Tatyana Tarasova at one time offered athletes musical themes that were quite difficult for them precisely because she believed that in terms of choreography, this makes people grow very quickly.

- Tarasova was generally an innovator in many things. She was one of the first to use movie soundtracks. Ilya Kulik had "Aladdin", Alexei Yagudin had "The Man in the Iron Mask". It all looked very progressive then. New music always requires new plastics, a new approach to production - it's all incredibly interesting.

- It turns out that the choice of unused, not too well-known music is a certain act on the part of the coach?

- In general, yes. It's just that an act should not be done for the sake of an act - according to the principle "to spite my mother, I'll frostbite my ears. This is a very fine line, which with experience you begin to feel more intuitively - will it work or not.

- Why did you say that it is difficult to swing at the Bolero?

- Painfully, this is a powerful story. Music is constantly on the rise, not everyone is able to interpret it.

- If we talk about the best Bolero in the history of figure skating - are the British Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean?

- Certainly.

- How did they do it?

- Perhaps it's all about the uniqueness of this pair. On the ice, they went out small, identical, without any presentability, especially with a partner. But they began to move and suddenly became a single organism, not even holding hands. Like the tentacles of an octopus: one is woven into the other, a whole is formed from the two, and inconceivably organic movements arise that are so mesmerizing that you cannot look away. It seems that people do not do anything special on the ice, but you constantly catch yourself that you cannot guess what the next step will be. You think: well, now he will probably go to the left. And he walks to the right, conducts his partner somewhere under the elbow, takes her out from under the knee, and it looks not like some specially invented trick, but the most natural movement in the world. It was amazing.

• From left to right: Inna Goncharenko, Elena Radionova and Irina Maslennikova
• © From the personal archive of Elena Maslennikova

"Others' hands are always a certain risk"

- One director explained to me that the piano almost always sounds good on the rink, and the drums almost always sound bad. And he doesn't understand why coaches keep on stepping on the same rake.

- The drums are also different. Especially when they sound on their own, without any additional melody. For singles, by the way, it works very well. If the skater is a masterly skater, you can make a very effective program with fine, jewelry and very fast footwork. Lyosha Yagudin had one in our play "Carmen".

- If you recall the legendary Yagudin "Winter" with which he won the Olympics in Salt Lake City, there, too, the wow effect was achieved primarily due to the sequence of steps, where each step ideally fell into the musical accent.

- Lyosha still skates this track on some shows. Sometimes in parts, sometimes even in whole. Although if he performed it in competitions within the framework of the current rules, he would receive a zero level with zero increments. It was just that before you could work on impressions without calculating every turn. And now I put the program to one talented baby and I clearly know that there should be two blocks of turns on one leg, without constriction, that all these turns should be different. After all, the judges sit and mark everything: block such and such, bracket, hook, hook, loop - counted, ticked. When Yagudin rode, there was nothing of the kind.

- Alexei really “can do everything”, as Tarasova likes to say?

- Lyosha is still a very mysterious character for me. When we start putting on programs for shows or performances, he puts on headphones and immediately says: “I don’t need to explain anything about your musical accents. Just lay out clearly in seconds where I should start and what exactly to do. " At first I thought that he was just scoffing, playing the fool. The troupe is already doing a completely different thing, and he drives and drives, puts everything in seconds, puts it out. And then it comes out, and it's absolutely impossible to take your eyes off him, everything is so harmonious. And if suddenly there is some kind of failure, Yagudin immediately rebuilds, picks up the music. And after all, he is not too stretched, does not have some incredible plastic, but all his movements seem to be made for ice.

- If a figure skater like Alexandra Trusova, who does not hide that she does not like choreography, but prefers only to jump, fell into your hands, what image would you suggest to her?

- Firstly, I would not break it. It makes no sense to force a skater to be a swan if he is not inherently one. For Trusova, I would rather make some "Mulan" - well, if not at all. She's a fighting girl.

- Trusova is going to be Juliet this season.

- I don't know what kind of music they took for Sasha, but I would be interested to see her in modern plastic, maybe take something ultra-modern.

- Like the rocker swan Daisuke Takahashi? Juliet rocker?

- Why not? Now choreographers have the opportunity to collaborate with people who have their own unique set of plastic solutions. It is not even necessary to put a program for such a person. But you can come to his class, dance, learn the vocal cords, type something new, unusual into your body. And only then, with small strokes, all this will perfectly fit into this or that program, will help add color to the overall picture. It seems to me that even for experienced directors there is nothing wrong with using the knowledge of other specialists.

“At the same time, there are coaches who prefer to work exclusively with“ their ”choreographer. How would you explain such a desire?

- Very often people simply do not want to break the usual pattern. Everything is like in business: if the work gives a result, then there is no need to come up with something else. If I were a successful coach, I would probably reason this way. Another's hands are always a certain risk. You start to change something, what if a tooth breaks in this gear, which starts the entire system? And then what? After all, figure skating is primarily a sport, and only then an art.

• Ilya Averbukh and Elena Maslennikova
• © From the personal archive of Elena Maslennikova

"The skater must unconditionally trust the director"

- Have you ever faced coaching jealousy?

- To some extent, yes. It's just that I'm a very loyal person by nature, so as soon as I begin to notice that an acute situation is brewing, I try to get away from it. If I see that the coach is scratching something, I offer him another version of the program, even if mine seemed more suitable to me. I understand that he will work with such a number with great pleasure, and this, in turn, will give the best result. And then, if the mentor still has the feeling that something is wrong, he will change everything himself. This is a rather complex topic.

- You put on one program, and the result is completely different?

- It also happens, especially when the choreographer puts on the program, but then does not work with the skater. Rolling begins with elements, with jumps, with approaches, and whims arise: "Here I am a little uncomfortable, I need a wider arc." "Okay, take this step away." "And here this strong accent takes all my strength, and I can't get myself together for the last jump." “Okay, don't wave your arms and legs, just get into a beautiful pose, rest, and then you will jump.” And so it slowly creeps, crawls, you see this program after a while, and you no longer want to put your signature on it. This happens all the time.

I know that Ilya Averbukh also ran into similar situations many times. He came back with square eyes: "I did something else." It is pointless to make any claims in this regard: you did not stay with the coach, you were paid for the work, and it no longer belongs to you.

- When Elizaveta Tuktamysheva showed at the beginning of last season the program set for her by She-Lynn Bourne, but shifted at the insistence of the coach to a different music, it caused a great resonance. True, the original version was quickly returned.

- For me, such things are still unacceptable, especially knowing how She-Lynn works on programs. She is a very musical person, she puts every movement, even the smallest, in a certain rhythm that she feels in music. I would say that this is its main feature: in musicality and transmission of these nuances on ice. Very carefully thinks over the connections, trips. And then - bang!

- It is just right to recall the textbook phrase from the film “The meeting place cannot be changed”, when Sharapov plays Chopin's etude on the piano: “I can do that too. Come on "Murka!"

- Well, maybe not to that extent, but overall, of course, this is overkill.

- Speaking about Chinese sports couples, Maxim Trankov once answered: "Their strength lies in the fact that all programs are directed by Lori Nichol." Do you understand this phrase?

- Yes of course. Laurie always finds very extraordinary solutions, and it's incredibly difficult to push greenhouses to do something new. They get used to very definite entrances and exits. It is even worthwhile to slightly knock the athletes off their inner rhythm - the element may be spoiled, and you will feel guilty because the program turned out to be uncomfortable. Nichol manages to lead the students to the staging work in such a way that they do the elements, and everything turns out very original and unusual. For this, it seems to me, the skater must unconditionally trust the director.

- I think the point here is different: all Eastern people for centuries have been accustomed to thoroughly perform the task given by the teacher. And if a specialist is paid money, they want to get the absolute maximum from him.

- This is true. I did not have to cooperate with the Chinese, but a lot with the Japanese. Including, you will not believe, even with Midori Ito. I even have a photo from a Japanese newspaper where we are together. It was Ito's entrance to her last Olympics, and we went to Japan several times with Viktor Ryzhkin for long training camps - Drobyazko and Vanagas were already skating with me then. Midori came with her coach Yamada-san and we put on both programs for her: the free program to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, and the short one had paso doble with tango - a strange combination, but she really wanted just such a program. We worked first on the floor in the hall, then on the ice, we had to go to the rink at night. At that time I noted that the Japanese are very executive, both children and adults. They just look in your mouth and catch your every word. To say: “No, I won't do it” is simply unthinkable for them.

- What's your favorite program?

- Probably Rita's Phantom of the Opera with Povilas. A lot of everything was invested in it, and at that time it turned out to be quite progressive. I really loved the production I did for Elena Radionova to the music of Rachmaninoff in the most successful season for her. I like her "Fifth Element" - Lenka was 11 years old then. In general, I have a lot of some kind of inner creative connection with this skater.

- Don't you think that there is a certain paradox: the more distinctive and expressive an athlete becomes with age, the less chance that she will remain competitive?

- Oh, this is now such a seditious topic ... If you look at the problem globally, I also think that a girl enters that period and into that body that can be called an adult, at 17, not earlier. But at this age, she has very little chance of competing with 15-year-olds. On the one hand, the sporting principle is fully preserved. The same Eteri Tutberidze can say, “You never know what anyone likes, I have a wonderful" tag "that will reach its peak by the Olympics, and according to all the rules of the International Skating Union (ISU) will have the right to compete there. What now, artificially slow down the athlete? " As a coach, I understand her perfectly. But I often think, maybe for these cool "tags" it is worth making separate prestigious and well-known tournaments? Let them enter the Guinness Book of Records, especially since they deserve it in every possible way, but you cannot end your career in figure skating at the age of 17.

• From left to right: Tatiana Totmianina, Povilas Vanagas, Maria Orlova, Irina Maslennikova and Alexey Yagudin.
• © From the personal archive of Elena Maslennikova

"Each established personality has its own understanding of everything in the world"

- Many years ago, my first attempt to interview Tarasova ended after the very first question - "Isn't it a shame for a coach of this magnitude, after so many years in sports and so many Olympic medals, to engage in amateur theatrical performances of stars that have been released in circulation?" Then Tatyana Anatolyevna just kicked me out. But now I'm going to ask you the same thing. From the standpoint of many coaches, your Ice Age with Averbukh is something not too serious. Even if thanks to him, figure skating has become insanely popular.

- I have always had a highly developed creativity, which is probably why, having reached the level of a master of sports, I did not become a top coach and never aspired to this. I didn't feel the desire to bite everyone, overtake, take away the victory. And this must be the case when you work with an athlete for a result, otherwise you will never be able to instill confidence in a person. Ilya's very first project, which was called, in my opinion, "Stars on Ice", looked like a spectator. The second channel with their "Dancing on Ice" then bought tracing paper from the British, while Averbukh departed from the original scheme, invented his own. Remember Alexander Zhulin skated there with Ingeborga Dapkunaite? When I saw all this, I was shocked that it was possible to do plot, play things with such amazing humor and at the same time serious acting skills.

- How did your cooperation with Averbukh begin in the framework of this project?

- A little later we met by chance at the Russian championship in Luzhniki. Before that, we were familiar, as they say, for 100 years - I even once put an indicative number for him, when he himself was a "tag." But then she came up specifically to express her admiration. And in response I heard: "Do you want to work with me?"

- That is, do not call out to Averbukh on that Luzhniki podium ...

-… And our joint work might not have worked out. At first it was very difficult for me, because I was used to putting programs on my own and being responsible for what I was doing, and a project is a team work. But Ice Age and all our big theatrical performances on ice - City Lights, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet - are a huge and very bright layer of my creative life. Among other things, I understand how important it is for all our former champions to be able to ride, prolonging their life on the rink, no matter how trite it sounds.

- Are there harsh clashes with those who came to the ice from the stage?

- There are. Each established personality has its own understanding of style, music, and indeed everything in the world. Many people think that they will come now, offer us their super-great idea, and they will tear everyone apart. But a person brings music, and we say: “It was, it was, it was, it was, and this, you won't believe it, it was, but this doesn’t work at all, you can put it in your car and be crazy about it, but nobody is crazy about it on the ice will be". And while people by the third or fourth episode begin to understand that they just need to trust us, a whole battle goes on with each one.

- Do you know the feeling of a creative dead end with so many productions?

- Sure. But in such cases I don’t give up, I don’t put my work aside, on the contrary, I immerse myself in it even more. In this regard, our big performances with Ilya greatly save. This is an incredible thrill - from writing the music and the libretto, on which we work with certain people, to the embodiment of everything that was conceived on the ice, when every little thing, every episode needs to work. This activity not only completely absorbs me, but at the same time is an outlet, I adore it. Although you can't imagine how much we quarrel with Averbukh during the production. It happens that sparks just fly.

- And what do you do in this case?

- Gasim.