ICE PRINCESS: RUSSIAN STYLE
Figure skater with pony tails.
Translation of an interview with Elena Vodorezova by a correspondent of Russian Language newspaper “Rossijskaja gazeta” Konstantin Ioch (KI) printed on April 3, 2008.
The TV channel “Russia” is working on a show called “Two Sisters." The story is set in the late 70s in Moscow and Yekaterinburg.
The lead character is a talented figure skater, who reached serious success in big sports, but because of a trauma had to drop out and look for other avenues available to her.
The prototype for the lead role is a famous Russian figure skater, Elena Vodorezova (EV). She was the first Russian woman to become European and World Champion (ed. note: Vodorezova was never World Champion. She won the World Bronze in 1983) and the first woman in the history of figure skating who performed five consecutive double jumps in her free program.
These days, Elena is a coach at the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army. She gave her blessing for the filming of the show and even appeared in a cameo as a coach.
KI – Did you see the first episodes of the show? Did you find similarities with reality there?
EV – When I read the script, I saw similarities with the group of Stanislav Zhuk – the coach that I was working with since I was 11 years old. His group was unique in that it was the only group where the singles and pairs skated together. It was not practiced before, and it is not practiced now, but Zhuk was able to coach everybody together.
There were some other details. In the Army Sports Club, the figure skaters and the hockey players were practicing at the same rink, and lived at the same sports camp. Figure skaters started earlier and the hockey players were next. When they came out on the ice, all of the figure skating girls would start showing off and Zhuk was very angry with them. The hockey players liked to take care of the skaters. When I was a part of the Russian delegation at the Olympic Games, they called me “the team’s daughter” and took me everywhere with them holding my hand.
It is hard to reinstate that epoch. The equipment, the rink, the skating style and the practices are all different now.
KI – Were the producers able to recreate your image?
EV – Yes, very much so. When I saw the clip with the leading actress on ice, I thought that it was me: I was wearing the same pony tails and a similar dress. It is funny, but even now people recognize me and tell me that they remember me by my pony tails. In essence, they better remember my pony tails than me.
Translation of an interview with Elena Vodorezova by a correspondent of Russian Language newspaper “Rossijskaja gazeta” Konstantin Ioch (KI) printed on April 3, 2008.
The TV channel “Russia” is working on a show called “Two Sisters." The story is set in the late 70s in Moscow and Yekaterinburg.
The lead character is a talented figure skater, who reached serious success in big sports, but because of a trauma had to drop out and look for other avenues available to her.
The prototype for the lead role is a famous Russian figure skater, Elena Vodorezova (EV). She was the first Russian woman to become European and World Champion (ed. note: Vodorezova was never World Champion. She won the World Bronze in 1983) and the first woman in the history of figure skating who performed five consecutive double jumps in her free program.
These days, Elena is a coach at the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army. She gave her blessing for the filming of the show and even appeared in a cameo as a coach.
KI – Did you see the first episodes of the show? Did you find similarities with reality there?
EV – When I read the script, I saw similarities with the group of Stanislav Zhuk – the coach that I was working with since I was 11 years old. His group was unique in that it was the only group where the singles and pairs skated together. It was not practiced before, and it is not practiced now, but Zhuk was able to coach everybody together.
There were some other details. In the Army Sports Club, the figure skaters and the hockey players were practicing at the same rink, and lived at the same sports camp. Figure skaters started earlier and the hockey players were next. When they came out on the ice, all of the figure skating girls would start showing off and Zhuk was very angry with them. The hockey players liked to take care of the skaters. When I was a part of the Russian delegation at the Olympic Games, they called me “the team’s daughter” and took me everywhere with them holding my hand.
It is hard to reinstate that epoch. The equipment, the rink, the skating style and the practices are all different now.
KI – Were the producers able to recreate your image?
EV – Yes, very much so. When I saw the clip with the leading actress on ice, I thought that it was me: I was wearing the same pony tails and a similar dress. It is funny, but even now people recognize me and tell me that they remember me by my pony tails. In essence, they better remember my pony tails than me.
posted by Alina Adams at 9:25 AM
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