Each head coach should have their own different and brilliant idea. From season to season, mentors and choreographers bring together the best skaters in the country and present their reworking of famous fairy tales, show the best performances of the season and bring bold ideas to life. Even those who have hung up their skates for a long time and do not participate in competitions go on the ice.
We have collected the top five performances of leading Russian coaches and choreographers.
“Russian Seasons” Evgeni Plushenko
The famous Russian figure skater, and now the founder of the school Angela Plushenko, decided to combine the great ballet school and figure skating in her show. In the production, he revealed the famous champions in atypical images, and the athletes themselves performed the numbers to classical music. The show’s organizers used educational overtones by announcing the titles of the plays between the numbers. Moreover, the production includes not only figure numbers, but also real ballet, acrobatics and synchronized skating.
Evgeni Plushenko and his son Alexander
Photo credit: Sergei Bobylev/TASS
Among those performing in the Russian seasons are Alexandra Trusova, Mark Kondratyuk, Dmitry Aliev, Veronika Zhilina, Makar Ignatov. Of course, Plushenko himself also goes to the ice – both with his son Alexander and solo.
Plushenko’s “Russian Seasons” included the best of past and modern trends in theater and ballet, and also showed developments for the future, for example fragments from the show “The Little Mermaid” with Alexandra Trusova in the role of Ariel, which will only be released in December.
“The Love Story of Scheherazade” by Tatyana Navka
Created from the famous and beloved collection of Arabic tales and short stories “One Thousand and One Nights”, the love story of Persian King Shahriyar and storyteller Shaherazade is a colorful musical and theatrical spectacle on ice.
Performance by Tatiana Navka
Photo credit: Artem Geodakyan/TASS
Tatyana Navka’s show is always more than figure skating. Athletes perform in colorful costumes and sets, perform acrobatic stunts in the air. There is even a magic carpet in Love Story, just like in a real fairy tale. Large-scale installations use modern 3D technologies and artistic animation.
The main roles in the fairy tale are played by Tatyana Navka herself, as well as Pyotr Chernyshev, Kamila Valieva, Victoria Sinitsina, Nikita Katsalapov, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and others.
“Thanks to the professionalism, individuality and talent of each of them, the real magic was born on the ice! The slender, graceful and incredibly beautiful Victoria Sinitsina in the role of Scheherazade, the convincing and charismatic Nikita Katsalapov in the role of Shakhriyar and the incomparable Kamila Valieva in the role of the goddess – together they create a real miracle! – says Navka about his performance.
“Favorite Songs on the Main” by Ilya Averbukh
This is a new show by the famous choreographer and director, dedicated to Victory Day. Skaters perform bright and moving numbers at “Smuglyanka”, “Kukushka”, “But I like it”. It’s about reimagining favorite songs from the Soviet past on ice.
Favorite songs on the essentials
Photo credit: A. Belkin / Business Online / TASS
Among the participants are Andrey Mozalev, Daria Usacheva, Mikhail Kolyada. You can even see Sofya Samodurova, who now focuses on coaching.
The highlight of the program is the famous Alexei Yagudin, who closes the show with different numbers. For example, in Moscow he performed a number under “How young we were”, and in St. Petersburg – under “Thank you”.
“It is very important to connect one generation to another. I tried to make each issue sincere, touching, with its own story, its own messages. The most important message is endless respect and gratitude to previous generations who gave us this opportunity – to stand here before you now,” Averbukh described on his show.
The Wizard of Oz by Ilya Averbukh
Another production of Averbukh this time is a fairy tale. And in addition to figure skaters, circus artists also participate, but they also perform on skates.
Roman Kostomarov as Wicked Witch
Photo credit: Vyacheslav Prokofiev/TASS
The fairy tale is voiced by professional actors, they also perform the songs of the heroes. With Evgenia Medvedeva, Mikhail Kolyada, Oksana Domnina, Maxim Shabalin.
Roman Kostomarov starred as an evil witch in the original Ice production. Ilya Averbukh does not lose hope that when the famous figure skater recovers, he can be returned to the game.
“Champions on ice” Eteri Tutberidze
Tutberidze’s team found trump cards – they united the most successful Russian figure skaters in their show and gave it the most obvious name.
Anna Shcherbakova
Photo source: Sergey Yelagin/Business Online/TASS
Tutberidze’s show is not a production united by a plot. The skaters present the best competition programs with complex elements. It’s as if they were at the Olympics. For example, Anna Shcherbakova shows her championship program – why not dive back into the best events of 2022?
Among the participants are former and current star students of Tutberidze: Kamila Valieva, Anna Shcherbakova, Adelia Petrosyan, Alina Zagitova, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov. Also skating in the show are Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Mikhail Kolyada, Petr Gumennik, Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov and others.
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