br>
In May 2022, Evgeni Plushenko announced the appearance of ice dancing at his school. In addition to purely sporting interest, medal prospects and the growing influence of the school, Plushenko thought from the position of an organizer of ice shows. Couples and dance duets always look advantageous in such projects, expanding the scenario possibilities.
There is another reason for interest. In recent seasons, dancing has almost surpassed women's single skating in terms of the number of scandals and news stories. At the Plushenko Academy, such media exposure is valued and considered an asset, not a problem.
The creation of a dance group under the wing of the «Angels» was a matter of time. It all came down to the shots. Obviously, Plushenko needed a top coach, under whom he could assemble already established duets and recruit promising young athletes. But who it could be is a big question. All the leading specialists are already in groups, at the skating rinks. There are not so many truly influential dance names in Russia; they all have their own interests, which, if not in conflict with Plushenko’s interests, then intersect.
br>Ilya Averbukh runs his own empire of ice shows — consider him a competitor. Elena Maslennikova, who choreographed dances for the television project “Ice Age” for many years, works closely with Averbukh. Alexander Zhulin is too self-sufficient to invite him to the team. Elena Chaikovskaya is responsible for the Russian national team as a whole. Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk, Svetlana Alekseeva and Elena Kustarova, Denis Samokhin, Alexey Gorshkov, Anzhelika Krylova? For all their merits and merits, they might have seemed insufficiently influential to Plushenko. And it’s not a fact that they would decide to make the transition. Still, this means some loss of autonomy.
Plushenko needed some big name. Something the mere mention of which would immediately bring images of the great victories of the Russian school of ice dancing before everyone’s eyes. So that the results of the “Angels” instantly begin to be associated with these victories.
We needed someone like Tatyana Tarasova. I think she would be perfect. And this shocking act (inviting the once main competitor to work as a coach) would be very much in the spirit of Evgeni Plushenko and his inspirer Yana Rudkovskaya. Just imagine the headlines: “Pluschenko teamed up with Tarasova to save Russian dancing.” Rich and promising, you will agree.
One problem — Tatyana Anatolyevna has not been feeling very well for several years. Pressure, problems with her back and joints — she has difficulty walking, sometimes moving on a special chair. Partly due to health difficulties, I stopped commenting on competitions. This is clearly not a state where a coach is ready to stand on board and spend days on end raising new champions.
However, in January 2023, the list of available great names was unexpectedly added to one more. Natalya Linichuk, an Olympic champion in ice dancing herself and a coach who has trained many winners, returned to Russia after living in America for many years. As Natalya unofficially said in conversations with a correspondent, she would like to work for the benefit of Russian dance and help talented athletes.
Many then believed that Linichuk returned under some specific proposal, and very soon this would become known. There were rumors that he would work as a consultant to the national team — Tatyana Tarasova, for example, had a similar position. Or what will strengthen the group of Angelica Krylova, which she herself once coached.
It’s a paradox that a specialist of this level sometimes turns out to be unclaimed and cannot find a use for himself. Natalya Linichuk's employment in Russia seemed to hang in the air for an indefinite period of time.
Nine months later, the situation began to clear up. According to several unrelated sources, it is planned that Natalya Linichuk will head the dance department at Evgeni Plushenko's academy. She can start working in November. At the moment, the parties have agreed to meet to discuss details.
It will be extremely interesting to see what comes out of this union. Linichuk is known as a tough and principled coach who knows how to work with several strong duets at the same time. However, such cases sometimes ended with the departure of the couple, who, as it seemed to them, did not receive enough attention. So Oksana Grischuk and Evgeniy Platov left Linichuk in the status of current Olympic champions. And they went to Tatiana Tarasova.
Linichuk’s taste in dancing and costumes may seem controversial or you may like it—there are almost no indifferent people. Its athletes have had wonderful performances (using the example of Domnina/Shabalin — «Polovtsian Dances», «The Young Lady and the Hooligan» to Shostakovich) and clearly unsuccessful ideas («Aboriginal Dance», which turned into an almost international scandal). True, at some point it began to seem that the numbers authored by Linichuk ceased to be fashionable, if this word is applicable in ice dancing. The more delicate choreography of Marina Zueva, and then the Canadian-French school, gained popularity.
However, Linichuk has not expressed herself creatively for 13 years. Perhaps during this time she has accumulated a lot of ideas, and from the athletes we will see a completely different interpretation of the classical Russian school.
It is not the first time that she has worked with difficult athletes — whoever she has had during her career. Therefore, Valery Angelopol, who began collaborating with Evgeni Plushenko after he was no longer allowed into state skating rinks due to the scandal with the breakup of the previous couple, may turn out to be Linichuk by one tooth. And we will see a completely different Angelopol — with new priorities, values and manners. Obviously, with a new partner.
Finally, the union of Plushenko and Linichuk has one more consequence, which should be a plus for our ice dancing. The emergence of a new powerful force will help all actors look at themselves, athletes, performances and elements with different eyes. Growing competition is exactly what may one day be monetized into a pair of invincible champions.
The author’s opinion may not coincide with the position of the editors