On Friday, Tatiana’s ice show was held in Moscow to a full house Navki «The Love Story of Scheherazade». The public was presented with a whole constellation of Olympic champions — Anna Shcherbakova, Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov and the producer of the performance herself.
In our difficult times, when partners from the West have, to put it mildly, turned their backs on Russia, the East is becoming a priority direction for our international cooperation. And the show “Scheherazade’s Love Story”, quite unexpectedly for many, became its clear manifestation. It took place on the day of the flag of the United Arab Emirates, and before the start of the performance, the ambassador of this country to Russia, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed al Jaber, and Tatyana Navka spoke to the audience.
The Olympic champion spoke about the huge success of her show in Dubai, and the UAE Ambassador thanked Navka for the fact that the first day of the Moscow show this fall was timed to coincide with his country’s national holiday. “By raising the flags of Russia and the UAE, we emphasize the friendship and respect between our countries,” said Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al Jaber, after which the anthems of the two states were performed.
This was not the first showing of «The Love Story of Scheherazade.» Many attended this performance last New Year's holidays, and in the summer residents and guests of Sochi could enjoy a beautiful oriental fairy tale in a modern version. However, Moscow managed to miss the bright interpretation of “A Thousand and One Nights”. There was not a single empty seat at the VTB Arena on Friday. The stalls abounded with ladies in expensive dresses and gentlemen in formal suits. Guests from the East were also present, perhaps even sheikhs in “civilian clothes”: some of them arrived in the front row, accompanied by menacing-looking bodyguards who settled nearby and spent the entire performance looking not at the ice at all, but at their clients.
And it’s even a pity for the special agents from the East, because a lot of things happened on the ice that the representatives of the United Arab Emirates should have really liked. It was such an extravaganza of bright costumes that it is impossible to describe in words — you had to see it. One word — chic! Well, there’s no need to remind us how beautiful our figure skaters are. Sparkling dances to the original musical accompaniment, which included fragments from Michel Legrand, a song by Queen, and notes from the Beatles — and even, very unexpectedly, a verse from Yuri Antonov — were captivating and captivating.
Even before the start of the performance, representatives of Anna Shcherbakova’s fan club were seen in the hall, preparing gifts for their favorite — after the performance, dozens of plush popsicles flew onto the ice, and a huge bear was handed over to the figure skater. One can only regret that in “Scheherazade” the Goddess — and this is the role played by the Beijing Olympic champion — appears on stage only twice and very briefly: for about a minute and a half in the first part and for three in the second. By the way, our other famous figure skaters have already played the Goddess in this performance — Kamila Valieva, Alina Zagitova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva… And I always want to see the performer of this role on the ice longer.
But in two acts the audience was able to thoroughly enjoy the skating of the rest of our stars. Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov are absolutely incomparable in the roles of Scheherazade and Shakhriyar. The silver medalists of the 2022 Olympics give their all to them — here you will see the most complex lifts and other elements from real ice dancing sports, which, of course, have lost a lot after the unannounced departure of the best Russian duet. It seems that if Sinitsina and Katsalapov had gone next month not to another “fairytale tour”, but to the Russian Championship, there would have been no doubt about their victory. But the dancers, it seems, don’t want to talk about sports: at the press approach of a journalist who asked a question on this topic, Victoria rather rudely “blowed me off.”
There are also unexpected heroes in this show — for example, Aladdin and the Genie, who occupy almost half of the show with their interactive games with the audience. They are played by Egor Murashov and Ivan Rigini — not the most famous, but very artistic skaters. And the guys are having a blast. The author of these lines, sitting in the front row, unexpectedly experienced even this annealing on himself: Aladdin-Murashov at some point, running away from two fairy-tale dunces, jumped off the ice and lay down on my lap with the words: “Help — idiots!”
And, of course, Tatyana Navka herself, who played the role of Queen Sais, and Pyotr Chernyshov — King Mirgali, deserve special mention. If all those figure skating stars discussed above recently conquered world sports arenas, then Navka and Chernyshov — now better known as producers — were only seen by young fans on the championship ice in video recordings. And it’s great that the legends of the past continue to delight the public not only with their productions, but also with their own participation in them.
“We wish that all wars end, that peace comes everywhere, that good triumphs over evil,” with these words Navka addressed the fans after the show, who for a long time did not want to leave the arena. And we probably can’t think of a better summary of a beautiful and kind fairy tale. It remains to add that those who were unable to admire “The Love Story of Scheherazade” on a Moscow Friday evening can do so until November 6 inclusive.