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Six numbers choreographed by Ilya Averbukh were performed at the Russian Challenge show program tournament, — Alexey Yagudin, Mark Kondratyuk, Dmitry Aliev, Evgenia Medvedeva, Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov and Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin. One of the most sought-after directors told Sport how he persuaded Yagudin to experiment and why he refused Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.
“All Domnina’s programs reflected her life with Kostomarov”
— What competitive specifics of the show program tournament?
— This is still not a competition, but a competition. The jury's assessments are completely subjective. The system, in which scores were not made public after each performance, is more objective than a year ago. The judges see all the numbers and have the opportunity to compare them. They don’t become hostages of momentary impressions, and don’t hold back high marks while waiting for the performance of one of the potential favorites. Although viewers are accustomed to the fact that ratings are immediately visible. As always, there are many opinions, and it is impossible to come to a single one. In figure skating, the winners are always happy with the judging, but those who lose are not. This is part of the sport and even more so — part of the show.
— We managed to assemble the strongest possible lineup of participants in St. Petersburg ?
— For the second year in a row we have been able to assemble a star-studded lineup of participants and a star-studded jury. A very important moment for me was the presence of outstanding choreographers Boris Eifman, Alla Sigalova, and Yegor Druzhinin among the judges. I, as a program director, wanted to hear their opinion.
— Who would you give your additional personal prize to if you were a member of the jury?
— There were many performances worthy of awards, but I would give the personal prize to Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. This was a kind of return of Oksana and Maxim to the ice with their own creative act. After all, all the latest programs performed by Domnina reflected the difficult period in Oksana’s life, which she went through and is going through together with her beloved husband Roman Kostomarov.
«Russian Challenge» needs reforms
— What needs to be done to make the third «Russian Challenge» better than the first and second?
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— I am convinced that the show program tournament is simply necessary. It is clear that after the return of Russian figure skaters to international competitions it will not be easy to find a place for him on the calendar. Now he is needed like air to support the guys not only financially, but also creatively. I would still suggest dividing the participants according to figure skating disciplines. Invite six figure skaters and figure skaters, six sports pairs and dance duets, identify the winners in each type of program, and then award one main prize to the absolute champion.
— Yagudin's victory in his native » «Anniversary» was not welcomed by all spectators. How do you explain this?
— What Alexey did on the ice was a little more than just a performance. I understand that the St. Petersburg public was really looking forward to Lisa Tuktamysheva’s victory. She performed great. I’ll tell you a little secret: Tuktamysheva approached me with a request to stage a number for “Russian Call”. We have been collaborating with her for a long time, but this time we have already started working with Yagudin. The numbers are very similar, but Elizaveta skated to the voice of the great Alisa Freundlich, and we worked in a different direction. It seems to me that everyone only benefited from seeing two such different numbers.
— Why did you decide that Yagudin would skate to his own voice?
— No one in the world does this. I am sure that no one will do it, at least in the near future. No one can combine the acting work of a reader with the performance of a triple jump and a very difficult track; no one can maintain such a pace. Only Yagudin, who went a little further in his interpretation of figure skating as an art. The idea for the act was mine; even Lesha himself had doubts at first. It was a real challenge, fully consistent with the name of the tournament. I don’t see anything wrong with Yagudin winning for the second year in a row. On the contrary, it should motivate others to achieve victories. And we did something that no one has ever done!