I was speaking in general, not about Yulia in particular because tbh It's not clear to me what Ilya is referring to in this case. As I already mentioned, Mulan was ditched because the FED people didn't like it (during the close test in August). Yulia spoke little about it and from what she said it seemed she thought it was an interesting program. She even cut her hair for Mulan. If he is referring to Perfect Sense, the first choice, then it shouldn't even be counted since she hated that music from the start and I doubt there was even a choreo. In anycase, if it's for the choice of music he's talking about, then, good for her not taking orders. Music is very important, the first thing you choose (well, except for Zueva
) and the majority of the skaters choose their own music, no matter what. So, I was speaking more about the choreography per se, rather than what style or theme a skater might like, or not.
I think Averbukh did create choreography to Perfect Sense. Last summer when Tutberidze said that Lipnitskaya might miss her first planned competition of the season, Japan Open, because of an issue with the LP, she explained: “Basically we do have a long program, but we haven’t come to an agreement yet, so we might change it.” I don’t think she’d have said they had “a program” if all they had was a music choice. It seems to me that the choreography for the program had been done by that point, but that Yulia had not come to see eye to eye about it with her coach and choreographer, and so they changed it later, i.e. they had failed to persuade her that it was a fine program and that she should use it.
Then Lipnitskaya herself said after the test skate about the LP that with the first version, to Perfect Sense, at first everybody seemed excited about the work, but this feeling didn’t last, that there were interesting features in this program, but she didn’t like either the music, or the theme, and so she didn’t feel that it was her material. I think that if there were interesting features in this program, it must have had choreography, but apparently these particular creative features from Averbukh were the only things Yulia liked about it. It looks like she did try to stick with this program, in hopes that she’d warm up to it, but apparently she never came to like the program as a whole.
Interestingly, about Mulan Yulia said then that “the experts didn’t like the program. And there was really no program. Ilia had to go away, and we didn’t really have time to do anything.” To me, to be honest, it says something about Averbukh’s work ethics that he left Lipnitskaya with what sounds like a very raw draft to a program to present to the Russian federation officials and experts at the test skate. I can’t help wondering to what degree the state of that program caused its rejection, Yulia’s having to waste time to learn yet another, third LP, and one she wasn’t overly enthusiastic about. And Yulia apparently is very willing to work whenever specialists can make time for her: before the Olympic season Averbukh did choreography for her at night. Also, with Mao Asada taking a season off, Lipnitstkaya was the top ranked lady coming into the 2014-2015 season; didn’t that merit some consideration and finding the time to get her LP into a decent shape before the test skate? Personally, I can’t help feeling that Averbukh felt a bit miffed after Yulia decided not to use the Perfect Sense program, that in his eyes he had created a perfect program, and if Yulia had failed to see that, it was her problem, and so he made a fairly half-hearted effort with Mulan.
But interestingly, Yulia herself still had great faith in Averbukh at that point. She said they were waiting for him to come back to see what he’d say about the new choice (R&J), because “He has a very fine feeling for music and creates memorable programs which stand out, and we want to continue working with him.” Well, he had created the choreography for both her Olympic programs and for Megapolis, even if music choices were hers. So it seems that the control over the upper body movements wasn’t an issue. It sounds like by this last interview – probably after Lipnitskaya had decided to do all of her programs for the new season with Zueva – Averbukh had become quite bitter, and so he’s bringing up every disagreement he can think of and possibly exaggerating their differences in his complaints about too many constrictions to his creativity.
Also interestingly in mid-September when Averbukh reported that Yulia’s new LP (R&J) was done, he remarked: “Someday, most likely when the season is over, I’ll tell you about all the four programs we’ve done, how it was, what it was, and why they had to be archived, although it’s possible we’ll reuse some of the ideas.” I assume he’s talking about Megapolis and the three LPs for this season, and I don’t think he’d say he’d done a program if it didn’t have choreography.
And finally in this interview he said, “In my opinion Yulya should have moved forward and become the trendsetter. By the way, the first version of the [long] program which we did and which nobody saw I still consider quite a breakthrough. It had unknown, rarely used music, possibly strange, abstract choreography, but I’m still convinced that this program would have suited Lipnitskaya. In a couple of words, it’s meaning is that a very closed person fully opens up to the world. By the way, Tutberidze liked this program very much. But it was that very situation when the more important opinion turned out to be that of Yulya’s mother who didn’t see her daughter in this program. And Yulya listens to her mother a lot in this respect.” It seems clear to me that he speaks of the Perfect Sense program, and that he still laments that Yulia refused to perform his masterpiece, and so nobody saw it. The article starts by saying how most people consider Lipnitskaya’s Olympic programs to be his best achievement, and it looks like he hoped to repeat that achievement. He thinks he’s done his part, and even though he accepts that a skater has to love his program, it’s obviously still hard for him to reconcile himself that by refusing to use his original LP she’s “robbed” him of part of his legacy. After all, a talented choreographer can dream up anything, but then he still needs to find a skater talented enough to bring his creation to life, and skaters who can put so much into a program as Lipnitskaya are few and far between. And now her decision not to work with him at all this season, and, for all we and he knows, probably ever, must have been the final blow for him.
Regarding control over choreography, I think most skaters just don’t have the creativity to contribute to it beyond a few isolated movements, so ordinarily skaters probably just try their best to do whatever the choreographer wants them to do, just like ballet dancers usually do. And naturally choreographers get used to the idea of a skater as someone who’d fulfill their vision (if they do care for their vision and are not just trying to do a decent job for a living). But every once in a very long while there comes along someone like Yulia who breathes so much of herself into her programs and apparently is creative enough to be inspired to express herself on the ice not just through mood and facial expressions, that she feels that the programs she skates belong to her too and wants to have an opportunity to contribute to the choreography. I myself am not at all qualified to say how it should be, but it seems to me that in this situation a collaboration to a certain degree does make sense. However, as I’ve said above, it appears to me that this wasn’t in any way a major issue between them, since they worked very successfully when he didn’t ask her to accept music and theme she couldn’t relate to.
Personally I can understand Averbukh’s disappointment, but I think there are certain things he still shouldn’t have said, in particular talk about Yulia’s relationship with her mother the way he did. I think that the whole idea of Yulia’s mother running her career and Yulia listening to her opinions in skating-related questions more than to all the professionals she works with, including Tutberidze, is a myth Vaitsekhovskaya – a pro-TSKA journalist who conducted this interview – has been promulgating for some time now. A few months ago she wrote a whole article dedicated to this very topic. And now it appears that she’s “drafted” Averbukh to confirm her story, and he’s let her use him in this way. This is what I find really distasteful in his interview in regards to Lipnitskaya. His venting his hurt feelings and frustrations in the media is understandable, if not overly gentlemanly, but collaborating with a journalist who supports a competing skating club in concocting such a view of a skater is beyond the pale IMO, and I can’t help feeling disappointed in him.
(There are other things he said about Davis-White and Ilinykh-Zhiganshin that I didn’t like either, but that’s outside of the topic of this thread.)
The way she talks with the interviewers, the strangers, is so telling...
There is not a slightest false tone, glance or facial expression coming from this girl! If she doesn't want to talk about something, she simply refuses to do it, sometimes in harsh way, but at least you can be sure one thing: she won't lie to you. Ever!
Some people call Julia reserved, introverted, wild or even rude and they are not necessarily wrong.
But, if they think deeper about how unique she is, how exceptional is being that honest these days (especially for a teenage girl!), they have to at least respect her for that.
Yes, I wholly agree that it is one of the most admirable aspects of her character. She's always sincere, even when it might cost her to be so. And I think Tutberidze is the same way.
I’d also like to apologize for such a long post.
I think he himself as you've eluded to has a great passion for this sport and his skaters success. 
).
