Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

[borzaya]

Is this Vaitsekhovskaya`s own speculation, maybe? Hopefully, the sponsor can be persuaded to continue funding them, Elena mentioned that the experts did like their programs.

Knowing Vaitsekhovskaya, all this stuff can easily be her wishful thinking. Or even a deliberate attempt to influence the sponsor.

 

[Marta25]

Frida may come back as an exhibition program http://rsport.ru/figure_skating/20160911/1074208733.html

:luv17:

 

[sunn1ly]

Frida may come back as an exhibition program http://rsport.ru/figure_skating/20160911/1074208733.html

:luv17:

Great. I want to see Frida again with different costumes.

 

[Marta25]

Knowing Vaitsekhovskaya, all this stuff can easily be her wishful thinking. Or even a deliberate attempt to influence the sponsor.

This is awful, if she is trying to do that. Why can`t they just let the skating speak for itself instead of conducting all these shenanigans behind the scene?

Anyway, I`m happy that we will see Frida again, that FD only started to reach its true potential at Cup of Russia.

 

[bwayrose7]

This is awful, if she is trying to do that. Why can`t they just let the skating speak for itself instead of conducting all these shenanigans behind the scene?

Between this stuff and the rumors about S/K, Russian ice dance is reaching whole new levels of

Still, I too am glad we'll see Frida again. That was such a unique program and a joy to watch- I was so disappointed it didn't get them further.

 

[Tex]

Their music choices this year are fabulous, but so were last’s years. It seems that I have watched their SD and FD from last year a little too much that I am seeing little moves in some other teams SDs/FDs/LPs from the Russian test skates and thinking “hey, that reminds me of the Queen SD or Frida FD.” (e.g. In T/M’s LP they did this little flexed arm pump halfway thru their program (where the music changed) that reminded me of the beginning of WWRY. Then Z/G did this pose with his hands covering her face in the FD which is kind of like the beginning of Frida). It’s not like Elena and Ruslan trademarked or invented these moves, and I’m not calling foul play . I guess what I’m just saying is that I’m really miss Ruslena and I’m a little too obsessed about last year’s programs. Frida as an exhibition sounds like a fantastic idea (with new more colorful costumes please and Ruslan as just Diego and not all the men in Frida’s live please). It will be interesting to see if they keep the program totally the same or change some of it since they won’t be bound by FD rules.

What a great choice for Bollywood music for a FD! It will really contrast with the more lyrical and classical programs that some of the other teams have chosen. I’m curious what their storyline will be in the Bollywood program. Didn’t Elena say it’s supposed to be sexy? YAY, sexy Ruslena!!! The movie Ram Leela is a Bollywood take on Romeo and Juliet, so maybe a fusion of that love story and the one from Slumdog Millionaire, or something different. Last night, I started watching the Ram Leela movie since they are using the OST. Visually, it’s a gorgeous movie and I hope that inspires them in choosing colorful costumes. The fan club listed the music as Slumdog Millionaire OST and then the song “Ang Laga De” from the Ram Leela OST, so does that mean that they will use more songs from Slumdog Millionaire along with Jai Ho? I loved the spins they in the Jai Ho part of the FD. Ruslan really has blossomed as a dancer and I was really drawn to him in the FD clip.

I’m in love with the beginning of their SD and the song “Big Bad Love” is great blues song for them. Thank you Elena and Ruslan for introducing me to this song. It’s funny, I saw the movie “The Favor” (1994) in which this song was written for, but I don’t remember the song in the movie. It just goes to show that Elena and Ruslan make everything better. The lyrics to that song are very entertaining “in the morning when I wake up, I can’t believe my luck, I take you like a vitamin pill, and you drive me like a truck.”

Sending lots of love, healing powers, and good vibes and luck to Elena and Ruslan this season. I can’t wait to see how their programs evolve this season.

 

[Alba]

Spiral, Meoima, Marta, chameleon, elif, bram, Tex. Good to see you guys :luv17:

Alba, I'm very glad to see you here again! Shpilband said a number of people worked on the choreo of IZ's programs, including Burza, Naharro and himself. They actually worked with Naharro twice. First they went to Madrid after their vacation in Russia, and he worked with them at Novi in August.

Good that it's not Igor doing the choreo. Although I hope he didn't mess up with it either.

Frida's back? That's music for my ears.

 

[sunn1ly]

Their music choices this year are fabulous...
... It seems that I have watched their SD and FD from last year a little too much that I am seeing little moves in some other teams SDs/FDs/LPs

....I guess what I’m just saying is that I’m really miss Ruslena and I’m a little too obsessed about last year’s programs. Frida as an exhibition sounds like a fantastic idea (with new more colorful costumes ..

What a great choice for Bollywood music for a FD! It will really contrast with the more lyrical and classical programs that some of the other teams have chosen...
I loved the spins they in the Jai Ho part of the FD. Ruslan really has blossomed as a dancer and I was really drawn to him in the FD clip.

I’m in love with the beginning of their SD and the song “Big Bad Love” is great blues song for them.
...
Sending lots of love, healing powers, and good vibes and luck to Elena and Ruslan this season. I can’t wait to see how their programs evolve this season.

I feel you. The comments above are so true for me as well.

This was a long off season and I have watched so many times their programs that every movement I see in another couple reminds me of them. Or course Ruslena invented them . Their dances and movements were really unique for me. The only thing I didn't like were the costumes.

I think I like the music choices this year more. I am still too hungry to see the whole new dances. I like that they don't try to be PC or whatever the trend is but are looking for what suits them. Sexy suits them a lot. Ruslan looks great and is growing. After last year where he looked better in his practice clothes rather than in his competition I really expect more this year from fashion point of view . I would like more color as well for the costumes but if they chose black please not plain modest knee length - some silver,gold, white, lace, leather, asymmetric, ruffles, backless or chiffon would be great, anything but not plain knee length.

I still haven't seen their dances and already bribe about costumes. From the previews we received in instagram, I am already positive they will be great.

Please when there are any news or gossips in some forums about health, sponsorships, traveling to US please guys share. Really waiting for update.

Now that Elena doesn't have instagram I dont know where to look for news and solely rely to the forum. I guess I will be even active here .

 

[Alba]

On a different note, I saw Elena is dating a hottie, hockey player?
What's his name?

 

[Spiral]

I’m also glad they’ll be keeping Frida for exhibitions because it was a masterpiece, and because it shows that they have no sour feelings now about the last season. It’s also very nice that Ruslan is supportive of his partner, as always, happy to skate her favorite program once more.

I'm no SK fan but do think we should keep in mind there's no proof that SK were banned from the rink. This too is just part of the Russian soap opera drama at the moment and should be taken the same way the rumors about Ruslena are unless further proof is provided.

Personally, I don’t think the situation is equivalent, but I’d rather not discuss another team as such in IZ’s thread.

I'm equally confused about the sponsor thing, as I had the impression that the sponsor was to cover the period between post Nats & the new funding period start in June. All the stuff about how they can't change coaches midway through the season because money is allocated to their training base for the whole year. Same reason that Yulia needed her sponsors help to go to Urmanov in the middle of the season. So February to June, Kustarova still had money as their main coach but they needed extra to pay for Igor. After that, he became the main coach, and he gets the money. Less (or maybe no) help from a sponsor needed. I don't know!

That would make sense, but then why are they staying in Moscow now? Surely, Ruslan’s injury could have been treated in the US as well.

On a different note, I saw Elena is dating a hottie, hockey player?
What's his name?

If you mean the guy in the photos with her when she was in Spain, it’s Maxim Goncharov (according to a hockey fan on the Navka Ice Queen forum). I don’t know if they’re dating, though. They could be just good friends.

 

[Marta25]

I’m also glad they’ll be keeping Frida for exhibitions because it was a masterpiece, and because it shows that they have no sour feelings now about the last season. It’s also very nice that Ruslan is supportive of his partner, as always, happy to skate her favorite program once more.



Personally, I don’t think the situation is equivalent, but I’d rather not discuss another team as such in IZ’s thread.



That would make sense, but then why are they staying in Moscow now? Surely, Ruslan’s injury could have been treated in the US as well.



If you mean the guy in the photos with her when she was in Spain, it’s Maxim Goncharov (according to a hockey fan on the Navka Ice Queen forum). I don’t know if they’re dating, though. They could be just good friends.

Nebelhorn starts in 10 days, so Igor has to travel with his other teams to Europe anyway. It`s similar with Fabian, who probably will travel with Carreira/Ponomarenko to Saransk, where the JGP takes place next week. As I understood it from Elena and Ruslan`s interviews in May, Igor and Fabian are the two coaches they work most with.

It was reported on different message boards and alithia also mentioned it in here, that originally Igor wanted them to skip test skates and to stay in Novi to prepare for Nebelhorn. Instead Elena and Ruslan had to travel to Sochi dealing with jetlag and lesser ice time you need to prepare for such a competition.The competitions before Nationals are going to be very, very important for them. We saw last year that the spots in the National team are not being distributed based on the performance of the day, but who had the better fall season.

Vaitsekhovskaya summarized the test skates in this article http://www.sport-express.ru/figure-skating/reviews/ukradennoe-shou-v-sochi-1043393/

She did mention Ruslan`s injury as the reason they didn`t skate the open test skates, but she didn`t say anything about financial problems or them losing their sponsorship, so let`s hope it gets all sorted out somehow.

 

[Mattieu]

Having seen that short clip of their FD, I am not worried at all for them this season.
I just loved the potential of what I saw.
I love the fact that it puts each of them on an equal footing, they look like 2 young things skipping happily on a journey together, just wonderful!
I'm so excited to see this FD in full
I'm under no illusion that it will be perfect by SAmerica, but it will be good enough to really enjoy!
I think they have the potential to be back at No. 1 in Russia with that FD (What was Zhulin thinking with his teams? Is he drinking heavily? )

 

[Marta25]

Their music choices this year are fabulous, but so were last’s years. It seems that I have watched their SD and FD from last year a little too much that I am seeing little moves in some other teams SDs/FDs/LPs from the Russian test skates and thinking “hey, that reminds me of the Queen SD or Frida FD.” (e.g. In T/M’s LP they did this little flexed arm pump halfway thru their program (where the music changed) that reminded me of the beginning of WWRY. Then Z/G did this pose with his hands covering her face in the FD which is kind of like the beginning of Frida). It’s not like Elena and Ruslan trademarked or invented these moves, and I’m not calling foul play . I guess what I’m just saying is that I’m really miss Ruslena and I’m a little too obsessed about last year’s programs. Frida as an exhibition sounds like a fantastic idea (with new more colorful costumes please and Ruslan as just Diego and not all the men in Frida’s live please). It will be interesting to see if they keep the program totally the same or change some of it since they won’t be bound by FD rules.

What a great choice for Bollywood music for a FD! It will really contrast with the more lyrical and classical programs that some of the other teams have chosen. I’m curious what their storyline will be in the Bollywood program. Didn’t Elena say it’s supposed to be sexy? YAY, sexy Ruslena!!! The movie Ram Leela is a Bollywood take on Romeo and Juliet, so maybe a fusion of that love story and the one from Slumdog Millionaire, or something different. Last night, I started watching the Ram Leela movie since they are using the OST. Visually, it’s a gorgeous movie and I hope that inspires them in choosing colorful costumes. The fan club listed the music as Slumdog Millionaire OST and then the song “Ang Laga De” from the Ram Leela OST, so does that mean that they will use more songs from Slumdog Millionaire along with Jai Ho? I loved the spins they in the Jai Ho part of the FD. Ruslan really has blossomed as a dancer and I was really drawn to him in the FD clip.

I’m in love with the beginning of their SD and the song “Big Bad Love” is great blues song for them. Thank you Elena and Ruslan for introducing me to this song. It’s funny, I saw the movie “The Favor” (1994) in which this song was written for, but I don’t remember the song in the movie. It just goes to show that Elena and Ruslan make everything better. The lyrics to that song are very entertaining “in the morning when I wake up, I can’t believe my luck, I take you like a vitamin pill, and you drive me like a truck.”

Sending lots of love, healing powers, and good vibes and luck to Elena and Ruslan this season. I can’t wait to see how their programs evolve this season.

When I saw Zahorski/Guerreiro`s starting pose my exact thought was ...FRIDA!

I also watched Ram & Leela and I had hoped that they would use this exact song, so I`m happy about that.
Concerning their costumes, I think the red dress Deepika Padukone is wearing during "Nagada Sang Dhol" could be great for Elena, I`m not sure what Ruslan could be wearing, though. The men in Bollywood movies have often white or beige outfits.

Since their Short Dance seems to have more of a sexy feel, I would like Ruslan in black, but maybe without a jacket and Elena in dark green or purple. I liked Anastasia Shpilevaya`s dress that she was wearing for the Blues SD.

 

[MK's Winter]

I'm sorry about Ruslan's injury, but I'm more worried about the financial/training arrangements. If it were just the injury, surely it could have been treated in America. At the same time, I don't trust Vaitsehovskaya at all, and given her bias, it seems to me best not to bring the titbits from her blog here. Yes, of course, she's supplied correct information in the past - otherwise who'd have believed het at all - but if she has an agenda, I'm sure she wouldn't hesitate to exhagerrate something tenfold, as Lotus (FSO insider) says, or even to invent something altogether. After all, knee injuries are common in male ice dancers, but when Soloviev had his - and a far more serious one - she didn't imply that it was Bobrova's fault. Ditto her assertions that IZ haven't made any progress. That woman would parrot anything TAT says, and TAT obviously has an agenda. For instance, Vaitsehovskaya has lamented recently on her blog that the Fed doesn't uphold Zhuk/Svinin teams with the judges, and as a result, there's nothing to hope for Russian ID at the Olympics. I just hope the sponsor doesn't take the analysis about IZ's progress from TAT, and either can judge for himself or knows enough to ask an impartial expert, like Gorshkov, although personally I'm sure Shpilband would have told him the truth too. I must admit I don't understand why the Fed sent TAT to America at all, when it's known that she's primarily interested in promoting one Russian ID team only, and with them getting difficult GP assignments and Russia having only two quotas for ID at Worlds, obviously she feels it's no time to be impartial. And there's one thing I don't understand: if SK's training expenses in the US had been paid by the Fed till they were banned from the rink, why do IZ need a sponsor? Alba, I'm very glad to see you here again! Shpilband said a number of people worked on the choreo of IZ's programs, including Burza, Naharro and himself. They actually worked with Naharro twice. First they went to Madrid after their vacation in Russia, and he worked with them at Novi in August.

In regards to treating health issues in the U.S: medical care here is extremely expensive if you are not paying for health insurance. Even if a basic plan was being paid for they don't cover much.

 

[tulosai]

In regards to treating health issues in the U.S: medical care here is extremely expensive if you are not paying for health insurance. Even if a basic plan was being paid for they don't cover much.

Even with insurance paying for healthcare in America is more often than not a nightmare. It's part of why my partner and I are happy to stay in Europe for as long as possible.

 

[Abraxis12345]

Preventive treatments such as physical therapy are more likely to be covered than surgery.

 

[Duality]

Vaitsekhovskaya wrote in her blog that she didn't see programs herself, but talked with the specialists who had seen the programs. They said that the programs are good, stylish and made just for Lena but they still need a lot of work. The lifts are better too, while Lena's weight is bigger but she makes them easier than in the previous year. But they need a lot of work too. If IZ will be able to work on it and polish it then they will be competitive.

 

[uhh]

Ok, that's more positive! Especially since all the teams at test skates needed a lot of work ( and some teams don't even have good programs to polish, just bad ones to make less bad rather than good). I wish they'd get over the weight obsession - maybe she's bigger, but if that's muscle it can only help. It's a sport, you can't do it if you are unhealthily thin. Look at Tanith after Linichuk told her to gain weight. All aspects of her skating improved, because being at an artificially low weight hurts everything. Lena is never going to be a waif, but she doesn't need to be and Russia should learn to get over that and recognise all the amazing qualities she does have.

 

[Marta25]

If the only problem is that the programs aren`t polished enough, it`s actually a good thing. The problem with S/K`s and S/B`s programs at Worlds were that they had no potential to grow anymore and I feared a little bit that Shpilband would simplify I/Z`s programs a little bit too much.

I never agreed with people complaining about Elena`s weight or figure. I remember how surprised I was when I read the first time on a message board that some people considered her to be heavy. I still think that the notion of her having weight issues absolutely ridiculous. I agree with uhh, that people should focus on Elena`s other qualities, because every other country would kill to have an ice dancer like that.

 

[Duality]

If the only problem is that the programs aren`t polished enough, it`s actually a good thing. The problem with S/K`s and S/B`s programs at Worlds were that they had no potential to grow anymore and I feared a little bit that Shpilband would simplify I/Z`s programs a little bit too much.

I never agreed with people complaining about Elena`s weight or figure. I remember how surprised I was when I read the first time on a message board that some people considered her to be heavy. I still think that the notion of her having weight issues absolutely ridiculous. I agree with uhh, that people should focus on Elena`s other qualities, because every other country would kill to have an ice dancer like that.

They also have problems with Ruslan's knee injury unfortunately.

I agree that her weight problems if they exist seem to be exaggerated on the Russian discssion boards. If you read forums you can imagine that she has weight of 70kg or something while she is in fact looks slim on videos.
But Ruslan isn't very tall that's why Lena shold be slimmer and Vaitsekhovskaya also speculated that Ruslan's knee problems are because of Lens'a weight.