Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin | Page 471 | Golden Skate

Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

Marta25

Marta25

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Duality said:
Are there any chances that they let IZ skate at Worlds considering skates from both SK and SB?
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That was also my first thought after watching S/B and S/K. In 2015 the Fed sent Monko/Khalyavin to Worlds although they were only 10th, but they also had 3 spots back then. Regardless, this just shows that the door for I/Z is still open if they come prepared into the next season. The Fed may want to push a certain team, but that doesn`t mean the international judges are going with that. We could see that last season with S/K and this season with S/B.
 
Alba

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Generally speaking, the international judges have been good with I&Z. They have very good chances, but they need to find those "right" programs for them, like Carmen (I still say booo to those who didn't appreciate Frida tbh), and be consistent in all competitions. They will get rewarded, I am sure of that.
 
tulosai

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Alba said:
Generally speaking, the international judges have been good with I&Z. They have very good chances, but they need to find those "right" programs for them, like Carmen (I still say booo to those who didn't appreciate Frida tbh), and be consistent in all competitions. They will get rewarded, I am sure of that.
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Yes, the international judges like them. IMO what they really need though is consistency, consistency, consistency. If they could avoid the silly mistakes they make competition after competitions, I truly believe the international judges WOULD reward them even with bad programs.
 
Marta25

Marta25

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
tulosai said:
Yes, the international judges like them. IMO what they really need though is consistency, consistency, consistency. If they could avoid the silly mistakes they make competition after competitions, I truly believe the international judges WOULD reward them even with bad programs.
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The judges were ready to put them above Hubbell/Donohue and Gilles/Poirier in France, so they seem to like them. I just hope they can finally find a Free Dance that will klick with the judges the way Carmen did. I`m not so much worried about their Short Dance. IMO, they had a lot of luck that the ISU chose Latin rhythm for next year. I watched some clips of 2012 Junior Worlds and Ruslan was great with that rhythm.

Regarding Frida, I`m not 100% sure if the judges really disliked it. They received pretty high PCS in China, but then the mistake at CoR happened and they had to skate in the first warm-up group, so naturally their PCS were lower. Unfortunately, we will never know what they could have achieved with that program if the Russian Fed had allowed them to skate it at Euros.
 
B

bramweld

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Its all up to them getting the right materials. Apart from Lena's fall in France their consistency has been on the up this season, the programs were just not good enough for their talent. They can do great things added to which they are both fighters with great character!
 
U

uhh

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
It's a good interview. Amazing that she can be so level headed about everything that has happened, and it's great that even though results have been rocky, she still sees the partnership with Ruslan as a positive & that there is more to the sport that winning or losing.

And yes, her views on the current state of ice dance are exactly mine! I think the reason that we all love Ruslena in here is that they try to find their own character, not to steal anyone else's.
 
Meoima

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
I like it when she commented that everyone is skating to the same P/C style and it's boring :laugh:
 
Marta25

Marta25

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I don't want to be disrespectful because all these dancers are working very, very hard, but with the exception of Chock/Bates the FD competition at the GPF was unbearable to watch. As much as I disliked Ruslena's Bollywood program, the judges gave them good PCS, so maybe they are also getting bored with the trend of using bland, tingly piano music.
 
B

bramweld

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Marta25 said:
I don't want to be disrespectful because all these dancers are working very, very hard, but with the exception of Chock/Bates the FD competition at the GPF was unbearable to watch. As much as I disliked Ruslena's Bollywood program, the judges gave them good PCS, so maybe they are also getting bored with the trend of using bland, tingly piano music.
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Worse when you watch Sui and Han you realize how poorly ID have been interpreting the blues with very few exceptions. That might be my favourite SD of the season. Those who package I/Z should take note of how a dynamic lady should be showcased. There's a way to do it right. Lena came across as too emotional at times this season. She just needs to dial it back and be more in tune with Ruslan. Ruslan on the other hand needs to be more committed to his presentation as there is only so much Lena can do. They did it perfectly well in their first season.

When I consider the lofty heights from which I/Z started I can safely say working with Igor was a mistake. In her defense though I think Lena may have been overcompensating by overselling their material this year because it was so under par in comparison to the great vehicles they received from Najarro. I hope they have a much better go of it next season. Their TES and consistency were moving in the right direction this season even after such a rocky start.
 
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Tex

Tex

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
bramweld said:
Worse when you watch Sui and Han you realize how poorly ID have been interpreting the blues with very few exceptions. That might be my favourite SD of the season. Those who package I/Z should take note of how a dynamic lady should be showcased. There's a way to do it right. Lena came across as too emotional at times this season. She just needs to dial it back and be more in tune with Ruslan. Ruslan on the other hand needs to be more committed to his presentation as there is only so much Lena can do. They did it perfectly well in their first season.

When I consider the lofty heights from which I/Z started I can safely say working with Igor was a mistake. In her defense though I think Lena may have been overcompensating by overselling their material this year because it was so under par in comparison to the great vehicles they received from Najarro. I hope they have a much better go of it next season. Their TES and consistency were moving in the right direction this season even after such a rocky start.
Click to expand...

You are totally right about Elena over performing to make up for their less than stellar programs this season. The last two seasons they had a good connection on the ice but this season there seemed to be a disconnect. You made a great point in saying Elena and Ruslan should look at teams with a similar team dynamic (outgoing female + reserved male) to get ideas on connection, presentation, and cohesiveness. I hope they get some amazing and top-notch programs for their Olympic season with fabulous styling and performances.

If they need any ideas for a FD, they might want to look at the music from the movie Dangerous Liaisons (1988) along with baroque music like Corelli's "La Folia." They could portray Sebastian de Valmont and Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil plotting their scheme like in the movie/book and focus on themes like deception and betrayal and with heavy a dose of passion mixed in for good measure. Elena and Ruslan are capable of bringing fiery passion, and with a story like this one they can really set themselves apart from the current soft-flowy, romantic FDs. They could use a modern take on baroque/18th century costumes and look at designers like Terry Dresbach (costumer designer for Outlander) for inspiration.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4A4A13C1E1D2F6DD
https://youtu.be/dO3U2dBwuWA
 
B

bramweld

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Tex said:
You are totally right about Elena over performing to make up for their less than stellar programs this season. The last two seasons they had a good connection on the ice but this season there seemed to be a disconnect. You made a great point in saying Elena and Ruslan should look at teams with a similar team dynamic (outgoing female + reserved male) to get ideas on connection, presentation, and cohesiveness. I hope they get some amazing and top-notch programs for their Olympic season with fabulous styling and performances.

If they need any ideas for a FD, they might want to look at the music from the movie Dangerous Liaisons (1988) along with baroque music like Corelli's "La Folia." They could portray Sebastian de Valmont and Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil plotting their scheme like in the movie/book and focus on themes like deception and betrayal and with heavy a dose of passion mixed in for good measure. Elena and Ruslan are capable of bringing fiery passion, and with a story like this one they can really set themselves apart from the current soft-flowy, romantic FDs. They could use a modern take on baroque/18th century costumes and look at designers like Terry Dresbach (costumer designer for Outlander) for inspiration.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4A4A13C1E1D2F6DD
https://youtu.be/dO3U2dBwuWA
Click to expand...

What do you think about this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8ITW72y_6s, The Red Violin. It would give Lena an opportunity to wear a red tutu? It is so powerful and passionate and mysterious at the same time. It could be a break out year!!!
 
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