Alena Kanysheva

As much as I'm thankful to Svetlana Panova for raising quite a few talented youngsters, I'm so happy for Alena joining Eteri team. She was my discovery of the year last season, but now it's incredible how much she changed during the off-season. There is something magical in her every movement, even when she just moves in circles during a warm-up. If I couldn't see her face at the test skates, I would think this is another Alena. Kamila was objectively the strongest at the test skates, but it was Alena whose programs I watched again and again, especially the short one.

Edwin said:

The very first thing that Eteri Georgiyevna asked me was “why did you leave?” (From Svetlana Panova). I answered her question, but I don’t want to elaborate on it now
...
Q: What kind of injury was it, if not a secret?
A: Never mind/not important.

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I'm glad to see she also got the instruction you presumed in Kamila's thread.

dante said:

I'm glad to see she also got the instruction you presumed in Kamila's thread.

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I sincerely hope the girls will be confident and persistent in their dealings with the press and general public and not embarrass themselves. Aleksandra's dad explained it well here, and no doubt Alyona's parents instilled the same spirit in their daughter. Gently but firmly stating they will not answer these kind of questions and directing the interviewer to their superiors, trainers, etc. Training this from young age, like Kamila at 13, will certainly help.

Obviously some kids are better than others at this, Alyona acquitted herself admirably in her interviews. No doubt, being grilled over your progress regularly by Eteri Georgiyevna makes you strong and confident in dealing with adults. Every little lie will be detected sooner or later, so complete honesty is both best attack and strongest defense. I have no doubt Alyona felt EG quite intimidating at first, but let her strong character, drive and ambition prevail after some reasoning with herself. ("I was vain")

And now she is back at the rink, getting her routines down pat, putting the final touches on her image and presentation. First and most important starts - trying to qualify to JPGF by becoming 1st or 2nd in her JPG - is only a couple of weeks away.

Best of luck, Alyona

Alena has been subbed out at JGP France.

The Finn said:

Alena has been subbed out at JGP France.

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What a shame. Why did they do that? I hate it when they make a decision and then change it the week before. I was looking forward to her [emoji24]

IndiaP12 said:

What a shame. Why did they do that? I hate it when they make a decision and then change it the week before. I was looking forward to her [emoji24]

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I think the JGP France entries were mostly placeholders for Russia. Skaters in several disciplines got subbed out after test skates.

IndiaP12 said:

What a shame. Why did they do that? I hate it when they make a decision and then change it the week before. I was looking forward to her [emoji24]

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That doesn't mean she won't skate in another JGP. That's one fo the other purposes of test skates, to judge how much is skater prepared. I think one or two extra weeks of preparation will help her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffgfd6LHdQU

Alena is going to add the quad toe loop during this season, when it's consistent enough.

She doesn't say it directly, but as I understood, she dislikes her past childish programs, and the new mature image of a young lady is psychologically more important to her than the technical complexity. She watches drama films for better understanding of the feelings.

In her short program she finds an old note from her loved ones, and she lives through her old memories.

In the free program she plays Cecilia from the film Atonement.

I thought she said she wouldn‘t do a quad this season and focus on clean skating instead? Hm. Maybe she realised she needs it if she wants to make the top three juniors and medal at JGPF and Junior Worlds ? I‘m just a bit worried about that injury. When I heard they removed her from the first JGP, I was initially very disappointed because I‘d been looking forward to seeing her. But maybe it‘s good if it‘ll give her some more time to heal completely and prepare.... I liked the SP, it has a nice idea behind it. Not so sold on the FS yet but we‘ll see.

flanker said:

That doesn't mean she won't skate in another JGP. That's one fo the other purposes of test skates, to judge how much is skater prepared. I think one or two extra weeks of preparation will help her.

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True actually. She might get Chelyabinsk, and that’s a month away, so she’ll be well prepared maybe even with her quad.

Fluture said:

I thought she said she wouldn‘t do a quad this season and focus on clean skating instead?

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She has only said that she won't add a quad right now, but for some reason everyone decided that she gave up on quads for the entire season.

Fluture said:

I liked the SP, it has a nice idea behind it. Not so sold on the FS yet but we‘ll see.

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I liked all her skating, but the SP was just breathtaking - the image is more complete and is embodied more consciously.

dante said:

She has only said that she won't add a quad right now, but for some reason everyone decided that she gave up on quads for the entire season.

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I don‘t know Russian so I relied on what others said - that she‘d not try the quad in competition this season and focus on clean skating. Glad to hear she‘s open to it, though. I‘m not a massive fan of quads because there is a risk they take away from the overall skating but alas, this is what‘s needed to win these days. And if she wants a chance to compete with Valieva and... well, I guess, Liu too if she gets the backing I suppose she will get, then that quad will come more than in handy. And besides, Sinitsyna is more than ready to compete with her too. She‘ll need to be rock solid to make the Russian team first and then try to win the important medals. So, maybe having her compete at a later JGP might not be too bad after all.

dante said:

I liked all her skating, but the SP was just breathtaking - the image is more complete and is embodied more consciously.

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I really liked the SP’s idea and her interpretation but I‘m not completely sold on the music yet. But programs grow throughout the season and so does my appreciation for them. I didn‘t find her programs last season too noteworthy at test skates either and then I fell in love with them later on. So, I fully except this to change as soon as I‘ll see her skate in competition.

dante said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffgfd6LHdQU

Alena is going to add the quad toe loop during this season, when it's consistent enough.

She doesn't say it directly, but as I understood, she dislikes her past childish programs, and the new mature image of a young lady is psychologically more important to her than the technical complexity. She watches drama films for better understanding of the feelings.

In her short program she finds an old note from her loved ones, and she lives through her old memories.

In the free program she plays Cecilia from the film Atonement.

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Yeah, when I saw the program, thought it was the soundrack from the movie with those typewriting sounds.

dante said:

In the free program she plays Cecilia from the film Atonement.

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That's an incredible movie! Great choice!

She has been assigned to the JGP Riga.

Here is my take on the Olga Yermolina (FFKKR press secretary) interview with Alyona after 2019 Junior Test Skates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffgfd6LHdQU

O: "This is Alyona Kanysheva. Alyona prepared herself for this season in the group of Eteri Georgiyevna Tutberidze.
Alyona, how has changed, if at all, your attitude to work, your preparation? Is there anything you've discovered in yourself, in your work and in your training?"
A: "Let's say, there appeared to be more competition in training, well, let's say 'not more competition', but rather motivation. Because there are many strong girls I’ll have to face during the season and I want to look no worse than they do.
It happens sometimes they say 'child against a backdrop of adults', because at the same Championship in Russia where I can go to, there will be many grown up girls who already took part in the Russian Championship, in the senior stages of the Grand Prix, and I would not like to look childish against those grown ups. And there is someone to reach for and of course that gives motivation."
O: "Competition is a good thing and you say you don’t want to look like a child amidst adults. So they just put a free program on you in which you, probably, so to speak, can 'reflect' some adult emotions or adult feelings.
Both your short and free program are new. What do you express in these programs and how much do they reflect your inner world?"
A: "In the short program, the image is of a girl who reads a note written for her by people close to her, and she reads not just any written note, but an old one, so to speak. She was sorting through her things, found the note and memories flooded her, and in that moment she seemed to re-live everything that happened.
In the free program, I also play the image of a girl to the music from the film 'Atonement'.
This film is about how a girl, well, fell in love with the servant of her parents. She lived in a big house, her boyfriend’s parents were servants (to her parents) so to speak, and then he went into the army and left for the war, she was waiting for him, came after him for a while. Later, there wasn’t such an opportunity, she kept looking at her watch waiting for him to return. But it didn't work out."
O: "In short, a film about love". (Alyona nods and smiles)
Is it hard for you, since you say you want to be an adult, as it were - to be an adult, to experience these things? Or do you watch a movie to convey these feelings, adult feelings, on ice through your program?"
A: "Yes, of course I watch films, however I didn’t immediately watch this film. Until after I've watched it I couldn’t understand what I was skating to, about what I was skating, but after watching the film I understood what I was thinking was all wrong and that everything, like they say, is so much deeper."
O: "Do you plan to change something this season because of course, stories is good, music is good, but figure skating is sport, and if there aren’t any well-executed elements, the program will look like nothing, agree? Do you plan to change something during the season in your programs?"
A: "Certainly, I plan to insert a quadruple Toeloop into the program. Thus, the program will be more valuable, but still you need to skate it first and jump stable. So that you already think at the start, so to speak, no longer about this jumping, but just to show yourself".
O: "How strong is your motivation to reveal your full potential this season, what you have gained and will show this season?"
A: "Unconditionally very motivated because the second season in juniors has still more benefits than last year and there is a possibility that it will be a little easier in terms of the fact that the judges already know me, and I have had a long time to think."
O: after announcing some interruption
"[voicing judges' thoughts:] Ah, Kanysheva's here, let's have a closer look!": "Alyona, I wish you success, a well becoming 2nd season, that there will be no injuries, so that I can tell everyone all your plans came true. Thank you."

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Thanks to the poster for pointing out errors Interpreting while trying to maintain original word choice, speech pattern and rhythm is difficult.

Alyona KANYSHEVA - Interview, Control skatings (Novogorsk 08/2019) [ENG Subs]
https://youtu.be/voHwBPzgwSE

Great to see that she reconsidered add a quadruple jump to her program. I felt disappointed before tests skates when she said that she was going playing safe.
If she wants a Junior World Medal she needs to beat Alysa Lyu's 3Axel and 4Lutz (UR's). Will be more difficult beat to Kamila.

Apparently, Kanysheva is not going to jgp Riga after all.

Bluediamonds09 said:

Apparently, Kanysheva is not going to jgp Riga after all. ��

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:hopelessness: I was looking forward to seeing her. Is she still injured or what happened? :sad21:

Fluture said:

:hopelessness: I was looking forward to seeing her. Is she still injured or what happened? :sad21:

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I wish I knew, sorry.
But that seems the most likely conclusion.