Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani | Page 77 | Golden Skate

Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani

Super interesting and long interview done at Helsinki :yes:

Maia and Alex Shibutani: building bridges between worlds
http://absoluteskating.com/interviews/2017shibutani.html

Some questions and comments

Alex: And when we say "the process", it's everything from costumes to music to choreography. Marina (Zueva) is our head coach but we have such a great relationship with her that we're able to work with lots of different people for ideas and concepts.

Maia: We are very passionate, we love what we do and it means everything to us to develop the programs that we truly believe in. And that's why we're so excited to compete, that's why we love to compete, because it's great to share these very special things that we spent so much time developing.

Alex: I guess the story starts when we were younger; we had the opportunity to go to the World Championships in 2001 in Vancouver and then in 2003 in Washington DC to see skating live as spectators. We just started skating back then and that was what helped us decide that we wanted to start ice dancing. Whether it was meeting Michelle Kwan or seeing Evgeny Plushenko on the elevator - seeing all these people that we saw on TV and they were legends - to young kids it was so inspiring! We would watch an NHK Trophy on TV at home, or Skate America, and it was like: wouldn't it be so cool to be there?! And so we found the motivation within ourselves and we were so lucky to have our parents and our coaches that...

Alex: We've got a lot on our plate, we're always willing to grow and if there was unlimited time I'd love to do a short film. I'd love to challenge ourselves even more. Not a reality blog...

Maia: (About Stephane, Max and Tatiana) It was one of those moments where the fact that they took the time to speak to us really meant a lot.
Alex: It went beyond being nice, it went beyond them just saying like "oh, keep going" or "keep working hard" or "we like your skating". They were really invested :luv17:

Alex: I think the strength in our competitive skills now is our consistency and our ability to deliver. It's not like we treat a competition like it's a show but it really should be. I mean, there shouldn't be a difference in how you care about your performance in the exhibition versus the competition.
 
Super interesting and long interview done at Helsinki :yes:

Maia and Alex Shibutani: building bridges between worlds
http://absoluteskating.com/interviews/2017shibutani.html

Some questions and comments

Alex: And when we say "the process", it's everything from costumes to music to choreography. Marina (Zueva) is our head coach but we have such a great relationship with her that we're able to work with lots of different people for ideas and concepts.

Maia: We are very passionate, we love what we do and it means everything to us to develop the programs that we truly believe in. And that's why we're so excited to compete, that's why we love to compete, because it's great to share these very special things that we spent so much time developing.

Alex: I guess the story starts when we were younger; we had the opportunity to go to the World Championships in 2001 in Vancouver and then in 2003 in Washington DC to see skating live as spectators. We just started skating back then and that was what helped us decide that we wanted to start ice dancing. Whether it was meeting Michelle Kwan or seeing Evgeny Plushenko on the elevator - seeing all these people that we saw on TV and they were legends - to young kids it was so inspiring! We would watch an NHK Trophy on TV at home, or Skate America, and it was like: wouldn't it be so cool to be there?! And so we found the motivation within ourselves and we were so lucky to have our parents and our coaches that...

Alex: We've got a lot on our plate, we're always willing to grow and if there was unlimited time I'd love to do a short film. I'd love to challenge ourselves even more. Not a reality blog...

Maia: (About Stephane, Max and Tatiana) It was one of those moments where the fact that they took the time to speak to us really meant a lot.
Alex: It went beyond being nice, it went beyond them just saying like "oh, keep going" or "keep working hard" or "we like your skating". They were really invested :luv17:

Alex: I think the strength in our competitive skills now is our consistency and our ability to deliver. It's not like we treat a competition like it's a show but it really should be. I mean, there shouldn't be a difference in how you care about your performance in the exhibition versus the competition.

This is such a good interview that I'm going to post this in the main thread :D.
 
Alex uploaded the new vlog!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVg4N6fU6jY

It's at the Spiderman: Homecoming premier.

Speaking of, Maia and Alex have a cameo appearance in YouTuber Wil Dasovich's vlog at the Spiderman: Homecoming premier: https://youtu.be/-NM68Or1Dbc?t=485

He's a bit much for me, but it was funny to see his friend first mistake them as ballet dancers and Wil being excited to see another YouTuber in Alex only to realize that they're more known for being Olympic ice skaters.

Donnalyn Bartolome (the one who identified them as "ballet" dancers) with the Shibs at the premier: https://youtu.be/31iKikD0Dy0?t=201
 
:cheer: hip hip hooray to Maia!!!:cheer:

happy birthday, only the best things to come for Maia - including of course amazing Olympic season!!!:hb::party2:
 
Maia has raised abut $4,704.00 so far for Charity Water. So proud of her. Maia has really grown to be a really beautiful woman inside and out.
 
Happy Birthday to Maia! :hb: :dance2: :party2: A class act on and off the ice and truly one of our National Treasures. She is an inspiration and a great role model.
 
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