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kateua · 6 years

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Here is a new interview with Fabian Bourzat made by Ukrainian “Segodnya” (you can find a version in Russian here: https://www.segodnya.ua/…/francuzskaya-zvezda-figurnogo-kat…)!

Fabian Bourzat: “I don’t like sad people, they make me sad”

The French figure skating star talks about going solo in coaching, working with Ukrainians Nazarova and Nikitin, a possible collaboration with Nathalie Pechalat, and meeting Jean Dujardin, remembering Denis Ten, learning to let go, and also about his shoes and favourite programs and costumes.

– How did you decide to come to Ukraine with Sasha and Maxim? – We’ve worked together in Detroit for like three years. It’s a very interesting team, I love working with them. Their quality matches my vision of skating. They’re creative and original. They have a lot of flaws, but they want to bring something different to skating. And that’s what I love about them. So, when I quit my job in the US, they told me that they were moving back to Ukraine and they needed someone to get them ready for the season. I was on vacation at that time and said, “Why not”. And here I am.

– Do you want to go solo from now on? – I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do next year yet. But I don’t want to work with somebody else anymore. I think it’s time for me to choose my own path and not follow somebody else’s. I’ve done that for almost four years. It was interesting for me to work with Igor Shpilband, I’ve learned a lot, and I thank him for that. But right now I need to express myself way more through my teaching. So, I’m going to come back to France and try to develop what I can over there.

– Do you want to open your own school? – Yeah, that would be ideal. It’s difficult to find a full-time ice rink in France. Most people there work as freelancers, they work in camps and go back and forth between different places. If I can find an ice rink, yes, I will build a school. Right now I’m working with Sasha and Maxim. I don’t know what will happen in the next few months. But I would welcome them on my team. I also want to bring young skaters and help them grow, to make skating in France more competitive. We have a good history of ice dance in Europe. Right now it’s moving a little more to USA and Canada, and I want to bring it back to Europe.

– You’ve been to different countries. What difference do you see in the perception of skating? – In the US, it’s more competitive from the young age, and it’s something we don’t have in Europe. Here we’re trying to go to school first and then think about sports. And I want to try to balance that.

– You’ve worked with Shpilband both as a student and as a coaching partner. What have you learned from him? – When I was still skating, I loved the way he worked, because he gave me the opportunity to enjoy figure skating again. At some point of your career you start thinking only about competition, performing and results and you’re not enjoying yourself anymore. That’s what he brought me as a coach. As a partner, he has a strong work ethic, he is good at scheduling everything and handling a massive amount of work outside of skating. The structure, as well as the techniques, was really helpful for me. As a skater, I used to work with Alexander Zhulin in Russia, Muriel Zazoui in France, Anjelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo in the US. They’ve all given me so much, and I was able to decide what I wanted to take from them and what I did not, depending on which kind of skater I wanted to be and which skills I needed for that. I think growing around so many coaches helped me to develop a different way of skating, and that’s what I want to give back to the kids right now.

– Is it your first time in Ukraine? What are your impressions? – Yes, it’s actually my first time. It’s really hot! Sasha and Maxim took me to so many different places, but I haven’t seen much of the city. For me, seeing different countries and the way people live is always a different way of approaching life... I love the food here. We had pelmeni, khachapuri, which is Georgian actually, we ate shashlik, cornichons. Borsch? I’m not a big fan of that. But there is a summer soup that Maxim wants me to try. We’ve also got pâté from my mom. The country is welcoming. It’s also because the guys make me feel welcome.

– How about our figure skating? Anything unusual? – There are lots of kids on the ice. I’m actually surprised there are so many boys. It’s difficult to find boys in figure skating. The more people you have to train, the easier it will be to develop something.

– Do you remember the first time you saw Sasha and Maxim? – It was at the 2015 Junior Worlds, the year they were third. I remember that I told Igor Shpilband then that this couple was really interesting, that they were trying to bring something more creative, which is difficult at the young age. They kind of matched the same way I did with my partner at the time, so I was really impressed of their work.

– You said they have flaws. Which exactly? – Well, they need to work a little more on the connection and the feel of the motion. They are powerful skaters with a lot of strength. They are able to get a lift of any kind of difficulty done. I’m here to teach them a different approach of skating, and I think it’s starting to grow into them. They are hard workers, they listen, they follow exactly what I say. I know it’s not easy, but they are committed and they want to succeed. How do we polish their twizzles? That’s my secret.

– What’s the most difficult part of coaching? – I think it’s managing different types of people. You can have young kids, teenagers or adults. And you need to be able to push them without breaking them. Managing and planning is still brand new for me, I need to keep learning.

– The Olympic season was quite rocky for Sasha and Maxim. You had some painful moments in your career yourself. How do you teach them to overcome those difficulties, to let it go? – That’s the exact process. They need to let it go and move forward. Because it doesn’t matter how many times you fall, what’s important is the way you’re going to come back on the ice and step up after that. They have really good skills and they need to be proud of it. Every big champion has made mistakes in their life. Some more than the others. You just need to swallow it, get your shit together and move on.

– How much time did it take for you to move on? For example, from the 2014, which was quite intense. – I don’t know, I don’t know… You just need to completely switch your head and keep going. It doesn’t matter, it’s not going to change. You can’t talk about the past forever, you just need to learn and forget.

– Do you get in touch with your former partner Nathalie now? – Yeah. She’s actually working in France. The fact that I’m going back there makes us get more and more in touch. I was talking to her like yesterday. We’ve never got along as good as now. I’d like her to come and work with me. I know her skills and what she’s able to do. I don’t think she’s ready to work full-time and I’m not sure I’m ready to work full-time with her, but it would be nice to have her input from time to time.

– What was the last time you met her? – At her wedding in May. It was nice, not too many people. It was emotional. She was crying, of course.

– Everyone’s probably asking you about her husband, the Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin. How is he like in real life? – He’s actually a really nice guy. I’ve met him a couple of times. And the more you see him, the less you see the actor and more, the person. I cannot say we bonded as friends, but I definitely understand what she sees in him. If he makes her happy, that makes me happy.

– Do you have a favourite program from your competitive career? – There were so many of them! The Circus program was really nice, also Cats, which was a long-long time ago, the flamenco program that we did with Antonio Najarro, Four Seasons. Mostly because we met and bonded with different people who choreographed for us. The Little Prince? It was not our masterpiece, more like a patchwork of what we did before. A part of Circus and Chaplin in the emotions, a part of Cats because of the storyline. It was a reminder of everything that we did throughout our career.

– Do you miss skating? – No. Why? I’m way older now. Skating is difficult on the body. The run-throughs, that’s what I don’t miss. I feel comfortable as a coach. I was listening to others for so many years, and I think giving is so much easier. Shows? We didn’t do that many with Nathalie, because I moved on to coaching right away. For me, the competitive career was the most interesting, because you were trying your best. When you skate in shows, you do everything for the audience, which is interesting, but you’re not trying to polish your skills, to evolve as a better skater. That’s what I didn’t like that much in shows.

– You were known for some iconic costumes. Which was your favourite or the craziest one? – Circus. Because of changing the costume in the middle of the program. And probably Cats.

– A few weeks ago we found out about the death of Denis Ten. There are different projects being made in his memory in Kazakhstan. Do you know if the international skating community plans on doing something in his memory, too? – I have no idea. For me, he was a friend, a great champion, he was a warm person. I think it’s really sad, and I give all my support to his mom. These are difficult times for her, I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child. And for Kazakhstan, too. They’ve lost one of the iconic figures and one of the most important people in the country. It’s a tragedy. If I have the opportunity to get involved in some kind of a memorial, I will definitely do that. But for me, to show all these emotions on the social media is not a way to pay tribute to him. The best way is to remember him and to try to be more like him, to be honest, always smiling and trying the best. He got a roller coaster in his life. He was on the top and then he got some difficulties in training and results, but he still fought back. And that’s something we need to remember him for.

– Was there anyone you looked up to? – It wasn’t one person. Because nobody’s flawless. More like qualities from a certain person. What I always notice in people, is if they’re smiling. I don’t like sad people, they make me sad. And I like fighters, like Denis.

– We’ve already talked about your costumes on ice, but you’re also known as a very stylish person outside the rink. How big is your collection of accessories? – Oh-h, I have a lot of shoes, like… a lot of shoes. Thirty or forty maybe. I like to dress differently when I can. When you’re French, you need to be haute couture. I also wear Italian costumes and Japanese shoes. Whatever I like, I just wear it. If people don’t like it, I don’t care.

– Do you watch football? – Sometimes, but I did watch the World Cup. I saw the final with Maxim. I told him, if he wanted to come he’d better root for France. I don’t watch football for football, it’s more about the company. And here, in Ukraine, we went to see Shakhtar Donetsk vs Arsenal Kyiv. Good game. Not that many Ukrainians on the teams though.

– And what about tennis? Have you ever been to Roland Garros? – I did once, a long time ago. I’m not so much into watching sports, I like to do sports myself, to play tennis, do outdoor sports like beach volleyball. I always loved skating on the ice, but after that I just wanted to go home and hide. Because of how media broadcasted everything. And if you’re on the court as a tennis player, for example, you have people who are going to cheer for one and root against the other. I don’t like this state of mind. Most of them are trying their best, and you need to cheer for both.

– Is it not like that in figure skating? There are some hardcore fans… – Not that much. But yes, there are always those kinds of fans. I saw those in Russia, in Sochi. When we were at the Worlds in Nice, the audience cheered for us more than for the others, but they were also cheering for everyone else they loved. It’s the same way in Japan. It depends on the people. That’s why I don’t like to be in the crowd all the time so I don’t have to see what people are like.

– What are your passions beside skating and shoes? – I love arts. I love to play videogames with my nephew. I have a dog. My passions are my family, my girlfriend, my people.

– To wrap it up, what are your goals for the near future? – I want Europe to be back strong again in figure skating. And I want to leave legacy as a coach and have someone who’s going to follow me up at my job and improve it so we could build a European style that will be recognized all across the world.

Kateryna Makarevska for Segodnya

Photo: Sergey Revera (Segodnya)

Source: https://www.facebook.com/kateryna.makarevska/posts/1782547921810355

#fabian bourzat #figure skating #nathalie pechalat #aleksandra nazarova #maxim nikitin #igor shpilband #alexandra nazarova #maksim nikitin #ukraine #france #denis ten #jean dujardin

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yoloaxel · 7 years

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Nathalie Péchalat : “I am anti-scam.”

Critical towards the judges during her career, former ice dancer Nathalie Péchalat makes her debut in this field. She explains her approach.

Nathalie Péchalat, two-time European champion (2011-2012) with Fabian Bourzat, passed her exam to become an ice dance judge and will make her big debut during a Tournoi de France (national competition up to junior level) at Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) on 3 and 4 February. She hopes to be able to practice in two, three years at the junior international level, and to move the judgment towards more professionalism.

Q: Why did you decide to become a judge?

A: “I think former skaters are in the best position to judge current skaters. We have such skills at the end of a career, I find it nice to put them at the service of a new generation. I love commentating on Eurosport, it is also a way to change things. If we stay outside the system, we observe but we do not make things progress.

Q: So, does it mean that you are fully committed?

A: “Yes, because like every skater, I’ve been through moments of injustice in my career, with Fabian, and sometimes a lack of support. It is good to be able to think: “They’re well acquainted with it, and if they gave these scores, there has to be a reason for it.” Some international judges got there because of their passion, but without having skated before... I do not want any doubts. I am anti-scam. In our sport, we struggle to evaluate the difficulty because the goal is to make it looks like everything is easy. There are very difficult things that we manage to make it look easy with a lot of work, and vice versa, there are things that are just smokes and mirrors. I have the impression that by being a judge, we can make things better, even if it is not a work but a hobby. I am not going to make a revolution, but I want to defend my opinion (she is a candidate for the election of the ISU Athletes Commission created this season).

Q: What were your first impressions as a judge?

A: “To pass my exam, I judged a 'Minime’ [skaters under 13 on July 1st] competition. Time goes by so quickly when you are a judge while when we are on the other side waiting in the kiss and cry area, we’re thinking: “what are they doing?””

Q: What is your opinion about the fact that anonymity for the judges has been cancelled?

A: “I totally agree: anonymity leaves too much liberty. It is at this moment that we realize that it is extremely difficult. It is stressful to think that it depends on us. It is a sport that has been denounced many times for the past 15 years. It is important to remain a honest sport or else, figure skating could lose its spot at the Olympics.”

#figure skating #ice dance #nathalie péchalat #nathalie pechalat #translation #(justicefornathalie)#I translated for another website but I'm posting it here too!#(she uses unusual french expressions lol)

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