We had a jillion ideas as to what music we could choose for the short program. It could be jazz, tango, hip-hop adaptation of Amelie soundtrack and even a fragment from Turandot. But my friends suggested me and my coach a much different image. Why don’t I… play a clown? We thought a lot, listened to a great many pieces of music, but finally decided that the idea of a circus-influenced program appeals to us the most, and started searching for a suitable tune. And when among other selected pieces we listened to a fragment from Alfred Schnittke’s Gogol Suite (the fragment is called The Greatcoat), we at once understood that it was just the thing we needed. Even though the music itself isn’t a circus tune, it suits me and I feel it deeply. It conveys a sad story of a poor and humble person, who once in his lifetime experiences real joy and delight. The music is very dancy, plastic and talking, and it expresses the character of my new heroine, a sad-eyed street clown girl. What is more, we think that this music choice is perfect in every respect, because to skate to music by a great world-famous Russian composer is a right thing to do for a Russian skater. By the way, Alexei Yagudin skated to this piece, too. It was his first program choreographed by Tatiana Tarasova in 1998, when they had just begun working together. So, it is a great honour for me to skate to this music, and I feel the responsibility, too, because music like that and the personality of its first performer on ice are much obliging.     

The Greatcoat is based on a most common polka, but it turns out that there are lots of interpretations of the piece. My friends sent all of them via e-mail to Switzerland, where my short program was choreographed.     

It was Gheorghe Chiper who invited me and Alla Yakovlevna to join the spring camp in a small village of Dubendorf. Gheorghe works there as a coach, but not that long ago he used to represented Romania at international events and finished his competitive career after the 2006 Olympics in Torino. I stayed with one of his student’s family. You might already have thought that it was Gheorghe who choreographed my program, but you are mistaken. He helped us to put together two fragments of different interpretations, plus a third fragment, the slow part, which is film music by Nino Rota. And as to who was my choreographer… it was none other than Pasquale Camerlengo himself! The Italian is currently at the height of his fame, and what is more, he is a real dab at choreographing dramatic programs having to do with circus. When he was a competitive ice dancer, he used to create beautiful programs for himself and his partner on his own. One of his masterpieces was last season’s free program of Daisuke Takahashi.       

To tell the truth, I don’t know at which event Alla Yakovlevna arranged with Pasquale about our collaboration. Maybe they are old acquaintances. I sure was delighted to have this opportunity, even more so after I had learned so much about him and the way he works on ice. I was looking forward to the day we were to start working together just like I would look forward to a long-awaited holiday or my own birthday! Finally the day came. First of all Pasquale listened to the music several times. He liked it, and the work began. On seeing his first movements I understood that the program will be frolic, jolly and intense. In a word, we both were eagerly anxious to create something off the beaten path. It’s a pity we hadn’t so much time for choreographing the program itself, because there were many other skaters wishing to work with Pasquale. But I attended the ice dance maestro’s classes, during which we were working on steps and skating skills. We communicated in English, I was grasping all the movements rather quickly, and Alla Yakovlevna was capturing everything on video.    

It was very easy to work with Pasquale, and the time slipped away fast. The program turned out to be joyful and sunshiny, but at the same time difficult. I have never had such a difficult program before. And even though now there are only 7 elements in the short program, I get very tired when I skate it to the max. But this is a most pleasant tiredness, because I know that I’ve worked with the best and the most sanguine choreographer in the world!