It’s a well-known fact that between two competitive seasons skaters do not only take rest or go on holidays; it is also a time for an intense creative search. Together with coaches and choreographers they choose music and design images for their new programs.
In the upcoming season both Alena Leonova’s programs will be new indeed. The free program was choreographed by Olga Volojinskaya (a former ice dancer, whose partner was Alexandr Svinin) who had come to St. Petersburg from Detroit, where she now lives. It didn’t take long for Leonova and Volojinskaya to reach mutual understanding, which resulted in creating a new program by the musical Chicago medley.
As for the short program by a Russian folk song Barynya, the choreographer was the legendary coach Tatiana Tarasova. Alena was greatly satisfied with this collaboration, as she liked both the process and the result.
And this is what Alena says about it:
“Dear friends, I think the time has come to reveal the secret and tell you something about my new programs. Summing up, we’ve succeeded in making them really good and effective.
I can’t even decide which one I like the best, because both perfectly suit my style.
The short program was choreographed by Tatiana Tarasova. She saw me as a barynya (this old Russian word means ‘lady of the manor’). I haven’t had a program by Russian folk music for years! I liked working with Tatiana Anatolievna immensely. Practically speaking she was performing the whole dance behind the board, and Janna, her assistant, was showing me the steps on the ice.
My free program’s name is Chicago. The image of a reckless girl was invented by choreographer Olga Volojinskaya. It took us just three hours to put up the program! The thing is, when a choreographer and, of course, a skater work with enthusiasm and inspiration, everything goes really well. I liked working with Olga Algertovna, too, because we both took pleasure in the process.
I really hope that you will like my new programs and that you’ll enjoy watching them as much as I will enjoy skating. They are truly upbeat, and even the audience in the stands will be able to dance along with me!”
