Fabian Bourzat will coach Alexandra Nazarova and Maxim Nikitin in their native city

Alexandra Nazarova and Maxim Nikitin about leaving Igor Shbilband’s group.

Maxim: The relocation from the United States and the change of coach was a forced step that we took due to financial circumstances. We have thoroughly discussed this issue with the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation, which is making every effort to resolve the financial problem, and eventually decided that in this situation it would be reasonable to leave the United States.

Have you decided about the new coach?

– This process has not been resolved yet, formalities and discussions are ongoing. At the same time, it is possible to say that in the near future our coach will be Fabian Bourzat. Soon he will come to Kharkov and we will work with him, probably till the end of August. At the same time, together with the Federation, we are looking for options and possibilities for moving to France for further training. We are very pleased that Fabian has agreed to continue working with us and even has changed some of his plans for that. He helped us a lot, we are very grateful to him for this.

Is the fact that you will work with a specialist from the team Spilband means that splitt up with the former coach wasn’t final?

– In any case, it wasn’t a splitt up in the sense of any misunderstandings or conflicts. Igor treated this situation with understanding and was a little upset when he found out that we have to leave his group. He approved our choice (Fabian Bourzat), even discussed the possibility if iIgor comes to the competition to Europe, he will give us some advise. We are in touch, talked literally yesterday, Igor asked how we are doing, what we’re doing, how is the training mode. He said that he is ready to help us, and if the situation changes, he will gladly take us back.

It is known that most ice dance teams prefer not to talk about their new programs in advance. Do you also adhere to this rule?

– No, we have never made secrets about our new programs. The rhythm dance will be on the theme of the musical “Chicago”, and free dance – on the music of Charlie Chaplin’s famous movie “City Lights”. We tried to take pieces, which were not used so often, since the idea itself was repeatedly embodied in the programs of skaters. Now we are discussing sketches of costumes, we’re in the midst of a creative process…

I would note that there were no special problems in the choice of music for the rhythm-dance, except that it was necessary to take into account some nuances associated with the new rules. But with the idea of the free dance we could not decide for a long time because we did not quite understand what we want, therefore, intensive work on Charlie Chaplin began very late. We have to catch up…

by Ludmila Vlasyk for ufsf.com.ua

Related topics: Alexandra Nazarova Maxim Nikitin, Igor Shpilband