- Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin

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Welcome to the English version of Oksana and Maxim's Guest Book.

Here you can find a translation of all the witty conversations going on between them and their ever curious fans, and figure skating fans.
Oksana and Maxim are enthusiastically replying to all the questions on the guest book of the Russian version of the website. If you want to ask them a question, tell them anything or simply wish them good luck, you may do so by posting on the Russian Guest Book (sorry, but you have to register yourself on the Russian website). You can ask your question in English. All answers will be in Russian, but keep watching this space for translations of the answers to all your questions. Stay tuned!

About Maxim's OD costume and exhibition

[Oksana, 26 Feb 2009]: Maxim's costume will remain the same, it's hard to find one that fits the character better! We will have a new exhibition program. You should have seen it at the Euros already, but that didn't happen! You will see it soon!

Which compulsory dances do you consider more difficult? What do you think about getting rid of Cds?

[Oksana, 26 Feb 2009]: About Eugeni's question on getting rid of the compulsories! I don't think they should do that. Ice dancing is already turning into something weird (pair skating?) as it is, and if they also get rid of the compulsories how are they going to tell the quality of the skating? Everyone will be at the same level! The youngsters are all going to do ten revolutions twizzles; they will do counter turns and rocker turns and that's it. No one will ever be able to judge how they can really skate and slide.

What do you think about the draw of Paso Doble as a compulsory dance for the Worlds? Which is your favorite compulsory dance?

[Oksana, 26 Feb 2009]:

I'm very happy to see so many interesting questions that I will gladly answer! As far as the CD: we are really happy that the Paso Doble was drawn. It's a very passionate dance, full of emotion, and we still haven't skated it this year. Sure I really like Waltz, but it really gets too much when you have skated to that so many times before. The Paso Doble may look very easy at first: it has few steps and it's over pretty quickly, but when you start working at it, you understand that it has edges that you need to work at really carefully. I like long and diffucult CDs better, no matter if they are slow or fast, because you can stand out when you skate them, you can tell immediately who can skate or not. Series after series they are always the same, but they are really useful!

It's true that romantic roles suit you well, but do you ever feel like trying something new, portray a different kind of characters?

[Oksana, 25 Feb 2009]: Very interesting question! We always feel like trying something new. Every year we start looking for new music and we say. "We have to change our style completely, choose something different". Then, after listening to hundreds of CDs, we always go back to a very small choice of melodies that can suit us, work for the ice and are beautiful and strong! Actually, there doesn't seem to be a lot of good music. Yet, it is all about the music! Of course I would love to be Carmen or Joan of Arc, and many other characters. Unfortunately our true wishes don't usually match what we can do! They always tend to see me in romantic roles. Who knows, maybe the new hair color will change that?

Who designed this season's costumes and where were they manifactured?

[Oksana, 25 Feb 2009]: This season's costumes were made in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The one for the OD and the first one for the FD were made by REST in St. Petersburg. The second one for the FD was made by Natalia Bolshakova in Moscow. The costume for the Finnstep was made by Natalia Pokrovskaja, once again in Moscow. We are currently working on the costumes for the Paso Doble and on the new dress for the OD.

In reply to a question about shooting the hair products commercial

[Oksana, 21 Feb 2009]: I enjoyed doing the commercial. It was a happy and interesting experience although a little unusual. We didn't have any problems doing it, except for the fact that we had to shoot from 12AM to 5AM. The crew was great to us and they helped us a lot, we are truly grateful for that. No, I would never advertise lingerie!

In reply to a question about their OD

[Oksana, 20 Feb 2009]: We had been looking for the right music for a long time, because the OD has certain limitations but we didn't want to go with something that everybody else would have chosen like quickstep, ?>charleston, blues, we didn't want that. We wanted to be different and I think we succeeded. We stumbled upon the Jazz Waltz which was written in 1934, and we started thinking all together about how to choreograph it so that it wasn't a waltz anymore but at dance from the 30's. We tried to recreate the character of the dance through the feel and spirit of the times. Choreography is by Natalia Linichuk.

Do you take part in the realization of the costumes? Which kind of music do you find easier to skate, classical or modern?

[Oksana, 21 Jan 2009]: Yes, we do play an active role in the choice and realization of the costumes! We first express our ideas and wishes. Then they move on to the sketches which we examine, and then we make our final choice. That's how we have always worked, year after year. As for as the music, it's hard to say, since we skated to classical music the past two seasons!?

[Complete question was: Do you take part in the realization of the costumes? Which kind of music do you find easier to skate, classical or modern (I'm thinking of your wonderful "Waltz Masquerade" by Khachaturjan)?]

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