The European Championship is now held in Italy and our Odintsovo skaters have great chances to win. Not long ago Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin won the Russian National Championship in Ice Dance.

Here’s their special interview for Radio Odintsovo:

-          Were you nervous when you stepped on ice?

Oksana: “There’s always some anxiety, whatever place you’re competing for.”

Maxim: “There’s always some fear when you skate before 13 thousand people”.

Oksana: “It’s hard to skate in general, not just in front of such an audience”.

Maxim: “It’s hard to skate. For instance, in the morning you’re not nervous but you’re not in the mood or you’re tired and so it’s difficult, and there it’s hard because there’re so many people”.

Oksana: “Competitions…”

Maxim: “Yeah, you have to show your best at one certain point, so it’s always nervous”

-          You stepped on ice thinking you will become the champions?

Maxim: “We planned and …”

Oksana: “We hoped”.

-          Do you have your signature tricks?

Maxim: “Of course, and we have to show them on ice – lifts, for instance”

-          What dances do you perform?

Oksana: “The original dance – foxtrot, two-step. The free dance – it has a complicated idea, it’s called “Bubble Gum Dance”. It’s Sergej Petukhov’s idea, he’s our choreographer, the music is from the “Fifth Element” soundtrack.    

-          But no bubble gums? Then why it’s called like that?

Maxim: “They’re on the costumes”.

Oksana: “Of course not, they’re imaginary, it’s the idea of the dance. We show the bubbles, throw them”

Maxim: “We play with them”

-          Two-step, it’s a rather quick dance, it must be technically challenging, how do you manage it?