{"id":33495,"date":"2016-03-02T11:40:57","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T17:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=33495"},"modified":"2016-03-02T11:40:57","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T17:40:57","slug":"its-all-about-the-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/its-all-about-the-story\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s all about the story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q&A with ice dancers Kseniya Ponomaryova and Oleg Altukhov<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Erin Barney<\/strong><\/p>\n

To casual figure skating fans, ice dancing and pairs routines often appear the same\u2014spins, lifts and dazzling costumes.<\/p>\n

But ice dancers aren\u2019t allowed to do showy overhead lifts and throw jumps. Instead, they need to wow fans and judges with their storytelling. Without a real connection to the music and to each other, the dancers won\u2019t receive high scores.<\/p>\n

To find that inspiration, partners Kseniya Ponomaryova, 27, and Oleg Altukhov, 32, venture to jazz bars, ballrooms and polka clubs. The next day, they bring that feeling to practice at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s paying off: The two \u2013 who met on IcePartnerSearch.com in 2012 \u2013 have improved their standing at the U.S. championships each year.<\/p>\n

Ponomaryova, born in Ukraine, and Altukhov, born in Russia, are currently ranked 11th in the United States.<\/p>\n

After a recent practice, the duo discussed the details of their multifaceted training. Excerpts:<\/p>\n

When you met and first skated together, how did you know you were going to work well as a pair?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ponomaryova:<\/strong> You have your goals, and you have to ask your partner\u2019s goals, and if they meet, [you] can work together.<\/p>\n

How do you train to achieve the biggest goal: telling a meaningful story on the ice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ponomaryova:<\/strong> Usually when you pick the music, you pick something you already connect with. You try to create your own feeling, and then you have to connect with your partner and show the story. It\u2019s more about the connection between the two of you and how well you create the story together.<\/p>\n

Altukhov:<\/strong> Yeah, primarily we pick a piece of music that works for us. It would be hard to skate to something that doesn\u2019t affect us first. Part of it is bringing something of your own to the table, really focusing on how it personally affects you. A lot of it is just training with your coach, and your choreographer, and after a while, there is an emergent quality to it. You put all these things together, and eventually you are able to tell a much better story than say at the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n

Has there been a time when you felt you told a very effective story, but the judges didn\u2019t agree?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Altukhov:<\/strong> We try not to focus on that. We try to use each competition as a learning experience to push ourselves forward. We\u2019ve actually gotten a reputation for always advancing. Every time we get a critique, the judges say, \u201cWow, you\u2019ve really improved.\u201d We really try to show them every time that we\u2019ve progressed since the time before. As long as we can do that, we\u2019re happy.<\/p>\n

What about a time when one of you felt a stronger connection to the music than the other?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Altukhov:<\/strong> The Spanish piece [the 2014-15 short program requirement], for example, I had a harder time with it. I had to work with a special teacher who helped adjust some of the choreography and helped me interpret the piece better. If there is a piece you aren\u2019t familiar with, you look up videos to help you understand it, to get its authenticity, but working with a teacher really helps.<\/p>\n

Ponomaryova:<\/strong> Yeah, usually we use videos, try to read about it, and really find it\u2019s character inside yourself.<\/p>\n

Do you have any routines to bring you to that emotional place right before you get on the ice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ponomaryova:<\/strong> We have our warmup together. Then we go over our dance together. But by this time, we already know each other, like what to expect. We try to stay together. It\u2019s important not to go separate ways and do our own thing. It\u2019s really important to stay together so we can work as a team.<\/p>\n

Does anything distract you? Nerves?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Altukhov:<\/strong> Nerves are something I used to have a big problem with, but don\u2019t anymore. Basically it\u2019s the feeling of, \u201cOh, what if I mess up.\u201d The audience can tell right away; the judges can especially tell. It\u2019ll look like you\u2019re just holding back on your skating. You can\u2019t skate like that. You have to attack the performance, which we\u2019ve gotten really good at.<\/p>\n

How did you get over those nerves?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ponomaryova:<\/strong> It\u2019s experience. Your body already knows what to do, so you don\u2019t have to worry about that. You\u2019ve done the program so many times, so you just have to get in the moment and perform your dance. You still have to do some technical things, but we\u2019ve already done those so many times in practice that it\u2019s more about the dance part.<\/p>\n

When skating comes to an end for you, would you stick with the dance part of it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ponomaryova:<\/strong> Probably something related to performance or dance.<\/p>\n

Altukhov:<\/strong> We really enjoy doing what we do. There are some skaters who are nervous about the idea of being out in front of a crowd, but we really enjoy that. We love representing ourselves. We also have a skating channel where we share our skating knowledge on YouTube. We really like interacting with the judges, the audience, performing and telling our stories. After a while, it\u2019s more about enjoying it, so I\u2019d probably do something that allowed me to still share my talents.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Ponomaryova and Altukhov perform their short dance at the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society. (Thomas Stephan\/Stephan’s Fine Photography and Video)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q&A with ice dancers Kseniya Ponomaryova and Oleg Altukhov By Erin Barney To casual figure skating fans, ice dancing and pairs routines often appear the same\u2014spins, lifts and dazzling costumes. But ice dancers aren\u2019t allowed to do showy overhead lifts and throw jumps. Instead, they need to wow fans and judges with their storytelling. Without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":259,"featured_media":33507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,585],"tags":[1869,1887,1888,1889,192,1230],"class_list":["post-33495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2016","tag-figure-skating","tag-ice-dance","tag-kseniya-ponomaryova","tag-oleg-altukhov","tag-promo","tag-winter-olympics"],"yoast_head":"\nIt's all about the story - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/its-all-about-the-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It's all about the story - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q&A with ice dancers Kseniya Ponomaryova and Oleg Altukhov By Erin Barney To casual figure skating fans, ice dancing and pairs routines often appear the same\u2014spins, lifts and dazzling costumes. 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