#fabian bourzat

[dozydawn]

Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat Original Dance “Flamenco” 2008. Photographed by Joe Klamar and Yuri Kadobnov.

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #501

Yuri!!! on ICE Staff book, Yamamoto Sayo's page

Part 1.

Nishigori Yuuko and the Three Skating Otaku Sisters present:

<Seeing the cover [it's the pink one, with Yurio, Victor and Yuuri wearing nothing but underwear], you may have thought: "just skates and underwear???"... But we want to inform you - (some) skaters often get naked on the ice (and outside the ice, too). You can even call it a tradition...>

(Nicely naked!!) Exhibition special!!! (Let's all show our gratitude, bowing down to the ground in respect)

Philippe Candeloro, France, "George of the Jungle" 2001 Hallmark Pro AP

Program created after his retirement from competitive skating. Almost naked in jungle-style from the very beginning of the program, he perfectly lands 3A and 3Lo in between skits - as expected from a skater that got two Olympic bronze medals. One moment he's parading on the rink holding a bone, falling to the ice and roaring, and in the next - he performs an elegant spin. Dancing with a gorilla, at the very end, he's hopping like a bunny wearing just bikini underwear, and a backflip (his signature) he finishes by crashing into the judges' seats standing on his hands. I don't think that you know, what I'm talking about, but this is a perfectly good description of the program - like they say - you must have been there to get it. Of course, he also did naked exhibitions, when he was an active competitor. And there were also naked photoshoots...

Ice dancers, also from France, Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat skated an exhibition program to this music in 2010-2011 season... We should call them his "successors", shall we.

[Notes: Happy New Year~~~🎉🎉🎉 Let's go back to the very beginning and start the year with Sayo's love for figure skating!]

[ohtheseskaters]

Worlds 2004

source

[kateua]

Here is a new interview with Fabian Bourzat made by Ukrainian “Segodnya” (you can find a version in Russian here: https://www.segodnya.ua/…/francuzskaya-zvezda-figurnogo-kat…)!

Fabian Bourzat: “I don’t like sad people, they make me sad”

The French figure skating star talks about going solo in coaching, working with Ukrainians Nazarova and Nikitin, a possible collaboration with Nathalie Pechalat, and meeting Jean Dujardin, remembering Denis Ten, learning to let go, and also about his shoes and favourite programs and costumes.

– How did you decide to come to Ukraine with Sasha and Maxim? – We’ve worked together in Detroit for like three years. It’s a very interesting team, I love working with them. Their quality matches my vision of skating. They’re creative and original. They have a lot of flaws, but they want to bring something different to skating. And that’s what I love about them. So, when I quit my job in the US, they told me that they were moving back to Ukraine and they needed someone to get them ready for the season. I was on vacation at that time and said, “Why not”. And here I am.

– Do you want to go solo from now on? – I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do next year yet. But I don’t want to work with somebody else anymore. I think it’s time for me to choose my own path and not follow somebody else’s. I’ve done that for almost four years. It was interesting for me to work with Igor Shpilband, I’ve learned a lot, and I thank him for that. But right now I need to express myself way more through my teaching. So, I’m going to come back to France and try to develop what I can over there.

– Do you want to open your own school? – Yeah, that would be ideal. It’s difficult to find a full-time ice rink in France. Most people there work as freelancers, they work in camps and go back and forth between different places. If I can find an ice rink, yes, I will build a school. Right now I’m working with Sasha and Maxim. I don’t know what will happen in the next few months. But I would welcome them on my team. I also want to bring young skaters and help them grow, to make skating in France more competitive. We have a good history of ice dance in Europe. Right now it’s moving a little more to USA and Canada, and I want to bring it back to Europe.

– You’ve been to different countries. What difference do you see in the perception of skating? – In the US, it’s more competitive from the young age, and it’s something we don’t have in Europe. Here we’re trying to go to school first and then think about sports. And I want to try to balance that.

– You’ve worked with Shpilband both as a student and as a coaching partner. What have you learned from him? – When I was still skating, I loved the way he worked, because he gave me the opportunity to enjoy figure skating again. At some point of your career you start thinking only about competition, performing and results and you’re not enjoying yourself anymore. That’s what he brought me as a coach. As a partner, he has a strong work ethic, he is good at scheduling everything and handling a massive amount of work outside of skating. The structure, as well as the techniques, was really helpful for me. As a skater, I used to work with Alexander Zhulin in Russia, Muriel Zazoui in France, Anjelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo in the US. They’ve all given me so much, and I was able to decide what I wanted to take from them and what I did not, depending on which kind of skater I wanted to be and which skills I needed for that. I think growing around so many coaches helped me to develop a different way of skating, and that’s what I want to give back to the kids right now.

– Is it your first time in Ukraine? What are your impressions? – Yes, it’s actually my first time. It’s really hot! Sasha and Maxim took me to so many different places, but I haven’t seen much of the city. For me, seeing different countries and the way people live is always a different way of approaching life... I love the food here. We had pelmeni, khachapuri, which is Georgian actually, we ate shashlik, cornichons. Borsch? I’m not a big fan of that. But there is a summer soup that Maxim wants me to try. We’ve also got pâté from my mom. The country is welcoming. It’s also because the guys make me feel welcome.

– How about our figure skating? Anything unusual? – There are lots of kids on the ice. I’m actually surprised there are so many boys. It’s difficult to find boys in figure skating. The more people you have to train, the easier it will be to develop something.

– Do you remember the first time you saw Sasha and Maxim? – It was at the 2015 Junior Worlds, the year they were third. I remember that I told Igor Shpilband then that this couple was really interesting, that they were trying to bring something more creative, which is difficult at the young age. They kind of matched the same way I did with my partner at the time, so I was really impressed of their work.

– You said they have flaws. Which exactly? – Well, they need to work a little more on the connection and the feel of the motion. They are powerful skaters with a lot of strength. They are able to get a lift of any kind of difficulty done. I’m here to teach them a different approach of skating, and I think it’s starting to grow into them. They are hard workers, they listen, they follow exactly what I say. I know it’s not easy, but they are committed and they want to succeed. How do we polish their twizzles? That’s my secret.

– What’s the most difficult part of coaching? – I think it’s managing different types of people. You can have young kids, teenagers or adults. And you need to be able to push them without breaking them. Managing and planning is still brand new for me, I need to keep learning.

– The Olympic season was quite rocky for Sasha and Maxim. You had some painful moments in your career yourself. How do you teach them to overcome those difficulties, to let it go? – That’s the exact process. They need to let it go and move forward. Because it doesn’t matter how many times you fall, what’s important is the way you’re going to come back on the ice and step up after that. They have really good skills and they need to be proud of it. Every big champion has made mistakes in their life. Some more than the others. You just need to swallow it, get your shit together and move on.

– How much time did it take for you to move on? For example, from the 2014, which was quite intense. – I don’t know, I don’t know… You just need to completely switch your head and keep going. It doesn’t matter, it’s not going to change. You can’t talk about the past forever, you just need to learn and forget.

– Do you get in touch with your former partner Nathalie now? – Yeah. She’s actually working in France. The fact that I’m going back there makes us get more and more in touch. I was talking to her like yesterday. We’ve never got along as good as now. I’d like her to come and work with me. I know her skills and what she’s able to do. I don’t think she’s ready to work full-time and I’m not sure I’m ready to work full-time with her, but it would be nice to have her input from time to time.

– What was the last time you met her? – At her wedding in May. It was nice, not too many people. It was emotional. She was crying, of course.

– Everyone’s probably asking you about her husband, the Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin. How is he like in real life? – He’s actually a really nice guy. I’ve met him a couple of times. And the more you see him, the less you see the actor and more, the person. I cannot say we bonded as friends, but I definitely understand what she sees in him. If he makes her happy, that makes me happy.

– Do you have a favourite program from your competitive career? – There were so many of them! The Circus program was really nice, also Cats, which was a long-long time ago, the flamenco program that we did with Antonio Najarro, Four Seasons. Mostly because we met and bonded with different people who choreographed for us. The Little Prince? It was not our masterpiece, more like a patchwork of what we did before. A part of Circus and Chaplin in the emotions, a part of Cats because of the storyline. It was a reminder of everything that we did throughout our career.

– Do you miss skating? – No. Why? I’m way older now. Skating is difficult on the body. The run-throughs, that’s what I don’t miss. I feel comfortable as a coach. I was listening to others for so many years, and I think giving is so much easier. Shows? We didn’t do that many with Nathalie, because I moved on to coaching right away. For me, the competitive career was the most interesting, because you were trying your best. When you skate in shows, you do everything for the audience, which is interesting, but you’re not trying to polish your skills, to evolve as a better skater. That’s what I didn’t like that much in shows.

– You were known for some iconic costumes. Which was your favourite or the craziest one? – Circus. Because of changing the costume in the middle of the program. And probably Cats.

– A few weeks ago we found out about the death of Denis Ten. There are different projects being made in his memory in Kazakhstan. Do you know if the international skating community plans on doing something in his memory, too? – I have no idea. For me, he was a friend, a great champion, he was a warm person. I think it’s really sad, and I give all my support to his mom. These are difficult times for her, I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child. And for Kazakhstan, too. They’ve lost one of the iconic figures and one of the most important people in the country. It’s a tragedy. If I have the opportunity to get involved in some kind of a memorial, I will definitely do that. But for me, to show all these emotions on the social media is not a way to pay tribute to him. The best way is to remember him and to try to be more like him, to be honest, always smiling and trying the best. He got a roller coaster in his life. He was on the top and then he got some difficulties in training and results, but he still fought back. And that’s something we need to remember him for.

– Was there anyone you looked up to? – It wasn’t one person. Because nobody’s flawless. More like qualities from a certain person. What I always notice in people, is if they’re smiling. I don’t like sad people, they make me sad. And I like fighters, like Denis.

– We’ve already talked about your costumes on ice, but you’re also known as a very stylish person outside the rink. How big is your collection of accessories? – Oh-h, I have a lot of shoes, like… a lot of shoes. Thirty or forty maybe. I like to dress differently when I can. When you’re French, you need to be haute couture. I also wear Italian costumes and Japanese shoes. Whatever I like, I just wear it. If people don’t like it, I don’t care.

– Do you watch football? – Sometimes, but I did watch the World Cup. I saw the final with Maxim. I told him, if he wanted to come he’d better root for France. I don’t watch football for football, it’s more about the company. And here, in Ukraine, we went to see Shakhtar Donetsk vs Arsenal Kyiv. Good game. Not that many Ukrainians on the teams though.

– And what about tennis? Have you ever been to Roland Garros? – I did once, a long time ago. I’m not so much into watching sports, I like to do sports myself, to play tennis, do outdoor sports like beach volleyball. I always loved skating on the ice, but after that I just wanted to go home and hide. Because of how media broadcasted everything. And if you’re on the court as a tennis player, for example, you have people who are going to cheer for one and root against the other. I don’t like this state of mind. Most of them are trying their best, and you need to cheer for both.

– Is it not like that in figure skating? There are some hardcore fans… – Not that much. But yes, there are always those kinds of fans. I saw those in Russia, in Sochi. When we were at the Worlds in Nice, the audience cheered for us more than for the others, but they were also cheering for everyone else they loved. It’s the same way in Japan. It depends on the people. That’s why I don’t like to be in the crowd all the time so I don’t have to see what people are like.

– What are your passions beside skating and shoes? – I love arts. I love to play videogames with my nephew. I have a dog. My passions are my family, my girlfriend, my people.

– To wrap it up, what are your goals for the near future? – I want Europe to be back strong again in figure skating. And I want to leave legacy as a coach and have someone who’s going to follow me up at my job and improve it so we could build a European style that will be recognized all across the world.

Kateryna Makarevska for Segodnya

Photo: Sergey Revera (Segodnya)

Source: https://www.facebook.com/kateryna.makarevska/posts/1782547921810355

[figureskatingcostumes]

Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat's Lindy Hop original dance costumes at the 2009 European Championships.

(Sources: 1, 2 and 3)

[rufflesglittersequinsiceskates]

Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, Torino Olympics 2006

It is my eternal regret that I wasn’t watching ice dance in 2006, for so many reasons. One of them being that I only just discovered this a few weeks ago.

FAKE GUNPOWDER STAINS, FAKE BLOOD STAINS.

IT’S TO LES MISERABLES. 

I mean holy shit, that’s commitment. It’s not pretty in the slightest, but you have to admire them just a bit for going “IT’S CALLED THE MISERABLE, WE WANT TO LOOK MISERABLE AND LIKE WE’VE JUST BEEN THROUGH A FAILED REVOLUTION”, don’t you?

Grade: B++ for sheer commitment to a theme. It’s crazy, it’s kind of ugly, but it’s what they wanted to be, I think. Although I have lingering questions about Nathalie’s head wrap.

[figure-skating-confessions]

“Upon rewatching Ilinykh/Katasalapov and Pechalat/Bourzat's free dances at Sochi, I feel kind of underwhelmed by I/K. In hindsight, I think P/B deserved to win, but the crowd and the judges were on I/K's side that night. I still loved I/K's performance (I jumped up and down when they did their ending pose in 2014), but with a clearer mind, I choose P/B.”

[loiskane]

Nathalie Péchalat & Fabian Bouzat, City Lights || European Championships 2011

[xoxomyseriesxoxo]

Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat - Le Petit Prince et sa rose

[figureskatingbiyori]

Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat 2013-2014 FD “Le Petit Prince et sa Rose” by Maxime Rodriguez Choreo by Julien Cottereau  W  WO

One Jump at a Time: My Story(2022/11/22)

[dozydawn]

[anewbeginningagain]

This is so frustrating. Because I really enjoyed watching James/Cipres skate except now my immense dislike of him as a person has marred my love of them as a team. And now same with Péchalat. I adored her and Bourzat when they used to skate but now her involvement in everything is making me sad. I know I shouldn't let how I feel about the skater affect how I feel about their skating but it's hard. Have you ever felt this way too?

I’m sorry you are feeling this way, it’s always difficult when you are disappointed by your favorites. I haven’t had something similar happen to me, I had cases when I appreciate something that was being said but never anything in the level of what is happening in general with the FFSG and specifically with Morgan Cipres. With James/Cipres I had an interesting transition, I disliked them the first time I saw them since I felt like he was a huge d*ck to her after she messed up during a program. I grew to appreciate them but still felt that the praise they were getting was mostly too much. Not like you, I can’t bear to watch them and I hope they will never return to competition. With Nathalie and Fabian, I wasn’t around when they competed but I did and still do appreciate them but I agree the way she’s been handling her run for head of FFSG leaves a very bad taste in my mouth and though the other options seem to be similarly bad I can’t root for her, her words and actions are beyond disappointing and damaging. 

Going back to the subject at hand, it’s an unfortunate reality that this is happening. I think there are cases when it is possible to not like a skater's behavior but still enjoy/root for him but there are cases when it’s not. It’s mostly up to you to decide where you draw the line and you are welcome to chat if you need a sounding board for your thoughts. 

[insxparablxduo]

@qndverorljoss​ continued from x

“Eh! You don’t know how to skate!” They both shouted. “Don’t worry we can teach you. We’re like Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat!” Darla said.

“Actually you're more of a Zoé Blanc I’m a Brian Joubert.” 

“I have never been more offended in my life.” 

[dallenka]

2012 World Championships - Nathalie PECHALAT - Fabian BOURZAT (SD)

[illyria-and-her-pet]

Going through the ice dance thread on FSU right now and found some things about the Tango Romantica.

Fabian Bourzat is such a legend for getting the rocker included as one of the Tango Romantica key points.

Also here I’m fine with what Gabi said about it being difficult to hit key points, while keeping the original design/vision of the dance. But Gui’s quote about dance not being designed to have key points and how Torvill/Dean would never take the key points is SO ANNOYING. It’s true that in compulsories there weren’t key points, so the skaters didn’t really hit them (oof I’ve watched basically every Tango Romantica compulsory on YouTube and the only key point most teams really hit was section 2, key point 4), but this is a sport! Sport evolves and it’s not the 80s anymore like when Torvill/Dean skated. Also Gabi has been hitting the XF-LFO-Rocker key point, so Gui can try hitting it too! Tho lucky for Gadbois that levels don’t matter anymore with 0.5 base value difference and +5 to -5 GOE scale and next season doesn’t even have a pattern, but yeah...

Also I’ve been finally letting out all my ice dance opinions, so I’m gonna admit that I have a soft spot for Gabi Papadakis. I admire how she’s outspoken about social issues even though she’s still competing. For example, she’s open about LGBT rights, consent, women’s rights, the Brazilian election, immigration, how we need to be outspoken about the gassing of children at the US border, Palestine, racism, charities against endometriosis and shares articles about female atheletes dealing with their period, etc. I think her skating skills have improved. I think she has great interpretation. I think her friendships with other skaters are very cute. 

Also I find the hate she gets so OTT. People have even completely made up stuff to hate on her. Like the 2018 Worlds incident where someone claimed Gabi said she didn’t care about the crowd and then it was proved she said the crowd was crazy (in a good way) not that  she didn’t care about them. Or when people claimed Gabi said P/C’s world records at Worlds proved they would have won the Olympics if it wasn’t for the wardrobe malfunction. Gabi never said that. It was Gui who said that in a radio interview. I don’t get how people think Gabi is the messiest ice dancer when all ice dancers are messy or that she is the messy one in P/C when Gui says things like P/C would have won without wardrobe malfunction or ice dance shouldn’t have key points and Torvill/Dean wouldn’t take them. 

Also Charlie White has been messy before (ie. saying Meryl can do Bollywood & Scheherazade because she is ethnically ambiguous & that's a big thing people want nowadays), but he is called a woke king for being outspoken about social issues. Gabi is outspoken about social issues, but people group her with skaters like Vincent, Courtney, or Meagan like yikes. 

People also act like Gabi is worst ice dancer ever when or that Gui is best ice dancer ever, best ice dancer since Chris Dean, generational talent, etc. (hi B.ESP), while Gabi is a flop who’s beneath him and holding P/C down when it’s not true. Gui used to be better than her, but tbh this season Gabi has actually been stronger imo. Imo Gabi has always had stronger interpretation, but this season I find her better overall in both the RD and FD, but especially the FD. She is hitting the rocker key point, her one foot step sequence has better edge quality than Gui, and her upper body is better cause she’s always had beautiful arms, but Gui’s posture has been a mess this season... He won’t stop hunching his back omg.