Video interview with Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin at their ice rink Metchta in Moscow.

 

A: Hello, I am Alexandra Stepanova.

I: Hello, I am Ivan Bukin.

A: We are the Ice Dance World Junior Champions. Now we’ll show you where we are working and preparing for all our competitions.

I: Hurrah! – This is the hall. Here they post when someone wins something.

A: They congratulate us here often.

There are photographs, right? Let’s show the photograph.

I: Over there are even better photographs.

This is from Junior Worlds, correct? (photo caption reads: Congratulations! Well done! We are proud of you)

I: Up there are photographs of the skaters who are skating here and skated here.

Former and current students.

I: Over here is our ice rink.

A: This is our Alpha and Omega.

I: Our working time we mostly spend here. Here, here we spend ...

A: This is our ice rink.

I: … we spend our days.

For how many years have you been training here?

I: We’ve been skating here for three years.

So as soon as this rink opened you started working here.

A: Yes.

How is it for you here, is it cold for you or…

I: No, it’s good, here we have the perfect temperature.

A: The ice is very good and the conditions at this rink are just amazing.

How many hours a day do you train here?

A: Four to five hours.

I: Yes, four to five.

A: Plus on the floor…

I: Choreography, lifts, all this in the hall upstairs.

What do you do in your break?

A: We rest.

I: Yes, we rest. We have a changing room where we can sleep.

A: Or we go to attend to some things, documents and so on.

How is the preparation for the new season going?

A: We are preparing, we are skating our new programs that we put together. These are great programs, we really like them. We’re learning new elements. In general, we are working.

I: Over there our coaches are skating!

Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk.

I: These are our young skaters.

A: The young generation.

Very well. Thank you very much, good luck and see you next season!

A: Thank you!

I: Thank you!