Tatiana Navka - On How To Successfully Balance Both On Ice And In The Difficult Profession Of A Producer

From December 26 to January 7, the Megasport Sports Palace will host the ice musicals Ruslan and Lyudmila and The Sleeping Beauty: Legend of Two Kingdoms. On the eve of the premiere, we met with the creator of the show, Olympic champion Tatiana Navka and talked about how she and her team manage to give us a real fairy tale from year to year.

How fairy tales are created

Traditionally, we do a new show every year. Due to the coronavirus, we had to postpone the premiere of the fairy tale until next year. It was not an easy decision, but even in such a difficult period we were able to find a compromise: during these winter holidays we will show the audience not one, but two whole musicals. "Ruslan and Lyudmila" is a performance with a good history and with its own audience, a time-tested show that has received many warm reviews and honorary awards. It was first shown in 2017 and has toured a lot since then, but never returned to Moscow. Instagram followers constantly asked him to repeat it. And "Sleeping Beauty" is our last year's project, unique not only because of Alina Zagitova's participation in it, but also from the point of view of the script. The team and I ourselves wrote the fairy tale and created the heroes. Choreographic numbers of both shows will be combined with acrobatic,pyrotechnic and illusionary - incredible scope! We never use the same sets or alter costumes. For everyone, we start from scratch.

About their heroines

Lyudmila is a gentle and romantic girl who is waiting for her beloved to save her. Elipheanta is a heroine with a difficult fate, an orphan who survived betrayal and almost lost her faith in good. She does not rely on anyone but herself. My heroines are not alike, and neither are the shows themselves. Moreover, we are talking not only about the nature of the characters and the plot, but also about the music, the atmosphere in the hall, light and special effects.

About other people's prejudices

When I was just thinking about creating ice shows and sharing my plans with friends, I had to face skepticism. Many people said: “Why do you need this? You don't even understand how difficult it is! Look, there are already enough ice shows on the market! " Only my dearest and closest people supported me. It is thanks to them that I, once plunging boldly into a completely new world of producing, for the fourth year in a row, on New Year's holidays, I give the audience fairy tales on ice.

It seems to me that here it was not about the fact that I am a woman and therefore I cannot do something, but about doubts that a person, regardless of his gender, can master new professions in adulthood and achieve success in them.

About the new role of the leader

The production took a lot from me as a skater. But for me this is a new challenge: I studied and continue to learn to balance between the director's chair, the choice of music, the approval of costumes, the selection of scenery and lighting, design of posters and everything else. But I love it, really. And I try to be a good leader. Fair! And also listening to colleagues, because it is a great fortune to work with such incredibly talented people and be a person they can rely on. I take this very seriously.

I, it seems, was the first, only in the process of preparing for the show, I felt how many people actually listen to my opinion. In addition, I am pleased to see myself as a mentor for young guys, to show them by my own example that figure skating does not end after sports, and that it does not have to be limited to participation in ice shows. You can do them yourself! I want to believe that I will be able to inspire someone to something great and bright.

About working with Alina Zagitova

Alina is insanely in demand all over the world, and I am incredibly happy that the most titled figure skater on the planet is performing with us. This is not just an amazing athlete, but also a wonderful, hardworking girl. Alina has perfectly joined our team and has also revealed herself as a talented artist.

About multitasking

I, like most women, can multitask. Ask any man if he can hold a child and at the same time conduct business negotiations on the phone. He is either deceiving, or will answer an honest "no". I will not hide the fact that being both a wife and a mother and a producer of ice shows is not easy. You can read all the books on time management, but if you have a small child, it is extremely difficult to do everything. Sport played an important role in my case: it forms character, discipline, and the desire to win, to be the first all the time. All this, combined with what I was given from birth, of course, helps to find a balance between personal life and business, but the family is still my priority.

About plans for 2021

The problem with all New Year's promises is that afterwards there will necessarily be some reasons why you cannot fulfill them. And this leads to unjustified feelings of guilt. Therefore, I just try to follow the principles that always guide my life: to love, create, develop and live in full force every moment.