The European mentality

Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they\'re here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday
\"Yesterday,\" by the Beatles

- Vladislava, would you introduce me to Anna? We haven\'t met.

Vladislava Velichkovskaya: Sure, I\'ll do that as soon as they are done with the class. Anna, this is a Russian Dance Sport correspondent.

Anna Suprun: Nice to meet you.

- Anna, I haven\'t heard anything about you since you\'ve won the World 10-dance Championship in Juniors 2. Do you mind if I take this opportunity to interview you?

A.S.: It\'ll be a pleasure. I read your newswire from time to time. :) Shall we sit down somewhere?

- Here at the Korrida studio, the quietest place is the coaches\' lounge...

V.V.: Come in, please. Should I give you some privacy?

- Vladislava, may I ask you to stay? I\'ve never spent time with the guys, and you know them pretty well.

V.V.: Why, are you afraid? :)

- Yes I am. :) Plus, we are guests here. :) Anna, I see that you\'re not alone. Could you introduce me to your partner?

A.S.: Sure. This is Rachid Malki of Sweden.

- Anna, I remember you from the time you competed in the Juniors division with Denis (translator\'s note: Denis Khadzhiev) for the Lyudmila studio, and then for the Forum. Today, I didn\'t even recognize you right away. Only now am I starting too see in you that little girl you used to be. If you don\'t mind telling me, how did you end up at Korrida?

A.S.: In July, we came to Moscow to train. As it turned out, it was a bad idea, because all the studios were closed. Luckily for us, Vladislava\'s was open.

V.V.: This is the fourth year that we\'ve had summer practice.

A.S.: But usually, everybody practices in June and August and takes a break in July.

V.V.: We\'ve got couples who go away to the country for a few days and then come back to the city to practice every week. They don\'t even want to take a break for one month.

- It seems quite extraordinary to see Anna and Rachid here at Korrida. :) Even more extraordinary is the fact that these top competitors make their own costumes. Wouldn\'t it be easier to have them tailor-made?

A.S.: I\'ve never had a costume made to order in my life. In the beginning, my mom made them. But now I don\'t live here any more; plus, I\'ve always loved to sew. So, I make my own dresses. I even make pants for my partner.

- What a useful hobby to have. You mentioned you didn\'t live here so where do you live?

A.S.: I live in Stockholm.

- That\'s in Sweden. So which country do you represent?

A.S.: Sweden.

V.V.: Let me ask a traditional question: how old were you when you started?

A.S.: I was nine, and Rachid... When did you began to dance? Five? (translator\'s note: the italicized parts of the dialogue were originally in English)

R.M.: Yeah... I was five years old. But I started with social dancing only first.

A.S.: He was five. But he didn\'t start out with ballroom right away. There, children dance whatever the teacher dreams up: for instance, the lambada and all sorts of social dances.

- Where did he live and train at the time?

A.S.: Where did you lived and started dancing?

R.M.: At the same place, in Gavle.

A.S.: He danced and lived in his hometown of Gavle. In Swedish, it\'s spelled with an \"a-umlaut.\" It\'s a town near Stockholm. Rachid was born there, studied there, and, naturally, that\'s where he started dancing. His club was called The Gavle Sports Club.

- What was the name of his coach?

A.S.: Who was your first teacher?

R.M.: He was an owner of a local dance school... He is not working anymore because he is retired. But when I turned about 12 another teacher started to come over to work with couples from our club - his name is Per Palmgren.

A.S.: They have this system where children under twelve don\'t have one exclusive coach. His teacher was the owner of the dance school. He is now retired. When Rachid was about twelve, another coach started coming to their town. He is the one we take lessons from now. His name is Per Palmgren.

A.S.: Was it him who made you interested in dancing?

R.M. Yeah, but it happened gradually - I became really interested in it when I was about fifteen.

A.S.: Yes, but he didn\'t become seriously interested in dance until he was about fifteen. :) It happened quite late because he did a lot of different sports: he even played professional football. (translator\'s note for US: soccer) You were good in football, right?

R.M. Yeah, I even was in a youth team. And I was also doing golf.

A.S. He was on the Swedish national youth team. He also played professional golf. At fifteen, he decided to give up those other sports for Dancesport.

Anna smiles and becomes more like that little girl she used to be. Her eyes are shining, and her voice is filled with playful excitement. I want to ask her something just so she would continue talking...

- We have golf courses here in Russia - does Rachid ever take the opportunity to show off his skills?

A.S.: Golf requires consistency. There is no point in just dropping in for one game.

- How did you two meet?

A.S.: We were both living in Norway and dancing with Norwegian partners. We partnered up with them almost at the same time, two weeks apart. We belonged to different studios, which happened to share practice space. When my partner decided to quit dancing, Rachid suggested we try out together, and we liked it. We moved to Sweden right after that. Rachid is a Swede of
Algerian descent, so we feel more comfortable in Sweden.

- Do you ever have cross-cultural misunderstandings?

A.S.: Rachid was born and raised in Sweden, so he has a European mentality. We have our disagreements, of course, but our outlook on life is the same.

- Hey, it happens in Russia too: sometimes people throw a lot of dishes at each other before they start to get along. :)

A.S.: No, we are actually pretty even-tempered. :)

- Do you come to Moscow often?

A.S.: I come here on my own four or five times a year. Rachid\'s been here twice before. He spent a month here last summer, then he was here for the ROC, and now he came here for a month again.

- Do you like it in Moscow?

A.S.: It depends on what I do. I like it because my family is here. As for the rest, it\'s more complicated... It\'s been three and a half years since I\'ve lived abroad - enough time to forget a lot of things... Rachid likes it. All in all, we\'re glad to be here.

- If you don\'t mind telling me, is it your parents\' family you speak of or your own?

A.S.: No, it\'s just my parents. They live here.

V.V.: Anna\'s mom stopped by yesterday.

A.S.: Yes, she was taking pictures of us. :)

- That\'s true, you really do have to get your pictures taken. It\'s awful sometimes not to have pictures to go with my articles. I\'m glad you take the time to keep records of your life like that.

A.S.: My mom is the one who takes the time to do it: she just gets us together, lines us up and takes pictures. (Everybody laughs.)

- With whom did Rachid dance before?

A.S.: Her name is Therese Cleve.

V.V.: How do you practice?

A.S.: We spend a lot of time on technique. I would say we mostly do technique: we work on the basics and polish our routines. We practice about three hours a day. First, we do a run-through, which gets us tired pretty quickly, and then we go over the details - there, we take it a little more slowly. At Vladislava\'s, we departed from the usual schedule and focused on
redoing our routines instead. During the regular season it\'s hard to find the time to rework certain pieces, so we\'re doing it now.

- Do you ever feel like you overtrain? I know a competitor who practices very hard, but as soon as he\'s off the dance floor, he doesn\'t even want to hear about music or dancing.

A.S.: We try not to let it come to that. We practice six times a week. We enter only the necessary competitions, or those that have the best atmosphere, so that we can enjoy them. Sometimes, you practice so hard for an event, you give it your all, tax yourself morally and physically, and then you dance the competition and feel empty afterwards... When that
happens, we take a few days off.

- Do you travel anywhere in Russia besides Moscow?

A.S.: Not really, because... Not sure why. :) Maybe it\'s because I\'m only here for a month, and I want to spend time at home instead of traveling. In September, though, St. Petersburg will host the World Championship. We\'re definitely going there.

- Do you travel around the world, besides going to competitions?

A.S.: Yes. In fact, we travel quite a bit. Most of the competitions we enter take place abroad. In addition, we travel to England and Denmark for lessons. But we never combine vacation and competitions: we think that when we try to do that, neither works out well.

V.V.: How often do you compete?

A.S.: In the fall and spring we usually do two competitions a month. That\'s pretty frequent. Sometimes, we don\'t compete for a whole month. We never miss the three competitions in England: Blackpool, International, and UK. Then, before these we have the smaller competitions, such as the Imperial Universal. We always participate in the IDSF competitions in Sweden,
Denmark, and the Netherlands. Also, we have to dance our national ranking competitions. Now we\'re preparing for the German Open. We don\'t shy away from invitational events, either.

- What are the small competitions you do? Do they have their own names?

A.S.: Well, last spring we went to Indonesia and Singapore for a couple of small but well-organized competitions. We were especially impressed with the Jakarta Open. Maybe it was because we placed first.

V.V: How many couples competed?

A.S.: Not many. Enough for a quarterfinal.

- So, someone just up and held a comp in Singapore?

A.S.: Yes, but sometimes there are more couples. The thing is that the organizer pays travel expenses for the couples he invites. There is also prize money. For a couple dozen couples, all the travel expenses are paid for, but for the rest it\'s a long and expensive trip.

- Are there a lot of patrons of the arts in Singapore?

A.S.: Yes, and in Indonesia, too. Naturally, people who sponsor these kinds of events are pretty wealthy. A lot of them are fans of ballroom dancing, so they invite couples from all over the world to compete. The whole event takes place in a dinner theater format.

- Well, it\'s not like the tables at the Spartak Cup are empty. But it looks like the Singaporeans put the whole competition philosophy on its head: instead of the competitors paying the organizers, the organizers pay the competitors. Andrey Brovkin from our ballroom club is of the same opinion. He sometimes follows this model for RDU events.

A.S.: They really do care about dancing. There are some true connoisseurs and fans who lavish money on competitions. This model is well known in the world, and it\'s been around for quite a while. To get the best couples, though, you sometimes need to provide a little extra.

V.V.: How old are you?

A.S.: I\'m 21, and Rachid is 24.

V.V.: Do you have any plans to turn pro?

A.S.: Not at all. We have not yet achieved all our goals in the Amateurs, and we are confident that we have a good chance to achieve them.

- How do you manage to compete for prize money and keep your amateur status?

A.S.: Very well! (Everyone laughs)

- Does the Federation give you trouble for basically competing professionally?

A.S.: Well, first, it doesn\'t happen very often... And then, I think that national dance federations understand that amateurs who represent the country in European and World championships need financial support. You know... it\'s kind of an important detail. (Everyone laughs)

V.V.: By the way, is someone paying for you to compete in the World Championships?

A.S.: Yes.

- Who?

A.S.: The national federation.

- Some of our famous and not so famous competitors and coaches take part in an occasional online discussion or a chat. Have you ever had a chance to make your mark in cyberspace?

A.S.: I go online, but I don\'t participate in discussions, because... First, I don\'t like to be anonymous.

- Why, some of us sign their full name: it\'s quite a drag to read, let alone to type. They shall rename nameless. :)

V.V.: OK. (Everyone laughs) (Translator\'s note: V.V. is the one who signs her full name on the forum sometimes.)

A.S.: Oh, I am aware of the fact that I can sign my name, and I think that one should take responsibility for one\'s words. But, unfortunately, I am not known for holding back my opinions.

- Were you in the semifinal of the most recent ROC (translator\'s note: Fall 2002)?

A.S.: Yes, we placed seventh.

- What do you think of this result?

V.V.: I was very surprised that they did not make the final. I expected them to place third.

A.S.: We weren\'t expecting particularly high marks: competitive dancing is not purely a tournament of skill. It\'s subjective. What do you think about our result on Russian Open?

R.M.: I was happy with our dancing, but you always hope for a better result. We have beaten a few couples from the final before - on the other competitions, but the level is very high, so result changes sometimes.

A.S.: Other judging panels have placed us ahead of the couples who made the final at the ROC. This time, not a single judge knew our level of dancing from previous competitions. When a judge sees a couple for the first time, it\'s hard for him or her to give them justice, even if the dancing is very impressive. The most important thing for us is to feel that we danced well, and we definitely had that feeling at the ROC.

- How did you do in Blackpool?

A.S.: 1/8 final, 25th place. We missed the quarterfinal by one mark.

- Do you ever make it to any other Moscow studios besides Korrida?

A.S.: Not this time. Last year we went to the Dynamo and the Forum.

- What did you think?

A.S.: They\'re not bad. July is kind of difficult no matter where you go...

- So why did you choose Korrida? Do you live in Mnevniki? (translator\'s note: Mnevniki is an industrial suburb to the northwest of Moscow, Russia)

A.S.: No, we live at the opposite end of Moscow. We just happened to call to find out if they had any practice space.

V.V.: Anna\'s mom was the one who called:

She asked: \"What\'s your schedule like?\"
I said: \"Well, we have this and that...\"
She goes: \"You know, they don\'t like to practice alone. Is there anyone to keep them company on the dance floor?\"
I was caught by surprise: \"In what level is your couple dancing?\" I asked. (V.V. tries to keep herself from laughing out loud.)
\"They are ranked 20th on the IDSF list.\"
\"May I have the name?\"
\"Anna Suprun!\"
That didn\'t ring a bell at first, but as soon as I put down the phone, I remembered exactly who that was. :)

- So, has Vladislava been a gracious hostess?

A.S.: Oh, absolutely. I am happy to see that she has students practicing over the summer. It doesn\'t matter what level they are. It\'s easier for us to work when we\'re surrounded by like-minded people.

- So that\'s why you went for Korrida!

A.S.: No, no, it\'s not that. :))) We just happened to call about the practice space. They told us we could come, so we did.

V.V.: On the same day that Anna and Rachid first came in, the Konovaltsevs also showed up (translator\'s note: Sergey and Olga Konovaltsev of the Feyeria club. Club\'s chiefs are Constantin and Irina Marov). It was such a nice surprise. We had some great Latin on the one hand, and some great Standard on the other. :)

A.S.: There is one more thing: a lot of other places have an unpredictable schedule with sudden breaks. Korrida is always open.

- I remember the Konovaltsevs from the latest \"Exercice\" ceremony. (translator\'s note: \"Exercice\" is a merit-based private scholarship for Dancesport. It was established by Valeriy Chuprakov, a patron of the arts from the city of Perm. The scholarship is awarded in a number of categories each year at a gala attended by government officials, Dancesport insiders,
and the general public.) What did Rachid think of their Standard? Did they catch his attention?

A.S.: Yes, they caught his attention in Blackpool, when we were watching the Youth competition. Do you like that Russian couple that made the final in Blackpool in \"under 21\"?

R.M.: Yes, I enjoyed their dancing and thought that they might even have had a higher placing... I am not a ballroom expert, but they were nice to watch.

A.S.: He liked them. I know that judges mark them inconsistently sometimes, but I enjoy watching them as well.

- Some couples have their own websites nowadays. Are you considering making one yourselves?

A.S.: Maybe later. We\'re not ready for one yet.

V.V.: Do you have separate e-mail addresses?

A.S.: We have two separate ones: anna_suprun@hotmail.com and rachid_malki@hotmail.com. We also have one common one:
rachid_anna@hotmail.com. They are all Hotmail addresses, and we check all three regularly.

- Are people driving you crazy asking for lessons?

A.S.: Not really. First, not many people know I\'m here, and most dancers are on break now.

- Are you going to the ROC this year (translator\'s note: Fall 2003)?

A.S.: We are. (She smiles mysteriously.) :) Rachid is feeling adventurous. He really wanted to see what it was like to dance in Russia. He tried it once, and now he wants more.

- By the way, what are his thoughts on the Russian, um, quirks?

A.S.: He was in shock. Even I was stunned, and I\'m pretty familiar with the situation. There were so many couples in the preliminary rounds... We started in the very first round. Rachid had never had it so rough before. Even practice was a nightmare. They see you right in front of them, but they won\'t stop. I mean, I can understand when people do it during a heat: they are afraid judges won\'t mark them if they let another couple go first. But, honestly, what is stopping them from being more considerate during practice?

V.V.: So Blackpool is not like that?

A.S.: I think Blackpool is a lot less harsh. Although, one day while gliding happily around the floor, you might hear an announcement like: \"Couple so-and-so, would you be so kind as to dance along the line of dance and not against it?\" Imagine being humiliated like that in front of the entire Blackpool crowd. :)

- What do you do for fun besides dancing?

A.S.: We rarely go clubbing, although it does happen once in a while... We mainly just spend time with our friends, the ones who are in the city over the summer.

- And where are you in this picture with your coach and Yana Pokrovskaya?

A.S.: That\'s our favorite restaurant in Stockholm. Yana came to visit in the Spring.

- How is she? Is she competing at least a little?

A.S.: She has just found a partner from Poland. I think they will start competing in the fall.

- What about movies? Lucas\'s \"Star Wars: Episode II\" just came out. \"The Matrix II\" and \"Terminator III\" are also playing this summer.

A.S.: You\'d have to pay me to see those! I like films of a slightly different kind. :)

- Some people can relax in a gym, others enjoy reading...

A.S.: I always read a lot of different things.

- Now that\'s interesting...

A.S.: I read Russian and foreign literature... I enjoy reading in English too. \"Master and Margarita\" is one of my favorite books to reread. Actually, I pick up a lot of different stuff. I\'ve recently finished a book by Tatyana Tarasova, the figure-skating coach. She writes about her students from the late 1980s until now. She\'s a fascinating person and an outstanding coach. She gives so much of herself to her students! Rachid, what do you normally read?

R.M.: Do you mean reading books? At the moment I\'m reading Oscar Wilde. Otherwise it\'s different things all the time.

A.S.: Rachid likes Oscar Wilde. We are not big fans of the gym. We prefer practicing on the dance floor - that\'s where you\'re most likely to find us. We also work a lot with children. Such is our dance life, our \"boring\" life!

Interview, transcript, and editing by: Yary

Russian Dance Sport thanks the Korrida studio for a warm welcome and their full
cooperation in conducting this interview.

Translated from Russian by Nurka.