Tartu's report
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http://www.absoluteskating.com/index.ph ... ishincamps
From summer training into the season: Alexei Mishin's training camps
September 17, 2013
Photos/text: Ia Remmel (Pia)
The summer camps of Russia’s top coach Alexei Mishin have become a fruitful annual tradition, attracting young skaters from around the world. This year the first two camp’s location was the small Italian village Pinzolo while the third and final camp took place from July 22nd to August 3rd at Tartu in Estonia. While Pinzolo’s icerink is located next to beautiful mountains, the rink in Tartu is in the middle of a large shopping centre.
This year the camps drew particular attention because Evgeni Plushenko started his Olympic preparation here after months of recovery. Many of Mishin’s prominent students trained in the camps as well, such as Elizaveta Tukhtamysheva, Artur Gachinski and the young promising skater Maria Stavitskaya. Alongside them trained young skaters from Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Austria, Latvia, Belgium and Finland.
The schedule at the camp is very tight, including physical training, ballet, jump basics on and off the ice and work with steps, edges, flow and spins. Trainees can participate in a group or take private lessons. The coaches of Mishin’s group are Mishin’s wife Tatjana Mishina, Oleg Tataurov, Vakhtang Murvanidze, Vladislav Vladimirov, Tatjana Prokofieva, Nikita Mikhailov, Estonian coach Sanna Remes and choreographers Georgi Kovtun (choreographer on ice) and Elena Karpova (choreographer on the floor).
The day I arrived at the camp there was a large group practicing step sequences with the energetic and inspiring Vakhtang Murvanidze. Young coach Nikita Mikhailov gave a private jumps lesson, Tatiana Prokofjeva polished the steps and choreography of the skaters, Sanna Remes worked with spins and Vladislav Vladimirov coached young ice dancers.This year the camp also included young ice dancers from St. Petersburg. It was interesting to observe how Alexei Mishin worked with the skaters on jumps. Every little move was polished and explained in detail. After watching him work, one could admire his energy and devotion.
Then the air became electric - Evgeni Plushenko was starting one of his first practice sessions at the Tartu camp. During the training he concentrated on the triple axel. He also used the harness system from time to time and hit more than six of them in a row. He practiced spins as well and did a run through of his short program to the music “Taka jak ty” by the Ukrainian band Okean Elzy. After a few days he started to prepare for his long program with Maxim Staviski and Edvald Smirnov, a ballet choreographer who has created some of Plushenko’s previous programs.
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