Alexei Ulanov is an amazing Soviet figure skater and a man who has fulfilled his dreams more than ambition.
Childhood
Lesha Ulanov was born in Moscow in 1947. On skates for the first time he got up at seven. Training was held at the Young Pioneers Stadium. He immediately fell in love with figure skating for his high beauty, for the opportunity to perform classical ballet dads on ice. Then the fashion for skating was set by the magnificent L. Belousova and O. Protopopov, two-time Olympic champions. They were real artists on the ice, on which young Alexei Ulanov sought to be equal in artistry and expressiveness. But life has decided otherwise. At first he rode alone, then paired with his sister, and then a handsome, artistic eighteen-year-old youth was watched by S. Zhuk and put him in a pair with a young Ira Rodnina, who was only sixteen. This happened in 1966.
First victories
In just seven months, the couple took part in the Moscow Skates tournament. In the following 1968 they took the first place. And soon they were taken to the USSR team. The victory was born in 1969. It was truly a triumph - the first place in the European Championship and World Championship! But back in 1968, Alexei Ulanov began to wonder if his partner was right for him. She completely shared the views of the innovator coach, who destroyed all traditions and invented more and more new, increasingly complex, almost acrobatic elements. S. Zhuk in his search kept moving further and further from the classical pair skating. The coach sought to fill the skating with elements of unthinkable complexity. A. Ulanov thought of himself differently, in the traditions of ballet, high art. He was impressed by the manner of riding Lyudmila Smirnova from Leningrad. But the figure skater refused to join him, and he continued to work with Rodnina. In 1972, they became the first at the Olympic Games in Sapporo. But this was their last joint performance.
Marriage
Ibid, at the Olympics, Alexei Ulanov again approached Lyudmila, and she agreed to become not only a partner, but also a legal wife. In Sapporo they bought engagement rings. Arriving from Japan on February 15, the champion did not hesitate and the next day went to Leningrad. There he was immediately painted with his beloved, and already by plane the young ones returned to Moscow. So intertwined for many years, love and sport. In Canada at the World Cup they went already married couple, where they received silver medals, losing first place to Rodnina and Zaitsev. This new pair, against which the whole Federation of figure skating was set up, was able to show its capabilities only for two years. In 1974, they had to leave the sport.
Ballet on ice
For fifteen years they successfully worked as soloists of the Leningrad "Ballet on Ice". At this time they had a son Kolya and daughter Irishka. Ulanov Alexey Nikolayevich spent all his time in traveling on tours. He could not deal with children in full measure, as he wanted. Dad and mother brought up skaters from them. In general, the personal life of Alexei Ulanov was developing successfully. However, after the collapse of the country in 1990, the family moved to America. Now they all worked together in Holiday on Ice. For four years they performed in this revue. And after that Lyudmila Stanislavovna and Alexei Nikolaevich became coaches. After twenty-one years of living together, they divorced, and their ways diverged. In 1997, Lyudmila returned with her daughter Irina to Russia. Originally she worked as a coach, and then as a director of the figure skating school "Hope". Daughter Irina did not give much success in the sport and moved to the ice, long-familiar revue Disney on Ice, where she rolled back the new programs for six years. Ten years in the above ballets on ice worked son Smirnova and Ulanova Nicholas. The children helped the mother to set up her own enterprise, the Dynasty School of Figure Skating in St. Petersburg.
Return
Twenty years spent in the US Ulanov Alex. The figure skater returned to his homeland in 2010. He wanted to convey his rich experience in ballet to his children - his daughter and son. The elderly coach believes that the era of Rodnina leaves, a new time is coming . The future of figure skating, he sees in another - as in his youth, in the unfading classical ballet. Figure skater Alexei Ulanov, whose biography is inextricably linked with figure skating, the last fifteen years taught the correct training of kids from three to four years. He developed his own methodology and came to pass it to Nicholas and Irina.
Opinion on the further development of figure skating
In the photo, Alexei Ulanov is surrounded by children who train with his ex-wife. Children also cling to an experienced mentor. He believes that in FC there should be a system of education, similar to the classical ballet. The best children from choreographic schools on ice should be brought up by the most worthy coaches. Similar schools here, as well as all over the world, should be private and be supported by parents. This, very Western, approach is unlikely in the near future will give an influx of new talent, because for Russian parents came not the best of times. According to Ulanova, modern judges should be objective in all respects. They can not rely solely on the testimony of a computer that accurately shows the technical achievements of athletes. Also at the highest level, they must have penetration into music and choreography, when a certain image is built.
How and where lives now Alexey Ulanov
At seventy, this is a very cheerful and happy person. He lives in the suburbs, still skating, handing out the basics of figure skating to his pupils, and fussing with his baby son. So everything could happily develop, because A. Ulanov never smoked, drank, trained a lot, up to ten performances a week. As a reward at the age of sixty-nine, he became a father who devotes a lot of time to his baby.
Interesting Facts
The family of A. Ulanova was musical. He plays the violin, sings, graduates from the school. Gnesin on the accordion class. 10 years of life were devoted in parallel with FC music. At the time of the meeting with Rodnina, he was already a professional musician, about which his mother greatly wanted. It is also a graduated professional choreographer who looks at FC through the prism of the ballet with completely different eyes. His goal was always the creation of real art, and not the pursuit of grades.