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My favorites Exhibition Programs performed by Evgenia Medvedeva

I wanted to make this list now because Zhenya is already in Canada (yey!) and it feels like is the beginning of a new era for her. So, I’ll write about the EXs that I have enjoyed the most of her ‘beforeBOrser’ era. It was really difficult to choose because, well, the girl has MANY EXs, she changes them constantly and every single one of them are very unique and precious to me in a way.

5. The I C O N I C  Sailor Moon 

This was, to put it simply ICONIC, the girl likes anime, loves Sailor Moon and like every good otaku wants to do a cosplay of her favorite character… and what better place to do it than at a gala exhibition in Japan? Yes she did THAT.

  • Moonlight Densetsu from the anime Sailor Moon choreo. by Daniil Gleichengauz

(x) Fun fact: This program went viral last year and the video that got millions of views got taken down. This one still survives, enjoy. PS: after minute 5:00 she did an encore of her LP of the season which now we know she didn’t really like… it showed …you can skip that.

4. Flirty Janny

 Moi, je joue..and playing she does, I love how she takes a character and performs it in front of hundreds of people with joyful sincerity.

  • Parole parole

by Dalida and Alain Delon 

  • Moi, je joue.

by Brigitte Bardot choreo. by Daniil Gleichengauz

(x) I would give you the link to the Revolution On Ice official YouTube Channel but it’s geoblocked yey.

3. Meditation 

Pure and simply skating without any theatre but she is still able to show elegance and emotion with every movement.

  • Méditation (Thaïs)

performed by Vladimir Spivakov, Sergei Bezrodny

(x) Shaky camera work but her best performance

(x) Good camera work, and the most precious dress

2. Anna Karenina

This is also my favorite competitive program of her. From her joyous dance, to her harrowing suffering and finally, to her traumatic demise. Evgenia Medvedeva takes us with her into Anna Karenina’s journey.

Anna Karenina (OST)

  • Overture
  • Dance With me
  • I Understood Something
  • Too Late

by Dario Marianelli choreo. by Daniil Gleichengauz

(x) The best Anna Karenina was in the olympics (I can’t put a link to that) but my favorite performance as a Exhibition Program was in Ice Fantasia where she did it without any jumps. PS: I’m sorry for the korean commentators they wouldn’t shup up. They said nice things though.

1. Kukushka (Cuckoo)

I think if you have a glance at my YouTube you’ll know that this is, by far, my favorite Gala. It’s powerful, strong and emotional, pretty much everything I associate with Evgenia Medvedeva. I always come back to this perfomace enchanted by the meaning of it.

The first time she performed this program was at the Europeans Championships were she won silver for the first time in two years (she won gold in everything before that) this was also her first competition after a break of training due to a pretty serious injury. In the words of Ilia Averbukh (he did the choreo of some of her programs) “This program was conceived to be with such heartfelt sadness and pain and a certain protest and a struggle in it. ‘Lie as a stone or burn like a star?’ - this are the words they wanted us to hear in this program”. This was right before the olympics, were the fight for gold hadn’t taken place.(x)

A protest to destiny, to life and all their turns, the one who was poised to win gold had to make a stop… but she wouldn’t give up, she would burn like a star.

This song was written by Viktor Tsoi a legend of rock in the soviet union, and performed by Polina Gagarina, this version was used in the russian film 'Battle for Sevastopol’, a biopic about Liudmila Pavlichenko a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II who allegedly killed 309 nazis, becoming a legend (x). Maybe Zhenya had 'Lady Death" in mind for this interpretation… or not, nobody’s ever asked her about the meaning of this perfomance, however here are some interesting facts:

  • Pavlichenko attended the meetings of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and made appearances and speeches in New York City and Chicago. She stood before large crowds, chiding the men to support the second front. “Gentlemen,” she said, “I am 25 years old and I have killed 309 fascist invaders by now. Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?” (x)
  • Russian figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva pleaded with the International Olympic Committee Executive Board to reconsider its ban of Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. “Everyone has dreams, and you probably already had a chance to fulfill your own. Let me do the same!“ Medvedeva said. "I do not know if there will be other Games in my sports life after Pyeongchang.”(x)  
  • As Pavlichenko, Zhenya was fighting her own war,  “This is sport. This is war,” Medvedeva said. “We must show our best, no matter if you are nervous or not. When you take the ice you are alone. Yes, your friend is competing here, but you must fight.” (x)

Where are you now, freedom of will? It’s good with you, but bad without.

  • Cuckoo by Viktor Tsoi performed by Polina Gagarina from Battle for Sevastopol choreo. by Eteri Tutberidze

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