Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat are one of the fast-rising duos on the ice dancing planet. In just two seasons, they have climbed from 15th in the world (2006) to 12th (2007) to seventh in the current icenetwork.com World Figure Skater Rankings. One of their highlights from last season was qualifying for the Grand Prix Final for the first time in their careers. But, after the season, they were still looking to improve.In the middle of this past summer, after skating some exhibitions in France and Japan, Pechalat and Bourzat announced that they were moving to the next stage of their skating life. After years of training with Muriel Boucher-Zazoui in Lyon, France, they decided to relocate permanently to Moscow in order to train with former world gold medalist Alexander Zhulin. How do they feel about their choice two months later?
"Nathalie and I like to renew ourselves regularly," Bourzat explained. "I have always moved every eight years or so. It was time for us to start again. In Moscow, we are completely focused on our skating. We are on the ice non-stop from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and that helps to concentrate. Of course, it is much more demanding physically, and it is not easy to skate your whole free dance after four hours of intensive training. We may be completely exhausted. It is like, 'If ever you want to die in the middle of your program, please do it beautifully.' This is quite good for us, and we like it. We can already feel the difference."
"It is really nice to work with them," Zhulin confirmed. "They are hard workers; they do what I ask."
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