So, one more season ended. Of cource, every year gives its own griefs and disappointments, but and joys too!!! It's obvious now, that this very season 2004-2005 coudn't become well for us at all. But at the beginning of it... we had all reasons to dream about!!! So great it was - Gran-Prix Series!! Our win in Canada, in Japan... but then... all our hopes began to ruin...

Perhaps, someone and was impressed after "Toska" performed by Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov.. Igor Poroshin looked in another side of russian gold medal in ice-dancing at the Moscow World Championships and saw, whose bones was the champions' happiness built upon.

When the dances end, everyone disperse different corners, furtherer one from the other. Winners don't look at conquered. Conquered don't look at winners.
Albena Denkova is sitting on the table in the Palace of Sports "Luzhniki"'s corridor. But there's nothing "palace" in it. Miserable peace of wood from the 80th.
And it couldn't turn out to sit down. So many people with condolences.
- Albenochka, dear!! Please, you and Max, please... don't be upset. You were the best as always.... I just want to say thank you...
Thank you for existing. And thank you so much for being those you are, - pale girl with the intertined with her ashy liveless hair ribbons colors of bulgarian anthem embraces Albena Denkova. That way, put their heads one to another shoulder they congeal for a while.. (it was MAGic diable, guys :((( - admin's note)
Albena Denkova sits down on the table again. In her hand there's final minutes of ice-dancing contests in Moscow. She's examining the columns of figures opposite names of Navka/Kostomarov. - Em.. well.., pretty skating of the champions. Three mistakes. But where's it in the minutes? - there is no malice in Albena Denkova's voice, even no offence - only tiredness.
- Oh, my! Those judges are real rascals! And your federation is so weak, it couldn't support you properly. Albena, can I make a photo with you?
Albena Denkova jumps off the table again.
- Albena!
One canadian journalist, wearing jacket, taken, it seems, from warehouse of a polar station, rushed to Albena Denkova. There is something strange and confusing russian and, certainly, bulgarian people in that eternal "How are you?". But now there's no "how are you", it's quite absurdly to apply to Albena Denkova with the same question for the moment. And, by the way, how to say "hrenovo" in english?
- You'll return up without fail.
- We will, - promise Albena Denkova. The most important and really breathtaking begins in ice-dancing after they finish. It must be shown on TV, dividing the screen into four parts, as english director Figgis made in his film called "Time-code". And every quarter will have its true and its lie.
In the first still the chorus about Isabel Delobel and Olivies Shoenfeldeur is excited in french, sometimes skipping to english. Delobel and Shoenfeldeur are embraced, congratulated, "applied" to corridor's darkness in pathetic outburst, where, in their opinion, russian demon, who confused the jugdes, must hide.
In the second still Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov are distributing champion's interviews and tell, how happy they are and how great was everyting. But, it turns out to be they are ennoyed with the jugdes too.
In the third still ukrainians Grushina and Goncharov are domestically calmly happy about bronze medal. About 10 years they're queueing for this very reward - and finally the queue came and they've got it.
Albena Denkova is in the fourth still. They gave her fifth place in Moscow. One year ago they with Maxim were second at the World Championships.
How to explain people, remote from this kind of competitions, what it means to fall from the second place to fifth?.. It's very hard to give definition for it.
In the history of dancing NOBODY was EVER humiliate by fifth place after second. It's possible in skiing to come running to finish-line first today and thirty first tomorrow. But ice-dancing similar to Egypt is tied by dinasty principles.
So, imagine small bulgarian war plans, which rise to the air and, escaping by wonder russian military shields, fly to bomb the Kremlin. And now, only think, what will happen with Bulgaria next day! These very imaginary ruins of bulgarian towns are Denkova and Stavisski's fifth place.
Generally, Denkova and Stavisski haven't attacked anybody. In dancing, this endless fuss of Eastern and Western blocs, they've always been Switzerland.
Their Switzerland is the skating-rink in Odintsovo. There they with their coach Alexei Gorshkov and choreographer Sergei Petukhov invented dances. They've never spied on the competitors and they've never tried to guess with the music and to please the public. That way they've become the most recognizing and the most free ice-dancing couple of the planet Earth. There was war around them, someone had buried the other. The buried rose and buried their grave-diggers, and bulgarians were calmly rolling along the front-line and they didn't notice themselves, how have reached that cause of the fight.
One year ago Denkova and Stavisski became second at the World Championships. But it was impossible not to feel themselves first. They were given the loudest, the noisiest storm of applause, hundreds, thousands of people came up to them and told they were the best. On the 6th of November 2004 they beated Navka-Kostomarov at the NHK-Trophy in Japan. Two weeks later in Paris they were second with the falling behind of the russians to 13 points. Maybe, something happened during their skating? Severe fall during the dance? Fatal mistakes? No. It was the beginning of the attack.
December. Gran-Prix Final - Denkova and Stavisski with the big difficulty chance to find themselves in the first three.
January. European Championships - very serious painful disease of Albena Denkova, the duet WD from the championship.
March, World Championships in Moscow - final stage of the operation by suppression of bulgarians - fifth place.
Maybe, they actually weren't the first. And, certainly it isn't their best free programme. There is no inspiration and dash of previous. As if it was made by the trembling hands. As if he, who staged this dance, has already seen the shadows of bombers creeping on the earth. But, truly, bulgarians couldn't skate so worse in the end of the season with that, which beated Navka and Kostomarov at the beginning of it. 3 advantage points in november and 20 lag in march. Such difference can't exist in ice-dancing in quality of skating and especially in the scores. This is natural power action. Dangerous grouping was routed in Moscow. There's almost no people more in "Luzhniki". Albena Denkova is sitting on the decrepit table and dangling her legs.
- We are hostages. We are forced to tear ourselves away from here. Without our coach already. Here he has his family, ice-rink in Odintsovo, pupils. He can't fight for us any more.
Two days after champioships finish Albena Denkova will give a press-conference in Sofia, where she announces they will change the coach. Who it will be - we don't know yet. But it is obvious, that it must be experienced general, intriguant, cynic, who could invent and embody the plan of sweep.