Alissa Czisny: my next goals and my new career in skating

Alissa Czisny is a star of the American and international skating, now retired from racing. The american figure skater, an humble girl, is working on the show and tells us about her next goals and her history in the world of ice.

AOI: You were always appreciated for the spins. How do you train them
Alissa: Thank you! Ever since the beginning of my skating career, I've always spent a lot of time spinning. My sister and I would play with spins—how many revolutions, how fast, different variations. So I think the time spent working on them early made that difference later in my career.
AOI: You are considered one of the most elegant skaters. How do you prepare? Are you practing dancing
Alissa: When I was younger, I was shy, so I didn't project outward during my performances. However, I always loved the dancing movement of skating, and I also practiced a lot of ballet. I worked hard to combine that grace from dance into my skating and to learn to engage the audiences into my performances.

AOI: What are the best memories of your career? And the worst?
Alissa: Easily one of most difficult memories of my career was my performance at the world championships in Nice, France. It was difficult because I was trying so hard to train well and skate my best, but it seemed that no matter what I did, it led to those terrible performances. Later, I learned that I was injured, and unfortunately was never able to return to the world championships and make a better performance after that. The best memories of my career are from the 2010-2011 season, when I was in my best form and was learning to be consistent and to enjoy the process of competition.
AOI: When did you realize that you could achieve important goals in the world of ice?
Alissa: Skating was always a sport that I greatly enjoyed, and I was fairly young when I decided that I wanted to achieve goals in skating. I knew that I had some potential, so I tried to work very hard to achieve those goals and to create a career in this sport!
AOI: You always wear beautiful costumes. Who creates them?
Alissa: Thank you! Designing the costumes was always a process that my mom helped me with. She's very creative and has amazing ideas, so together we were able to have fun and create the costumes each year!

AOI: Now, that you withdrawed, what do you spend your time? What are your new aspirations?
Alissa: I still skate almost every day, because I am performing in shows. For awhile, I was unable to skate well or perform because I was trying to be healthy again after having two career-ending surgeries. Now, I work on getting better in order to continue my skating career in performing and I also pass along what I've learned to younger skaters through coaching!!
AOI: What is your relationship with Italy?
Alissa: I have only been to Italy once during my skating career, but I very much enjoyed my visit there and I would love to return to Italy to perform! Hopefully I will be invited to skate in shows there. I think the fans from Italy are wonderful and so passionate and encouraging!
AOI: How is the relationship with your twin sister Amber? When you were small, you were training together on the ice.
Alissa: My sister and I loved skating together, because we always had fun challenging each other and encouraging each other. If it weren't for her, I know I wouldn't be as good a skater as I am today, because she was always there to push me and make me better!

AOI: How do you feel to be a source of inspiration for many young people?
Alissa: I think it's a great responsibility to be a role model for young people, but I really try to encourage them along their journeys and try to help them reach their own goals. I hope that I am able to inspire younger skaters to work hard to reach their dreams!
AOI: Did you have a model in the past?
Alissa: I had many role models in the past, when I was growing up. I looked up to older skaters, famous skaters, and aspired to be like them and to achieve what they achieved. I tried to learn from each person I met, but I was most influenced by my parents and by my own coaches, I think.

AOI: Current judging system gives more space to the technical and penalizes the artistic part . What do you think about it?
Alissa: I think there are plusses to the current judging system, but it doesn't always reward the most artistic skaters. I appreciate so much the skaters who are able to combine the artistry with the technical difficulty, and I think that this current judging system has given us some brilliant performances!
AOI: Vocal music also in the artistic skating: what do you think of this choice?
Alissa: I actually like that skaters now have the opportunity to skate to vocal music. It gives skaters a broader range of choices, but it also makes for some very effective performances. I think, though, that vocal music can sometimes be more difficult to skate to, because it requires more attention to the character and nuances of the music!

Thanks to Alissa Czisny for her courtesy

Eleonora Baroni with the collaboration of Barbara Castellaro