MAXIM SHABALIN GOT MARRIED

They didn't announce their engagement and firmly protected their relationship from the media. Journalists had to wonder where and how they could meet - their worlds are so far apart. He is a renown athlete, figure skater, with Oksana Domnina they are World champions, two-time  European champions and Vancouver Olympics bronze medalists. And now, he brilliantly performs in the Ilia Averbukh's show "City Lights". She is an Actress who played famous heroines on stage: Masha in "Three Sisters" directed by Declan Donnellan, Helen in  "The Trojan War will not be" in Stanislavsky Theatre, Marina Mnishek in "Boris Godunov." She is very interested in Japanese graphics, writes Japanese poetry tanka and tales. They are very different, and yet they were supposed to meet. Hello! magazine was the only media to attend their wedding. It was a beautiful intimate celebration, with its own unique atmosphere. Wedding a la russe. The bride and the groom were married according to Orthodox tradition in the church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and then celebrated the event at the restaurant The Most. According to ancient custom, the guests were seated at a long table, praising the newly married couple. There were Russian ritual songs and popular arias performed by opera singers. And, of course, there were Gypsies. Because what a Russian wedding without the Gypsies?

- Maxim, we admired your performances at the Olympics in Vancouver. You bravely skated with a serious knee injury and won a medal. Did it require more courage to make a proposal?

- No, because I did not have any doubts. From the beginning, I knew that Irina would be my wife. And this step was only a matter of time: it could happen tomorrow or the next day. But I had no doubts that we were going to have a family, children. I was waiting for the occasion. Wanted to take her to Monaco to make a surprise.

Irina. He wanted to come by the ship, like Captain Gray of "Scarlet sails"! (Laughs). But, unfortunately, we could not find time to go there. There have been some photoshoots, rehearsals .... The trip was postponed...

Maxim. And to wait for the next time was impossible. Then I bought a Cartier diamond ring, book a table at the Cafe Pushkin, and it made an offer. I was very worried. I don't even remember what I've said that evening.

- You first appeared together this summer at the Moscow Film Festival and everybody was very intrigued. No one knows so far the history of your love.

Irina. We were introduced a year ago, by Euklid Kyurdzidis, with whom we have been friends for eight years. It turned out that he was a close friend of Maxim. Euklid introduced us to each other. But to be honest, if I did not take it seriously. Said something in response and ran away. Only a year later we all met again. Euklid told me: "What, don't you remember? This is Maxim Shabalin! "

Maxim. And I immediately noticed Irina, despite the fact that a year ago all I was thinking about was preparing for the Olympics. And when I met her for the second time, I realized that I could not let go.

- Irina said in her interviews earlier, that if she was getting married, it would be only a prince. Maxim, you are not afraid of such a high standard?

Irina. Let me answer first. The thing is, when we first met, we knew absolutely nothing about each other. I didn't see any of Maxim's performances. When I was told he was a world champion, I didn't understand: was it skating or skiing? And Max just as well have never seen me or on stage or in movies. He had no idea whether I had any talent. And I liked it very much. I've always had a dream - to meet a man who would love me just as a woman, not as an actress.

- When did you really get to know  each other?

Maxim. Some time later when we realized that we are husband and wife. I went to see the play "Ornithology." I was very  worried: what if I didn't like it? But I was just amazed. And after that I invited all my friends  to this performance.

Irina. And do you remember how you came to my dressing room and said: "You are a genius and you need to be protected?!" (Laughs). My heroine is totally crazy. Her mood changes every five minutes. It is a five year old girl, then a killer, then a bird. When in the theater they knew that I invited Maxim with his parents to "Ornithology", they said: "You're crazy! They will think: "What a bride! Nightmare! "

Maxim. Yes, my friends then laughed: "Can you imagine what you going to get through?" But Irina is not like that. She is enigmatic, but much more balanced. (Laughs).

- Irina, how did you realized that Maxim is The One?

- On our first date Maxim made all my dreams come true. Took me to Savino - Storozhevsky monastery. And I thought: "Oh, what a wonderful guy!". Because for me it has always been important that my man is a believer, that he is spiritually close to me ... And in the end of the evening Maxim invited me to the rink. And I finally saw how beautiful he skates.

Maxim. It was a skating rink on the top floor of a shopping center. There were about five people on the ice: some grandparents with their grandchildren. Irina leaned against the board and said: "You know, you're the best skater here!" (Both laugh.)

- You got together during a difficult time for Maxim: he retired from the competitive sport when he was still full of energy, in his prime. Did you get over it together?

Maxim. Actually, this period is not over yet. But Irina brought some peace into my life, the understanding that everything is already here and there is no need to rush. As for my retirement, of course, me and Oksana Domnina, we could do much more if it was not for my injury. But apparently, it is the way it should be. For some reason we have to go through all this.

Irina. We are every day together, and I think if Maxim was alone, he would worry much more. It's hard to imagine: you're skating all your life, and that's the first time you do not have to go to the rink ... so I think it was the right time for us to meet.

- And didn't you think of participating in the show "Ice and Fire" together?

Maxim. We thought about it, but I decided against it. Although it is just a show, but the competition there is the same as in real competitions. Sometimes, I notice that I start to demand impossible things from my partner, Katya Vilkova. Once she even cried. I wouldn't want us to have any disagreements before the wedding. Even if only creative.

- Figure skater and actress - an unusual alliance. Do you have anything in common?

Maxim. Very much: both art and theater. But first of all - books. Irina and I were in Cyprus. Great vacation: cliff above the sea, the olive tree, and we are under it read Plato aloud.

Irina. "Dialogues" of Plato. I was amazed at this coincidence. Nowadays, hardly anyone is interested in Plato, and this is my favorite book. We generally like the same reading: Thomas Mann, Oscar Wilde. Maxim has introduced me to Florenski, whom I had not previously really knew.

- It's amazing. Listening to you, I recall the musical by Woody Allen "Everyone Says I Love You."  Allen's hero tried to conquer a girl, and first of all he found out that she loves Tintoretto, Mahler, vacation in Bora Bora, and then told her that he loved it all, too. And thus he had won her heart. Maxim, tell us the secret, you were also preparing to conquer Irina?

Maxim.  It just happens so that we like same things. Literature, paintings, some interesting places ... we met the day after I returned from Jerusalem, and Irina was there at the same time. We just didn't not know about it. I spent there a week.

Irina. I first was on holiday in Egypt, and then I went to Jerusalem, to visit Holy Sepulchre.

-This is a significant coincidence.

Maxim. There was one more thing. Shortly before we met Irina painted a picture which depicted a man and a woman. And the man was just my copy. When I saw the picture, I asked: "When did you draw me?"

- And after that did Irina draw you?

Maxim. Yes. In a notebook. But these drawings are locked. (Laughs).

- Irina, people with aesthetic perception of the world surely want to avoid triviality at their own wedding.

Irina. Oh, all weddings scare me. I'm really scared of these wedding dress salons, crowds of dancing guests ... So we decided that our wedding would not be like that, you know... We decided that it will be a dinner with candles for very - very close friends. They chose a nice restaurant. I personally draw each invitation.

- You probably also chose special dress?

Irina. Of course, all the girls from an early childhood imagine what they are going to look like in their bridal dress. I never particularly thought about it, but suddenly, I want to fulfill my childhood dream. I've always loved the photos of Tsar Nicholay II wedding and figured out that I will dress in the XIX century style. It was made by designer Svetlana Tegin. She is my friend since the youth. I always knew that only she would sew my wedding dress. She created a lace dress with a creamy georgette tail, embroidered with beads and pearls. This is not just a dress. This dress is specially for the wedding.

- The wedding - it's not just a beautiful ceremony. Husband and wife should be together till the end.

Irina. And I do not understand how could it be any different. I do not understand a civil marriage. For me, marriage - it's a wedding in the church. So did our great-grandparents. They received the blessing and lived together until the very end.