Former Australian figure skater and coach Belinda Noonan has blasted world champion Russian pair Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin for their Aboriginal themed performance, saying even ten minutes spent on Google would have set them on the right path.
The Russians have come under the spotlight for unavailing an "Aboriginal dance" which they'll use at next month's Winter Olympics in Vancouver with chairwoman of the NSW Land Council Bev Manton already describing the routine as offensive.
Noonan said on Thursday the routine appeared to have no real Aboriginal grounding at all and the Russians should have done some basic research to ensure what they were doing was culturally sensitive.
"They are great skaters and if they did find some inspiration through Aboriginal music than they should have been able to have the skills and the research and the team behind them to be able to transport the choreographer and the expression to the ice which they've not done," Noonan said.
"The costumes are dreadful."
Noonan said she "couldn't believe what she was looking at" when she saw the routine on YouTube and had sought more information about the Russian pair's routine via email but was given no response.
"I couldn't find a composer, the arranger was Alexander Goldstein - about the most un-Aboriginal I have ever heard," she said.
"I did track down what I think is the music though I couldn't confirm - it is actually by Sheila Shandra ... a UK pop star of South Indian decent.
"What I think the arranger has done is just put in some didgeridoo in a couple of places."
An Australian figure skating couple - Danielle O'Brien and Greg Merriman - had performed an Aboriginal themed dance in 2008 but spent a year consulting indigenous representatives to ensure everything from the costumes to the choreography was respectful to the culture.
Domnina and Shabalin are expected to perform the routine at the European Championships in Estonia on Friday and Noonan said given the Olympics were only weeks away it would be difficult for them not to use it again in Vancouver.
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