Interview David Vincour
Oberstdorf, September 2011
Q: I'm glad to see you here in Oberstdorf, again. What brought you here?
A: There is a workshop for ice dancing by Mrs. Kreiselmeyer. She is
conducting workshops in Oberstdorf for 32 years now. She asked me if I
wanted to come here and help her. I agreed, because I had the time on my
hands and I always enjoy coming back to Oberstdorf.
Q: You and your partner Kamila Hajkova did not participate in any competition for some time now. Did you split up?
A: Right after (the games of) Vancouver we took some time off our career
to see how it would go on. I do think we split up, but it's not yet
decided. Next year in March we will have a talk to see if we can come
back. Or not.
Q: What is Kamila doing lately?
A: She is now a Young Ambassador for the YOG (Young Olympic Games) in Innsbruck in 2012.
Q: Looking back on your carreer, what was, from your point of you, your
biggest success and was there a time you hit rock bottom?
A: A success for me were the Olympic Games in Vancouver. That was the
climax we have been working for for a long time. A low point in my
carreer was when we could not take part in the Worlds in Tokyo due to my
illness. I have been hospitalized for a long time due to intestinal
problems and even had surgery. That took a lot of my strengh and after
that, I had to practically start anew.
Q: Currently you are starring in a musical production home in the Czech
Republik, together with Annette Dytrt. Can you tell us about it? How
did that come about?
A: I'm training abroud and got an offer form Radka Kovarikova, former
pairs World Champion with Rene Novotny, to skate in the musical with
Kamila. We traveled to Prag and talked about it. Kamila then got her
ambassador post and had to withdraw. 3-4 weeks before the start of
practices for the musical I called Annette. She was in Chemnitz with
Ingo Steuer to prepare for the upcoming season. She said, she needed a
week to think about it. After that, she called and said yes. We then
talked on skype, send messages to each other and talked on the phone. On
July 15th we meet for practice. We did not go on the ice together at
first, but next to each other. We were asked if we wanted to play the
lead role and we said "yes, why not? But we actually cannot skate
together, because Annette is a single skater and I am an ice dancer."
(laughs) Yes, this is how it came about and now we are appearing in the
musical and are a semi-solist-pair and also skate as a substitute for
the leading roles, which is a lot of fun to us.
Q: What was it like to switch from competitive sports to being a professional skater in shows? How much of a change is that?
A:
Well, first, after Vancouver, after I stepped down from competitive
sports, I did train in Brno for a while and build up some programs for
children there. I then got an offering to come to Paris for a big show
in November and December by a producer of Cirque d'Hiver Bouglione. That
was really nice. Practice was the same as in competitions, but without
marks or pressure. I was very happy, because the choreographer (of the
show) was Pasquale Camerlengo, my former coach. It was simply fun.
For
me it's the same as compitetive sports, but I don't have to think about
the levels I get or what I do wrong. I don't have to comcentrate on the
edges so much to impress the judges. It's just the audience, just to
please people. I like it when they clap, that's nice.
Right after
Paris I have been to Cirque de Glace with Kamila and we traveled to
Telford, England, for try-outs. We then appeared in eight cities in the
Czech Republik with the Cirque de Glace for the Czech audience. They
hired Czech skaters for that.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
A:
I don't think about it much (laughs). The musical will go on for some
time. We will be in Czech Rupublik until the end of December and then in
Slovakia in February and March. We will see if the show is a success
and if we might take it to other countries like Germany and Austria.
Often I am on the ice with children in the Czech Republik. I have a
coach that I'm working with there. When I'm in Brno, I help younger
skaters. I'm also in Switzerland quite often, in Sierre and Crans-
Montana, mostly for the time of winter. Now, when the workshop here in
Oberstdorf is over, I will travel there. I will help coaches to train
kids and build up programs for them.
Q: I wish you all the best and thank you for the interview.
A: Thank you.
Report