Ilja Kulik
Interview in Flims, July 2008

Q: For how many years have you been coming to Flims, and what makes it special to you?
A: I think it’s the fourth year for sure, the fourth year in a row. What makes it special? Of course, it’s a beautiful place. It’s one of the most beautiful places in Europe. There is nice, fresh air, good food, it’s really relaxing. I can get away from stress a little bit. The second reason is that it is a good possibility for me to teach a little bit. Daniel Fürer was organizing the camp and he had an opportunity for me to get some teaching experience which I was really happy with, because I do enjoy teaching a lot. It helps my skating, too. I cannot teach full-time because I perform so much in shows, but this camp is definitely a great opportunity for me to enjoy. Another reason why I like it so much – during the summer we don’t have any shows. So for me it’s important to keep myself in shape. In this camp are many good skaters, it’s fun to get out and skate with everybody. It gives you some energy to keep myself in shape, with jumps and all the elements that I need for me performances, for the shows.

Q: What do you prefer – performing or teaching?
A: First of all I’m a professional skater. So I do more performances in my shows. So far this is how we are making our living. But I really like teaching. I always loved teaching and it gives me really a better perspective for my own skating, first of all. I just enjoy it very much. If I have a chance, I usually do some seminars and clinics and camps, a couple of weeks here, a couple of weeks there, for teaching.

Q: What are your latest programs about?
A: Throughout my professional career, there have been so many programs and you are just trying to go with the flow, what’s the popular music, and it depends on where you make the shows. Most of my shows have been in the United States and in Japan. There have been so many, many different programs. You just work with the style, try to come up with some innovative moves. Plus, in the States it is popular now, I think in Switzerland to, to make shows with a singer or some band playing. We’ve been doing that in the United States, where some singers come out, playing live, and you take the song, make some program. So we’ve been doing a lot of that. Basically I’m a professional skater for 10 years now. Probably I’ve done like 40 different programs in that time. It’s a long time.

Q: What are your plans for future shows?
A: Last season, I was on Stars on Ice in America, and there were some shows in Japan with Prince on Ice (Prince Iceworld). In Europe, there are not that many possibilities for me. There have been couple of shows, but not much was going on for me. I’m definitely happy to skate in Europe. I think it has been quite while. I have been doing a couple of shows in Russia last year. I think only two years ago I did one show in Switzerland, for an Olympic kind of theme, in Davos. Three years ago I did some shows in Europe with Stars on Ice in Antwerp. I definitely would like to do more shows in Europe.

Q: What about the Averbukh show?
A: Not as for now. I’ve done like two shows in Moscow, but not with the tour.

Q: When you are in Flims, you are working with many young skaters. What is your impression about the development of figure skating?
A: With the young skaters it’s hard to say, what the development is, because the young kids just develop gradually, you can see the difference on the high level of skaters, the difference of skaters from 20 years ago and now. The new system definitely encourages the steps, and spins and puts some emphasis on that. But that’s probably the only difference, more emphasis on footwork and nice footwork.

Q: Russian skaters have been dominating for many years, but with the retirement of many stars in 2006, there has been much less success. What do you think about the future of Russian figure skating?
A: I’m pretty sure that the future should be nice. There are some young, up and coming skaters, they just need a little bit of time and a little bit of effort to grow up and bloom, to get the confidence. There are some pretty good skaters in Russia. We can see it at the junior level. I think they can be very good one day. They probably just need a little bit of time. That is what happens when one generation of skaters is leaving and the other one kind of needs to pick it up. But I have really good hopes for that, especially with all the popularity in Russia right now. Skating is really popular. People really enjoy watching it, and that makes a big difference. So maybe in a couple of years we’ll see some good things happening.

Q: Are both of your daughters skating? Are they skating at the competitive or recreational level?
A: The older daughter, Daria, she stopped skating. She skated recreationally for a little bit, but she just decided it’s time to stop for her and to concentrate on school. The little one, Lisa, she skates and she looks like she is enjoying it. We’ll see how she develops. But she is still seven years old, so it’s hard to say if she is going (to become a competitive skater)… We’ll see.

Q: You have been living in the USA for about ten years now. Do you feel more American or Russian? Why?
A: I definitely feel Russian, because I moved when I was around 18 years old. So I grew up in Russia and picked everything up in Russia, and my soul is kind of Russian. But ten years definitely are more than enough time to settle in a little bit and to see how things in America work and learn the language plus with our daughters growing up there. We definitely adjusted to the American lifestyle. But we are really happy to be in Russia and really happy for all the progress that Russia is making economically. You can really see live improving, because we are going back and forth pretty often. Most of my family is in Russia.   

Q: Thank you very much for the interview!