A year ago Kulik’s performance at Worlds Pro caused lot’s of criticism. His programs demonstrated evident lack of practicing. His triples were much worse comparing to his amateur performances. It looked like after he has left Tatiana Tarasova, who had been  preparing him for Olympics, he couldn’t manage with his new status alone. But in the beginning of December in Washington the skater created a furore by his new program he presented to the spectators. The program, which he created himself from the beginning to the end. The break-dance on ice.

     - How did you get the idea to create such an unusual program?

     - I like to watch break-dance since my childhood. I recall, I was probably 13, whwn I tried to do something like this on the floor. And realized that those moves are not that easy to do. Or, probably, I am just not used to such moves. Our choreography training always had definite ballet tendentions. And that was at that time, when the idea to make a break-dance program some day got on my mind. Last summer I watched tapes and tried different moves in front of the mirror for 2 or 3 months. I even wanted to find a break-dance teacher, but failed to. And when I started practicing on ice I began to try to arrange the moves I had learnt into the program.

     - How did you manage to do it so brilliant all by yourself?

     - I was asking to tape me everyone who was in the neighborhood all the time. On each practice. This way I brought the program to the completion.

     - Did you take easy your last year debut at Pro championships?

     - Frankly, even now I still haven’t got, how one is supposed to perform on Pro championships and what kinds of programs to prepare. Let us say, I like what I do. But the judges don’t, taking the results into account. The main goal now is to find the golden middle. I haven’t managed to do that yet. This time I tried to undertake too much. To put on dark glasses, to perform in the lights, to do all the triples and to preserve all the choreography... Probably, I just lacked some luck. But I liked the my condition when I performed. I had good feet, and was in a good mood. All the moves were done right. Only the lights proved to be a problem. I failed to adjust to the lights during the program. I used to jump in full illumination, and during the warm-up, by the way, too. And when I started the performance, they made light less, and I realized that I lost control over the situation. So I had to substitute all the triples with doubles.

     - For me it looked like you just got some problems with triples. Probably, it’s lack of practices?

     - Actually, there are no problems. I just don’t feel like doing primitive running starts. I have a longing to think of something more complicated, to make interesting starts for the jumps. Well, the fact that I just had no time to prepare technical program in the right way also played its role.

     - Do you have time to practice something new when taking part in a tour?

     - On the tour you have something new every day. Element of improvisation always takes place in every performance. That’s., by the way, what I like the Stars on Ice team for. It doesn’t let you relax. It’s a custom in our team to watch each other’s performances. And if you are not aiming at constantly adding something new and special to your program, at least one new step, it’s kind of bad manners.

     - You probably get tired of monotonous performances during 3 months of touring?

     - Sure I do. Sometimes I work “on autopilot”. Sometimes “on teeth”. When I am ill, for example, or hurt my leg, or when performing in mountains, when you lack air since the second minute of skating. But nobody cares about all those things. The only task is to go on the ice and make public like you. It happens sometimes in such moments that I start to hate everyone around me. But that’s normal. Just a hard work.

     - Did the cast of the tour change comparing to the last year?

     - Lu Chen, Lena Bechke and Katia Gordeeva left.

     - And what did the Hollywood shootings with your participation result in?

     - They made a movie, Center Stage. It was shown in the USA in the cinemas. And even in Europe. It was  kind of a success. In general I liked that experience.  With the exception of  several things.

     - What exactly things?

     - It’s tedious to do make up...

Sport Express, 14.12.2000

Elena Vaicehovskaia

Washington-Moscow