October 14, 2003
From Sport Express, Moscow
IF WE ARE TO KNOW THAT OUR THIRD CHILD WILL BE A BOY
by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya
translated by Trinity (click here for an alternative translation)
Katya says: After I had Dasha in 1992 and came back, I started to see that continuing your career after you have a child is normal. I am still surprised by opinion that is if a woman has a child, she should not build big plans for herself. Everything depends on what you want yourself. If you want to continue skating, swimming, running or do something else, there is nothing unnatural in that. It’s easy to just say that there is no time. After I had Lisa, I didn’t build big plans regarding my career. I didn’t have to rush to get on tour or some show. I love to skate, I like to feel in shape, so I was enjoying the time when I was coming back to the normal training condition. This is a real joy to do something not because you owe it to someone, but because you want it.
- How long did it take you to recover?
- A little longer then it did after Dasha. I was ten years younger then. Moreover, Sergei and I were running out of time, and the pressure was different. We were going to prepare seriously for Lillehamer Olympics, and Dasha had to be switched to the bottle really early. I fed Lisa myself for eight months and I was happy that I had a chance to take care of a child as long as needed. My daughter was born in the middle of June, and in three months, in the middle of September, I started to show up at the rink.
- How did having a child break your touring plans?
- I don’t think that IMG managers were excited. They were probably a little puzzled when I announced that I am expecting a child and can’t be in SOI as planned. On the other hand, there were no big problems. At least I’m not aware of them. We discussed the possibility of coming back after I had the baby, about me returning to tour. I didn’t want it: SOI is going on for 5 months and I couldn’t imagine leaving my children for so long. So they found an opportunity for me for the future so I could leave home for 2-3 days and come back.
- What was the spectators’ reaction when you skated the first time after you had Lisa?
- It was a big surprise. SOI managers invited me to the several shows last year and at first, they planned it that way: I wasn’t in the opening number and when I was announced the audience was a little shocked. The result: I was welcomed well, more actively then ever. I was very pleased. In general, American spectators are not surprised when a skater comes back after the long break. Many skaters now take breaks for various reasons.
- Why did you move from California to Connecticut?
- Two years ago I was moving in with Ilia. He owned the house in Los Angeles. I liked it there a lot. The only thing that was missing is the social life, especially when Ilia were going away to perform. In general, skaters try to settle on the East Coast, closer to New York. Another difficulty was a constant problem with the ice. We couldn’t always come to the rink when it was convenient for us, and mostly we had to skate with somebody else. And the distance was tiring too, and it affects you more on the West Coast. So we thought that the move would be more convenient in many aspects.
- So, you came back to the place were your American life started with Sergei and Dasha?
-Almost. We don’t live in Simsbury now; we are nearby, in Newington. We are practicing at the rink where Galina Zmievskaya coaches. She even offered to help training Dasha. We are completely settled now: in the morning, I take Dasha to school and then go to the rink. Then I go home to switch with Ilia, he goes to practice, and Lisa and I pick up Dasha from school. My parents are near and that makes the life much easier – they can always back us up if needed. Ilia’s parents come to visit often even though unlike my parents they don’t live in America.
- Is it hard to keep such a big house?
- I never thought about that. I like it. Big and tight family is the happiness that not everyone has. I am very glad that my life went that way but sometimes I think that it would be better if Dasha and Lisa weren’t so many years apart. On one hand it’s good – Dasha helps me a lot with the little one. On the other hand, I would like Lisa to have a brother or sister close in age.
- So why wouldn’t you have another child?
- If I knew for sure it would be a boy, I wouldn’t hesitate. We will see… with time.
- How many times you are planning to perform this year?
- As it was last year, I am invited as a guest performer to SOI. The owners felt that with every year there are less and less skaters who can skate the entire tour without a break. They split the tour appearances between me, Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, and Kurt Browning, giving us 10-15 shows each. As far as I know, Oksana Baiul will be on tour for some time too. And then the base of the tour cast will be Lesha Yagudin, Lena Berezhnaya with Artur Siharulidze, Canadians Jamie Sale/David Pelletier, Yuka Sato…
- Is it nicer to feel like a guest then to work as a member of the cast continuously?
- SOI is the group where you can only dream of. It’s trademark the many ensemble numbers, which mean a lot for the show. These numbers are created each year and intensively rehearsed to the smallest detail for three weeks before the tour starts. Every new show has some idea that goes through the entire performance. But the idea to invite a very different skaters to the show and give show a maximum variety seems very right to me. I think the fans will be glad to see those who were out of public view for a while. Americans treat their athletes with special feeling even if people can’t jump like before. You can see just once how Hamilton and Browning are greeted and you’ll understand that the youngsters have to skate and skater more, titles notwithstanding, to gain the same admiration. On the other hand, there is some risk. For the first time, the owners invited so many skaters from the outside to the SOI, and they will see how it plays out financially.
- Why did Kulik leave SOI?
- He didn’t leave on his own. His contract expired. At about the same time, after winning in Salt Lake City, Lesha Yagudin was invited, and maybe it was not profitable for owners to keep two Russian Olympic champions in the same event. I know that Tara Lipinski stopped skating in SOI for the same reason. In Russia, people are ready to skate in company, and over there it is not happening.
- How’s Ilia’s professional career now?
- He has a lot of performances, but Ilia would probably like to perform more. He has an agent who is responsible for organizing performances. Ilia runs around, like everyone in America.
- Do you feel that the interest in figure skating is lower?
-No doubts. The crazy boom that happened after 1994 is long over. The audience is probably fed up with us. You can see it in the quantities too. SOI never had a problem filling out the arena. Now it happens that the arena is half-empty. Selling tickets is one of the most profitable parts. Maybe it’s because of the economy – people are more careful with money. What does it mean to go the show? As a rule, it’s a family event – so you need 3-4 tickets, each are $50 and more, plus parking, some snacks, drinks, ice cream, souvenirs. Not everyone can pay more than $200 for the night out.
- Who do you work with now? Are you still with Marina Zueva?
- No, we haven't worked with Marina for about three years - it's too far for us to go for the choreography. And I am more attached to home. This summer, before we moved to Newington, I found the choreographes in LA. I worked with a woman who had experience choreographing for Circue De Soleil, then I worked with a jazz dancer, and I made something up myself.
- How often do you visit Russia?
- Every summer. Dasha always spends her summer vacation with my parents in the country house. Lisa was in Moscow when she turned one. I like to visit. It's very nice to still be recognized on the streets. I am not sure that I could permanently live in Russia since the large part of my life is connected to America, but Moscow will always be a special city for me. Here, in St. Petersburg, I feel like a guest. It's just another city. When I land in Sheremetevo, it's like putting on a pair of slippers at home.
-Did you think about opening a school in the US?
-It’s not easy. It’s not like you can come to the rink with the ad. You have to sign a contract, deal with tons of people. Very often, the rinks are owned by a one person or a group of people. Anybody can be a manager, and it doesn’t mean that he has something to do with figure skating or even interested in it. Everything is directly connected with profits. If it turns out that it’s more profitable to give ice to the hockey teams, there will be no figure skating at the rink. I don’t know anybody who could create a school in USA. Even such an exceptional coach as Tamara Moskvina couldn’t do it. Zmievskaya was lucky to some degree
– for many years, she is working at the rink that was built not for her or Oksana Baiul especially but because of the huge influence of the starting figure skating boom in the USA. Still, skaters are coming to Zmievskaya from all over the country, but that doesn’t mean that Simsbury is her school. Another problem: we had a training system at some time and it started with children groups. In America, parents are scared of the word “group”. They see more sense in coming to a certain coach and pay for private lessons. And they believe that in 45 minutes a child can seriously learn something. Your own school means that you have to push your own ideas, methods, requirements, opinions. We understand the “coaching” differently. I would be embarrassed to take money and know very well that I won’t teach a person anything in one lesson. And you can’t not take the money – that creates a problem for the other coaches. Of course, sooner or later, Ilia and I will have to earn money by coaching, but I don’t understand yet how it will look.
- Did you have a chance to try yourself as a teacher?
- I worked with American pair a little this summer. I liked it, you know. Immediately, there are some ideas that I want to develop.
- When you watch pairs skating, do you fell nostalgic?
- Not anymore. And I had an opportunity to continue skating pairs. I didn’t want to do it…
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