Thank you, pianomaya!
Translation of the interview from Via -magazine:
ON TOP
A world champion takes the stage
Stephane enchanted the fans of figure skating: He won two world championships, got silver at olympics and at three 'europeans'. Now he is circus director in 'Rock Circus' - and has his head full of projects.
Q: You started with figure skating at the age of seven. Music plays an important role in skating. Did you always choose the music yourself?
S: Always. Figure skating is not only about techniques, it's also an art. You need to be able to express yourself and to have the feel for what you want to transmit. Therefore it is important that I like the music I am skating to.
Q: Which style of music you like most?
S: I love classical music and go to concerts very often.
Q: The composer you prefer?
S: I love Tchaikowky, his ballet pieces are wonderful. I also like Chopin, Rachmaninow and Brahms. I also listen to contemporary classical music such as Arvo Pärt. It has a depth and dramatic tension, an unusual rythm that fascinates me a lot.
Q: What are you listening at the moment?
S: The songs I have to sing in 'Rock Circus'. There's something from Prince and something from Richard Marx. I listen to them every day to memorize their style and the text.
But Paolo Nutini is my favorite singer. I have seen him at the Jazz Festival in Montreux, it was incredible! He gives everything onstage. And I like it when people onstage live their passion intirely and share it with the audience. When I listen to him I know exactly about the athmosphere onstage, I can feel his energy coming across. And the energy is genuine, authentic.
Q: That was your quality as figure skater: the authenticity of your emotions.
S: Onstage you must show who you are. Even when taking on a role you must stay authentic. This is the art.
Q: During 21 years you practiced hard every day. Then, in 2010, you retired from competitive sports. Didn't you fall into a huge emptiness?
S: In figure skating you can still do many shows after ending your sportive career - if you are lucky, work hard and if you do not get injured. I didn't really have an interruption: I continue to travel a lot, to create new choreographies. I take dance- and singing lessons, continue to practice on the ice and to develope new ideas. The public expects it from me.
Q: From where do you get inspiration?
S: I go to watch many spectacles all over the world. My competitive career is over, but I want to continue to skate.
And there are all the encounters with many interesting people who give me a lot and who inspire me.
Q: Where do you get your power from? It must be exhausting to ben on the road all the time?
S: I am simply not old enough to lean back and stay in the 'comfort zone'. I still have an immense curiosity and many projects in my head.
Q: In Lausanne you're working with very young skaters. Do you want to become a coach?
S: Once a week I coach the youngest ones in Malley, yes. It's a wonderful experience. When I am on the ice with them, I forget that I am working. The enthusiasm of those kids is unbelievable.
Q: Of course ... When having a double world champion as a coach!
S: No, no, it has nothing to do with me. Most of them have only just been born when I was world champion. It's their joy to learn, their curiosity, the thurst to learn new things.
That is where I want to tie in later - to create a structure for young talents, maybe a school for figure skating.
Q: Have you already found a successor?
S: Yes, there are many talents, especially in the French part of Switzerland. But to succeed, you need time and to work a lot and hard. Some of my pupils have the necessary basis to continue. I hope for them that they will accomplish.
Q: You are travelling a lot. Do you have a ritual, for example when packing your bags?
S: I hate packing my bags! I am always in fear to forget something I would need exactly for this journey. It's pure stress.
Q: What do you do to avoid this stress?
S: I compile lists. By now I have many of them. Today, before leaving, I take an old list which had worked well before. I just adapt it to the actual needs, then it's o.k.
Q: What do you imperatively pack into your luggage?
S: When I leave for a show, I implicitely have to pack my skates, of course. But when I leave for vacation, I implicitely do not pack them (laughs). And when I am in Portugal with my family, I do not take with me anything at all. Just my passport, purse and that's it. Basta. It is a superb feeling of liberty, it's a dream (c'est le rêve)!
Q: This year you will be the circus director in 'das Zelt'. What are the similarities between figure skating and the circus?
S: The audience, of course. I like to be in the center of attention, when everybody is curious about what will come. When you stand in front of your audience you have to ask yourself how to entertain them. In the circus I am closer to the audience, we can almost communicate. I am looking forward to this tour.
Q: The piece of rock music you like most?
S: Without any doubt: "Knocking on Heaven's Door" by Guns N' Roses. That's MY song.
Q: Where will Stephane Lambiel be in 10 years?
S: No idea. Maybe I continue doing spectacles or I will build up a skating school. But certainly I will still have new ideas in 10 years time. We will see. 'On verra'.
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