Answers

Several times your original dance was the best scored part of your repertoir and resulted into higher overall ranking. Do you concentrate at this ice dance or what do you think is the reason for your success?: We think, it was just a good choice of music and we like to dance "quick" stuff, like Quickstep or Jive. But we concentrate the same on original dance and free dance.
René: Choice of music is one of the most important things because this is what is reaching the ears! Then the eyes with good moves on this music.

In the 1996/97 skating season you were only able to participate at one big international event, the World Championships, where you came in 12th. At the beginning of the 1997/98 season it was the same situation with participating only at Sparkassen Cup on Ice 1997. With a view of the Olympic qualifying requirement, the 10th place at the 1998 European Championships, you had no easy starting position - particulary since you placed behind your direct competitors Tatiana Navka & Nikolai Morozov (Belarus) at Sparkassen Cup on Ice 1997. Nevertheless Martin Skotnicky did never mention any doubt before the Europeans on your ability to match the qualification. What made him so optimistic?: Kati: He is always optimistic and gives us strength for the competition. And we worked hard to reach the qualification. It's good, that he never stopped to believe in us.
René: He also heard different opinions before Europeans, so he had chosen maybe the best ones and tried to stay optimistic.
Kati: Only optimistic you can reach something!

After the Sparkassen Cup on Ice 1997 you changed your costumes and music. What caused that decision?: René: It was not easy because we skate to the same music like Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat from France and they are Top 3 in the world. They skated to "Romeo & Juliet" very classical, we tried to make it more modern. The difference in costumes was not big enough at that time, so we decided to change.

Just after you competed at the 1998 German National Championships in your new costumes for the first time you changed again. What was the reason this time?: Kati: This time we skated "Romeo & Juliet in space" to be more different, but the chairman of the ISU technical commitee said that it was too much show now. He was maybe right, but we wanted to try a new way.
René: But we changed again because it's a big season with the qualification for Olympics, and we wanted to reach the Olympics!

The chairman of the International Skating Union's technical committee ice dance, Wolfgang Kunz, said in a newspaper interview: "That pretty girl doesn't need to be packed so thick". I wonder if he ever thought you would take his words so literally? ;-): Kati: So now I had a transparent dress for the European Championships (to be more classical, but still modern) because also in the World of Design everything gets less and more transparent. We got the idea from a ballet-costume from the opera in Munich.
René: It was again something new and a little bit different because I also wear transparent trousers.

How works the trick to create new costumes in such a short time?: Kati: It's so much stress to make new costumes so often. For all participating people it meant sleepless nights. I hope it's never again like this year.

Whens the next time your going to be in the United States? Shannon Lamaster, Glen Ellyn, IL, United States - Tuesday, April 21, 1998: Kati & René: At present we don't know when we are going to be in the United States the next time since we don't know our next season's competition schedule yet. Sorry!!