Archive for January, 2008
Filed Under (Michael's Tour Journal) by admin on 10-01-2008
Hey Everyone! Well its the last day of 2007! I can’t believe it is already New Years eve! I am so excited to bring in the new year because I know 2008 is going to be awesome! I just arrived in Frankfurt yesterday after we closed the show in Leipzig Saturday night. We had sold out shows last week in 5 days which opened on Christmas day. The company gave us a very nice Christmas dinner party on December 24th in the very nice hotel we were staying at. The party was early since we had to work early the next day but everyone got dressed up and it was nice to have our friends and family with us for the Holidays. Since the premiere of the show on November 8th, we have been on the road for almost 2 months already and it has flown by. The show is going great and I am really loving what I am doing. The show is getting great reviews and a lot of press. We only have about 6 more weeks left here in Germany and then we will have our French premiere on February 14th, 2008 in Paris!! I have played Paris before and we are playing the exact same building that I skated in with Disney On Ice’s “Jungle Adventures” show in 2004. Paris is one of my favorite cities and I am so excited to go back for 2 weeks. I also heard a rumor that Brian Joubert will be touring with us as our guest star for the French tour! I will keep you updated on that! Besides working a lot, I have had some time to go sightseeing and to explore the cities. My favorite thing about Germany in winter is the Christmas markets that they have in each city. They have all sort of hand made items and the market is very festive! The markets have all sorts of food, shopping and even rides to go on. It’s like a winter carnival and each one is a little different in each city in Germany. I was also fortunate enough to be able to go see the Holiday On Ice show “Mystery” which was playing about 2 hours from where we were last week. It was great to be able to see some of my friends that I haven’t seen since I stop competing! Well I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Years!! I will write again in 2008!!! -Michael <<< Back to The Official Michael Kuluva Website <<<
 November 11, 2007 - Hamburg, GermanyHi! We finally premiered the show!! We had the world premiere of the show on Thursday November 8th, 2007 here in Hamburg, Germany! The show went exceptionally well and we have had rave reviews plus standing ovations every show which is just something to be so proud of. We had a sold out crowd for the premiere with all the red carpets events you would have at a Hollywood premiere outside the arena before the show. Most of the German celebrities were in attendance (over 1,400) plus we have Tanja Swcenkzo, who is a World bronze medalist plus a German national champion, guest starring throughout the entire German tour.
I had a lot of friends come to the premiere which was awesome! I was able to see friends from other shows that I haven’t seen in years so it was very exciting to be able to perform for them. Of course, we had the opening night party after the show which was beautiful! The party included all VIP’s, celebrities and the company of Stage Entertainment who produces Holiday On Ice. They had a DJ, a live band, countless food stations of almost every type of food you would want including white and dark chocolate fountains! I have included some photos of the party to this journal entry below. I also finished the taping of “The Making Of” Spirit/Elements! YAY! I have been filming a documentary about the backstage look on what it takes to make a huge multimillion Euro production and they have been following me with camera’s throughout the process from the first day (August 30, 2007) until we premiered the show this week! They even put a camera on my chest during a rehearsal so they were able to see the show from my point of view and capture rare footage! The DVD which contains “The Making Of” and also a video of the show I heard will be distributed in a few months! I will keep you updated on the exact release! With so much going on this past week, I even found a way to go see some of Hamburg! I went shopping in the city center and was able to walk around as much as possible with my friends. This is my last night in Hamburg and then I am off to Bremen. We premiere the show in Bremen on Thursday night and will play through Sunday. So I am off to go have a nice dinner in the city and I will write again soon! -Michael
 October 14, 2007 - Heerenveen, The NetherlandsHey Everyone! I am in now in a small city in The Netherlands, about 2 hours away from Amsterdam, starting the dress rehearsals for the new Holiday On Ice production “Spirit”. We have finally finished this brand new show and we have moved to a new city a few days ago to start the run through’s. The city we are in now is a lot smaller then where we were rehearsing before but it’s in the country side and I have a small lake outside my window! Everyone has been extremely nice and the hotel we are staying in is gorgeous!
Since we got to this new city we have been working extremely hard to get everything together for our big preview show on Monday for the German press. Today we are starting the first run through of the show with costumes, lighting and props. The past few days have been all “teching” of the show which means we are doing the lighting, entrances/exits of numbers, using props, trying on costumes and anything else we have not rehearsed yet. The costumes for this show are beautiful and have so much detail to them. The costumes are all custom made for this production from famous fashion houses in Paris & London. Other then rehearsing I have been able to visit with a lot friends that are here in Europe getting ready for other tours. I was able to go see the Holiday On Ice production of “Peter Pan On Ice” last weekend here in Holland and I was able to visit with a few of my close friends on that show that I haven’t seen in a few years. Also my friends from other Holiday On Ice shows have been visiting our rehearsals so it has been nice to visit with all of them as well. I have been also sightseeing as much as possible and trying to visit other cities in between our busy schedule! I was able to go to Goes and Leevarden in The Netherlands.and will be making my way to Germany next week! I will keep you updated about the premiere of the show November 8th!!! Talk to you soon! -Michael  September 22, 2007 - Utrecht, The NetherlandsHi Everyone!!! Can you believe that I have been rehearsing the new production of Holiday On Ice for a month already?! It has gone by so fast already and now we are half way through our rehearsal process for “Spirit”. We have been working non-stop from 9am on the ice until 7pm. These past few weeks have been very exciting and I have a lot to update you guys on! On Monday September 3, 2007, we had the cake cutting ceremony which signified the official start of this new production. The Holiday On Ice company and Stage Entertainment, which produces Holiday On Ice, was in attendance of the ceremony. We were served with a beautiful cake that had a picture of our show poster for our world premiere in Hamburg, Germany and Moet & Chandon champagne!! It was a very nice ceremony and I have included some photos of it with this journal entry. Holiday On Ice is also producing a DVD of the entire show that will be featuring a “Making Of” documentary that will show the entire behind the scenes process of the development of this production. The camera crew is going to be following 3 skaters as they go through this very extensive process of creating the show “Spirit” and I was chosen to be one of the 3! I am very excited to be part of this because I am finally going to be able to show my family and friends how much work is put in to these productions and what the process is like to create a brand new ice show! I will keep you updated! We have started fittings for our costumes! They are all so beautiful and are going to look amazing on the ice! I have been fitted for all of my costumes and now we are waiting the Paris fashion houses to complete them. I will make sure to take photos of me in the costume once I get the completed versions. Some of us also got fitted for harnesses for a flying number in the show called Dragonfly’s. I have never flown in a show before so this is going to be a whole new experience!.
Stage Entertainment who produces Holiday On Ice also produces stage shows. We were invited to go see The Blue Man Group which is produced by Stage Entertainment a couple weeks ago. Almost the entire cast went to see this awesome show! The show was very unique and was very creative. I have seen the show before a couple years ago in Boston but this one was even better then I remember. They even picked one of the people from the cast to go on stage with them. We were lucky enough afterwards to be able to take pictures with The Blue Man Group. Other then rehearsing I haven’t been up to too much because I have been resting on all of my time off. I went to Amsterdam a couple weekends ago for my day off. I went sightseeing with a friend of mine from the cast and we had a great time. The weather here is getting colder and it has been raining almost everyday or so. I also wanted to let you know that I am also in the works with my amazing webmaster Virginia to re-design this website. You will start to see changes very soon so get ready for a whole new MichaelKuluva.com! I have added my new tour schedule for “Spirit” Germany & France tour! Check out the Events page on this website to see the full schedule! Well I am off to go get dinner with friends from the cast so I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be updating you again soon! -Michael
September 2, 2007 - Utrecht, The Netherlands HI EVERYONE! Where did the summer go? I cannot believe it is already September! My summer was great! I was fortunate enough to coach skating the entire summer and hang out with my friends & family! I had so much fun being able to teach people how to skate for the first time and also give instruction to more advanced skaters. I was able to teach group classes and private lessons every week plus coach a skating camp which ranged in levels. I also had the opportunity to judge figure skating! I judged two ISI competitions which was such a great learning experience. I really enjoyed exploring other aspects of the sport this summer! I have some very big news to announce to you all! After 5 years of touring with Disney On Ice, I have decided to explore some other options for the 2007 - 2008 touring season. I have joined the world famous ice show, Holiday On Ice. I am a principal skater in their new production”Spirit” which is being directed by Robin Cousins & choreographed by Karen Kresge with assistant Mark Naylor. The show is world premiering in Hamburg, Germany on November 8th, 2007! I am extremely excited to be part of this brand new production which will be touring Germany & France until May 2008 and worldwide at least until 2010! I am now in The Netherlands, my favorite country, rehearsing the new production! I arrived last weekend and have already been rehearsing this entire week. Rehearsals are going great and we are working VERY long days right now! Almost all the cast has arrived and rehearsals are now in full swing. The cast on this show is AMAZING! We have such a talented cast from Olympians to national champions, the entire cast has something to offer this production. It’s so much fun and such an honor to be working with such a group of talented individuals! The city we are rehearsing in is beautiful! The canals run through the city and the buildings are so unique! I love it here! It’s a college town so there is a lot going on here and its not very far from Amsterdam. The people here are very friendly and most of them speak English which has made things a lot easier! I have included some photos of the rehearsal warehouse where we are rehearsing in and some other fun recent pictures from since I have arrived! You can also check my schedule for my current tour dates and press schedule! I will try to keep you up to date with everything that is going on here but our schedule is EXTREMELY hectic right now! Tomorrow we are having a cake cutting ceremony to celebrate the start of production on this new show. The entire company of Holiday On Ice is invited to attend and there should be some great photos of the celebration that I will try to post in my next entry. Well, I hope everyone is doing well and I will write again soon! -Michael
July 4th, 2007 - Los Angeles, CA USAHey Everyone! How is everyone’s summer going? I am so sorry I haven’t been writing more in this journal but I haven’t been on the ice since mid February. I have been at home in Los Angeles re-cooperating from a hip injury. I have been going to physical therapy 3 times a week and working on exercises at home. This has been a very frustrating injury being that it has been over 4 months that I have been dealing with this injury. It has been improving A LOT and now I am working on re-building/strengthening with some amazing specialists. I have started coaching in Los Angeles and I am loving it! I am still able to be involved with the sport even though I am not able to skate in the show right now. The upcoming skaters that I am coaching are great and it is a lot of fun working with all them. If you are in the Los Angeles area this summer and would like a private lesson, please contact me using the email form on coaching page of this website. I will get back to you regarding scheduling of the lesson as soon as possible! I am working right now with my incredible webmaster Virginia about getting a page up on this website about my coaching. So once that is up and going I will let you know! I have also been asked to judge a competition this upcoming weekend here in Los Angeles so I am very excited about this. This will be my first time judging but I think it will be a great experience and maybe something I will pursue later on. I am going to learn more about the judging system this week and see if there are any latest changes that I am unaware of. Since I have been off the ice, I have been spending a lot of time with my family and friends here in Los Angeles. I haven’t really seen my family since 2005, before I left on the North American Tour, so it has been great to be able to spend time with them. I also get to be with my dogs which I have missed ssoo much! Other then spending time with friends and family, I have been trying to stay fit by doing things that don’t put pressure on my hips such as yoga and pilates. Well I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and BE SAFE!! I will write again soon and update you on what is going on this summer! Take care! -Michael February 07, 2007 - San Diego, CA USARight now I am currently writing this journal entry from the road. I am on my way to Fresno, CA to open the show tonight. I have never been to Fresno so I am interested to see what the city has to offer. Last week was a very busy schedule! We had 10 shows last week and plus I went to the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, CA last Monday. That was ssoo much fun! I went to the two Disneyland park’s (California Adventure & Disneyland) with friends and cast mates from the show. We made it on 15 attractions that day which was a lot!! I have added some photos from the day to this journal but more will be coming soon!San Diego, CA was cold and rainy the first couple of days and I took Tuesday off to rest. I had a lot of friends and family come to the show this past week. It was a little hectic with everyone coming each day but it was a lot of fun to see everyone including my grandmother and her friends. I did a publicity for the Salvation Army at a local ice arena which was a lot of fun. We were able to do a production number from the show for the children and they were ssoo excited to be able to watch us! I have now have a couple days off before Fresno, so I decided to spend them at home in LA. I have been able to re-pack my luggage for the second portion of the tour, get my haircut, spend some time with my family and friends. I love being home even if it’s for just for a couple days! The weather is beautiful here, in the high 70’s low 80’s with clear sky’s!! Well I am off to go do some phone interviews for our Sacramento, CA dates. Take care and I will talk to you all again soon! -Michael
 January 25, 2007 - Phoenix, AZ USA
Hi Everyone!! Well Las Vegas was ssoo much fun and a lot of work! It was very cold there which I wasn’t expecting at all. We had 12 shows last week with only one day off! We pretty much sold out most of the shows or there were very few open seats in the arena which was amazing! I loved playing Vegas, its always been one of my dreams to headline a show in Las Vegas, even if it was only for a week. We then left for Phoenix on Monday and made a few pit stops on the way to Phoenix from Vegas. We stopped at the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was very beautiful, it was my second time being there but we made it just in time for the sunset which was very pretty! The Grand Canyon was VERY cold also and there was even snow on the ground!! I have some photos of the journey to the Grand Canyon and to the Hoover Dam added to this journal entry. We were then off on our way to Phoenix to open the show that next day! I am now in Phoenix and we are having a great time here! There has been some down time with the shows only being at night time for the most part so we have time to shop, sleep in and catch up on things. I definitely did all three! I also had time to catch up with old friends that have been coming to the shows. I am definitely excited to be going to San Diego next week to see some family and friends also!! Last and not least, I wanted to wish all my friends who made it to the US nationals Good Luck!! Nick kick some booty!! -Michael
 January 18, 2007 - Las Vegas, NV USA
Hi! I am right now in fabulous Las Vegas, NV playing The Orleans hotel right off the Las Vegas strip. We opened the show last night to a packed house! The audience was extremely loud and they were very into the show which was awesome! This is my first time playing Las Vegas and so far is amazing! It was sad to leave the Los Angeles area because I had to say goodbye to a lot of my friends and family. The entire Los Angeles run was great though, I am so happy that all of my family was able to come and see me skate. We only had one day off between Long Beach, CA and Las Vegas, NV so my friends and I decided to spend the day off here in Vegas. You would think being in the desert you would need to wear shorts and a tank top but the weather here is sssoo cold!!! The temperature is in the 30’s and 40’s which I haven’t seen here ever in Las Vegas. We went to see two shows on Tuesday, Cirque Du Soleil “O” which I have seen before but has changed a little from what I remember and we also saw a magician show called the Mac King show which was hilarious. The Cirque Du Soleil show was of course amazing! Cirque always out does themselves. The entire show was a different type of Vegas show that I haven’t experienced before so it was cool to try something new. We were able to meet Mac King after the show also which also added to the experience. The schedule here in Las Vegas for our show is just like every other Vegas show, so we have around 11 shows this week, so I am off to go do a show. Next week we are playing Phoenix so I think I might go see the Grand Canyon on the way from Vegas to Phoenix. I hope all is well with everyone and I will write again soon! -Michael  January 10, 2007 - Long Beach, CA
Hey Everyone! Happy New Years!! I hope you all had a great time through the holiday’s!! I had an amazing Christmas and New Years with my family. I usually don’t get to spend many holiday’s with my family since being on tour all the time so it has been a very special holiday season. We had a Christmas eve dinner with my grandmothers and my parents here at my home in Los Angeles. The next morning we were able to have a Christmas brunch with more of the family including my aunt, uncle and my two cousins. I had a show on Christmas day which was completely sold out at the Staples Center!! It was a great Christmas show! I was then off to my uncles house for Christmas dinner before going to my Palm Springs house before opening the show in Anaheim. During the Los Angeles run, I was very fortunate to have a lot of family and friends come to see the show. I loved performing for my hometown. It is such an amazing feeling to be able to show all your hard work to the people closest to you. I heard we had some celebrities in the audience at a few of the shows also which was pretty cool. I was even mentioned in the Daily News in LA which is one of the largest newspapers. You can read the article on the “Event” page under press events. We then had a day off in between Los Angeles and Anaheim so I went to Palm Springs for the day off to relax by the pool. I then came back to Anaheim and was unfortunately got injured during the Wednesday night show. I was doing a jump and I slipped on the take off and landed on my tailbone. I have been out of the show for about a week now but the doctors just released me to come back to work! I will be performing tonight which is the opening night in Long Beach, CA. This has been a very busy couple of weeks but I we go to Las Vegas next and I will definitely be updating you on the next couple of cities. I have a lot of friends coming to the next cities to come visit me and see the show. Well I hope your holidays were as great as mine and lets have an incredible 2007!! -Michael
December 14, 2006 - Denver, CO USA Hi Everyone! Only 1 more week until I am in Los Angeles!!! I am VERY excited to be performing in Los Angeles as it will be my first time playing my hometown and during the holidays!! A lot of my friends and family are coming to see me skate. Some of them haven’t seen me skate ever and some definitely haven’t seen me skate in a long time since I have been on the road. I am very proud of this show and I can’t wait for all of them to see it! I also can’t wait to be in a little warmer climate! It’s been VERY cold these past few weeks here on tour. It’s also Christmas & New Years already!! Where did this year go? By the end of 2006, which is only a few weeks away, I will have been on tour for 47 weeks this calendar year!! I am now in Denver, CO and we opened the show last night here. We had an awesome show last night! You could definitely feel the altitude here in the mile high city but the audience was SSOO loud!! I was able to see my good friend Lea who use to be on the show as my sister Violet and in Broomfield, CO I was able to see my other good friend Shelby Lyons who I haven’t seen since I joined Disney On Ice in 2002. It was great visiting with them! I just found out today that I will be back on LIVE with Regis & Kelly on Thursday December 21st!! They are going to re-air my performance that was aired originally this time last year and which was nominated for a “Relly” award for the best performance of 2005! Well I hope everyone is doing well and I will update you guys again soon! -Michael  November 26, 2006 - Vancouver, BC CanadaHi Everyone! Happy Belated Thanksgiving!! This week went by ssoo fast!! I had my family in to visit this week so it was a very busy week plus we had almost 53,000 people attend the show which was awesome!! The audience in Vancouver was amazing! Also, it was two of my family members birthdays this week so we had a lot of celebration going on with the birthdays and Thanksgiving. I was very fortunate this year to be able to spend my Thanksgiving with my family from LA and Canada.I had a great time seeing everyone and being able to be explore Vancouver with them. We were able to visit many places in Vancouver including Stanley Park, the famous Bon Ton Tea House, historic Hotel Vancouver, downtown, etc. I also had an added bonus of seeing old friends who lived here in the city who use to once be with in the ice shows with me. Right now it is snowing in Vancouver which is very rare this time of year but it was also made the holiday season really kick off! Well, I am off to Spokane, WA which is suppose to have a lot of new snow also from the same storm. Take care and I will write again soon!
-Michael  November 16, 2006 - Seattle, WA USA
Hey Everyone! Wow its the holiday season already!! Sorry it has been sssooo long since I wrote last. I have been extremely busy with this west coast tour but I wanted to update you on what has been going on in the past couple of months. I will be writing in this journal weekly to keep you updated on my life on the road with Disney On Ice. We opened the “West Coast” tour in Mexico City in July. We played one building “Auditorio Nacional” for about a total of 6 weeks during the summer. It was awesome to stay in one place for more then a couple days or even a week. I actually found some time to get out and enjoy the culture. I saw the pyramids, went to a Six Flags theme park and a whole lot more. After we closed the Mexico City run of the tour, I was off to Maui for a 5 day vacation before the tour opened in the United States at the end of August. I had such a beautiful vacation which was much needed. I was able to swim with sea turtles and snorkel throughout the different reefs in the ocean. We also rented a helicopter, had a private sunset dinner, went in a submarine that went 130 feet under water, and of course laid out on the beach. We opened in the United States at the end of August in San Angelo, TX and we have been going to another city each week so far. We have had an amazing schedule recently allowing us to relax a little more in between cities but the schedule is picking up very fast! We are currently in Portland, OR this week and then going to Vancouver, British Columbia next week. I am about a month away from our dates in Los Angeles! I am extremely excited to play the Los Angeles area so all my family and friends are able to come see me in action! This will be the first time I have played my hometown of Los Angeles. Well I am off to go do some press before we open the show tonight but I will definitely be keeping in touch more often. Make sure to check my schedule to see when I will be performing in your hometown! I am going to try and post some photos from the tour also! I hope everyone is well and make sure to check back weekly as I hope to keep a better journal of the behind the scenes of life on tour. -Michael |
