The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
By Jill Sykes
Just when you think you'll never see ballet like this again, it turns up on ice. The Sleeping Beauty on Ice has the kind of bravura and showy style that propelled the Russian ballet classics for years - and these ice dancers carry it off with dazzling finesse.
Most of these Russian performers have been competitive skaters, but they have adapted well to the theatrical demands of narrative and character - at least as much as you need for a fairy story. And they bring fluid grace to their skating.
Choreographer Tatiana Tarasova has done wonders by wrapping into the storytelling the kind of skating sequences you might see winning medals. Here they tell how wicked Carabosse can be and how good the Lilac Fairy is, construct a battle and celebrate a royal marriage.
Carabosse, the uninvited guest to Princess Aurora's christening and cause of all the drama, is the show's scene stealer. She has daring and acrobatic choreography that Maria Borovikova tears into with all the venomous force of fairytale evil. Her role combines skating with aerial work and gymnastics, supported by a terrific team of handlers and her powerful partner Denis Samokhin.
As the Lilac Fairy, Olga Sharutenko glows with more than good deeds: her graceful ice dancing, assisted by the seemingly effortless partnering of her adorable Lilac Prince, Artem Knyazev, is a joy to watch.
Curiously, the nominated star - guest performer Mandy Woetzel from Germany, as Princess Aurora - is the least impressive theatrically. She may have top billing and half a page of prize listings, plus her own website, but she lacks grace and stage confidence to match her technical skill.
Her Prince Desire, on the other hand, fits his role like a glove. Not only does he have a hectic partnering schedule with his princess when he has kissed her awake, but on the way to finding her, all the fairies want to dance with him and he is a central warrior in the battle with Carabosse's entourage. Vadim Yarkov tosses off all these hefty physical challenges with smiling aplomb.
Anton Klykov is another outstanding performer in the energetic, amusing and eventually virtuosic role of Catalabutte.
And all praise to every member of the small, expert, hard-working ensemble. They must be in a constant state of costume change between the interlocking scenes of their good and evil characters in the elaborate, speed-activated costumes by Natella Abdulaeva.
Tarasova and director Tony Mercer have structured The Sleeping Beauty on Ice in a fast-moving package set to well-chosen excerpts of music by Tchaikovsky.
The dramatically evil intentions of Carabosse get the show off to a strong start, and I like the way they continue their winding progress to the end - even if that is a way of getting the dancers off-stage for another outfit change.
There is a delightfully over-the-top feel to the production: in ballet terms, politically incorrect these days, but a lot of fun nonetheless. Eamon D'Arcy's set designs are simple but simply beautiful in his creatively lit autumnal forest and are humorously excessive in the royal court.
Anyone who was distressed, like me, by the dismal production values in last year's Nutcracker on Ice - as distinct from the performers' expertise and commitment - can take heart. Though it is from the same sources, The Sleeping Beauty on Ice is something else.