Herald Sun, Australia
By Stephanie Glickman
The Imperial Ice Stars are familiar visitors to our shores, bringing classical ballets to life on an ice stage. In Swan Lake on Ice they take many liberties with choreography, costumes and music creating an entertaining, sometimes kitschy extravaganza.
It is an ambitious undertaking, complete with stilt-skating, tricky partnering and levitating swans. The cast are all champion figure skaters, comfortable with the dangers of ice... The ice stage is not very large, yet they manage sweeping ensemble patterns, quick-handed sword play and duets packed with spectacular twirling manoeuvres.
The movement is unrelenting, the choreography busy and the narrative as hazy as the smoke that billows around the sinewy swans. With so many distractions on stage, it is often hard to appreciate the high skill level of what this large and enthusiastic ensemble is actually doing.
Most of the standout dancing moments and gravity-defying lifts happen in solo and duet sections, when the performers can more fully embody the melodrama of their characters. Andrei Penkine as Benno stands out for his wide-eyed grins and playful flirting with the audience. He has boyish charm while Vadim Yarkov as the Prince is more stoic. But it is Anton Klykov as evil Rothbart who steals the show. Decked out in red satin waistcoat, his movements are the most acrobatic, with a nod to breakdancing and many jazz ballet flourishes.
Swan Lake on Ice is not for ballet purists, but theatregoers up for a night of icy entertainment jam-packed with colourful costumes and theatrical tricks will enjoy this production from Russia.
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