South Wales Argus, UK
Last year Wales Millennium Centre played host to The Imperial Ice Stars and their astonishing production of Sleeping Beauty on ICe, which had audiences enraptured. This Christmas they look set to do it all over again, with their brand-new production Swan Lake on Ice.
In what will be largest staged christmas show to ever take place in Wales. Swan Lake on Ice will be performed for three weeks (21 December 2006 - 7 January 2007) as the centrepiece of Wales Millenium Centre's Christmas Celebrations. The Imperial Ice Stars have assembled 25 world-class performers for this production, who have won over 200 medals between them at Olympic, World, European and National levels! Couple these dancers with the breath-taking original Tchaikovsky music, and one totally frozen-over stage, and you have the perfect recipe for a wonderful winter evening.
Fiona Allan, Programming Director for Wales Millennium Centre says of the show: "To call this an 'ice show' doesn't come close to capturing how amazing this production is! This is dance on ice, performed by some of the top skaters in the world, incorporating all the intricate moves you would see at the winter Olympics. It is perfect family entertainment for Christmas".
Against beautiful backdrops and in glittering costumes the dancers back-flip, perform feats of aerial daring, and even skate on stilts, in astonishing sequences choreographed by world-famous ice choreogrpahyer Tony Mercer. Mercer admits that he's a terrible ice skater himself, but insists that his lack of skill only serves to make the show - and performers'moves - all the more impressive, proclaiming that "Because I can't skate, I don't know what the dancers can't do!"
Visit the Wales Millennium Centre over the Christmas period and see Swan Lake on Ice to find out exactly what the dancers can do - and as a hint, you would never have believed an ice skater could fly until seeing this!