Manchester Evening News
by Philip Radcliffe
WITH a dazzling display of superlative ice-skating skills, The Imperial Ice Stars from Russia melted the hearts of their audience last night. And we have them performing for us first - at the start of the 28 week British leg of their world tour - which is set to last two years.
They certainly live up to the dictionary definitions of imperial - supreme in authority and majestic. And the pride and pleasure they take in their own prowess, as well as their eagerness to entertain, is palpable.
Artistic Director Tony Mercer has hand-picked 25 champions and built around them a sumptuously-staged version of Swan Lake which enables them to demonstrate a breathtaking kaleidoscope of leaps and lifts, spins and somersaults. However, he manages to remain faithful to the traditional tale, except for switching to a happy ending. But he is no purist, introducing crowd-pleasing circus elements to the classical canon, such as black swans on stilts, trapeze-like high flying and a tableau of luminescent skaters on a blacked-out stage.
But the super skaters are the stars. As Prince Siegfried, Vadim Yarkov oozes charm - and strength and stamina. Leading lady Olga Sharutenko is a stunning Odette, Olena Pyatash a temptress as Odile and Andrei Penkine a dashing Benno. But the outstanding performance comes from Anton Klykov as the amazingly athletic sorcerer Rothbart.
The specially-arranged Tchaikovsky score was well performed on tape by the Manchester Light Symphony Orchestra. After a stamina-sapping two hours, the company volunteered an extended encore of even more breathtaking party tricks.