I-Skate Magazine
The real heroes of the Imperial Ice Stars' Swan Lake on Ice are never seen on stage, writes LESLEY REYNOLDS.
Artistic director/choreographer Tony Mercer and his team, particularly costume designer Albena Gabueva and scenic designer Eamon d'Arcy, have created a visually stunning production which works as a whole with no jarring elements.
Any team which includes Evgeny Platov and Vladimir Kotin is also going to produce the goods in skating terms. Aside from some artistic licence with the ending, the show succeeds on many levels. For those without ballet or skating knowledge it is entertainment, for skating aficionados there are innovative lifts as well as spins and jumps and I suspect ballet fans appreciate the use of Tchaikovsky's music and the lack of "dumbing down" of the dance.
Russians are never as self-conscious as we are when it comes to using ballet in their skating - it is so much a part of their heritage. Hence we see characters in pointe shoes as well as on skates, and it appears quite natural. There are also flying sequences and a couple of menacing black swans on (skating) stilts. The very informative programme states the aim is to make the story clear without words and I felt they succeeded.
Sitting close to the front it was possible to see facial expressions to add to the understanding of the story, and the interplay between Prince Siegfried (Vadim Yarkov) and his manservant Benno (Andrei Penkine) was amusing. The latter has a mischievous face! Odette (white swan) was played by Olga Sharutenko and Odile (black swan) by Maria Orlova, though there are alternates for each role.
On a stage measuring 15x15m it was amazing how they managed to include so many jumps - a lot of single axels, some double axels, a few triples (mainly salchows), and even a couple of thrown doubles. The pair moves were by far the most innovative: lots of lifts and carries, as might be expected. At one point the prince was skating round with three girls about his person! After that, a spin with a girl in each arm must have been easy...
In the ballroom scene the Viennese Waltz was well done, and the various potential princesses from Italy, Spain, Hungary, Russia and Ireland all portrayed the character of those countries with entertaining solos, each accompanied by a group of male consorts. The white swans swirled and swooped and the black swans were suitably menacing, as was Anton Klykov as the evil Rothbart.
The sword fight was the most realistic I have ever seen and Act I ended with Rothbart spinning inside a dramatic circle of fire.
It says a lot for the Russian system of teaching the basics that there are so many good skaters able to perform to the standard of productions like this without, in most cases, having reached the top flight of international competition. This show has deservedly earned praise from all sides, from inside and outside the skating fraternity - so see it if you can!