IC Wales / Western Mail
by Mike Smith
IF anyone doubts the huge entertainment value of these wonderful championship skaters performing ice dance, just look at the faces of the adults and children leaving the Wales Millennium Centre this Christmas.
I took a slightly reluctant 11-year-old Jonathan Fry to the show, but within seconds of the curtain rising and the first of the gravity-defying leaps and twirls he was hooked.
Likewise the audience gasped throughout this splendid show that managed to combine some of the flavour of Tchaikovsky's music and the grace of the classical ballet with the athleticism of skating.
I wonder about what has been shaved from the ballet to make it a manageable length, losing some of the contrasts that are so important to the work.
But the underlying message is there, with the more conventional Russian happy ending as our Prince and White Swan are reunited, rather than the heartbreak we so love in the West.
This was the start of the season at Wales Millennium Centre and there were a fair few tumbles, but the men and women got back on their skates (although the stilt skater had more trouble than the others) and smiled their way into the next manoeuvre.
My young companion was, like me, sitting on the edge of his seat throughout the spectacle, had no problems following the plot and was clearly absorbed in not only the athleticism on display but also the tale. He told me in no uncertain terms that the Odette was not a baddie but had been led astray by her father, the evil Rothbart.
I was not quite as clear on the interpretation as he seemed to be, particularly when Odile is supposed to be in human form. Similarly, Siegfried seems particularly fickle, swapping back and fore between the two with the agility of a downhill skier.
Andrei Penkine made a cocky young Benno with a suitably close relationship with our Prince Siegfried (danced by a dashing Vadim Yarkov) while Olga Sharutenko and Olena Pyatash were spellbinding as Odette and Odile. Anton Klykov was an impeccably danced Rothbart.
There are also a few special effects to surprise you, but let's not spoil the fun.
You never know, take a youngster to see the Imperial Ice Stars and you might even tempt them to discover the ballet and Tchaikovsky's music played by a live orchestra. What a Christmas present that would be.