Bucks Free Press
Championship ice skater Olga Sharutenko talks to Francine Wolfisz about the joy of performing in a show
WINNING gold medals may once have seemed like the raison d'etre for ice skater Olga Sharutenko, but today she says she likes nothing better than to see her theatre audience completely enthralled.
The former junior world champion, who originally hails from central Russia, is currently touring with the Imperial Ice Stars' production of Swan Lake On Ice, which arrives in High Wycombe later this month.
Olga, 28, who recently partnered actor John Barrowman in ITV's Dancing On Ice, says: "When I was competing, it was sometimes hard to keep things friendly and the pressure was on to impress the judges.
"Now everything is so different. You don't go out then to receive marks every night, you're there to entertain and give your best to the audience. When you see a standing ovation, it gives you such energy. Now it's like I have a medal every night, seeing that kind of appreciation."
Leading a 25-strong cast, who between them have won more than 200 championship medals, Olga plays the role of Odette, a woman transformed into a swan by an evil curse. Only a man's undying love will rescue her from her plight and fortunately for Odette the eligible Prince Siegfried (Vadim Yarkov) has fallen love with her. But evil sorcerer Count on Rothbart (Anton Klykov), who is half-man, half-bird, has promised his daughter, Odile (Olena Pyatash) that she will one day marry the prince and sets out to destroy the Prince's true love.
Olga, who has previously worked with the Russian Ice Stars, says she relishes playing the role of Odette "I think I have the best part in the show," she tells me. "I just love the character. She has an incredible strength inside her and is not afraid to confront Rothbart, because she's fighting for her love."
Producer Tony Mercer, who founded the imperial Ice Stars in 2004, says he has tried to give a "today" feel to the lavish production, which utilises the latest technology to transform an ordinary theatre stage into an ice rink. But equally, Tony has tried to incorporate the traditional using the original score by Tchaikovsky and setting the show within the Romanov era. He has also reverted to the original casting of Odette and Odile as two separate characters, as initially intended by Tchaikovsky.
As for choreographing the show, which features a multitude of thrilling flips, spirals and high speed jumps at close range, "the rulebook simply went out the window," Tony tells me. He adds: "I Wanted to see how far we could push it - and
I think we've achieved something fabulous."