Business Times, Singapore
By WEI-TZE SAM
SWAN Lake On Ice opened dramatically at the Esplanade Theatre on Wednesday with Prince Siegfried (Vadim Yarkov) and his friend Benno (Andrei Penkine) dancing riotously on the eve of his 21st birthday in a palace courtyard. Amidst the elegant lines and graceful curves of the Romanov architecture, the friends are soon joined by a group of guests for a gay, high-paced dance that showed off the cast's skating to best effect.
Presented by the Imperial Ice Stars, acclaimed as one of the world's premier theatrical ice-skating companies, Tony Mercer's Swan Lake sees a brilliant cast of 25 accomplished figure skaters, who perform difficult manoeuvres with the greatest ease and elegance.
The ice setting allows for great dramatic effect as the dancers race around the stage in huge circles at a terrifying pace. It is also a perfect match for the grace of the swans' moves, as they glide lightly and effortlessly around a misty lake in designer Albina Gabueva's exquisite costumes.
Swan Lake On Ice took two years of pre-performance preparation, and it's not difficult to see why. The set designs by Eamon D'Arcy, one of Australia's leading scenic designers, was impeccable, dramatising perfectly the action as it moved constantly between the courtyard, the lake, forests and the palace with its flowing fountains and chandeliers.
The cast, coached by Olympic medallists Evgeni Platov and Alexei Nemov, has to execute breathtakingly complex moves in a very limited space. At times, there were as many as 14 skaters on stage together. Particularly impressive was Count Von Rothbart (Anton Klykov), who drew applause for his solo dances and incredible acting which constantly dominated the stage.
Using Tchaikovsky's score, Mercer also chose to maintain other elements of Tchaikovsky's original plan for the ballet, having two different women play Odette and Odile, which he argues gives Siegfried more responsibility for his actions and makes the plot more modern and realistic.
It comes to a poignant climax when Odette confronts Odile in the forest over Siegfried in a deeply moving final scene.
Swan Lake On Ice, however, is not for purists, who would immediately compare the skating negatively with the ballet. Yet, it is still high art in an eminently accessible form. The opening night drew numerous curtain calls and a standing ovation from an ecstatic and delighted audience.