Cinderella on Ice
Cinderella on Ice, the Imperial Ice Stars World Tour, Theatre Royal Sydney, August 22-31; go to www.imperialicestars.com for all dates.
MOSCOW'S Imperial Ice Stars company is unique in the world of ice-dance-theatre and it’s good to have them back in Australia with a new production. After the spectacular Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake you might be wondering what else there is to do with skating and music. Well, let your imagination rip – much as the Ice Stars’ integral team of choreographers does when company mastermind Tony Mercer says, “okay, what shall we do this time?”
Mercer is an unlikely dreamer: a big, bluff Englishman who sees skaters and hears music and conjures up story to link both. He then assembles a team of choreographers – which these days includes star members of the company such as Vadim Yarkov, Andrei Penkine and Olga Sharutenko (the latter two pictured here) – and the intricate knitting together of music, moves, dance and sequences begins.
The new show – devised and rehearsed in Moscow, opened in New Zealand and now off on a year’s world touring – is a twist on the old fairy tale of Cinderella which sees Cinders (the poignantly fairy-like Sharutenko) as a ballerina in Swan Lake who is spotted by the mayor’s son (Penkine, a devastatingly charming hero) and adored from afar thereafter.
Instead of a fairy godmother, this Cinderella has a hippie fortune teller whose crystal ball and rainbow duds update the concept and contrast nicely with the chic, sharp nastiness of the super-sophisticate Stepmother and her RayBan-sporting daughters. The metaphysics of time also play a visually and dramatically significant role as clocks run backwards and ensembles of robotic time-piece mechanics bring a darker element to the fairy tale.
Skating and ice dance fans have plenty to ooh and aah over as the company – and especially the principals – demonstrate why they’ve won more championships and medals than most of us have had hot dinners. There are multiple triple axel jumps, heart stopping lifts and dizzying spirals performed as solos and – spectacularly – as ensemble efforts. There is also a lot of graceful dance action and some cheeky elements of tap, jazz and Celtic razzamatazz – particularly from the irrepressible Penkine – which are exhilarating and occasionally downright scary.
The combination of speed, skill, daring, grace, romance and sheer chutzpah is at once immensely appealing and incredibly sexy! It’s a show that will enthrall kids and entertain adults too. At the moment it’s a little long and could be trimmed by a few minutes without loss, but it’s spectacular, fun and another dazzling show for all the family from this great troupe.
