The snow may have finally melted, and you may be gratefully putting those Uggs back into storage for another year. But wait… there’s joy to be had from the ice yet. Or ON the ice, to be more precise. Enter the Imperial Ice Stars, performing their latest production Swan Lake On Ice at the Sony Centre (formerly the Hummingbird Centre).

I have to admit I was a tad sceptical of the show when I first saw the posters in the TTC a month ago. Mostly because they were EVERYWHERE, and what with commercial juggernauts like Disney On Ice on my mind, I was afraid this one would be cheesy, or at least that it wouldn’t hold up next to the ballet. But, blogUT got media passes for the opening night yesterday, so who was I to say no? (Taking one for the team – that’s me).

Fortunately, or shockingly rather, the show was stunning – both visually and emotionally. Set to the music of Tchaikovsky and skated with incredible artistry by a stellar cast – many of them former ice skating world champions and all of them from the former USSR – Swan Lake on Ice is a re-interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet. For one thing, it has a happy ending… Odette (the white swan) and Prince Siegfried end up together, and everyone but the evil Rothbart comes out alive.

There, now that I’ve ruined the ending for you (it’s all printed in the program anyway), let’s talk visuals.

The skating and dancing were beautifully choreographed, with daring moves performed on a small 15x15m rink that are normally performed on a full-sized 60x60m Olympic rink. Call it Cirque du Soleil, on ice. It had the audience gasping all night long. But it wasn’t all flash and no substance – these folks are true artists, and there was real emotion in the dancing. There was once scene between the two swans and the prince that had me holding my breath the whole time. And the villain Rothbart, skated by a lithe Anton Klykov who resembled a Russian version of Seth Green, alone was worth going to see the show for. The guy has TALENT, is all I can say.

The dancers held up to the rigours of the performance amazingly well. I spent the first act scrutinizing their every leap, looking for signs of nervousness or unsteady landings. Eventually I gave in to the sumptuous dancing (not to mention the lavish sets and costumes) and just enjoyed the show. One dancer took a small tumble towards the end of the show, but by that time he had the goodwill of all but the most hard-hearted in the audience so it was quickly forgotten.

Swan Lake on Ice is on the North American leg of its world tour. It’s playing at the Sony Centre (formerly the Hummingbird Centre) only until May 4th, so take a break from your studies and rediscover the joy that’s yet to be had on ice. Tickets are $35 to $95.

*Images courtesy of the Sony Centre for Performing Arts website.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under Arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.