La Rhumba
03-12-2005, 06:35 PM
"Sleeping Beauty On Ice", The Imperial Ice Stars
What a beautiful show! It was superb entertainment, and I found myself mingling not only with the stars, but an Olympic Legend backstage!!
Apart from former German Pairs Champion Mandy Woetzel, who played Princess Aurora, it was a company of Russian/Ukrainian high quality skaters - The Imperial Ice Stars - choreographed by the great Tatiana Tarasova.
Over the past few months I've followed the progress of this tour, starting in Australia, with online articles about the unique staging in Theatres, converting the stage into an ice pad, rather than performing in the usual arenas in the round. It made for a very interesting show, with the choreography directed to the front of stage, which gave the production clarity and was of a very high standard throughout, bearing comparison with any Ballet production of this famous piece in it's beauty. It was superb - if anything the second half was even more spectacular than the first, it gradually built to a tremendous climax with cheers and applause ringing out from the audience.
It has been on tour throughout the UK, and I saw it today at Sadler's Wells Theatre, in North London [my local theatre] and if you're lucky, you can catch the show at the newly refurbished Wimbledon Theatre in South West London next week, before the Company sadly leaves our shores for the Asian leg of their World Tour.
I must say, creating a full length Classical Ballet on ice, with intricate ensemble choreography is, in my opinion, Tatiana Tarasova's forte. I so much prefer her professional choreography to the work she does with eligible skaters, which I find bombastic and sometimes unsubtle, as she crams everything into a four minute routine. The entire choreography in this full length show was full of surprises, innovative, beautiful, exciting, dangerous, humorous, it had everything - including aerial Ballet, skating on stilts [amazing!], and a gorgeous section with the delightful Lilac Fairy dancing on Pointe in Ballet shoes!
Elena Pyatash, a Ukrainian, danced and skated the role of the Lilac Fairy with such grace, poise and effortless technique, and a superb array of Pairs moves for a former ice dancer. I was flabbergasted to catch her smoking a ciggarette outside the Theatre afterwards! But it didn't affect her energy, as she was practically on stage the whole duration of the show!
There was the usual array of lithe young male performers, very dashing, and all skated to a superb standard, including triple jumps, Double Axels, Arabian and Stag jumps, stunning lifts, death spirals, all was here, interpreting the music wonderfully, with only a couple of falls on the jumps. It was breath taking as they glided very fast across the stage with no fear, as there was no barrier at the footlights, and they would skate right up to the edge often in dangerous lift positions [I mentioned this backstage afterwards, and the Olympic Legend who I shall mention later said, "Oh, you get used to it"!]
Carabosse, in this production, was an evil Evil Queen, rather than the usual male role danced in the Ballet version, and Maria Borovikova was cheered to the rafters, as she gave a ravishing, energetic, stylish performance, and was definitely one of the stars of the show. Dressed in black, with dramatic make-up and hair, she was certainly not afraid to be 'Evil' and some of the younger kids in the audience became a little frightened - good!
Anton Klykov, as the 'Court Jester' was very funny, and displayed a great array of technical skating, especially in his spinning and Arabian leaps across the stage. Good acting skills also, there were many props used, and great set design, which added to the story telling, along with a taped narration, and glorious Tchaikovsy score. It was all seamless, and transported the audience to a far off land of Fairy Tales........
It was such a pleasure to see Mandy Woetzel skate live! Having followed her career for over a decade as an eligible, she looked every inch the Princess, and very much at home in the Professional ranks. In Act Two, she skated a prolongued series of beautiful lifts and spirals in a Pas de Deux with her Prince, Vadim Yarkov, that really captured the sweeping music of Tchaikovsky, it was gorgeous skating with effortless, powerful flow.
My only criticism, very minor, was in the final Wedding Scene, all the cast were wearing white, which did not work as a spectacle. The two Principals looked great in their sequined white costumes, but there should've been more of a contrast with the Ensemble's plainer all white outfits, although, all the other costumes worn throughout the show were absolutely beautiful, especially the Lilac Fairy's costumes, and there were the usual Tarasova floaty sheer chiffon scarves waved as part of the choreography. Each skater was dressed very well according to their physical appearance, eg. a dark brunette lady wore the red dress in one Ensemble scene, looking rather Latin, while the Blonde skaters were dressed in pastel shades.
The famous "Waltz of the Flowers" scene was pure fairytale in it's lovliness, though the chaps wore some perculiar head wear, which resembled shower caps!
It was well worth the price of the ticket - only £25 - with a great overview from the Upper Circle of all the intricate weaving patterns of choreography. I can thoroughly recommend Sadler's Wells as a venue if you are visiting London, it has a cafe and all facilities on each level, so wherever you sit, you are catered for. My only criticism is the crowded Souvenir Shop, which is more of an alcove, with no room to see anything properly post show, and overpriced merchandise - £5 for a fridge magnet!
The 'stagedoor' area at Sadler's Wells is just next door, in the entrance to the adjoining Lillian Bayliss Theatre, which you can go inside and wait for the performers to come from their dressing rooms to their own cafe/meeting place in between shows [I was at a Matinee, and there was another performance that evening].
I met many of the skaters, getting autographs, and saying "Pasiba" [I think that's the correct Russian!] "Thank You" for a wonderful show, they were all happy to sign our programmes, and very friendly and warm. I spotted Mandy Woetzel, who is tiny, and was out of her blonde, long ringlets wig to reveal very short hair, and went over to chat and ask for her autograph. She was chatting with a couple of people, including a tall man, I looked up at him, and blurted out, "Oh, it's Robin Cousins!" like a total dipstick!!!! If I'm expecting to see stars, I can be 'cool', but this was totally unexpected, and a great surprise! Though I've heard the 1980 British Olympic Champion is a regular at Sadler's Wells.
Robin had worked with Mandy in 'Holiday On Ice', which he is currently touring as choreographer, but no dates in London, sadly. They may consider setting up a temporary Arena in Battersea Park in the future. I asked if he would be commentating on Worlds next week for the BBC, but guess what? They are only broadcasting one highlights programme of the whole World Championships "maybe over the Easter holidays", Robin said. [I said I would continue to lobby the BBC for more skating coverage, but thank God for Eurosport]. I asked after Jayne Torvill, as they both live in Sussex, and he said she was "fine, looking after her son, now aged two and a half", but to "look out for an announcement soon", as both he and Jayne would be featured on ITV next Christmas, he couldn't tell me what exactly, but "No!" they "wouldn't be performing!" Granada will be producing it [I'm not sure if it's the "Stars On Thin Ice" reality show or something different]. I wish they would film "Sleeping Beauty on Ice" for TV/Video/DVD release, as it would be great.
Finally, I had a chat with Mandy on her own outside......smoking a cigarette!! [I told her off!] She said she was enjoying touring, but it was "very tiring" as they were staying in Croydon, which is one and a half hour's drive across London every day, poor thing. She was very sweet and posed for photos with us, I said, "I wish you could come and stay with me!" I asked her about getting used to skating with a new Pairs Partner, and she said she felt "very safe" with him in the lifts, and the moves in the show were "easy" for her - Double Twist Lift, Throw Axel. We chatted about her time in 'Holiday On Ice', which I described as a German show, and she said, "No, it's Dutch!" I asked all the skaters I met if they enjoyed working with Tarasova, and they all said, "it's very interesting!"
Mandy left us to go and have some lunch before the evening perormance, and I asked her to please come back and skate in the UK every year, as we are big skating fans over here!
A great day's entertainment, the icing on the cake was meeting the stars backstage, I only wish I'd have booked up for a mid-week performance aswell, before they leave Sadler's Wells tomorrow. The large Theatre was full, and it was a great success, so hopefully more iceshows will come here in the future. It was very much an 'experiment' by the Theatre Management, who have never staged an iceshow before, but hopefully there'll be many more.
Thank You Imperial Ice Stars!!!!
Scroll down here to watch a video clip:
http://www.sadlers-wells.com/whats_on/2005_2006/sleeping.asp
http://www.imperialicestars.com/
Great photos from the show.
:D
What a beautiful show! It was superb entertainment, and I found myself mingling not only with the stars, but an Olympic Legend backstage!!
Apart from former German Pairs Champion Mandy Woetzel, who played Princess Aurora, it was a company of Russian/Ukrainian high quality skaters - The Imperial Ice Stars - choreographed by the great Tatiana Tarasova.
Over the past few months I've followed the progress of this tour, starting in Australia, with online articles about the unique staging in Theatres, converting the stage into an ice pad, rather than performing in the usual arenas in the round. It made for a very interesting show, with the choreography directed to the front of stage, which gave the production clarity and was of a very high standard throughout, bearing comparison with any Ballet production of this famous piece in it's beauty. It was superb - if anything the second half was even more spectacular than the first, it gradually built to a tremendous climax with cheers and applause ringing out from the audience.
It has been on tour throughout the UK, and I saw it today at Sadler's Wells Theatre, in North London [my local theatre] and if you're lucky, you can catch the show at the newly refurbished Wimbledon Theatre in South West London next week, before the Company sadly leaves our shores for the Asian leg of their World Tour.
I must say, creating a full length Classical Ballet on ice, with intricate ensemble choreography is, in my opinion, Tatiana Tarasova's forte. I so much prefer her professional choreography to the work she does with eligible skaters, which I find bombastic and sometimes unsubtle, as she crams everything into a four minute routine. The entire choreography in this full length show was full of surprises, innovative, beautiful, exciting, dangerous, humorous, it had everything - including aerial Ballet, skating on stilts [amazing!], and a gorgeous section with the delightful Lilac Fairy dancing on Pointe in Ballet shoes!
Elena Pyatash, a Ukrainian, danced and skated the role of the Lilac Fairy with such grace, poise and effortless technique, and a superb array of Pairs moves for a former ice dancer. I was flabbergasted to catch her smoking a ciggarette outside the Theatre afterwards! But it didn't affect her energy, as she was practically on stage the whole duration of the show!
There was the usual array of lithe young male performers, very dashing, and all skated to a superb standard, including triple jumps, Double Axels, Arabian and Stag jumps, stunning lifts, death spirals, all was here, interpreting the music wonderfully, with only a couple of falls on the jumps. It was breath taking as they glided very fast across the stage with no fear, as there was no barrier at the footlights, and they would skate right up to the edge often in dangerous lift positions [I mentioned this backstage afterwards, and the Olympic Legend who I shall mention later said, "Oh, you get used to it"!]
Carabosse, in this production, was an evil Evil Queen, rather than the usual male role danced in the Ballet version, and Maria Borovikova was cheered to the rafters, as she gave a ravishing, energetic, stylish performance, and was definitely one of the stars of the show. Dressed in black, with dramatic make-up and hair, she was certainly not afraid to be 'Evil' and some of the younger kids in the audience became a little frightened - good!
Anton Klykov, as the 'Court Jester' was very funny, and displayed a great array of technical skating, especially in his spinning and Arabian leaps across the stage. Good acting skills also, there were many props used, and great set design, which added to the story telling, along with a taped narration, and glorious Tchaikovsy score. It was all seamless, and transported the audience to a far off land of Fairy Tales........
It was such a pleasure to see Mandy Woetzel skate live! Having followed her career for over a decade as an eligible, she looked every inch the Princess, and very much at home in the Professional ranks. In Act Two, she skated a prolongued series of beautiful lifts and spirals in a Pas de Deux with her Prince, Vadim Yarkov, that really captured the sweeping music of Tchaikovsky, it was gorgeous skating with effortless, powerful flow.
My only criticism, very minor, was in the final Wedding Scene, all the cast were wearing white, which did not work as a spectacle. The two Principals looked great in their sequined white costumes, but there should've been more of a contrast with the Ensemble's plainer all white outfits, although, all the other costumes worn throughout the show were absolutely beautiful, especially the Lilac Fairy's costumes, and there were the usual Tarasova floaty sheer chiffon scarves waved as part of the choreography. Each skater was dressed very well according to their physical appearance, eg. a dark brunette lady wore the red dress in one Ensemble scene, looking rather Latin, while the Blonde skaters were dressed in pastel shades.
The famous "Waltz of the Flowers" scene was pure fairytale in it's lovliness, though the chaps wore some perculiar head wear, which resembled shower caps!
It was well worth the price of the ticket - only £25 - with a great overview from the Upper Circle of all the intricate weaving patterns of choreography. I can thoroughly recommend Sadler's Wells as a venue if you are visiting London, it has a cafe and all facilities on each level, so wherever you sit, you are catered for. My only criticism is the crowded Souvenir Shop, which is more of an alcove, with no room to see anything properly post show, and overpriced merchandise - £5 for a fridge magnet!
The 'stagedoor' area at Sadler's Wells is just next door, in the entrance to the adjoining Lillian Bayliss Theatre, which you can go inside and wait for the performers to come from their dressing rooms to their own cafe/meeting place in between shows [I was at a Matinee, and there was another performance that evening].
I met many of the skaters, getting autographs, and saying "Pasiba" [I think that's the correct Russian!] "Thank You" for a wonderful show, they were all happy to sign our programmes, and very friendly and warm. I spotted Mandy Woetzel, who is tiny, and was out of her blonde, long ringlets wig to reveal very short hair, and went over to chat and ask for her autograph. She was chatting with a couple of people, including a tall man, I looked up at him, and blurted out, "Oh, it's Robin Cousins!" like a total dipstick!!!! If I'm expecting to see stars, I can be 'cool', but this was totally unexpected, and a great surprise! Though I've heard the 1980 British Olympic Champion is a regular at Sadler's Wells.
Robin had worked with Mandy in 'Holiday On Ice', which he is currently touring as choreographer, but no dates in London, sadly. They may consider setting up a temporary Arena in Battersea Park in the future. I asked if he would be commentating on Worlds next week for the BBC, but guess what? They are only broadcasting one highlights programme of the whole World Championships "maybe over the Easter holidays", Robin said. [I said I would continue to lobby the BBC for more skating coverage, but thank God for Eurosport]. I asked after Jayne Torvill, as they both live in Sussex, and he said she was "fine, looking after her son, now aged two and a half", but to "look out for an announcement soon", as both he and Jayne would be featured on ITV next Christmas, he couldn't tell me what exactly, but "No!" they "wouldn't be performing!" Granada will be producing it [I'm not sure if it's the "Stars On Thin Ice" reality show or something different]. I wish they would film "Sleeping Beauty on Ice" for TV/Video/DVD release, as it would be great.
Finally, I had a chat with Mandy on her own outside......smoking a cigarette!! [I told her off!] She said she was enjoying touring, but it was "very tiring" as they were staying in Croydon, which is one and a half hour's drive across London every day, poor thing. She was very sweet and posed for photos with us, I said, "I wish you could come and stay with me!" I asked her about getting used to skating with a new Pairs Partner, and she said she felt "very safe" with him in the lifts, and the moves in the show were "easy" for her - Double Twist Lift, Throw Axel. We chatted about her time in 'Holiday On Ice', which I described as a German show, and she said, "No, it's Dutch!" I asked all the skaters I met if they enjoyed working with Tarasova, and they all said, "it's very interesting!"
Mandy left us to go and have some lunch before the evening perormance, and I asked her to please come back and skate in the UK every year, as we are big skating fans over here!
A great day's entertainment, the icing on the cake was meeting the stars backstage, I only wish I'd have booked up for a mid-week performance aswell, before they leave Sadler's Wells tomorrow. The large Theatre was full, and it was a great success, so hopefully more iceshows will come here in the future. It was very much an 'experiment' by the Theatre Management, who have never staged an iceshow before, but hopefully there'll be many more.
Thank You Imperial Ice Stars!!!!
Scroll down here to watch a video clip:
http://www.sadlers-wells.com/whats_on/2005_2006/sleeping.asp
http://www.imperialicestars.com/
Great photos from the show.
:D