Swan Lake On Ice

So fresh was the ice that waves of cool air could be felt in the audience when the splendid troupe skated towards us.

The stage of the Sydney Coliseum had been transformed in just over a day and half, thanks to the special ingredients of 14 tonnes of ice and 2500 litres of anti-freeze.

Opening night was filled with thrills and spills. On three occasions skaters missed their mark and hit the deck. Thankfully there were no injuries, and they skated on – but it underscored the challenges of the production.

The sweeping drama of Tchaikovsky’s piece - which moves from lavish balls in palaces, to half human half swan dances, and dark forests - is well suited to this style of spectacular. Large LED screens quickly changed the scenes with dramatic images.

How do some of the most famous aspects of the ballet translate to ice skating?

One of the best known is the dance of the little swans, where the ballerinas hold arms in a row prancing and flexing feet en pointe in unison. Such delicate manoeuvres are impossible in ice skates, but this production gave a respectable impression of this dance, with the ballerinas walking on ice on their tip toes.

Other styles of movement are enhanced on ice. The opening scene involved soldiers entering a town square with extended benches. They were able to leap over the benches and slide underneath on their bellies like seals.

Twirls and leaps are much faster on ice. The audience was thrilled by the strength of the male dancers and poise of the ballerinas held aloft as they circled the rink, a highlight being a lofty manoeuvre involving just one hand.

Other effects added to the spectacle not seen in a ballet.  Large, framed cubes were rotated with dizzying speed. Dancers were raised into the air and spun around on ropes. Fire emerged on torches and on the ice.

The drama was most effectively portrayed when Prince Siegfried (Maksim Miroshkin) went into mourning when his swan Odette (Olga Sharutenko) was taken from him – leaving to spectacular fight to the death with Baron Von Rothbart (Ratibor Shiokov).

The duellers slid around with swords as they swished around the rink.

The audience, including flocks of young audience members dressed up in sparkles, some of whom had spent the performance duelling with ushers when they attempted to record proceedings on their phones, were well pleased.

Swan lake On Ice fits very snugly into the Sydney Coliseum and for those who don’t live nearby is well worth the trip.

David Spicer

Photographer: Chris Pavlich