BWW Reviews: SWAN LAKE ON ICE, New Wimbledon Theatre, April 6 2011

With Natalie Portman feathering her nest with acting awards for Black Swan and celebrities' recent dancing on ice still fresh in the mind, The Imperial Ice Stars slip into South London at an opportune moment. With over 100 spectacular costumes, more lifts, toe-loops and double salchows than a entire Red Army of Torvills and Deans, the company of Russian champion skaters spin, jump and, yes, even dance their way through a feelgood adaptation of the Tchaikovsky classic.

If you're not au fait with the story, it's probably worth reading a brief synopsis prior to taking your seat - while Baron von Rothbart is a cartoonishly sinister baddie (played with devilish charm by Vadim Yakov), it's sometimes tricky to work out why Siegfried (Andrei Penkin, a fine skater with an ordinary haircut) would regret choosing the dynamic and beautiful black swan Odile (Olena Pyatash) over the somewhat soppy white swan Odette (Olga Sharutenko). But, in Tony Mercer's version, everything is for the best and any lingering whiff of Russian melancholia is banished to Siberia.

Despite the spectacle, and, with upwards of sixteen skaters on stage simultaneously sliding at speed, it's very spectacular, the marriage of music and movement that lies at the heart of ballet is not neglected. Well, with tunes like Tchaikovsky's, how could it be? The audience were on their toes at the end demanding a last hurrah from the Ice Stars - they obliged en masse and still didn't crash into each other. Swan Lake has come a long way since its first staging 134 years ago in Moscow and this version is about as accessible as it gets, so go for the pleasure it gives the eyes and stay for the pleasure it gives the ears.

If you want to catch Swan Lake at The New Wimbledon Theatre, you'd better get your skates on, as the swans migrate after April 9 to tour England and beyond.            

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