Skating spectacular

I HAVE no doubt audiences will be completely dazzled when a new ice dance spectacular hits Southampton. I went to see the UK premiere of Swan Lake on Ice in Manchester and it was utterly mesmerising.

The show brings together the timeless tale of Swan Lake but with the added thrill of world class skating in the intimate surroundings of the theatre.

It showcases breath-taking triple flips, awe-inspiring aerial acrobatics, spirals, turns and spectacular high speed lifts. But Swan Lake on Ice also brings together some interesting characters.

Its creator is Tony Mercer, recognised as one of the world's leading directors and choreographers of ice shows and the brains behind Sleeping Beauty on Ice, which visited Southampton as part of its world tour last year.

Former junior world champion figure skater Olga Sharutenko, who partnered actor and singer John Barrowman in last year's ITV Dancing on Ice show, plays Odette.

And seeing her Prince Siegfried - Vadim Yarkov, former USSR national team member and the winner of hosts of international medals - carrying three skaters around the ice at top speed is a sight to behold.

So what brought the trio, and a team of 25 performers plus nearly 20 backstage staff, together?

Tony tells me: "I was really struck by Torvill and Dean and the theatrics in their skating. No one was doing what they were doing and I just thought it would be great on stage.

"I have been involved in ice shows since about '93 and I wanted to see more of what they did in the shows. I thought it would be good to make interpretations of ballet on ice and four years ago I created the Imperial Ice Stars.

"With Sleeping Beauty on Ice we were supposed to tour for six months but ended up going round the world for two years.

"At the same time we were starting to work on the idea of Swan Lake on Ice as the story is wonderful and I thought it would work on ice."

Russian Olga and Vadim, who was born in Kazakhstan, both began training to be figure skaters at the age of six and switched to shows in the late '90s after a successful decade winning medals with the Russian team.

Olga, speaking in accented but excellent English, says: "For five or six years I was the worst skater in my group! I couldn't jump or spin and my partner wasn't happy with me because I always went wrong!

"But I trained every day and did well. The sport is very well supported in Russia.

"Winning medals was an amazing feeling, but what we're doing now is different. It's not a competition any more, you don't expect marks! You're not performing for the judges, but for the audience.

"It's more relaxed. You see friendly smiling faces.

"That gives you even more than medals. I have a medal every night as people come up and say it was great, we had a nice evening.

"Your body is exhausted, but standing ovations perk you up again!"

All three will be riding into Southampton this weekend where the technical team will work round the clock on turning the Mayflower stage into a rink after Chicago closes on Saturday night and before the first ice show on Monday night.

Swan Lake on Ice has been compared to Cirque de Soleil in that critics believe it will do for ice-skating what the West End production did for modern day circus.

"In my mind I'm a world champion on the ice," Tony laughs.

"It's not quite the case in real life. But the others have achieved exactly what I had set out in my mind.

"That comparison is amazing. If someone says I've done that to ice skating then I'm very, very happy."

Find out for yourself at The Mayflower from Monday to Saturday.

Tickets, priced £13.50 to £31.50, are available from the box office on 023 8071 1811 or online at www.the-mayflower.com.