Swan Lake on Ice at Star City Lyric Theatre

This is my first time to watch an ice-skating performance, and I'm really impressed. I've seen ice-skating competitions on TV and the ads for the show, but the real thing is better than I expected. For one, all 26 members of the Imperial Ice Stars are accomplished ice-skaters, and it shows. Imagine skating at full speed, in tune with the music, trying to remember the routine, interacting with the other skaters, and emoting, in a space that is only a tenth of a standard Olympic skating rink. That's gotta be hard.

The sets and lighting are simple yet effective, and the music and the cast's actions and expression drive the story forward. The show opens at a palace courtyard where we see Prince Siegfried (Vadim Yarkov) and his sidekick Benno (Andrei Penkine). It's the day before the Prince's 21st birthday. Everyone is dancing in pairs and having such fun. The Queen arrives and tells him that he is to choose a bride during his birthday party tomorrow and inherit the kingdom. Count Von Rothbart (Anton Klykov), who acts as mentor to the Prince, introduces him to his daughter Odile (Olena Pyatash). The Prince is not interested, and goes hunting with a crossbow.

After a quick set change, the stage is now a dark, bleak forest. The Prince and his hunting party comes to an enchanted lake where they see the Swan Princess Odette (Olga Sharutenko) and her flock of swans (in human form). Olga Sharutenko is definitely one of the highlights of this show. Her ice-skating and dancing skills are so good and graceful. As the pair dances, Prince Siegfried declares his love to Odette and tells her to come to tomorrow's Grand Ball with his ring, which she strings on her neck. Just what she needed to break the curse that made her into a swan. After the Prince left, the evil Count Von Rothbart swoops in and snatches the ring from Odette. Anton Klykov is another great dancer - cocky, forceful, powerful. He did a couple of 360-degree backflips (on iceskates) that left the audience gasping in wonder, including me.

Second part of the show opens at the Royal Hall, where Prince Siegfried is supposed to choose his wife from among the princesses. He dances with them one by one, but doesn't show much interest for he is smoothen with Odette. The princesses and their escorts must come from different parts of the world, judging from the costumes they were wearing. You've got Spanish matadors, Russian Cossack dancers, flamenco dancers, etc. with each set of dancers doing special routines, like tap dancing and gymnastics. Very nice. The evil Von Rothbart arrives with his daughter Odile, who is magically transformed to look like Odette. Of course, as Odette and Odile are played by different persons, they don't really look alike. That's just how the story goes. Anyway, Odile is a wonderful dancer herself. Fooled by Von Rothbart's sorcery and mesmerized by Odile's beauty, the Prince declares his love to Odile. At this point, the Count produces the royal family ring, and the Prince put it on Odile. Meanwhile, the real Odette was watching from a window, and she flees brokenhearted. Realizing his mistake, the Prince gives chase.

Back in the woods, Odette confronts the Count and later dances mournfully with her swans. They were dressed in white, the stage lights were turned off, and the UV lights turned on. It was a magnificent sight. Prince Siegfried arrives later, dances with Odette, and begs her for forgiveness. Odile, seeing how her father orchestrated everything, and how the couple truly loves each other, relinquishes the ring to Odette. Again Von Rothbart, together with his goons on stilts, arrives to break up the party. (I never knew you can ice-skate on stilts.) They had a big fight with thunder and lightning. The Prince and Benno cross swords with Von Rothbart, and he was later struck down. Thus, Odette was freed from the curse, and lived happily in human form with her Prince. The end.