Last weekend the stage of the Royal Opera House Muscat was transformed into a huge ice-skating rink for an enchanting performance of a winter extravaganza. Blankets were even provided, airline-style, against the cold! The Imperial Ice Stars, co-founded by Tony Mercer in Manchester in 2004, transported all generations into the spectacular experience of ‘Cinderella’ for three sold-out, awe-inspiring performances. A dramatic retelling of this much-loved fairytale was animated through the media of ballet, trapeze, Cyr wheel, circus, acrobatics — and of course, top-class ice skating.
The curtain rose to reveal an old town square somewhere in Siberia. The ‘Palace Theatre’ was centre stage surrounded by quaint houses and three clocks strategically placed.
Immediately the square came alive with a cycling postman, an aerial balloon seller, couples spinning furiously, Cinderella herself flying high and giant illuminated cubes straight from the circus — all skating on ice. The vibrant costumes designed by Albina Gabueva were colourful and descriptive of the performers’ roles and status in the Jazz age — 1912. Stepmother, danced dramatically by the talented Olga Sharutenko, was a larger-than-life, magnificent maverick character in plum red, decadently wielding a long cigarette holder as she bossed her suffering husband about. Stepsisters in orange and pink were far from ugly, but together the trio became comic slapstick — as did the apron-wearing street buffoons whose gymnastic high jinks were just hilarious. Choreography was always perfectly synchronised with meticulous timing — like ballet — only much faster, with eye-watering leaps and spins!
Thrillingly intrepid aerial acrobatics saw men swinging partners high above their heads wearing heavy — and lethal — bladed boots. Males executed triple spins and pirouettes became dizzying spinning tops on ice. Chases took on cartoon proportions for speed and coordination.
The musical score, on a pre-recorded soundtrack, was excellent from start to finish. It used arrangements of Tchaikovsky’s ballet or original compositions by Tim Duncan and Yorkshire-born Edward Barnwell. It imitated Broadway Musicals, rich romantic film scores worthy of John Williams, jazz standards and even Tchaikovsky Waltz pastiche. The new and old blended perfectly, setting contrasting moods for each exciting scene.
The clocks became characters in themselves, speeding frenetically backwards as Fairy Godmother warns Cinderella of her curfew and later, during the ‘Dance of Thirteen O’clock’. Fairy Godmother was danced with acrobatic precision by Viktoria Lalomova, appearing in sparkly black on tall bladed stilts to prepare Cinders for the ball — receiving gasps of wonder from the stalls.
The set and lighting design by Australian Eamon D’Arcy and Paul Davison respectively, was phenomenal, evoking atmosphere and period without fussiness. When Cinderella met the Prince for the first time, dry-ice mist, blue lighting and warm yellow window-light created a dream-like quality as real water fell like rain onto their black umbrellas. The following ‘Invitation Dance’, with brightly coloured parasols provided a clever juxtaposition in light and mood. After impressive fire-stick juggling, six helpers assembled an LED-lit Stagecoach in front of the audience’s eyes to their amazement and delight.
Act 2 opened darkly with circus acrobats, five fire-jugglers -throwers and -spinners while Lalomova spun perilously above on her suspended aerial strap. Scene 2 was inside the Art Deco ‘Palace Theatre’ in metallic silver and black hues, based on the real 1935 Manchester Gaumont Cinema.
Three male Principals provided a real ‘tour de force’ of skating skills, such as in a Riverdance- style Irish jig, as soloists or together. Cinderella’s father, danced superbly throughout by Ratibor Shirikov, appeared in tender scenes with his daughter, as a stooge to his wife and in an energetic ‘Pas de Trois’. The Prince’s friend — a Dandini/Alidoro character (Daniil Kiryakov and sadly missed in the programme credits) — was a dapper and athletic skater, alone or in ensembles. The Prince himself, danced by the talented Aleksandr Vdovin, had a demanding and virtuoso role, especially in the magical world of the ‘Masquerade Ball’ when Cinderella fits the shoe and they skate in matching powder blue costumes, spellbound in an impossibly beautiful ‘Pas de Deux’.
The title role was taken delicately throughout by the beautiful, flexible Ksenia Stepanova. She was everyone’s darling and required great stamina for her starring role. The final scene was a metaphor of being in love; as Stepanova took off on wires to fly ‘on Cloud Nine’ above her Prince he spins below, looking adoringly up.
The long choreographed Finale celebrated the sparkling success of the production with trapeze artists and curtain calls aplenty, ensuring that another fairytale-on-ice appears next winter for more people to enjoy the beautiful Royal Opera House Muscat. Photos by Khalid al Busaidi
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