The Nutcracker on Ice

With a cast that includes several medal-winning Russian ice skaters, the globe-trotting Imperial Ice Stars’ “The Nutcracker on Ice” is not only the opening act of our 15th Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance and Music in September but is also
 kicking off other major events over the globe. The troupe launches a festival in Madrid with “Cinderella” next Tuesday and after Bangkok will be heading to Tel Aviv with “Swan Lake”.
Co-founder, director and choreographer Tony Mercer, talking from the company’s home base in Moscow, begins by asking that we set the record straight, pointing out that “The Nutcracker on Ice” is not ballet on ice.
“The reason why the Imperial Ice Stars are receiving such a good reception worldwide is that we create our own style of theatrical ice dance,” he explains. “In the past, ice dance companies tried to do ballet on ice. You can’t. Ballet has its own dance form and so does ice dance. My own style is really like a drama played out on ice. I’m not in the world of ballet: I don’t have a balletic bone in my body. I don’t see any reason why we have to copy what’s been done before [in ballet].”
Mercer is careful that the performers he recruits are able to adapt to a theatrical space. “I look at how they perform theatrically both on and off the ice,” he says.
“I tend to create the show theatrically first. We discuss the characters and rehearse on the floor so that the performers understand the characters. I also start by choreographing the dramatic movements on the floor. Later, when we move to the ice, I choreograph the ice dance.”
After successes with “The Sleeping Beauty” (2004), “Swan Lake” (2006) and “Cinderella” (2008), Mercer has opted for a slightly different style for “The Nutcracker”, which premiered in Johannesburg in 2011. “It was a big step for us as I brought in comedic elements to some characters for the first time. It’s almost like silent comedy and the performers were nervous at first as they’d never done it before and didn’t know whether people would enjoy it. But at our first preview, the audience laughed in a nice way and the performers understood that they got it right. They were thrilled to realise that they could make people smile while simultaneously awing them with their skating skills and speeds. They grew up tremendously with this show.”
Among the company’s four works in its repertoire, Mercer regards “The Nutcracker” as the most pleasing.
“The comedic nature is very light. So often, ‘Nutcracker’, and especially Act II, is done in a very dark way. For a story that marks the festive season, I think that’s wrong and so I approached it in a different way. The show has a fresh feel and when you watch it, you believe in the characters. I don’t believe in maintaining the storyline just because it’s a fantasy. My feeling is that the story and the conclusion need to be logical so the audience can follow it from start to finish.”
“The Nutcracker on Ice” has received a wealth of favourable reviews. The Australian Stage wrote of their performance in Melbourne last year, “this certainly is a show packed with exceptional skill and very good character performances”, adding “In particular, children will adore ‘The Nutcracker on Ice’. The fun and frolic of presents galore, the boisterous behaviour of the rowdy boys, the winsome ways of little girls and indeed the evil Mouse Queen and King—and of course the ultimate join
 ing of hearts between little Marie and her Prince — all offer plenty to entertain.” The Courier-Mail concurred: “This is another quality production, and it’s hard not to be won over by the performers’ skills and enthusiasm”.
Mercer adds that one of the highlights is the “aerial gymnastics” in Act II. Making it even more special is that, for the first time, he has recruited a non-Russian performer. “One of the specialists in the field is a former South African ice skate champion,” he says.
From late October to early November, “The Nutcracker on Ice” will be at the London Palladium. Thanks to the Bangkok Festival’s supporters —
 Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Hospital, B. Grimm, Dusit Thani Bangkok, Indorama Venture, The Nation Group, Beiersdorf, SCG, Singha, Thai Airways International, Tourism Authority of Thailand and Toyota
 Motor Thailand — Thai families will get to enjoy it before the British public.
As for future productions, Mercer says that the company is now busy performing around the world and is fully booked through February 2015. Between performances, they are pondering the idea of staging either “Cats on Ice” or “The Phantom of the Opera on Ice” and hope to premiere it in 2015. Bangkok audiences are familiar with both and so the Festival may bring them back again.

Bring your kids
“The Nutcracker on Ice” is from September 13 to 15 at the Thailand Cultural Centre. Show time on the Friday is 7.30pm, on Saturday at 2pm and 7:30pm, and on Sunday at 2pm and 6.30pm.
Tickets costing from Bt700 to Bt3,000 are now on sale at ThaiTicketMajor.
For more information, visit www.BangkokFestivals.com, www.ImperialIceStars.com and “Imperial Ice Stars-Nutcracker on Ice” at Facebook.