TIME, the latest offering from the institution that is Holiday On Ice opened at the Brighton Centre on Friday, January 5 and runs until Sunday, January 14.
Following last years production BELIEVE, choreographed by Olympic champion Christopher Dean, this year’s creative director and choreographer David Liu continues to move the choreography away from traditional straight lines, such a trademark of Holiday on Ice productions over the years, and creates a wonderful extravaganza of pure free ice dance. His choreography is quite simply first class.
A retrospective piece, TIME invites us to remember those special memories from our past, including our first kiss, first love and first dream holiday among many others.
The story telling, especially in the first half, is exquisite, easy to follow, and allows the skaters to express themselves and treat the audience to as good an example of free expressive ice dance I have seen in any Holiday on Ice Show over the years. My only observation is that while the first half is great for adults to watch, its pace is slow and was hard work for the some of the kids in the audience who were at times slightly restless.
The second half contains more of the ‘tricks’ associated with a Holiday on Ice show, is more likely to engage the youngsters in the audience and contains the wheel, which, unusually, is reprised later towards the end of the show, in the finale, which is mesmerising, structurally the strongest for years and builds the production up to a glorious climax.
TIME is more of a company effort than many recent Holiday on Ice shows. All the chorus skaters were sound and impressive as were the principals and semi principals. The pairs team of Yannick Bonheur and Annette Dytrt deserve special mention for their presence and skill on the ice, as does the acrobatist Donet Collazo Valdez who apart from being stunning to look at commanded the ice and the attention of the audience each time he appeared.
The musical score, specially recorded for the show is excellent as are the music choices, while the use of the LED screen and graphics helps transport us back in time to those magic moments of our youth. The original costume designs, lights and in particular the sound, ensure this Holiday on Ice production remains world-class.
I say it every year, for me personally Holiday on Ice is one of the most magical evenings out in Brighton. This years show, at times balletic with obvious references to Holiday on Ice of the past, incorporates all the production values of a Cirque du Soleil production and is fantastic value for money.
Highly recommended.
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