ICE, a new show created by Robin Cousins, opened at the Brighton Centre this week.
For most of the last 30 years Robin Cousins has been involved with Holiday on Ice productions as performer, choreographer and director. The Holiday on Ice formulae is well tested with regimented lines of skaters, camp costumes and fireworks in the trade mark finales.
Surely, no ICE show would be the same without “The Wheel”? In this new production Robin leaves all that behind and gives us a beautifully choreographed, balletic feast performed by a cast of international skaters of the very highest quality. He moulds together a fine musical score with lovely inventive dance movements.
There are few straight lines in this production it is all about positions, shapes and flowing arms. At times I thought I was watching a Martha Graham dance event. Robin Says ICE has been 40 years in planning and with the success of Dancing on Ice he will hopefully attract a new audience that can fully appreciate the finer points of this show.
Music supervisor Maurice Luttikhuis does a great job with the musical score. His arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water is pure genius as is the Swingtime Section and Finale. However, for me personally the opening Winterscape section was too long and affected the balance of the first half of the show.
The cast of fourteen hand picked skaters are all soloists in their own right and each bring their own special talents to the company. However, special mention must go to Michael Solonski who sings live to a lost love while skating and performing double axels. His performance mesmorised the audience and had the hair standing up on the back of my neck. Vaughn Chipeur landed all his back somersaults with ease while Kate Endriulaitis’ gymnastic performance on a ring suspended above the rink was very impressive.
The innovative lighting scheme by Tim Mitchell is on the money. The set is designed by David Shields who is also responsible for the flowing costume designs.
ICE is completely different from recent productions Robin Cousins has been involved with. It is beautiful to watch and I can highly recommend it for lovers of skating and lovers of dance.
WHAT: Robin Cousin’s ICE
WHERE: The Brighton Centre (and on tour)
WHEN: January 22 – February 2
TICKETS: £22.50 – £42.50
MORE INFO: CLICK HERE:
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