Snow White on Ice – Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham

Choreographer/director: Guiseppe Arena

Music: Silvio Amato

Reviewer: Helen Chapman

The Public Reviews Rating:

Everybody knows the story of Snow White: a beautiful girl is cast under a spell that robs her of life, until her handsome prince saves her and they are bound by love. So it would take something spectacular to bring this well known tale to a new level. The world famous Russian Ice Stars manage it, midway through their national tour.

Snow White on Ice is a magical display of ballet, gymnastics and aerial acrobatics and the audience was often left gasping for breath at yet another daring stunt. Pirouettes, biellmanns, mohawks, lutz jumps, shotgun spins, salchow jumps (do I sound like I know what I’m talking about?). The choreography was mesmerising, executed to perfection, faultlessly synchronised to the music and each dancer to the others. Making it more extraordinary was the relatively small rink on which so many skaters were weaving in and out of each other, never colliding but pushing themselves to the limits each time.

With such a renowned cast, it is little wonder that Snow White on Ice was so compelling to watch. The show boasts world and European Champion Valdis Mintals, with the cast as a whole laying claim to over 200 medals between them, at national and world competitive levels.

Despite the lack of dialogue, the performance successfully portrayed a mix of emotions: sadness at the death of Aurora, fear in the presence of evil Drina, laughter at the seven dwarfs and pure nerves at the acrobatics displayed by the King’s jesters – I definitely held my breath on more than one occasion. It was more than an ice skating show, but rather theatre-on-ice, with characters developing throughout. The accompanying music composed by Silvio Amato added to the show’s ability to captivate the audience – it is a shame there was no live orchestra as this would have made for an even better atmosphere.

Highlights for me were the comical geese whose dances together somehow reflected their lighthearted relationship. Also worthy of a mention is Toppa the crow, played by Alexei Kozlov, who brought another entertaining element to the performance.

Snow White on Ice won’t be everyone’s favourite, but if you like a spectacle to watch and can appreciate gravity-defying lifts, you’ll love it.