Ice Show Review (Singapore): Nutcracker on Ice by Imperial Ice Stars and Base Entertainment

Base Entertainment’s latest offering, Nutcracker on Ice, is running at the Marina Bay Sands Theatre from October 23-28 2012 and showcases the skaters from The Imperial Ice Stars.

The Nutcracker is of course the well-known ballet that tells the Christmas tale of a family preparing and enjoying the day’s festivities when a magician-toymaker appears who has many lifelike dolls with him, one of which is carved out of a wooden nutcracker. In the middle of the night as one of the children of the household comes down to inspect the nutcracker doll, she finds it has come to life, and along with other life-sized dolls, fairies, and soldiers, the nutcracker and the girl battle against naughty mice, only for the girl to wake up from this “dream” in the end.

This version of Nutcracker on Ice follows the same story, more or less, and brings the ballet onto the ice. With the use of colorful costumes and beautiful sets, the skaters will awe you with their fast twirls and high leaps on the ice. The audience will react with applause and “oohs” and “aahs” every few minutes as the show is packed with high-adrenalin acrobatic and gymnastic moves on skates. Especially mesmerizing is the duo who perform an Arabic theme which has them secured to harnesses as they soar high above the ground, even balancing themselves on each other at times.

Intertwined within the high-energy pieces are the more emotional ballads that see the two leads emote well with their faces and bodies, as they maneuver across the ice with sweeping footwork and deft figure skating spins, spirals, and jumps that include a variety of lutzes and axels with rotations. The choreography is beautiful to watch and both leads bring a lot of pathos into their performance.

In addition, a couple of the pieces see skaters bearing rings of fire, which add another exciting element to the performance. There is also magic incorporated into the first and last scene that adds another thrilling dimension to Nutcracker on Ice.

Nutcracker on Ice is delightful and wonderful, the skaters are well choreographed in their routines, and this performance will engage your senses right to the very end.