The famous ice theatre The Imperial Ice Stars, which was founded in 2004, is coming to Australia again. The theatre's repertoire includes six ice shows. This time, the company is bringing its production of Swan Lake on Ice to Sydney. Before the performances at the Coliseum Theatre, we talked to Olga Sharutenko, the performer of the role of Odette, a former world champion among youth in ice dancing and winner of a number of international tournaments.
— Olga, there are several strong schools of ice dancing in the world, including the British and Russian. Many readers of the older generation remember the brilliant performances of Lyudmila Pakhomova, Natalia Bestemianova, Jayne Torvill. When you took part in competitions, who was an example for you among the athletes? Who trained you? Are there any world-class athletes in ice dancing in Russia now?
— I can't help but agree with you, in figure skating and especially in ice dancing, Soviet/Russian athletes have always been in the lead, but the British, Canadians and Americans were not far behind. But I will say for myself that our skaters have always been distinguished by, as they say, soul and a creative approach to the selection and execution of their programs.
When I was growing up and just starting to skate, I was inspired by those people and athletes whom you mentioned, pairs: Pakhomova-Gorshkov, Klimova-Ponomarenko, Torvill-Dean, with whom fate later brought me together to work on the television program "Dancing On Ice" in Great Britain, Grischuk-Platov. Evgeny Platov also later gave his talent as a choreographer to my Odette. And then I just madly loved watching figure skating on TV, like many of us.
And now the Russian Ice Dancing School, as well as all types of figure skating, continues the traditions of previous generations and does not lower the bar for the beauty of skating, creativity and unique technique. From early childhood until the end of my sports career, I trained in the group of Honored Coach of Russia Alexey Gorshkov in tandem with Honored Choreographer of Russia Mikhail Pavlyuchenko, who, by a happy coincidence, is coming with us to Australia, and he turns 90 in 2025.
— How long have you been performing in the Imperial Ice Stars team? Was it difficult to rebuild after the sports period and turn into an ice theatre artist? How big is the group of artists here and from what countries? Tell us a little about the creator of the ice theatre Tony Mercer, who prepares the productions of the plays?
— I started working with Imperial Ice Stars when the company was founded in 2004. I won't hide the difficulties of the transition, the transformation of an athlete into an ice theatre artist was not cloudless, painless or easy. But this process was necessary to grow into the best version of yourself and make the theatre audience believe you as a performer of a role, and not as a champion skater with medals. And technically there were moments when we ourselves did not believe that the most difficult elements of figure skating could be performed on stage. But all this is behind us now.
Our team is made up of 22 top-level figure skaters from different regions of Russia, and also a technical team from Great Britain, without which our show would be impossible. This team is always selected thanks to our inspirer and organizer, the strictest critic and teacher, the director of "Imperial Ice Stars" Tony Mercer. His experience, selection of the team from the director to the technician, personal example in work and simply human faith in talents help us to embody his ideas on stage and deserve spectator applause in theatres around the world.
— Swan Lake is one of the most popular ballets in the world. On ice, the choreography and possibilities are completely different. Tell us what will attract the attention of the audience that will come to your performances in Sydney?
— Without a doubt, everyone will agree that Swan Lake is truly the most famous and popular ballet in the world with a century-long history. And at first, the idea of retelling this masterpiece in the language of figure skating seemed crazy, but Tony had no doubts and did not allow us. There are other possibilities on the ice, which we used and worked hard on. Dynamics, speed of movement complement and enhance the perception of what is happening without interfering with the course of history. The most difficult elements of figure skating are selected in such a way as to best convey the images and characters of the heroes. Theatrical effects are intertwined with musical accents and emphasize the emotionality of the story. Figure skating is our language, with which we tell the story of the white swan and make the viewer experience it with us.
— Have you performed in Australia before, what can you say about this country and its audience?
— The Australian audience is one of the most responsive, warmly accepting and friendly in the world. I have been to Australia 5 or 6 times and each time I only become more convinced of my own opinion of this beautiful country and people.
Thank you very much for your answers, we wish good luck and great success to the artists of The Imperial Ice Stars.
Vladimir KOUZMIN
Swanlake
Venue: Sydney Coliseum Theatre, 33 Railway Street, Rooty Hill
Season: from 8 January 2025
Showtimes: Wednesday 2pm & 7pm; Thursday 7pm; Friday 7.30pm; Sat 2pm & 7.30pm; Sunday 1pm & 6pm
Prices: from $69.90
Info: swanlakeonice.com.au
