New version of Swan Lake told in Venue Cyrmu ice show

Sep 30 2010 by Judith Phillips, North Wales Weekly News

Swan Lake

CHOREOGRAPHER Tony Mercer believes ballet fans will see a version of Swan Lake at Venue Cymru next month much as Tchaikovsky intended when he wrote the score – except it’s on ice.

Most ballet companies base their stagings on the 1895 revival by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia.

But Tony, also the show’s director, believes his interpretation is closer to its roots.

“I wanted to create a version which tells the story as Tchaikovsky intended originally.

“Over the years it had been changed dramatically in several different versions.

“Tchaikovsky created the story board and wrote the music, but it had been altered by so many choreographers. What I’ve done is taken it back to the original.”

Originally from Kinmel Bay, where he still lives for some of the year, Tony has carved out a niche in the world of ice shows.

In 2004 he set up The Imperial Ice Stars to bring to life a new style of what he calls “theatre on ice” and toured Sleeping Beauty on Ice in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Germany, Holland, and South Africa.

His first version of Swan Lake on Ice played to more than 1.5 million people.

“With my first version I only did about 75% of what I intended, now I’ve put in the other 25%. The biggest changes are in Act 1 which has been completely re-staged,” he said.