Swan Lake on Ice takes flight at MBS

Swan Lake on Ice takes flight at MBS Grand Theatre

Swan Lake on Ice returns to Singapore after four years and this time, the ice dance will be performed at the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre from Tuesday, where a special rink is constructed.

Swan Lake takes flight on the frozen stage from August 30 to September 2.

Graceful, elegant and almost beautifully tragic, Swan Lake is a well-loved fairy tale accompanied by a magnificent score by 19th century Russian composer Tchaikovsky.

But before the show can be performed on ice, the stage needs a complete "freeze-over".

Paul Mansfield, the Production Manager of "Swan Lake on Ice", said: "We brought everything with us here from the UK, and we installed a full ice rink...We start by putting down five tonnes of crushed ice, which has been supplied locally.

"Then we have a person stay here overnight, all night, and every 15 minutes, they'll spray the ice rink again so that each time, it slowly builds up a layer of ice, getting thicker and thicker, until it's about 20cm thick. And then after that, it just needs to be maintained."

Normally it takes three days to build a rink but here, the crew only has about 14 hours to do so in the lead up to the show. And when that is done, the 26 skaters are ready to wow the audience.

Mansfield said: "Many of the elements that they are performing would normally be done on a normal ice rink that's 60m by 60m. This one behind me is only 14m wide. So you'll see some incredible feats - they can get up to speeds of 30 miles an hour as they're going around the ice."

Mansfield said compared with its first run in Singapore, this version will feature new moves, new scenes and most of all, a surprise at the end.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~