Date Reviewed: 17th April, 2009
Venue: MEN Arena

The MEN Arena last night was packed with people keen to see the stars of the hit TV show Dancing on Ice, and of course Torvill and Dean, for themselves.

A percussive piece opened the show with dancers in dramatic costumes and masks. Curtains dropped to cover the middle of the rink and were whisked away by the other skaters to reveal the iconic pair in their well known pose that opens Bolero. Being of an age that remembers the original 25 years ago, actually watching this expressive if slightly adapted performance was a highlight of the evening.

The show then followed the basic format of the TV programme. Host Andi Peters and the celebrity ice dancers and their partners were introduced along with the judges, four from the TV show. There was also a guest judge, a member of the Key 103 team on the night we were there. Each partnership performed their routine and were scored by the judges and then either Torvill or Dean and a couple of the judges were given the opportunity to comment.

Past winners Suzanne Shaw and Kyran Bracken were competing alongside this year’s winner Ray Quinn. Also competing were several of this years TV show competitors – Jessica Taylor, Melinda Messenger, Roxanne Pallett, Zoe Salmon and Todd Carty. Chris Fountain, last year’s runner up, only performs at the weekends due to other commitments so wasn’t there on opening night.

The audience were only too willing to cheer the stars and their professional partners, applaud and boo the judges as they gave their scores and generally show their appreciation of the hard work and dedication that goes into producing skating of this standard. Todd Carty recreated the now famous leaving the rink part of his routine and won huge support from the audience for the natural comedy he brings to his skating.

After all the dances and judges scores were given, the phone lines were opened for the audience to text in their vote. The second half opened with another group number followed by various performances by both the celebrities and their partners and the professionals. Torvill and Dean did another solo piece to the rapture of the audience.

Finally the judges returned and the celebrities lined up to hear their fate. Somewhat unsurprisingly the final two were Ray and Kyran, who then both skated their Bolero for the judges to decide who won the trophy for the night. To my daughter’s delight Ray won (as apparently he has done for every show so far). There was a final dance number with all the skaters, and the show came to a crowd pleasing close.

If you love the TV programme, then this show will not disappoint. The immediacy of being there and watching the performances live adds to the general excitement. However for me the opportunity to watch Torvill and Dean perform Bolero live was something I never thought I’d see and the efect is completely mesmerising.

For this alone, Dancing On Ice is worth seeing, but the celebs are great too.

-Helen Jones

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 4:07 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.