Sleeping Beauty on Ice is nowhere near as bad as your instincts suggest it should be. Admittedly, some of it is pretty awful: the Russian designs are a Temple to Tat, with costumes and wigs more My Little Pony than classical grace.
The skaters clump around the delicate original, with fixed grins, exaggerated expressions and legs hoiked as high and spread as wide as anatomy will allow. You'll get more acting from your fridgefreezer than these ice-slicers, and as for Tchaikovsky's music, the heart sinks as his gentle melodies are piped rather than played by real musicians.
And yet, and yet... there's something about the younger skaters that wins you over. The "corps de glace" are a fresh-looking bunch. Many are multi-medal-winning performers, so there's no falling over or skating into the audience. Everyone beams as they whizz around the iced-over stage, specially constructed from 14 tons of ice, 14,000 litres of water and 10 miles of pipes.
All are exuberant and innocent, the women pretty, and the men bonny, several of them formerly of the Russian army, so lifts and twirls are not something they break sweat for.
Prince Désiré is especially good, easily able to hold Princess Aurora above his head while he glides around on one leg. It is fine, athletic stuff, and you happily cheer Vadim Yarkov as he takes his bow. Also good was Anton Klykov's Catalabutte, the court jester-cum-MC who spins and rolls his way through the show.
Less appealing were the three leading ladies. Olympic champ Mandy Woetzel was technically faultless, but her Princess Aurora scores nul points for artistic interpretation. Olga Sharoutenko's good fairy should ditch the pointe shoes(yes, she discards her blades for a ballet turn), while the wicked fairy was an ace skater but pulled strange faces.
This Sleeping Beauty is more panto-on-ice than ballet-on-skates. In that way, it's harmless family fun, plus Sadler's Wells gets its cultural Get Out of Jail card. However, part of you still wonders why it's at London's much-respected venue for serious ballet and dance, rather than, say, a West End theatre.
Until 13 March. Information: 0870 737 7737.
Imperial Ice Stars: The Sleeping Beauty On Ice
