Performance: Breaking the ice again

Torvill and Dean's Ice Adventures NEC Birmingham

Jennifer Rodger
Tuesday 16 December 1997 00:02 GMT
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The skating ex-policemen and secretary duo are reinventing themselves once again. It is thirteen years since Torvill and Dean entered the British national consciousness, proving the Brits could cut the ice. Quibbling over whether their dance routine could be classed as a sport didn't stop the general public claiming them with as much passion as their Olympic winning dance to Ravel. Go to Nottingham and you will even find a housing estate called Tordean.

It is unlikely that Ice Adventures will be as show-stopping as Torvill and Dean's real-life stories. Tabloid headlines are peopled with wronged wives and jilted lovers, and fuelled by accusations of obsession with skating glory and a most damning image of Jayne's one-off smile to Dean's ex-wife - on the day of their divorce. They have quit professional skating, threatened to leave England and returned to amateur skating as many times as people have asked how a couple so passionate in dance are married to other people.

But public addiction to their activities carries no weight on the score board. In 1993 they returned to the Olympics with the kind of BBC coverage never seen before - apart from when they were at the Olympics in 1984. Only this time their crowd-pleasing dance was deemed to be the flip that made them flop. Sharp-edged accusations of favouritism followed, and the British proved again that they weren't very good at sport.

Ice Adventures will be a departure from their usual type of show. It will be an adventure into - well, just about everything - with five stories that contain a mix of comedy, fantasy, passion and drama. The stage will be populated with an 8ft yeti, forty international skaters and, of course, Torvill and Dean. Music will straddle the best of the decades from Frank Sinatra, to Diana Ross and M People.

On tour: Birmingham NEC 0121-780 4133 (16-20,27,28 Dec), Wembley Arena London 0181-900 1234 (30 Dec-4 Jan), Ayr Centrum Arena 01292 671 600 (13 Jan), Murrayfield Ice Rink 0131-549 8383 (14 Jan), Manchester Nynex Arena 0161-930 8000 (16-17 Jan), Cardiff Ice House 01222 224488 (19 Jan), Newcastle Arena 0191 401 8000 (23-24 Jan), Nottingham Stadium 0115-948 4526 (27 Jan), Sheffield Arena 0114 256 5656 (30-31 Jan)

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