Torvil and Dean are still regarded as the world's best skaters by the Russian-based company bringing Sleeping Beauty On Ice to Sunderland next week. The cast includes former German champion Mandy Woetzel who admits to Viv Hardwick that she's afraid of heights.

MANDY Woetzel has been on top of the world as an ice skater, so it comes as a surprise to discover that the former World Champion and Olympic bronze medallist had to conquer a fear of heights to take on the stage role of Sleeping Beauty.

The pairs skater, who leads a 23-strong cast heading for Sunderland's Empire Theatre next week (April 5-9), explains that she wasn't confronted with her ultimate test until The Sleeping Beauty ice rink was moved above the heads of the audience.

With a £2m UK tour at stake, Woetzel knew that success lay in her partnership with Russian Vadim Yarkov (as Prince Desire) who provides the spectacular lifts, holds, catches and spins.

She says: "I didn't even know that a theatre show like this existed until I got a phone call and until we got to a theatre all the rehearsal was on a Russian rink where we only seemed to have a tiny ice cube of space.

"My friends laugh about me because I'm afraid of heights and when we came to the theatre I was really shocked to see how far you were above the audience. There are blinding spotlights and you come out of the dark to skate, so I was afraid at first. But I'm all right now and I know I have a partner who would never let me fall."

She also reveals that the skaters have to learn the skill of presenting a performance just in one direction after years of skating to an audience on all sides of a rink.

Woetzel adds that the German teaching method is to continue with a routine even if there's a mistake while the Russians tend to go back and repeat the movement.

"That led to a few shouts during rehearsal," she laughs.

The man in charge of The Imperial Ice Stars is British artistic director Tony Mercer, who has found a new life in Russia.

He says: "I'm in Moscow at the moment, that's because I live here and because the world figure skating championships are taking place here and I've been invited by a number of the coaches of skaters to take a look at them for potential inclusion in The Imperial Ice Stars."

Asked about the glory days for British ice skating, Mercer comments:

"I was talking to Christopher Dean a couple of days ago about this and one always hopes that there will be another Torvill and Dean. Even in Russia, probably the best country at creating champions, they still hold Torvill and Dean as the mark of excellence. They are still the ones everyone aspires to become, because Russians regard them as the most incredible skaters ever."

With the World Figure Skating championships being featured live mainly on cable and satellite - although BBC2 did feature some highlights over Easter - Mercer says of the UK's loss of interest in the sport: "We're not producing champions so the TV is not covering it and the interest fades away, so it becomes a vicious circle. Some incredible performances are taking place in Moscow yet it's not on any terrestrial TV channel in the UK. If we were to show what was taking place then more people might be interested."

Fortunately, with next year's Winter Olympics approaching, Mercer's Imperial Ice Stars are flying the flag for skating on a debut tour which has already taken them to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

"We're enjoying standing ovations in the UK and it shows there's a huge interest in figure skating and we were featured on Blue Peter a few weeks ago. Hopefully it inspires people to go along to their local rink and take lessons, so who knows what might be," adds Mercer who has previously toured ice shows for Wild Rose Ice Theatre and the Summer Ice Spectacular to the North-East in the 1990s.

"The North-East is a tremendously passionate place in terms of support. I'm hoping that people will love what they see as a theatre show and enjoy the great sport feel about the performance as well.

"There is a lot of danger in figure skating. We have a doctor with us all the time and he's constantly repairing the boys and girls. When you've got people racing around the stage at 35-40mph, injury is a common part of a day's work, even if it's just slight nicks and cuts from the blades.

"You're going to see everything on the stage that you'd normally see on a huge ice arena but the cast also have the ability to get the story of Sleeping Beauty across. So they have to be talented skaters and performers."

Mercer turned to James Cundall as co-producer, who has worked previously on big shows like Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, to ensure that ice dance and theatricality were given equal prominence.

Although ice shows on stage are not new to the North-East, the 15 metre rink space available at Sunderland is a first and the Imperial Ice Stars director is confident that theatre audiences will be impressed. "We've got a unique production which is very unlike anything seen on a theatre stage before."

Asked about the attractions of life in Russia, Mercer says that he's enjoyed four years in the Soviet capital and is settled with a wife and three-year-old son. "And it's -5 here at the moment, so you still get real seasons unlike the UK," he laughs.

* The Sleeping Beauty On Ice by The Imperial Ice Stars runs April 5-9 at Sunderland's Empire Theatre. Box Office: 0870 602 1130.

Published: 31/03/2005