From Tuesday < May 6> until Saturday, 23 former Olympic, World, European and national championship skaters will race around a stage converted into an ice rink.

The Sleeping Beauty on Ice is returning to Britain after a sell-out run in 2004, and Southsea is the first stop on a national tour that promises to leave audiences gasping in amazement.

The stars responsible for entertaining thousands will risk injury flying through the air performing axels and pirouettes. But away from the stage they are modest and unassuming.

Partly because the show is a fusion of dance, ice-skating, ballet, gymnastics and acrobatics, it requires a huge amount of training.

Ilia Klimkin, 27, plays the dancing jester-like character Catalabutte. He compared it with competing at the Winter Olympics in 2006.

He said: 'It is a very different discipline, obviously, but there are similar demands on how professional we have to be.
'When you compete in front of the judges you have to make an impression, but you know there will be points awarded for the correct manouevres.

'We are not performing in front of professional judges during the shows, but we have to hit the right moves to gain applause from the crowd. If we make a mistake or our performance lacks something the audience see that, especially since the arena is smaller.'

As Sleeping Beauty herself, Elena Yovanovich, 22, has to carry the focus of the audience for much of the two-hour show. As one of the younger members of the cast she is excited by returning to England, and visiting the south for the first time.

She said: 'We have played in Manchester before, and it will be great to see a different part of England.

'It is a challenge performing in the theatres, because we are still trying to get speed up and do jumps, but higher than in competition.
'I sometimes find it hard travelling so much, but you get to see so much variety too.'

Vladislav Zhovnirskiy, 29, plays the Prince, Sleeping Beauty's father.
He said: 'The training is more about stamina than the muscle we needed for lifting in competition, that for me is the main difference.

'When we get to each venue we have to practice very hard before the show, because it is very easy to fall on a surface that has 20 people on it at the same time.'

Don't miss tomorrow's News for Matt Jackson's review of The Sleeping Beauty on Ice in Paris and a special offer that will save you £2.50 on tickets for the opening night in Southsea.
Plus in The Guide on Friday there's an interview with the show's artistic director, Tony Mercer.