P R E S S / R E V I E W S /
I M P R E S S I O N S - D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 2
Exclusive ball on the ice
Jovita Jarutiene
Magazine “Stilius”
On December 10th the Lithuanian
telecommunication company “Omnitel” surprised three thousands of its clients,
business partners and friends with an exclusive performance and ball afterwards. Margarita
Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas had invited bright ice stars to Lithuania and
“Omnitel” guests were the first to watch a colorful Christmas feast.
After the show all the ice field was covered with a huge carpet and in 10 minutes it was
transformed into party hall.
300 meters of tables, 980 meters of cloth to cover them were used. The ball required 9500
plates and forks, 3000 tea spoons and 2500 coffee cups, 5000 wineglasses and 4000 whisky
glasses, 3500 glasses for soft drinks and hot wine, finally 3500 liqueur and vodka
rummers. The guests were treated with 545 liters of wine, 126 liters of brandy, 112 liters
of liqueur and 130 liters of whisky.
The guests were served with 450 kilograms of first course dishes, 280 kilograms of cold
fish snacks, 9000 small sandwiches and 350 kilograms of salads. The peak of the ball
– 160 kilograms “Omnitel” cake went down on the main table from the very
top of the ice arena.
The first, but not the last: Drobiazko/Vanagas organize successful
shows in Vilnius
by Tatiana Flade
Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas
Vanagas have started yet another career: The popular ice dancing couple organized their
first international skating shows in their home country last December. They invited
several World Champions and an Olympic Champion from December 10 to 12 to Lithuania’s
capital Vilnius for three successful shows. The new ice rink “Ledo Rumai” opened
its doors in September. It seats 3,000 spectators and was a good venue for the event. The
skating show was something special and new to Lithuania. Not only skating fans, but also
politicians came to watch. “Almost the whole Lithuanian government attended the first
two days”, Vanagas said. The Prime Minister and other members of the government came
on the first day while Lithuania’s President at this time, Valdas Adamkus and his
wife appeared on the second day. “The President was really surprised and enjoyed the
show a lot. He never would have expected that the show would have such a high level”,
explained Vanagas’ mother Lilija, who sat at the President’s table.
Omnitel, a Lithuanian phone
company, had booked the whole show at the first day and invited their employees as well as
clients and guest. After the show, carpets were rolled out on the ice, and the after show
party with buffet, dance, music and a huge christmas tree took part right on the ice! It
was a wounderful and unusual idea.
Obviously, Drobiazko/Vanagas were the celebrated stars on
all three evenings. They vowed the crowd with their almost classical programs
“Sunrise at Alcatraz” and “Thread of Ariadne”, but also with a new
number called “Dreams of the East”. This dance is set to Egyptian music and
includes many interesting lifts and moves. The couple worked on it with Juri Pusakov, the
same choreographer, who created “Ariadne”, which is a favorite program of many
fans.
1994 Olympic Champion Alexei Urmanov turned out to be in
top shape and skated strongly to “Phantom of the Opera” and “Prince of
Egypt”. His jumps were high and solid, and his speed was unmatched. The 1995 World
Pairs Champions Radka Kovarikova/Rene Novotny impressed with difficult lifts to
“Music” and “Hero”. The Czech husband and wife team even produced a
throw triple toeloop, proving how well trained they still are.
Maria Petrova/Alexej Tikhonov of Russia, the 2000 World
Champions, presented a cute number to Russian Folk music (an old short program converted
into an exhibition number) and the rocky “I had my chance”. Bulgaria’s
Albena Denkova/Maxim Staviski skated their free dance “Egypt” in new
white-golden costumes that looked gorgeous. “These costumes were Maxim’s
idea”, Albena revealed. The audience also enjoyed their funny “The
Drinker”.
The acrobats Armen and Akop were quite a contrast to the
other skaters. They used two rather old programs “Austin Powers” and
“Captain Jack”, but the Lithuanian audience probably never saw them before. 1999
World Champion Maria Butyrskaya had two new routines: “Ave Maria” and “Eyes
like yours” by Shakira. Both numbers suit the Russian “Lady on Ice” very
well. Maria did the Shakira-piece by herself, while she worked on “Ave Maria”
with Elena Maslennikova, the former coach of Drobiazko/Vanagas. Maslennikova was also
responsible for the opening and closing numbers of the shows.
French showman Philippe Candeloro came only for the first
day, then he had to return home to take care of his two young daughters. Other performers
were hoola hoop artist Irina Grigorian, Gabriel Monnier of France, Lithunian single
skaters Gintare Vostrecovaite, Aidas Reklys and Tomas Katukevicius. A new Lithuanian dance
team presented themselves as well. Clover Zatz (an American) and Aurimas Radisauskas are
nice to watch, but still at the beginning of their career. They train in New Jersey with
Alexander Zhulin.
The stars and organizers were pleased with how the shows
went. “We organized smaller shows before, in Kaunas (Vanagas’ home town), but
this was something completely different”, Margarita Drobiazko said. “We were
afraid to forget something important and therefore checked and rechecked everything. All
that cost us a lot of time. It will be easier next year.” The show was realized
within four months after the idea came up.
The husband-and-wife team hopes to bring their show to
other Lithuanian and Baltic cities. “We’d like to expand the show business in
Europe”, Drobiazko explained. “So far, there are shows only in France, Germany
and Switzerland. Maybe we can realize an European tour one day.” For that, the couple
wants to cooperate with Philippe Candeloro and Daniel Weiss, who organize events in France
and Germany.
Let’s hope that the shows in Vilnius were just the
beginning of a new tradition!
|
