IF you haven’t already, best you get booking your tickets to see the Moscow on Ice spectacle that’s headed to the Durban Ice Rink from next week.
One of the highlights of the show is Irina Usenko, the first woman in the world to execute a solo hand ice-skating act.
We caught up with Usenko to find out more about her enthusiasm for ice-skating and found her to be a dreamer who is passionate about making her dreams a reality.
“In my childhood I watched figure skating on TV and dreamed of being able to do this, but in my city (Lugansk) there was no ice. We don’t have any ice rinks in town. So I gave all my childhood to gymnastics,” said the Ukrainian-born star.
She trained in gymnastics from the age of five until 15, when she gained the title of master of sports in that field.
“After that I looked for the opportunity to continue with these abilities in the circus. I became involved with the national circus, Rodnik, with which I visited some festivals and received a few laureates. I gave my youth to the circus. I got on ice very late, it took about 20 years. And I was like a zero in this new variety of sport,” she explained.
Usenko said once she was in Lugansk, where she studied and trained, a circus on ice arrived. “I very much liked these elements and I got to work in this show. I started learning to skate. I worked air gymnastics into it, with my ice-skating boots on.
“And after that, I had a new idea: to conquer myself and to learn to also ride on my hands. So I started studying figure skating on the hands. I was very much tired with all of my work, but I found any extra hours I could to master this, my dream of skating on the hands. Thanks to my sports skills of gymnastics, circus and figure skating I united everything together in an original genre on ice. From my heart, to your attention,” she said.
Usenko’s career and unique talent have seen her travel the world. Hungary, Romania, Oman, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Jamaica, Haiti and the US are just a few of the many places she’s stopped visited.
“During this time I got acquainted with a number of beautiful people, some of them the strongest figure skaters. I worked in a show with Alexei Yagudin, Irina Slutskaya and many others.”
“During my Latin America tour I worked in the mountain cities where it was difficult to breathe. I did my skates on hands, hoops and air gymnastics acts there. We had to use cylinders with oxygen backstage and even that didn’t help,” she said.
“There were tropical countries where refrigerators didn’t work and the ice thawed on the platform and it was necessary to work simply in water instead of ice. I have a great number stories I could tell. Each of my tours is a separate history. Each step, each country, is a separate, interesting story,” she said.
On what Durban can expect from her in the show, she said: “For you I want to present the performance of an original genre – a game with hoops, which we’ve done especially for you. I will work with Liubov Belyaeva and Gennady Gabrielyan (who work with the ballet show in Moscow on Ice) for the first time. They have invited me in this fine place where I will try to please you with the art.
“Especially for this tour we picked up music for a number with hoops, so we are devoting this premiere performance to you. You will see my performance of skates on the hands. It is a very rare genre in the world. Solo in female execution – I executed this genre for the first time in the world, and you will be able to see it in your city,” she said.
Russian impresario Edouard Miasnikov presents Moscow on Ice on May 4 and 5 at the Durban Ice Rink. He said the show combines the best of figure skaters and circus performers. “Durban was very supportive of last year’s show, Ice Revue from Russia, which is why I have decided to bring another ice show to Durban only. The Durban Ice Rink’s new managers want to bring people back to the rink, which has been upgraded and since last year new lighting has been installed.
“Moscow on Ice is fantastic entertainment for the whole family with the performers bound to leave a lasting impression of their artistry on ice.”
• Performances are on May 4 at 1pm and 5pm and May 5 at noon and 4pm at the Durban Ice Rink, Sol Harris Crescent. Tickets, from R140 to R250, at Computicket.
WIN!! WIN!! WIN!!
Daily News and Edouard Miasnikov have five double tickets to Moscow on Ice up for grabs to the 1pm show on Saturday May 4. To win, text “Moscow DN” and your name to 33963 before 9am tomorrow. Texts cost R1.50 and winners will be contacted by telephone.