Disney's Jungle Adventures on Ice

Scores of children and their parents were thrilled by Disney on Ice last summer and now comes another chance to be thrilled again on August 2 – 8 with 12 shows scheduled totake place at the Beijing Worker’s Stadium.

Three of Disney’s most popular animated hits, The Jungle Book, Tarzan, and The Lion King, will be featured, including a special English-language performance on August 5. This will allow nearly all the children in the capital city and its environs to enjoy Disney’s unique and marvellous performances, music and lighting. The other 11 shows will be dubbed in Mandarin Chinese by experienced Chinese actors and actresses, instead of last year’s dub that relied on a Taiwan dialect.

This year’s show will be different from last year’s, when more than 60 Disney stars were featured. This one is a beloved story with a moral that happens in a jungle. It will be a feast for children, nostalgic adults and Disney cartoon fans. With the generous assistance of the China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA), Feld Entertainment once more takes an opportunity to delight Chinese audiences during this fun time of vacations and relaxation.

Time: August 2–8

August 2, 2:30 p.m. (premier) and 7:30 p.m.

August 3, 7:30 p.m.

August 4, 7:30 p.m.

August 5, 2:30 p.m. (English-language special) and 7:30 p.m.

August 6, 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
August 6, 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Admission: 500, 380, 280, 180 (360 yuan for three 180-yuan package tickets), 80 yuan

Venue: Workers’ Stadium, Chaoyang District

朝阳区工人体育馆

Sidebar

l        Feld Entertainment Incorporated is the worldwide leader in producing and presenting live entertainment experiences that lift the human spirit and create indelible memories, with 25 million people in attendance at its shows each year.

l        Feld Entertainment’s productions have appeared in 46 countries and on six continents to date, including Disney on Ice, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

l        Disney on Ice began in 1980 and is changed each year with the addition of new Disney films. Its worldwide performances in 2005 include 23 shows.

Indoor Wild Adventures

With three famed Disney animations, this high-energy, gravity-defying ice spectacular captivates the adventurous of all ages with Academy Award-winning music and a Jungle Book score set to a hip new swing beat, Tarzan and Jane’s daring ice debut, and fun-loving characters such as Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King.

This audacious Disney on Ice production features the wild adventures of Mowgli and Baloo from the Jungle Book as they set out on a journey filled with hilarious marching pachyderms, a mesmerizing snake and all of “The Bare Necessities.” The adventure then treks to the African jungle where Tarzan and his lovable friend, Terkm entertain and delight audiences with their comical antics and the discovery of Jane, a new friend from a very different world. The safari continues to the world of The Lion King, where young Simba’s childhood escapades and lifelong friendship with Timon and Pumbaa will be sure to bring smiles and laughter.

The arena takes on a lush appearance in this brilliant Disney on Ice production with a 38-foot, 15,000-pound jungle tree draped in breathtaking tropical foliage and leafy green jungle vines that dangle from above. Dazzling lighting and dramatic atmospheric effects further immerse the audience in the jungle scene. Academy Award- winning songs, like “You’ll Be in My Heart,” sung by Phil Collins, and “Can You Fell the Love Tonight,” and a Jungle Book soundtrack, with “I Wanna Be Like You” and “The Bare Necessities” set to a hip new swing beat, will undoubtedly bring audiences to their feet.

“The concept for this daring expedition is exciting because it’s the first time we have linked three Disney stories together that have a common thread,” Producer Kenneth Feld explains. “In addition to taking place in the jungle, they share similar morals about growing up and taking responsibility. This message is universal and translates to children all over the world.”

Disney on Ice’s cutting-edge creative team, led by creative director Jerry Bilik, includes award-winning choreographer Barry Lather (renowned for his work with Olympic medallists Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Katarina Witt and Nancy Kerrigan; and Janet Jackson and Sting); lighting wizard LeRoy Bennett (Prince, “MTV Music Awards”); costume designer Frank Krenz Z (Broadway; the films Ghostbusters and Moonstruck); and scenic designer Robert Smith Z (Academy Award-wining and nominated films; television and commercials).

Acrobatic Dance from Ice to Air

In this adventurous Disney on Ice production, a swinging vine is lowered to the ice, and a pair of fearless skaters ascends into the canopy of the African jungle. Set to Academy Award-winning music by Phil Collins, the couple slowly begin their climb, twisting and turning into an intricate pattern of aerial acrobatics. And so begins Tarzan and Jane’s breathtaking acrobatic Spanish web routine. It premiered as part of the Moscow Circus in the 1960s with one acrobat performing stunts above the crowd.

A feat unparalleled in ice show history, the pair’s web routine is the most ambitious number, featuring a 35-foot rope suspended from atop the arena with no safety equipment. Tarzan sets the stage for the routine, as he invites Jane to join him in exploring his world high above the jungle floor, the first time ever two skaters have performed the Spanish web routine simultaneously high above the ice.

Moscow-native, veteran aerialist and choreographer Alla Youdina has mastered the art of acrobatics both in the air and on the ice. She trained Disney on Ice skaters to bring the daring acrobatics of Tarzan and Jane to life. Youdina, who began skating at the age of four, is the daughter of a respected gymnastics coach and began to test the limits of her skating ability early in her life.

Often criticized by her instructors as too daring, the young skater refused to abandon any of her aspirations and proceeded to astound audiences with her every move, including the first trapeze act ever performed on ice skates.

In April 2000, Youdina took the two pairs performing the roles of Tarzan and Jane under her wing for an intense training programme at her home in Vermont. This training regimen proved to be the most challenging endeavour of the skaters’ careers. The first, and most important, thing to establish, Youdina said, is trust.

“The skaters must learn to breathe and think together. Decisions must be made in a split second without a moment to spare.”

To encourage this train of thought, she took her students to the physical and emotional extreme with exercises that “break the body down, only to build it back up.” With experienced performers, an average training programme for a routine involving this level of skill would normally take up to eight months. For these world-class skaters, with no prior aerial experience, the instruction could have taken much longer. But with Youdina’s experience and training, she was able to prepare the skaters for the routine in only two months.

The outcome of this intense period of preparation, Youdina said, “Is the most passionate culmination of the progression from ice to air. The performance excites the skaters’ and the audience’s hearts, senses and emotions.”

The romantic Spanish web routine is a “must see” for the entire family and epitomizes the emotive spirit of Disney on Ice.

Marvellous Choreography

For more than 14 years, choreographer Barry Lather has been working his magic with some of the greatest stars in the music world and on the ice. Since cutting his choreographic teeth in 1986 when Janet Jackson gave him his start, Lather has choreographed everything from Super Bowl halftime shows to the Miss America competition.

Raised by two dance teachers, Lather began dancing at the age of five, and he still loves the process above all. His favourite part about choreographing is creating the steps. As he begins to visualize the completed project in mind, he is always excited and cannot wait to share it.

“You have to keep the audiences in mind,” says Lather. “When I’m creating the steps I always think, ‘If I were watching this, would I think this is cool, or not? Would I be excited too?”

Not an ice skater by trade, Lather recognizes the differences between stage choreography and ice choreography. While his varied background brings a fresh new style to his ice productions, the mesh of dance and ice is not without challenges.

“The vocabulary in dance is different from the vocabulary in skating. Also, skating is much more physically challenging than dancing. There are aspects of dance that won’t transfer onto the ice, but there are moments that will only work on the ice, and that makes for an interesting challenge.”

So, Lather hires a skating assistant who knows the language of the ice, and everyone works a bit harder to overcome the obstacles. The result is a charming tapestry of storytelling, woven throughout with excitement and energy.

In his Disney on Ice adventures Lather enjoys having an opportunity to choreograph people and animals as characters and letting the three stories come to life before audiences’ eyes. When choreographing the animals, Lather keeps their costumes in mind.

“When you’re planning the steps, you have to keep in mind which of your characters has tails. That can affect the choreography,” he said. The animal characters also add their own element of fun to the creative process, and “the animals’ moves are more theatrical. You have to think monkey-like for some of the songs, and that’s a lot of fun.”

“While every new telling of a story reflects the storyteller’s own interpretation, the most important thing is to maintain the integrity of the characters and capture their true energy and true personalities, and make sure everyone has a great time in the process.” Lather says.

Stunning Lighting

What do Disney on Ice, the “MTV Movie Awards,” rock idol David Bowie, and country superstar Faith Hill have in common? The answer is simple, a dazzling display of lighting artistry that makes jaws drop worldwide, and one man with a vision that brings all of these astonishing productions to life, LeRoy Bennett.

Immediately following his graduation from high school in Brooklyn, the lighting wizard began his career as a lighting technician for various concerts and touring shows throughout the East Coast. From alternative rock acts like Hole and Marilyn Manson to country songstress Faith Hill to R & B superstar Janet Jackson, Bennett has done it all. The most important thing to consider in all his multifaceted productions, the designer says, “is connecting the lighting to both the music and the audience.” He uses lighting to “make things pop,” creating a visual experience that animates the set design and brings characters, costumes and props to life on ice.

Bringing three of Disney’s most popular animated films, The Jungle Book, Tarzan, and The Lion King, to life in this Disney on Ice adventure posed several creative challenges to the veteran lighting designer.

“The audience’s view of the ice is more panoramic than in the past,” says Bennett, “so the lighting must create an environment that envelopes all of the senses, while highlighting the drama unfolding in each of the three distinct story lines.”

To do this, he utilizes three colour schemes to differentiate the segments. A royal colour palette brings to life the vibrant foliage of the Indian wilderness in Disney’s The Jungle Book, while deep greens heighten the drama deep within the African jungle in Tarzan. Bennett uses an amber colour scheme to portray The Lion King’s vast desert landscape, with subtle shading that adds an unexpected dimension to the ice.

With a set and storyline designed to engage audiences’ imaginations on every level, Bennett chose lighting effects to complement an interactive interpretation of the show’s themes of friendship, growth and discovery. Visual elements play an important role in several of the production’s most powerful scenes. For example, to recreate Tarzan’s triumph over the alligators, Bennett uses a combination of hazy mist and scattered flashing lights aimed directly at the audience.