In the winter of 1943, the first “Holiday on Ice” show took place in the US city of Toledo, Ohio. Since then, more than 330 million spectators have flocked to the imaginative gala performances on the ice. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the entertainment highlight. The new show entitled “No Limits” will be on tour in Germany from mid-November. Pop and pop star Vanessa Mai (31) will also appear at selected performances of the figure skating show.
According to the press release, the new “Holiday on Ice” show “No Limits” promises to be “fast-paced, revolutionary and full of magical surprises.” “The world’s best figure skaters unleash a true symphony of movement on and above the stage and captivate the audience with their precision and lightness. The audience can expect amazing performances, daring stunts and figure skating at a world-class level,” said the Organizer continues.
Pop star Vanessa Mai is also celebrating the special anniversary with the performers of the ice revue. At the shows in Leipzig on December 21st, in Munich (January 4th, 2024), Frankfurt (January 10th), Dortmund (January 20th), Stuttgart (January 24th), Hamburg (February 8th) and also Berlin ( February 28th) viewers can experience May as a special highlight. The 31-year-old, who now appears again as Wolkenfrei, then performs two of her biggest hits.
“I’m really looking forward to appearing in the new show ‘No Limits’,” Mai revealed in an interview. She was enchanted by “Holiday on Ice” even “as a little girl”. “The way the figure skaters floated over the ice in their great costumes really fascinated me.” Although figure skating is “one of the most demanding sports of all,” Mai said all you see in the show’s skaters is “lightness and grace” on the rink. The pop star wants to celebrate and dance together with performers and audience. “It will definitely be spectacular,” says Mai.
Schlager star Vanessa Mai is not the first celebrity to make it onto the stage of “Holiday on Ice”. Pop star Sarah Connor (43) followed suit in 2011 and performed two of her songs for the production “Speed”. The appearances of the two Pahde sisters Cheyenne (28) and Valentina (28), who appeared in 2017 and 2018 – in 2018 for the show’s 75th anniversary in the two parallel productions “Atlantis” and “Showtime” – will probably also be unforgettable.
Multi-talented Sarah Engels (30) is also closely connected to the “Holiday on Ice” family as a big figure skating fan. Especially in the winter of 2019/2020, she proved her talent on the skates with her dance partner and good friend Joti Polizoakis (28).
The visits of international stars go back a little further in the past. Princess Diana (1961-1997), the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” Elvis Presley (1934-1977) and Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) have attended shows over the decades.
A curious fact from the history of the ice revue: At the end of the 1980s – before the Berlin Wall came down – the then GDR athlete Katarina Witt (57) appeared on the show in order to earn some foreign currency for her home country. Years later she was followed by Tanja Szewczenko (46), who appeared in the show “Elements” from 2007 to 2009.
It all started by chance: According to legend, a small ice skating group was involuntarily stranded in Toledo, Ohio, in the winter of 1943. Since their manager was broke, the performers quickly took their fate into their own hands. They put on a small ice revue on the tiny stage of a hotel. “Holiday On Ice” was born on December 25, 1943.
80 years later, the internationally popular entertainment highlight already has five records in the famous Guinness Book of Records – including being named the “most attended ice show in the world”.
Technical innovations such as a mobile chase headlight for the runners, who often curve over the ice at lightning speed – the so-called “Super Trouper” – as well as mobile ice rings, which made the extensive tours possible in the first place, were quickly added. “Holiday on Ice” quickly conquered the whole world – and the production was well received everywhere.
In modern shows such as the new program “No Limits” there are around 40 international performers on the ice. More than 300 costumes and headdress pieces are used for each show. The ice rink itself is built in the respective tour city in just 48 hours. “Holiday on Ice” is clearly a show of superlatives.
