Review: Torvill and Dean: The Last Dance at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham - tickets still available for final shows in July
A visibly emotional Torvill and Dean thanked their home county as they took to the ice for a final skate.
A sold-out crowd greeted ice skating legends Jayne and Christopher as they brought their tour Torvill and Dean: The Last Dance to Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham last night (Wednesday).
“It’s fantastic to be back home,” Chris told a screaming audience, after a stunning opening performance set to The Greatest Show.
And the couple were determined to put on just that. It was cleverly curated to show the duo’s journey from young skaters, who didn’t really want to be paired together. A young Jayne and Chris were played by Darcy Walshaw and Hugo Brooks.
It goes on to tell their journey to success at the 1984 Winter Olympics, featuring big screens with clips of the couple, cleverly interspersed with ‘hold your breath’ performances from ice skating professionals from around the world.
The cast includes plenty of skaters fans will recognise from the 17 series of ITV show Dancing On Ice, including clear fan favourite Dan Whiston.
There was plenty of ‘hold your breath’ stunts from the skaters but there were no slips or trips here - everything was performed to the highest standard - with enough to keep the audience’s oohs and ahhs going.
Chris and Jayne themselves showed little evidence of their ages - 66 and 67 respectively - but audiences expecting to see a headbanger from the pair will be disappointed.
In their home county though, every time a picture or clip appeared on the big screens - whether it be the Nottingham rink where the couple trained or Chris on the beat as a police officer - it was greeted with rapturous applause.
One of the highlights was a flawless performance by Torvill and Dean’s “stars of the future” Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez, who danced a gold-medal standard dance to a mash-up of James Bond songs.
Despite Torvill opening the show by telling the crowd “It’s not a sad occasion, we’re here to celebrate”, there were plenty of emotional moments - including Dan Whiston’s dance to Send In The Clowns and of course, the Bolero.
As the night drew to a close, Jayne and Christopher, who were tearing up at the response from their home crowd, promised this really would be their last dance.
“Every time we come back it brings floods of memories back right from being a policeman in the square some days, Jayne selling hot dogs at Nottingham Forest when she was a kid, but it’s so wonderful to be here,” Chris said.
“When we come in front of an audience like yourselves it really warms our hearts. Normally we say goodnight and we’ll see you again soon but it is the last time and all we can say is thank you for all the memories and thank you for being here tonight.”
Torvill and Dean: The Last Dance is at Motorpoint Arena Nottingham again tonight, and travels to venues including Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool before returning to Nottingham for three final performances on July 11 and 12. Limited tickets are still available. Due to demand, an extra date in Nottingham has been added on Thursday, July 10, at 7.30pm.
