[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"So the inspiration was for me was to go back into the history of Swan Lake and find out that Tchaikovsky, the composer, had written on his own story board, which Petipa changed around."

The Tony Award-winning producer is recognized as one of the world's leading directors and choreographers of theater-on-ice shows.

In 2004, Mercer and James Cundall set up The Imperial Ice Stars.

Their previous four world tours: Sleeping Beauty on Ice; Swan Lake on Ice; Cinderella on Ice and Nutcracker on Ice have earned the company a reputation for pushing the boundaries of ice dance with athleticism, and creative story-telling.

The other members on the creative team include composers Tim A Duncan and Edward James Barnwell, set designer Eamon D' Arcy, and costume designer Albina Gabueva.

Speaking about the show, Mercer said: "Chinese audiences understand ice skating because there are some great stages and great champions. And they understand what we are doing, all my company.

"You'll see everything on the stage, like the big ice arena, but you'll see more, not just ice skating. You'll see aerial stunts, fire on ice. There's so many different elelments. You know, for me, most important is that the audience really enjoy it, and I think they will be amazed," he said.

Two leading actors, Olga Sharutenko and Bogdan Berezenko, both former Russian ice skaters, played the role of Odette and Odile.

Speaking about their partnership, which goes back eight years, Sharutenko said: "We do train every day. We have rehearsals every day. We bring more and more interesting elements, which you wouldn't see on the big ice arena in the competitions.

"And when you get to the beautiful scenery, in the beautiful clothes, you do feel you have your character, and you live the life of your character, not your own personal life, as a figure skater, an artist. I do feel like a princess when I'm next to the prince.

As for Berezenko, she said: "In sports, you think about elements all the time and you need to think how to do it best. Here in the show, you can relax, to play your character"