An ice rink provides the perfect setting for performers to portray swimming ocean animals, says the choreographer of Disney on Ice's "Finding Nemo."
"If you imagine trying to glide on the Earth as if you were a fish, you could not do it because you have to walk," says Cindy Stuart, choreographer of the aquatic ice adventure, which opens Wednesday at Mellon Arena. "There's a certain weightlessness of when you're skating, and there's a gliding motion that represents the movement in water in a very similar fashion. There's a constant glide and flow across the ice that can replicate the flow of sea creatures."
"Finding Nemo" takes the popular 2003 Disney/Pixar movie and puts it on a live skating rink, with an energetic musical score including songs from the film, and a bright rainbow of brilliantly colored characters that dance in a way that emulates the natural flow of fish in water. The visual effects include a coral reef on the ice, and lighting projections that give the audience the illusion that they are underwater, with wave movements and more.
"It's very theatrical, and it's presented in a way that people wouldn't expect," Stuart says. The Los Angeles resident is in her fifth year of choreographing for Disney on Ice, and also choreographs Smucker's Stars on Ice, which is coming to Mellon Arena on April 29. People "see the movie and say, 'How do you translate that movie to ice?' It translated beautifully."
The cast of supporting characters include moonfish that sparkle and glitter in blue, green and pink; jellyfish in shades of lavender and pink; sea turtles, seahorses, sharks, stingrays and more. The same voices that animated the characters in the movie -- like Ellen DeGeneres, who voiced the blue regal tang, Dory -- provide the soundtrack for the ice show voices.
Another special feature about "Finding Nemo" is a life-size blue whale, 43 feet long, that takes up nearly half the ice during part of the show. A spinning filter and a bubbling treasure chest depict the aquarium in the movie.
"One of the biggest challenges for us choreographically was to try to create diversity in numbers," says Stuart, who has choreographed for some champion figure skaters, including Chen Lu, Rosalyn Summers, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand.
"We're either under the sea, or we're in an aquarium the whole time," Stuart says. "That means we're underwater constantly."
Additional Information:Disney on Ice: 'Finding Nemo'
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday;10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. March 11; 7 p.m. March 12; 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. March 13; 1 and 5 p.m. March 14
Admission: $12-$60
Where: Mellon Arena, Uptown
Details: 800-745-3000 or Web site
