Hot Ice XC Celebrates 90 years in style

This year marks the 90th anniversary of Hot Ice XC, and we were delighted to be invited along to see the high energy show for ourselves to celebrate with them.

Right from the very start, with the dramatic entrance music, we were captivated. Visiting with two 11-year-olds meant that there was a lot of excitement from our party, as well as the rest of the crowd, with whoops and gasps right through to the showstopping finale.

The opener wowed us straight away with music and skating recognising the history of the show and its anniversary. The whole ensemble danced and skated together with more than 20 skaters in glittery outfits taking to the ice.

There was a lot of pointing and "oh wow, did you see that!?" going on from start to finish, with the kids choosing which dancers they admired the most in each routine, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

From high energy numbers with the whole cast doing spins and backflips, weaving between one another or making shapes together on the ice, to duo or trio numbers with some of the incredible skaters, which offered a more intimate experience. We loved every second!

The kids particularly loved the romantic routines with lifts and even, at one point, a dramatic throw jump across the ice from Apoolinariia Panfilova and Dmirty Rylov. These performances were dominated by some of the Hot Ice regulars and world class medallists making them ever more impressive.

My favourite was surprisingly not on the ice! It was the routine from Russian aerialist Alexey Kofanov, complete with unexpected bathtub entrance and dramatic exit, it is part of a speciality act from the show. I also loved the skate performance alluding to the Pleasure Beach's newest ride Aviktas, providing a skate routine with attitude, much like the ride itself, while the cast wore sparkly snakes on their costumes.

The Hot Ice XC Show is so named for the energy it brings, but there is also fire, mist, special effects, as well as a whole lot of ice. With seats on the curve of the rink, you are occasionally sprayed with ice and feel the breeze as skaters whoosh past, making it even more immersive.

It is no wonder that the skaters are incredible, with the show attracting medal winning ice skaters from across the globe. The show has an all-original score, making it unique to Pleasure Beach and is the longest running ice show in the world.

The costumes, the energy and the routines mean you will not want to tear your eyes away from the ice for the entire 90 minutes, and you can bet that when the intermission hits, you will want more.

It really is a show not to be missed. Just be prepared; if you go with kids, they'll be so inspired that all you'll hear for a week is that they want to learn how to skate!

Hot Ice XC runs to 10th September, six days a week with prices starting from as little as £5.