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To the uninitiated, ballet on ice may seem a little naff. For days leading up to Saturday night's premiere of Cinderella on Ice people openly laughed at my excitement and enthusiasm for the coming event.
But those who have discovered the extraordinary dexterity, grace and power of the
Imperial Ice Stars will know it is, in fact, one of the most exhilarating entertainment spectacles you will ever witness.
Think of the thrill of watching Olympic figure skating - the sharp intake of breath every time someone launches themselves, spinning into the air, spraying ice as they land at speed - and then multiply by 10.
Skating on a surface just a quarter of the size of a professional rink, the cast of champion skaters must avoid staging, scenery and one another while performing Olympic-standard lifts and jumps.
With more than a dozen skaters on stage at a time, blades fly perilously close to other performers' heads, as girls are flung around single-handedly by their athletic partners.
Audible gasps escape from the audience as the Ice Stars perform seemingly impossible feats - in particular, star skater Vadim Yarkov, who regularly lifts and balances two female partners off the ice while continuing to glide gracefully.
The Ice Stars first introduced New Zealand to ballet on ice two years ago with their beautiful rendition of Swan Lake. Saturday night saw them return to Auckland, premiering their new world tour, Cinderella.
The story is not the most classic interpretation - a gypsy fortune-teller replaces the fairy godmother and the Prince is actually the mayor's son - and the first half caused certain amounts of consternation as people tried to follow the atypical plot line.
In this version, Cinderella first attracts the Prince's attention at a ballet recital of Swan Lake, where she is thrust into the spotlight after the lead dancer - one of her stepsisters - has an injury.
One couldn't help but wonder whether this additional scene was really necessary, or simply an excuse to dust off the old Swan Lake costumes and soundtrack from the last tour.
Was it an inside joke for loyal fans who saw the last show? Or just a spot of blatant cross-promotion?
The second half returned to a more traditional retelling of the story, with a crystal-encrusted ice skate in place of the glass slipper. This gave way to one of the most impressive routines of perfectly balanced one-footed dances as the town's women came to try on the slipper.
But, in true ballet tradition, the highlight came with the extended finale, which saw the stage cleared of all scenery, as the skaters performed the most complex manoeuvres of the night.
As the cast converged on the stage - a spinning rainbow of glitter and spandex - there was no denying it was all a bit camp. Some might say naff. But the Imperial Ice Stars are nothing to laugh about.