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Lee Wing-Sze

Since the age of seven,  former world figure skating champion Mandy Woetzel has been spending most of her life perfecting her skills on ice.

The 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics bronze medallist will show off her talents in The Sleeping Beauty On Ice, which opens next Wednesday at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Wan Chai.

Born in Chemitz, Germany, Woetzel - who plays Princess Aurora in the show - has been performing on a different stage since walking away from  competition  in 1998. Woetzel, who had her first taste of ice skating at four, started training professionally  when she joined a sports school three years later.

Her selection to the national team in 1989 was followed by a string of outstanding achievements.

She was European champion in 1995,  world champion (1997) and clinched the bronze at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan.

Woetzel's talents  led to many performance offers in skating shows.   At the beginning, she had to juggle her careers as an  artist in show business and a competitor.

Her   hectic schedule made life stressful, although she made good money.

'Being a professional skater doesn't mean doing better and earning more money. A part-timer   can earn even more,'  the 31-year- old said.

Born to a middle-class  family, Woetzel  credits the support she received from the former East German  government.

'If I did not grow up in the eastern part of Germany, where the government paid for everything, I would never have become a skater.

'Skating is a sport for the rich. You have to pay for the rink [rental], the boots, the coach and the costumes. These are  expensive.'

After retiring from competition in 1998, Woetzel became a full-time performer with The Imperial Ice Stars.

'Competition is a lot of pressure and stress. You've prepared and practised for a whole year, and you only have  four-and-a-half minutes to perform,' said Woetzel.

As a performer, the most difficult part is  maintaining the same mood throughout the shows.

'When you are doing shows, it is more about staying in good form for three to four months because you are performing up to nine shows a week. You have to play to the same music, and have the same strong feelings,' she said.

'Sometimes playing a happy character is even harder  because you won't feel happy all the time.'

Woetzel  enjoys skating both as an athlete and a performer.

'I'm happy either way. Even if you win a championship, it's not everything because you have to work hard to learn new stuff,' she said.

The Sleeping Beauty On Ice runs from December 8-19 at Lyric Theatre in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Tickets at $495, $395, $295, $100 (student tickets) and $1,580 family packages   available  from   HK Ticketing  at 31 288 288.



Ice princess