Hong Kong is in for a treat with theatrical ice dance version of The Nutcracker

It's a much-loved story: the nutcracker coming to life as a handsome prince, the beautiful girl who falls for him, the dancing sugarplum fairies - all set to Tchaikovsky's magnificent music, so familiar most of us could hum it.

But what happens when you take that perennial favourite, hauled out of mothballs by ballet companies worldwide every Christmas, freeze the stage and perform it as ice dance, replacing trained dancers with world-class ice skaters?

Tony Mercer, founder, producer and artistic director of Moscow-based The Imperial Ice Stars, says the theatrical interpretation coming to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in November makes audiences look at The Nutcracker in a new way. "It is surreal, exciting, a unique form of entertainment, a unique interpretation of an old classic," he says, comparing it to Canadian company Cirque du Soleil's revitalising of the circus, "a genre that was fading away".

Similarly, audiences enjoyed figure skating but they had stopped watching it, he says. Now, champion figure skaters can not only extend their careers - hundreds apply to join his company - but also move beyond the limitations of figure skating while challenging audiences to open their minds.

The Nutcracker Prince, Ukrainian Bogdan Berezenko, for example, joined the company after his longtime figure-skating partner left him for another skater just before they were to compete in the world championships. He needed money and something new, but found, to his surprise, "I loved it".

Kazakhstan-born Vadim Yarkov, who portrays the mysterious Drosselmeyer, has been with Mercer from the get-go: "You have a chance after sport to continue your skating career," he says.