EIS BALLETT - The Big Bang in Berlin

The sport of figure skating exploded into a spectacular theatrical art in 1908 when Herr Leo Bartuschek formed an amazingly imaginative resident ice ballet company at the Berlin Eis Palast. A number of productions were presented over five years until World War I shortages brought them to an end. From the evidence still available they were astonishing.

In The IceStage Archive collection there are beautiful photo postcards from eleven of the company’s ballets, some expertly hand-colored. The ballet titles include “Im Park Monplaisir,” “Im Tango Club, “Frau Fantasie,” and “Abrakadabra.” These excellent photographs of fabulous costumes, avant-garde story characters, and elaborate staging suggest an astonishingly talented creative team with unlimited funding. It has been reported that there were one hundred skaters in the lavish 1913 final production.